Help with New Lens..
 

Hi all. I am after getting a new lens to capture shots from different angles at KSA and other airports when I travel. At the moment I have the Canon F2.8L 70-200mm Lens. I was looking about the 400mm range. I went all out when I bought the canon lens and would find it hard to afford a long range Canon lens. Does anyone use Sigma lenses. I notice they are quite a bit cheaper and have various ranges eg 50-500mm, 120-500 and 150-500 if my memory serves me right.

If anyone uses these, how do you find its uses for aviation at the maximum zoom. I read the images can become quite blury when shooting wildlife at 500mm. Any help will be much appreciated on the Sigmas or any other ideas.

Hey Tony Iv got a 50-500 and yeah the photos do tend to be a little undersharp at distance but if the target is close and moving slowly and you have the correct shutter speed you will be fine. Photoshop can pretty much fix the sharpness but the blurryness isnt too much of an issue if you have a reletivly steady hand and you dont shake like Ozzy Osbourne and also some decent light. Hope that kinda helps

I found the vignetting on the 50-500 to be a pain. The major reason I sold mine.

I'll be going for the 120-400 instead.

Hi Tony,

I recently got the 100-400 f/5.6 L Canon lense and 50D and I can't recommend both products enough. Put simply they are fantastic!

I managed to get the 100-400 down to 1900 with a 3 year warranty at Paxtons so just pm me and I will give you store details etc if your interested.

When your spending say 1500-1600 on a Sigma might as well go the extra few hundred for the Canon L lense in my opinion and get the quality and clarity it provides.

Even in marginal light the shooting is excellent and understandably the 70-200 is limiting.

Good luck!

The 50-500 is now over $2000 and the 120-400 is now around $1300.

Have Canon raised their prices since your purchase?

That still means $600 difference between the Sigma 120-400 and the Canon 100-400 which is quite considerable.

Hi,

I also use a Cannon 50D and the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens combination and i couldn't recommend it enough. Wildlife and aircraft images at 400mm have all turned out excellent (unless i have stuffed up as i tried various settings).

The lens is around $2200 at present, which is only $200 more than the Sigma 50-500 lens so is well worth it. You may find some good lens reviews on various web sites that can help. I was leaning towards the 50-500 initially but went with the Cannon lens due to reports that i had read. Unfortunatley, i didn't read many reports on the Sigma 120-400 lens.

They are heavy lenses however and take up a bit of room in the camera bag.

Best of luck in your hunting.

Thanks all for the feedback. It does help in trying to decide. I am looking at getting one within the next 5-6 weeks. If the dollar gets better I will get it from the USA ( got my previous canon lenes from Canon USA for half the aussie price, thats when dollar was in the 90s) however $1900 is good for Aussie price Matt. I will call on those details if okay with you Matt, when i decide.

Im not really big or good at editing at the moment Tim ( by the way, you have some great shots Tim with the Sigma, must be the pilot behind the camera that make it work:p), would be nice to get a few of my photos through the edit wash, so Airliners net will take them on :o. How did you go with the fish eye lens did you end up getting one.

Yeah read a few reviews on the web damiem, they are quite good and descripitive, hard to find reviews from plane spotters though, was good to hear some feedback from you guys.

Thank you all again. will add a post when i find out more info and decide. Might be a silly questions, but , are there any places where you can trial a lens over a weekend? thought I asked...never know

For the canon 100-400L, Have a look here; http://cgi.ebay.com.au/A013-CANON-EF...3A1|240%3A1318

I just bought a Canon 70-300mm F/4-5.6 IS for the Formula 1, and have (so far!) had a good experience, ordered on Tuesday and it shipped on Wednesday from them, I will have on Monday (shipped from Hong Kong via FedEx).

They also give a few free things like UV Filter and cleaning stuff, as well as 8 year warranty, return to Hong Kong (They pay DHL shipping both ways).

Just to let you know :)

I believe Paxtons in the Sydney CBD does offer this type of service - you may find others as well. It never hurts to ask.

I'm looking to upgrade aswell. I am currently using a Sigma 70-300mm on a Nikon D80 body & am looking at the Sigma 120-400mm as a replacement. I can't comment on Sigma versus other brands as I have only ever had the Sigma as a zoom, my largest Nikon lens is a 55mm, but have found the Sigma to be a very good product considering it's a $300 lens. I can only hope that the 120-400mm will be worth the money, but from what I've looked at online in both reveiws & photos I am very confident. The best price I've found so far for a Nikon mount is $1250 with free shipping out of Hong Kong. Anyone who knows of any better locally or abroad please let me know!:D

Hi Tony,

I too was looking at getting the Bigma lens (see this topic) but decided instead to get the 100-400mm Canon. Before I bought the lens, I tried it out from AU Photographer - I have hired from this guy a few times now, and have always been pleased with the service. You can pick things up in Manly, Sydney, or if that is too far he will courier them to you (at your expense).

Hope this helps.

Gareth

:p
Thanks for the Link Gareth. I missed that thread as I have been away for a while and need a lens as I will be going away for a few more months again. Some good info there.

Did you end trying out the Sigma or just ended up with the canon. I might take advantage of hire to try it out. I might try the extender as well to see what the out come is there. DCW (discount Camera warehouse) told me to get an independant lens rather than an extender as the quaility is much better.

If there are and Sydney spotters wanted to also try out a hire lens if they a buying soon and are not sure which way to go, let me know and we can organise a couple of hours at KSA. Or possibly owners could bring theres down for a display.:p

I only tried out the canon, and I also got the 2x extender - I thought it was pretty useless for aviation because you lose the autofocus, better for stationary shots. I tried to find somewhere to hire the sigma, but could only find American companies.

I just gave Paxton's a call and enquired about the price on a Canon 100-400 L. They said the price had gone up again last week and their best price was $2350!!!!:mad:

Time to look further afield - again $2100 looks to be the cheapest brand new.

Does anyone have further information on where to get this lens from for under $2000?

The other thing I was thinking is that if there are a few of us who are looking at cameras and/or lenses, that we could combine our purchase power and in bulk, push the price down as a group - any comments or suggestions appreciated.:cool:

Probably nowhere in Australia, unless someone has some stock from before the major price rise in November. Canon's wholesale price to camera stores is now over $1900ex GST.

Just remember if you buy the unit overseas, Canon Australia will not warrant it, even if it is sold with whats claimed to be an 'International Warranty'.

I was at Teds Camera House in Sydney today and, thinking about this thread, priced both lenses in question. The Bigma is currently going for $2195 and the Canon for $2350.
To show you how much these have gone up in price, my son bought the Bigma lens in early January this year and got it from Teds for $1695!!

Just in case anyone is interested, looks like more price rises on the way again (no wonder nobody has stock in store - their all holding back until the end of March!). I was told that there will be a $500 increase to the Canon 5D Mk2 kit as of 1 Apr.:eek:

Various other places have backorders from Canon on the 100-400L but nobody seems to be able to get any stock.

Sounds like Canon are hanging out until the prices go up - some serious price gouging going on IMHO!:mad:

Because of the Aussie Dollar, its been quite favourable for a lot of people from overseas to buy Canon Cameras and Lenses in Australia, especially from the US and Asia. Canon estimates that since November, about 1 in 3 lenses and 1 in 5 DSLRs have been exported, including one store in New York that purchased 3000 lenses from a Brisbane retailer, hence the need for price rises, since Canon Australia only makes up for just over 1% of Canon's global sales, its hard enough for them to get stock from Japan as it is (Canon do not want their products exported from Australia, but are powerless to stop retailers from doing it!)

Here are the details of Canon's price rise, apparently its only Digital SLR's and Ink that will cop the price rise on the 30/Mar

Model-CURRENT RRP-NEW RRP-% Increase

1DsIII $ 11,999 $ 11,999 0%

1DIII $ 6,499 $ 6,499 0%

5DIIPK $ 5,799 $ 6,299 9%
5DIIB $ 4,299 $ 4,799 12%

50DPK $ 2,799 $ 2,899 4%
50DK $ 2,599 $ 2,599 0%
50DB $ 1,899 $ 1,899 0%

40DK $ 1,999 $ 1,999 0%
40DB $ 1,299 $ 1,299 0%

450DPK $ 1,949 $ 2,099 8%
450DEK $ 1,749 $ 1,799 3%
450DTKIS $ 1,499 $ 1,599 7%
450DKIS $ 1,199 $ 1,249 4%
450DB $ 1,049 $ 1,099 5%

1000DTKIS $ 1,349 N/A
1000DTKB $ 1,049 $ 1,199 14%
1000DKIS $ 999 $ 999 0%
1000DKB $ 949 $ 949 0%
1000DB $ 849 $ 849 0%

There is a site on ebay with a price tag of about $2100 if i remeber correct ( they guarantee an aussie product). I keen for a multi-by Lee and if anyone else wants to join in. I will have to do it within the next two weeks though otherwise I 'll have to wait until later in the year as I will be going away for a while.

I bought the 100-400L just before Red Bull last year from d-d-photographics but their price is $2259 now. I think I paid $1850 or so...
bugger...
But it's a good lens Tony!

Have you checked the prices where you're going away to Tony? Might be worth a look?!?!?

Generally prices here are pretty good although they are going up.

Asia can be excellent for a bargain but I tend to steer clear as these so called "grey market" products are so abundant especially when buying off ebay or just even a shop you may find in the likes of an asian city such as Bangkok.

Europe is expensive as at the moment, friend of mine there in Spain had a quote for the 100-400 at something like 1200-1300 euro which was quite high.

Paxtons gave me a really good deal on 50D and 100-400 with a 3 yr warranty and I cant recommend them highly enough.

Thanks Marc for the vote and the rest of the responses. Unless something else is released I will go for the Canon 100-400.

Ill have a look Andrew, might have to shift through the sand to get to it. See how i go. I do agree with your original posts, best to buy aussie unless i get an outstanding deal ill buy overseas. Comon aussie dollar comon:).

No worries.

Talk to some of the guys who've been where you're going before about camera prices- I hear they can vary.:cool:

Superzoom Spotting
 

Greetings guys. Thinking of getting a superzoom for travel a/c spotting where a Bigma would incur excess baggage charges:D. Wondering if any of the superzooms below produce a/c pictures that are at least as sharp as Canon 18-55 IS and Canon 55-250mm IS kit lenses:

Canon EF-S 18-200mm 1:3.5-5.6 IS

Sigma 18-200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC OS HSM

Tamron AF 18-270mm f/3.5-6.3 Di II VC LD Aspherical
(IF) MACRO

Would greatly appreciate it if any of you guys here who might have used these lenses for a/c spotting could share your experiences with these lenses. Thank you.

Fabian