Sigma 150-600mm Sport

RowdyRay · Jun 19, 2020

Got a new toy. Part of an estate sale. The daughter didn't think it was ever mounted to a camera. I believe her. Not even a finger print on it. Until I messed with it. No dust...nothing. Everything there. Case, straps and paperwork.

Paid 1,000.00 for it. Got it home and discovered there was a Promaster HGX Prime 105mm CPL filter included. Look it up. 319.99. Surprised me. Not sure if I'll use it but...could sell it and recoup a few bucks.

This thing is a beast. Heavy, but faster than any lens I own. Wow. It will focus on whatever is in front of it. You had better have it pointed where you want it. Move just a little.....Gonna take some getting used to. Not sure it's focusing correctly, or if it's me. A friend showed me how to turn on focus point AFTER the shot. It might be me. Have a dock on the way. Plan to update and calibrate it anyway. Probably just prove it was me. Lol.

Not the best time to be spending this kind of dough but, I just couldn't pass this up.

zombiesniper · Jun 19, 2020

A great bargain for a practically new lens. Congrats.

P.S. Welcome to the big dumb lens club. :allteeth:

jcdeboever · Jun 20, 2020

Nightmare lens for me. Couldn't hit focus with it. It was way off. Calibrated, calibrated, calibrated, calibrated, raised the white flag. The lens group was off centered. Sent back to Sigma, they said it was fine. Sent back again, they sent me a new one, even worse. Traded it in, hope yours is better than mine. Check it with the star chart before you spend hours trying to calibrate it.

Woodsman · Jun 21, 2020

Sweet. Took me awhile to get the hang of the Sigma C on my D7200 but it turned out to be me not the lens.

Love the thing now but like you said, these things are heavy and you feel it as you get older. Enjoy the new hardware. Great price

RowdyRay · Jun 21, 2020

zombiesniper said:
A great bargain for a practically new lens. Congrats.

P.S. Welcome to the big dumb lens club.

Thanks??? Lol. Still questioning my sanity. It's heavy. 6.3 lbs. or 2.86 Kg. Might not compare to yours but, to me......

jcdeboever said:
Nightmare lens for me. Couldn't hit focus with it. It was way off. Calibrated, calibrated, calibrated, calibrated, raised the white flag. The lens group was off centered. Sent back to Sigma, they said it was fine. Sent back again, they sent me a new one, even worse. Traded it in, hope yours is better than mine. Check it with the star chart before you spend hours trying to calibrate it.

Sorry to hear that. Hoping that's not the case for me. It seems to focus fine. If I can hold it where I want. Lol. A friend showed me how to change a setting in the menu that shows you where the focus point actually was when you view it on screen. Often times it wasn't on the eye of the bird. It was me moving. Took a monopod with yesterday and was able to get some very sharp head shots of ducks from quite a distance. Again, think it's me.

Ordered the dock more for future firmware upgrades. Not going to mess with it just yet. Also ordered one of those datacolor lens calibration tools. Should have long time ago. We'll see what that proves.

Woodsman said:
Sweet. Took me awhile to get the hang of the Sigma C on my D7200 but it turned out to be me not the lens. Love the thing now but like you said, these things are heavy and you feel it as you get older. Enjoy the new hardware. Great price

Thanks. This is two pounds heavier than your C lens. I have the Tamron 150-600mm G1 and the Sigma 150-500mm lenses. Can hand hold them all day. This is going to take some getting used to. Might have to use this one on a tripod and gimbal. That's ok, too. Have a couple ideas up my sleeve.

RowdyRay · Jun 21, 2020

The only complaint I have so far is, the tripod foot. Why would you make a lens of this caliber and price, (retail) and not make a foot long enough to balance when fully extended? Doesn't make sense to me. Sigma now offers an upgraded Arca compatible one for 250.00. Wow! Don't have that issue with the previously mentioned lenses.

Wimberley, of all companies, has one for 100.00. Gonna give that a try.

PJM · Jun 22, 2020

I had the same problem with my Nikon 200-500. I purchased a
Desmond DPL-115 Long Lens Quick Release Plate (115mm).
It works fine for me.

Scott Whaley · Jun 22, 2020

RowdyRay said:
Got a new toy. Part of an estate sale. The daughter didn't think it was ever mounted to a camera. I believe her. Not even a finger print on it. Until I messed with it. No dust...nothing. Everything there. Case, straps and paperwork.

Paid 1,000.00 for it. Got it home and discovered there was a Promaster HGX Prime 105mm CPL filter included. Look it up. 319.99. Surprised me. Not sure if I'll use it but...could sell it and recoup a few bucks.

This thing is a beast. Heavy, but faster than any lens I own. Wow. It will focus on whatever is in front of it. You had better have it pointed where you want it. Move just a little.....Gonna take some getting used to. Not sure it's focusing correctly, or if it's me. A friend showed me how to turn on focus point AFTER the shot. It might be me. Have a dock on the way. Plan to update and calibrate it anyway. Probably just prove it was me. Lol.

Not the best time to be spending this kind of dough but, I just couldn't pass this up. View attachment 193248

I have a 150 to 600 Sports lens with the 2X teleconverter. It does take some time to get used to. I hardly ever use a tripod.

RowdyRay · Jun 22, 2020

PJM said:
I had the same problem with my Nikon 200-500. I purchased a
Desmond DPL-115 Long Lens Quick Release Plate (115mm).
It works fine for me.

I looked at those too. Yes, it will work but, you're trusting all that weight on one bolt. If it fails...........The Wimberley replaces the existing foot, using the four screws that mount it to the ring. It's just 2" longer. That's all that's needed. Two inches!

Scott Whaley said:
I have a 150 to 600 Sports lens with the 2X teleconverter. It does take some time to get used to. I hardly ever use a tripod.

There's quite the argument about teleconverters. Think a lot may have to do with people buying the incorrect or unmatched TC. The Sigma TC-1401 seems to work very well with this lens on many cameras. I'll watch for a good deal on one of those. Spent enough right now. Need to conquer this beast first.

I prefer to hand hold. Not getting any younger. Just looking at solutions to keep using this lens.

Jeff G · Jun 23, 2020

Nice, I have the non-sport version and love it! Would love it more if it were the sport version, but the budget always has the last word.

BasilFawlty · Jun 23, 2020

Congratulations on a great buy! I have the Contemporary version on this lens (I't very close in IQ but a lot less weight).

photoflyer · Jun 23, 2020

I really enjoy these stories. Now is a great time to make this investment. You'll get way more than $1Ks worth of enjoyment out of it.

Oh, and you'll great out there with that beast mounted on you camera!

I don't have that lens but my Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6 L mark II with the 1.4 TC is similar in reach. The image stabilization is incredible BUT I finally got a ball head for the monopod. The lens is very sharp but I wanted to get every bit of performance out of it. I too prefer to hand hold but I think the monopod/ball head combo does make a difference when it makes sense.

RowdyRay · Jul 15, 2020

photoflyer said:
I really enjoy these stories. Now is a great time to make this investment. You'll get way more than $1Ks worth of enjoyment out of it.

Oh, and you'll great out there with that beast mounted on you camera!

I don't have that lens but my Canon 100-400 4.5-5.6 L mark II with the 1.4 TC is similar in reach. The image stabilization is incredible BUT I finally got a ball head for the monopod. The lens is very sharp but I wanted to get every bit of performance out of it. I too prefer to hand hold but I think the monopod/ball head combo does make a difference when it makes sense.

Sorry for not responding right away. Had to step away before saying something stupid. I didn't buy it to, "Look great out there." Was actually looking at primes. A friend of mine just got a 300mm and 2x TC, but it cost him 3200.00. THAT'S not in the budget right now. This just fell in my lap and more than I should have spent while unemployed. Just couldn't resist and shouldn't take a beating if I choose to sell it. So far, I'm very happy with it.

I do have a very nice CF monopod with an Oben VH-R2 tilt head. It uses the same RP-20 plate my Giotto ball head on my tripod. Why I bought it. But... may change everything over to Arca swiss. That's what my gimbal head and new tripod foot is. Hand held is one thing but, stabilizing it does make a difference.

Mike Drone · Jul 15, 2020

Is there a camera on that assembly :allteeth:

RowdyRay · Jul 15, 2020

Just an update. Got my Sigma dock. It had an update. There were several updates for the lens. Did all of those. I have not messed or tweaked anything yet. Seems to be working great. The lens calibrator is here. Just need another tripod (on the way) to really test it. See what that says and go from there.

For those interested the Wimberley AP-608 Replacement tripod foot is the Shiznit. Balances on my gimbal with/or without the battery grip and Arca Swiss compatible. Much less than Sigma's 250.00 solution. Should have been included, if you ask me.

Wimberley Replacement Foot for Canon 800 f/5.6 IS and Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 Sport Lenses

Wimberley AP-608