Help with New Lens..

[Tony G]

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.

[Tim Bowrey]

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

[NickN]

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.

[Matt_L]

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!

[NickN]

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.

[damien b]

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.

[Tony G]

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), would be nice to get a few of my photos through the edit wash, so Airliners net will take them on . 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

[Rhys Xanthis]

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

[damien b]

Originally Posted by Tony G

Might be a silly questions, but , are there any places where you can trial a lens over a weekend? thought I asked...never 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.

[AdamB]

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!