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I purchased this lens in March of 2007 and have used it EXTENSIVELY. After reading alot of other reviews (all over the internet) I kind of felt that this particular lens was not getting a fair shake, or possibly that I got a great deal on an extra-sharp copy. Whichever is the case, I have to disagree with alot of the bad reviews. My photographs have been sharper then any other lens I have used at the 500mm end including the 50-500mm sigma (bigma), the exceptions are the 500mm and 600mm canon L lenses I rented for a day. Some things to remember about this lens, it does need alot of light, I rarely take it out on cloudy days. Use of a tripod, or some other stabilizing device (I use a Brushawk 310D) is important at 500mm. Lastly, I have used this lens with a Tamron 1.4x converter and it has worked flawlessly (again, it was a bright day). PROS * A great range at a GREAT price (running about 400-600.00 here on Ebay) * Sharp, when used properly. * Built really strong * great telephoto adjustment and focus rings. CONS * Sealing would be nice, though dust has not hurt any of my shots, I use it enough that eventually it will. * IS (or sigma's OS) would be really great, but would run the cost over 1000.00 easy. Overall I would have to say that this is a GREAT lens with great range and for the price it is darned near unbeatable for a semi-pro in need of a long range lens.Read full review
I was lucky and purchased a truly mint condition used Sigma 170-500 for use with my Nikon D80 w/grip. It has been an excellent investment. I have not used any other brand of lens in the 300 to 500mm range, where I use this lens the most (primarily for wildlife and nature), so I cannot compare one vs the other. What I can say is that, when using a tripod with a remote shutter release, the results of images throughout the focal range has surpassed my expectations, especially considering what I paid. And, even handheld, the percentage of shots that were perfectly in focus was pretty good, though nowhere near the nearly 100% when using my tripod. As a note, I use a Manfrotto Bogen 3221W with 804RC2 pan/tilt head. And, on that subject, the Sigma tripod collar is excellent and operates smoothly. At times the lens can be a bit slow focusing, when compared to, say, my Nikon AF-S 55-300, but the difference has not been that much to make me dislike the lens in the least. I am quite sure that Nikon’s AF-S 200-400 would surpass this lens in every way, but for the price difference I would expect that to be the case. The colors are very nice and there is good contrast in the images I have taken. The depth of field produces a sharp and clear main object and a great Bokeh (blur) in the background. The zoom operates very smooth throughout, no stickiness or hang-ups. It can suffer from chromatic aberration (CA) in very high-contrast situations where the background is quite bright and foreground objects are dark. There is definitely lens creep, no way around that unless you decide to use a band. For me, I simply have the strap around my neck and hold the camera in my palm, with the lens pointed up, when walking. Keep in mind that this is not a light lens. I cannot give it 5 stars for honest all-out performance only 4. For the money, however, I am very pleased with my Sigma 170-500 and would recommend it to anyone who needs to have more than 300mm focal range and does not want to (or cannot, like myself) lay out thousands for a solid performing lens with this focal range.Read full review
For the money, this is one of the least expensive ways to get to 500mm without going to the mirror lenses that are of no value. Due to the aperture of the lens (wide open at f/5 to f/6.3 depending on what end of the zoom range you are at), this lens is best used in outdoor lighting, even on a tripod. It might look tempting to use for indoor sports, but I would caution against it unless you want to use the extremely high range of ISO on your camera. Even then, it will be too slow to stop much action. The knob on the tripod camera mount allows you to quickly change orientation from landscape to portrait without having to involve your tripod - fast and easy. However, in good lighting conditions, this is a good lens for nature and wildlife photography. The contrast and color saturation will need a little boost, more than the usual DSLR corrections, but has good results. The copy I used served me well in primarily bird photography. A number of my shots taken with this lens have won awards and competitions as well as have been published in books. It is heavy and would benefit from the use of a tripod, monopod or a stringpod as I most often used in the field. Due to it's size, weight and extreme zoom range, do not expect to hand-hold this lens very much except in the brightest of conditions where you are not needing to hold steady. I found that panning with this lens was easily accomplished. So, for the money, this is a great way to break into the 500mm range, especially if you can find a good, used copy. As the budget has allowed me to move into more expensive lenses, I haven't found a great replacement for the money as this lens. Pros: inexpensive, wide zoom range coverage Cons: zoom tends to creep when the lens is pointed downward, sun shade loosens up over time, too slow for most indoor applicationsRead full review
I just wanted a quick note applicable to all long lenses. The type of film and film speed is important with long lenses. I never use less than 800 speed film and preferably 1600 speed. If you're finding cloudy days and are getting less than clear shots with you longer lenses, up your film speed and see what happens. I think you'll find there's a nice difference. I shoot for a 7500 acre wilderness park, and I never use less than 1600 speed film. Fugi makes a nice 4th color layer film at 1600 that's pretty good, color or B&W. So leave the 400 speed at home, and try a faster film. Also, the use of a tripod was excellent advice from the other reviewer. It will make a difference. I also use a remote cord so I don't even have to touch the camera. Mine is cordless, but you can get a corded remote for cheap. Try these along with the good advice from the other eviewer, and I think you'll find a nice improvement in your long lens shots.Read full review
If getting close is important, and if image quality is not, then this piece of glass is for you. I needed a 500mm lens to catch amateur baseball players and wanted to get as close as possible. This lens is the bomb! Color is fine, automatic focus is good, articulation, fidelity and dependabilty all rate highly.No it does not give good low light results and w/o vibration reduction it must be used on a tripod or stabilizer of some sort. I am NOT shooting for National Geographic and that's that, but I do have great images of my family at play! Even got a great closeup of Grandson's kindergarten graduation (using Bogen monopod) as he was on stage. For the money and that means also that one must curtai expectations to limitations, this lens delivers far in excess of its cost! If I get to shoot an American Eagle catching a trout and it's soft, I'll blame it on Bernie Madoff, why not!!!!Read full review
