Gah - what do to?!?!??!

[Overread]

Ok so it seems that Sod's Law works really darned too well sometimes. Went several months without so much as a peep on my lens sale (note even the spambots were bothering) so I went and blew the budget I was half saving for a new lens on the medium formate gear --- and now someone wants to buy my lens!

Having taken a fair while to sell and now being an out of production 3rd party lens which already has an upgraded version on the market I'm met with a problem. Do I risk selling my Sigma 150mm macro and hoping that I don't touch/waste/burn/lose the money from the sale to other things/general living in order to allow me to later purchase the OS version or do I hold off from the sale and hope that I get a fresh inquiry in a few months time?


gah!!

 

[Redbaron]

if it's a hard to get rid of lens and you want to get rid of it, sell it (unless the interested party is making a ridiculously low offer)

 

[dots]

Congrats on buying into medium format though.

 

[jake337]

I'm missing something.

So you were going to use the profit from the sale of the lens towards your meduim format gear? You jumped the gun and went forward with the medium format gear right. Wouldn't... 1)the sale of this lens just reimburse yourself or 2)give reason to add to your medium format gear?

I'd go with #2


Edit: I re-read your post and now understand what you were saying. You spent what you were saving for a new lens on medium format gear and now someone wants to buy your 150mm and if you do, you'd be under budget on replacing that lens with the new version.

So th new question is, is the newer version of the 150mm that much better than what you already have?

 

[Overread]

Optically speaking, from what I know, the new 150mm OS isn't a big jump up from what I have now (rarely is the case with macro prime lenses that there is much to improve on to start with) the main gain is the OS feature on the lens itself. The thing is even a slight advance on the optics is desirable as I'm often using it with adaptors/teleconverters for a bit more out of it - plus the OS is something that would be of great use in general shooting outside of macro work (though I'd also be interested to see how well it stands up to helping with macro work, even if its just to help keep the viewfinder image a little steadier).

The problem is with the lens being 3rd party, whilst its still top range I'm concerned that the 150mm will simply keep dropping in its second hand value (esp as there is a newer version on the market). If it were Canon L brand I wouldn't be worried (heck I sold my last L lens for the same price I bought it for!) but Sigma seems to devalue when second hand.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Over - Do you regularly shoot your 150 macro without a tripod? Or is this somehting you want the OS for? Does anyone you know have one you can test if that is what you want to try? The OS sounds nice, but I'm curious why you want to shoot 150 macro without a tripod. Call me crazy, I can't manage 60mm without a tripod....:mrgreen:

 

[Overread]

I shoot without a tripod more than I shoot with one at the moment - mostly because bugs are too active when I get out there to shoot to really work well with a tripod - I'm not good at early mornings when they are more torpid. As for trying out no chance I'm afraid.

 

[GeorgieGirl]

Sounds like you need the OS then. Good Investment.

 

[Overread]

I know - but I can't afford it for a good few months even with the sale of my current one - its tormenting me cause I don't want to hold off on the sale only to see its price drop or find that, yet again, its hard to get a buyer.

 

[Derrel]

OS does not work nearly as well at macro ranges as it does at longer distances...you shoot a fair amount of your macro work with flash, which freezes even fast motion...the shutter speeds where OS "Can" stabilize the lens are also going to be in the range where you risk subject motion blur from wind or breeze...I think the value of the OS for macro and close-range work might not really be that high, mostly due to 1)reduced effectiveness at close distances and 2)the inherent risk of SUBJECT MOTION blurring at speeds where OS would come into play.

As for the depreciation, yes, the lens will probably drop somewhat in value. It's still a good lens. It ought to be easy to pick up another copy of the 150 EX one or two years down the road, at a good price. If you wish to sell it, I would sell it NOW. I do not want to appear to be a smart-ass, but one good bit of advice I have always held to is, "Never buy a Sigma new." Always buy your Sigmas used. Let somebody else take the huge depreciation hit. As you have noticed, higher-end L-glass can be sold for what it was bought for (less inflation). Same with higher-end Nikon glass.

 

[Kerbouchard]

I love my Sigma 150 2.8, and you'll have to pry it off my body when my hands are too feeble to fight you.

It's a jewel of a lens and a great value. As far as the OS version, I don't know anything about it, but for me, it's just not something that I think adds enough to upgrade, but then again, I usually use a tripod when doing Macro work.

A recent example...

 

[Overread]

Aye I'm not expecting miracles of the OS at normal distances, but would at least make the 150mm a bit more equal to my 70-200mm. In the end though I'm warming to selling just because the depreciation is going to keep going on as far as I can see (plus any rise in price is likely to mean that what I'm after also went up in price - along with everything else). Though I doubt I can get the 150mm OS second hand being as its so new to hit the market.