zoom

I just recently got into photography as a retirement hobby and was fortunate to be able to acquire a Canon D60 within two days of ordering one from Kaimuki Camera Store in Honolulu.

To complete the Canon system I purchased Canon Lenses, the EF 16-35mm f/2.8L USM, EF 28-70mm f/2.8L USM, Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.5-6 IS USM, and a Canon EF 35-350mm f/3.5-5.6L USM. I also got a Tamron 28-300mm UltraZoom XR f/3.5-6.3 LD Aspherical Macro, and my daughter got me the Sigma EX 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO RF Zoom lens, along with the Sigma 2.0 teleconvertor lens, for my retirement party.

This Sigma 50-500 lens is like magic for me in that I've taken pictures of the city from my balcony and upon proccessing the images on my computer there are images that I didn't even know were there through my naked eye. I was amazed that I could read freeway signs that were easily over ten miles away.

Tonight my wife, daughter and I went out to shoot pictures of the full moon. We were all pleasantly surprised when we could see the details of the moon's surface, with the craters and other distinct features. By the way, I did have the Sigma 2X teleconvertor attached. If I'm not mistaken, along with the extra teleconvertor's 2X power, the magnification was also further enhanced by the inherent 1.6 mutiplier effect through the digital camera's characteristics.

All of the other reviewers are correct in their opinion of the 50-500's weight. It is heavy, and so far, I've gotten a lot of comments about the neat "retro" look with the crinkled black finish just as Bluegun opined. I also noticed that on several occassions people in front of me actually moved aside to give me room to shoot pictures at our Aloha Week events and once at a University of Hawaii sporting event. I guess the big tripod, and once, monopod monted Sigma zoom possibly gave me the look of a pro, which, of course, I'm far from.

I really like Sigma's locking feature so that the lens won't creep open when moving about. Also, when trying to manually focus the lens it is pretty tight, or sticky, as Bluegun has noted, however, I may be wrong, but I kind of like it tight rather than having it too loose. When I checked for comparisons in features/pricing this Sigma 50-500 is a definite bargain. I can't seem to find any comparable Canon lens with that range of the 50-500. The closest Canon has is not anywhere near Sigma's price points. Of course I pretty well believe that Canon's quality/price against Sigma's is definitly not comparing apples and apples. What Sigma has done, however, is help to make a big powerful lens that is affordable for just about anyone who can't affordably justify Canon's at the moment. Case in point - Sigma's 50-500 zoom has made it possible for my daughter to have the luxury of purchsing a good as well as impressive "big lens" for her daddy on her student's budget.

I got this lens to replace my 600mm reflector which is fixed aperture with a dreadfully small depth of focus. This lens is spectacular by comparison: excellent focus depth, with F4-6.3 it is light-strong enough to get away with a lot of stuff that reflector lenses don't allow as they suck so much light. I do motorsport and nature photography, so fast exposure times are key, and this lens allows for good flexibility in difficult light conditions or where you need to be super-quick without compromising depht-of-focus. I use this lens on a Canon EOS 7E elan, and this is an outstanding combo for motosport and nature shots, since both the lens and the camera are very quick and very quiet. My two only complaints with this product are the weight (very heavy, bring Advil to shooting a whole Grand Prix weekend!)and the fact that the zoom is a little slow-going, but maybe that'll easen up with more use. Overall another very solid Sigma product, unbeatable value for the money. I shut off the autofocus sometimes when I do difficult action pics where there's potential for automatic focussing errors, but if you don't, be prepared to bring extra batteries, since moving the autofocus in a big lens like this will suck the power out of your camera in no time.

Heavy as lead. Slight "stickiness" in the zoom when changing directions at full extension, but nothing major, feels like it will work out. Nice finish, kind of retro, speckled, grainy finish, good gripping and looking. Good, very quiet focusing. Excellent sharpness, using it on a D30 digital, so can't really tell about aberrations at widest and longest, since I lose the edges with my CMOS anyway. FOR THE MONEY, I don't think you have a better choice. Of course, if you can afford it, get the Canon "L." Don't think you'll be disappointed for the price.