Oggy
Registered: February 2010
Location: Worthing UK
Posts: 83
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Review Date: Thu, 4 February 2010
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 9
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Positive aspects of the product (pros):
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Focal length, Image quality, Value for money.
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Cons:
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Some may find it heavy. Needs light.
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Generally I stick with Pentax lenses, but with brick wall at 300mm, I was left with few options. I did try teleconverters on my DA* 60-250 and 300, but the results were disappointing so I bought the Sigma 150-500.
As soon as I opened the box I was impressed. The lens arrives in a proper substantial soft case rather than the usual cloth bag with various straps and the paperwork. It feels solid and well put together. It has a matt black finish which I was a little concerned about, but nearly a year later it is intact.
The lens has a tripod collar which doubles as a carrying handle (bigger and more useful than the DA* equivalent). It also has an AF/MF switch and a zoom lock switch which locks the lens at 150mm. If you point the lens down you will get zoom creep. There is also a large hood stored reversed on the lens. One tip, when removing or fitting the hood, space your fingers out evenly around it rather than pinching it from opposite sides, and it will be easier to get on or off.
The lens does weigh 1915gm or just over 4Lb so substantial tripods and carrying equipment please. I have a Lowepro Flipside 400AW which will take the lens on or off the camera with loads of room left over. Remember also that it uses 86mm filters which are not cheap.
It has HSM (the Sigma equivalent of SDM) focussing which is nearly silent, and if anything, faster than the Pentax system.
In use, the lens does have some limitations - some say it is not sharp at 500mm. The truth is that at F6.7 it is not really, but close it down a couple of stops and it really is capable of taking a very good picture, to the extend that it will knock a TC into a cocked hat.
So not a perfect lens then? Arguably not but consider this - I have not quoted a price because I bought mine in GB and we pay silly prices, but the street price of this lens is around 2/3 of the price of a DA* 60-250.
Suddenly it makes sense and I would strongly recommend this lens to people who need 500mm.
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Please feel free to modify my pictures unless I ask otherwise.
K20d DA18-55II, DA55-300, DA35LTD, DA*16-50, DA*50-135, DA*60-250, DA*300, DFA100 Macro, FA50 1.4, Sigma 150-500.
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