- Good Quality lens - Silent HSM Auto-focus driver - Wide Zoom Range - Solid Body - Reasonable aperture value - relatively cheap price - APO Lens - Zoom Lock - back focus

- Heavy - flare as lens hood not fit tele range - Tripod mount is not smooth - It doubles the lens total length when zoom from 50 to 500mm

This lens is superb in quality. Although that many review said that none should buy such heavy lens for a 50mm lens. I think that it might be helpful for photographer to quick zoom from 500 back to 50mm for sudden events. Just an example that if there is an accidents on the race track. The photographer can take a close up shot and then take a board view of the accident site in less than a second, which is essential for many photographer. There is no need to switch the lens in many cases. Also, I think it is a "bonus" to have a 50mm lens. Think about that most of the time we take a 500mm shot for only 1 or 2 films. After that we change the lens back to the "normal" lens. We can save time with this lens if we want a few shot which is wide angle and then many are tele. The Quality of the lens is excellent too. There is no colour dissipation from 50 - 500 mm range. Although the image is 'flatter' than a standard 50mm lens for the range of 50mm, it is a reasonable as the lens are designed for tele, not wide. Althought it is easier for photographer saving time from changing lens with it 50mm range, this has limited the design of a good lens hood. Pictures are easily get flare as the lens hood are designed for 50mm only. My suggestion to users are to buy an tele lens hood for this lens (if optimal quality is needed). This is a back focus lens. User are more easy to adjust the focus as the focus ring is closer to the camera body. The Tripod mount is very tight. You must hold and turn the lens. Never turn the lens by holding the camera body, i am sure that this will kill your camera mount. A very nice piece of art which worth to buy..... A remark which I should made: If you put a 2X teleconvertor with this lens, the lens should be 200mm ~ 1000mm lens, instead of 100mm ~ 1000 mm. The manual said that user should switch the "conv" lock at focus 100mm first before mount the teleconvertor. If user are not following the procedure, the lens may be damaged.

Customer Service

no

Similar Products Used:

Nikkor 100 ~ 400mm

-Quality of construction -Large Capabilities within 50-500mm -Nice SIGMA padded lens case included -Produces stunning beautiful pictures -Priced right for the prosumer! -Nice Lens mount included -Extremely quiet and fast HSM drive!

-Large 86mm lens filters are expensive

I obtained this mighty lens from a friend on a Sigma/Nikon forum. Fortunately for me and my budget, I was able to get a really good deal on this slightly used lens. Upon receipt, unpackaging & inspection, everybody on the surface of the planet would be impressed. The quality construction, simple awesome size (86mm!) & large reach on the 500mm side make it quite the "imposing force" --- It is every bit as heavy and bold as all of the other reviews on the net make it out to be. While most argue against the weight vs. size, inability to hand-hold and other factors, I will focus on my personal experience with this lens. The dynamic range of coverage from 50-500 is quite a challenge, for any lens. This lens shines in absolutely every single regard. While you can safety and productively hand shoot this lens on the lower 50-135mm side, you really need a support for anything extreme. The weight and girth of this monster is simply too much to handle in most common situations. I have been completely impressed with the quality and results from this lens. I have used this lens extensively with a variety of low to high end Nikon film SLRs and now my Fuji S2 digital SLR with fabulous success. The color, sharpness, detail, and light gathering capability is simply unmatched at this price range. The HSM drive mechanism (similar to the AF-S system on Nikon's) is swift, silent and oh so sweet. FAST, ACCURATE, SMOOTH AND SILENT FOCUSING! :-) Bang for buck there is SIMPLY NO BETTER DEAL REGARDLESS OF BRAND, PRICE OR SPECS. This is the lens for you! I take mostly outdoor wildlife, scenary and farm shots with stunning realism and purpose on my pictures. If you want a quality lens which will enhance your long-reaching film needs while keeping the budget within reason, then this is your BEST CHOICE, BARNONE!

Customer Service

N/A

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N/A

Built well,great contrast,easy to hold,great price

filters are expensive, hard to hand hold in the wind,

I thought the great reviews on this lens were too good to be true, but I was wrong! I have used the lens for three months and the results have been much better than I could have hoped for. I just returned from a month in Florida where I had the opportunity to test the lens on marsh birds in every light situation, and the results were great contrast and very sharpe photos. Yes you do need a monopod or a tripod, but if you want very sharpe photos you would use one anyway. If you must hand hold, then just use 400 or 800 speed film, the new Kodak Porta 400 is a great film with very fine grain. This lens is built well and looks great to. The lens is so sharpe that I don't even think of words like {L series) any longer. I use the 50-500 with the Canon EOS 1n and I think they are both a piece of art. I do recommend that you use a shoulder strap and fasten it to the lens instead of the neck strap that comes with the lens, the lens is heavy, but will not be a issue with a shoulder strap. If you have to have a white lens and money is not and issue, then buy the Canon. But If you want a great lens for less than $1000.00, this is it!

Customer Service

not needed

Similar Products Used:

28-135 70-210 50mm 28mm

Solidly built Fast, quiet and accurate HSM AF Great contrast and overall picture 'crispness' Affordable

Heavy Long and heavy at full zoom Stiff zoom at first

I bought it at a local shop - now Ritz - but used to be a pro shop. The AF died within 24 hours so I exchanged it the next day. One of the advantages of buying local. Not being one that makes money at this, the Canon 100-400 was out of the question. You get a lot of bang for the buck with this lens. As everyone else has mentioned, it's heavy and looong at full zoom. Also found the zoom very stiff at first. I couldn't use the zoom ring to return to 50mm - had to push the lens back in. Optical quality seems excellent. Good focus and contrast across the image. The 50mm end seems a little silly. As others have said, who needs a 4.25 pound 50/4? It's great for out of doors and nature photography. With the 1D's 1.3 FOV crop, it's practically a telescope. Support of some kind (oak tree, monopod or tripod) is almost mandatory. Highly recommended.

Customer Service

Not needed

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None - on this camera anyway

-Great Optics -HSM and RF make a great combo -Great price -Sharpness, color, and contrast good at all focal lengths

-On the heavy side (4lbs) -Expensive filters (86C)

I spent a lot of time researching this lens before I bought it, but after using for a few months I am very glad I did so. True, this is not the lightest lens of the bunch, but the value cannot be beat. All of my photos have come out with great sharpness and contrast with only minimal (if any) vignetting. The weight does make a monopod fairly desireable, however with a fast film (400-800) and bright daylight, it is by no means a requirement. The 500mm end is great, despite the f6.3, and all focal lengths have been sharp. I have heard some people saying that the focusing isn't up to USM standards, but to all of you I point to the price tag of the only two comprable Canon lenses (the 35-350mm L and the 100-400mm L). The zoom was a little stiff when I first got the lens, but after only a couple weeks it was completely loose. The bayonet hood that comes with it is a nice bonus, even though it does prevent the rotation of a polarizing filter. However, the lens helps to compensate for the hood with the RF (rear focusing) which keeps the front element from rotating when the lens focuses. The 86C filter size is on the expensive side, but with all the money you save buy purchasing this lens, adding in a couple of filters still keeps it cheaper than the other solutions. Also, to everyone who has said that the 50-500 range is overkill, Sigma does make a 170-500. The point of the lens is that added wide end which helps reduce the number of lenses you have to switch between and keeps the focus on the subject and not on the camera. All in all, this is an amazing lens with great quality at an amazing price.

Customer Service

Haven't needed it, but I hear it's great.

Similar Products Used:

Promaster 70-300mm Sigma 28-300mm Canon 70-300mm IS Canon 70-200mm 2.8L Canon 28-80mm Vivitar 70-210mm

Quiet Fast Focus (but not compared to Canon EF 400mm F2.8L IS.) Exellent quality at most apertures

Extremly Heavy Extends almost twice its size when at 500mm Too slow indoor sports (obviously)-unless with flash Wish it had larger aperture

This is a great lens for outdoor sports like football and tennis where there is a lot of light. It is very fast and quiet but it is a little soft wide open (f4). Great sports lens.

Customer Service

No

Similar Products Used:

Canon EF 400mm F2.8L IS-I wish I owned it! Canon EF 70-200mm F4L

*Wonderful quality *Excellent range *Price point *Comes with lens case (yes it's that big) and lens cover *5 year warranty *Zoom Lock switch prevents zoom creep *2x teleconverter gives you 100-1000mm! *Monopod/Tripod/Grip mount included with lens *You look like a professional *Might be mistaken as a bazooka ;) *Fuji NPZ 800 film solves most weaknesses *Focus is quick and extremely quite with HSM *Did I mention the quality???

*Heavy. Becomes extremely tiersome to carry for long peroids of time. *Monopod/Tripod is a must at 500mm *Auto focus may "search" *Heavy *Filters can be expensive at 82mm! *Heavy!

The Sigma 50-500 HSM lens, is certainly a must have lens for those who enjoy wild life photography! 500mm, is the perfect range for photographing unsuspecting animals. However, just a few more mm and this lens would be perfect in every single way. And with an 2x teleconverter you can do it! Giving yourself a 100-1000mm lens! Now that's impressive (mind you I do not have the 2x, yet). The overall lens is built very nicely. It's sleak. Large. And has excellent quality for the price! My first few rolls of film were a simple Kodak 200iso film. Getting a nice shutter speed was difficult in some situations. But, high enough to prevent motion blur due to camera shake. My recommended film is- Fuji's NPZ Professional 800iso film. It allows to have a wonderfully quick shutter speed in just about every situation! And no need to worry about grain -- I have yet to see any in a print up to 5x7, I haven't made anything larger, but, I can't imagine it being to severe. It is 800iso after all..... And a roll will only run you $11 (CAN) which is only a few dollars more than normal 800iso film. Certainly a must when using this lens! All in all the lens in absolutely great! And the quality is better than I imagined! And the price is even better compared to other lenses in that range! (ex- Nikkor 600mm lens is $12,000 (CAN) However, this camera does have it's problems. But, nothing that can't be ignored. You can find these below in the Weaknesses section..... If you're looking for a 500mm lens and don't want it to cost you an arm and a leg -- this is the perfect lens for you!

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I also have: Nikkor 50mm Nikkor 28-105mm Next purchase: Sigma 15-30mm Sigma 2x Teleconverter Nikon bellow! Love that macro photography

Quite sharp, huge reach at 750/6.3, not overly heavy, easy to use, excellent variety of shooting with 75-750mm on a Digital SLR. Hand-held I've had very pleasing results.

MOUNT - The lens I have, there is 1mm play between lens/camera body. Other Sigma lenses tried don't have this. After sales service is a bit disappointing too. Not super sharp, but sharp enough for my uses.

In short this is a great lens - not considering service. Okay, so considering my faulty product and "less than desireable" after sales service is a one-off and I'm unlucky, I've done this review on the lens alone. If you combine it with the latest in Digital SLR's the results are amazing - I'd not be so sure with film cameras. The fact a Digital SLR makes this lens a 750mm at F6.3 won the spot for me. This bears very much in mind the fact I don't need to change lenses. The lens play is something I'm confident Sigma will eventually address.

Customer Service

I've reported the problem of lens play to my supplier locally. He agrees it isn't right. He's contacted Sigma, but no word 2 weeks later. There's evidence other users have the same problem. Feel free

Similar Products Used:

HOYA Circular Polarising filter. Fuji S2 Pro Digital SLR

Best value around for "big glass" Sharp Versatile zoom range Well built Nice accessories (carrying case and hood)

Bit on the heavy side No autofocus with Sigma 2x converter

I have been extremely impressed with the results from this lens. Sharp images even when handholding it on a boat in overcast conditions using Provia 400. Have used it a few times with Sigma 2x with good results, although it would have been nice if it retained its autofocusing capabilities with the 2x converter. I originally had my heart set on the Canon 100-400IS, but as a casual photographer couldn't justify the spending that much money on a lens. After using the Sigma for a few months, I have all but forgotten about the Canon. For about half the price I got the zoom range I was looking for and very sharp images. I would recommend using a tripod or monopod with this lens, especially in lower light conditions or with slow film, but I'd recommend that for any lens. If you're looking for "big glass" without breaking the bank, this lens is an excellent choice.

Customer Service

Have not needed yet.

Similar Products Used:

Canon 100-300L

TACK Sharp! Nice 10x range Fast/Silent focusing Nice accessories come with it (hood, case, etc) Did I say TACK sharp?

BIG Heavy Large Huge (get the idea? You may not consider it a weakness if you can handle the weight...it's not really a problem for me but I know some people it would be a problem for)

I was skeptical about this lens at first. I mean, what 10x zoom lenses are actually any good? Yeah, maybe the Canon 35-350L...but that costs alot more. Well, I can honestly say...add this one to the list. This lens is FABULOUS (ok, it's a little on the heavy side but SO WHAT!) That's a sacrifice I'll make for this kind of range and performance. This has been the lens I have been looking for. It is Tack sharp wide open, at all ranges. I wouldn't hesitate recommending this lens to anyone at all...I have been very pleased with it. HSM again lives up to it's billing...very fast and silent focusing. If this lens had IS it would be an absolute dream come true...(and I hear Sigma's coming out with their own version of IS technology later this year). If you're considering anything near a 500mm lens...you owe it to yourself to check this one out. It is a very nice alternative to the Canon 100-400IS at almost half the price!

Customer Service

Haven't needed as of yet

Similar Products Used:

Canon 70-200 f/4L Tamron 70-300 LD Sigma 300 f/4 HSM