Sigma 400mm F/5.6 APO for $175..

[Markw]

I believe it is F/8 for this lens. I was thinking about picking up a Kenko 1.4x Pro300 to use with the lens and see how that works. I will have to stop up to about F/9, but I think the D300s' ISO capabilities can handle going up a tad if I shoot in RAW. Any ideas?

Mark

 

[benhasajeep]

I believe it is F/8 for this lens. I was thinking about picking up a Kenko 1.4x Pro300 to use with the lens and see how that works. I will have to stop up to about F/9, but I think the D300s' ISO capabilities can handle going up a tad if I shoot in RAW. Any ideas?

Mark

I have the new Sigma 150-500 OS and was dissapointed with it and a 2x Kenko teleconverter. The pictures were useable but just not quite sharp enough. With some experimenting I found that if I came back to about 450mm and used around f/11 the combo was its sharpest. But still not as good as the lens on its own and just cropping in on the computer. I do have a Kenko 1.5x but not the Pro 300 like the 1.4x. It was a bit better than the 2x, but still not quite what I like. The 1.4x may perform better. And since your new lens is not a zoom, you will probably get better results because of that as well. I think you did the right thing. It was a good price for what you got. And will be more than capable of giving you great results.

 

[Markw]

That's refreshing to hear. If I end up not liking the lens, I will sell it and be on the look out for the BIGMOS. I was going to get the MC7 (the 1.5x I presume you have), but Ive heard that the PRO300 series are far superior in the quality of images they produce. I was thinking about stopping my combo down about 2 stops from the minimum and seeing how it goes. Should be quite an experiment.

Mark

 

[mwcfarms]

Congrats Mark thats exciting and what a steal. Where did you find this deal. Other Nikonians are curious.

 

[Markw]

Thanks!

It was actualy on ebay. It was only on there for about 15 minutes. I had just enough time to message the seller for photos of the glass, and someone already bought it (asking price wsa $210). I got an email saying that the lens was already sold (within 15 mins!) After about two more days, I got a message from the same man with the photos and a message saying that the payment had never gone through. I asked him to sell it for $165 including shipping and he agreed to get around ebay fees. I purchased it immediately and it is currently on its way to my home. :mrgreen:

Mark

 

[djacobox372]

To put this deal in perspective a 600mm f5.6 manual focus nikon lens sells for around $2000 on ebay.

I own one and it works amazing with my d700, I'd be curious how the 400mm on a crop body stacks up.

 

[Markw]

Ship me your D700 and 600mm F/5.6 and Ill let you know just how it stacks up.

Kidding, of course. I am interested as well. I would imagine, just by rule of thumb, that the Nikkor will have far superior photo output. But who knows..it could be surprising. Hopefully it is. :mrgreen:

Mark

 

[Markw]

Out for delivery on 12/29/10 at 3:09am

:mrgreen:
Mark

 

[Markw]

Mark

 

[Bram]

What a beauty! If you ever want to get rid of it let me know. :thumbup:

 

[Markw]

Youll be the first to know! :mrgreen:

Mark

 

[nikon19804]

Hey Mark. It's been a while since you got your lens. How about an update on how/if you like it. I had a Sigma 400mm APO some time back. Good performer. Accidentally dropped it from a wildlife viewing platform. When I "replaced" it, I replaced it with its direct competition, a Tokina 400mm AT-X SD. Always thought that the Tokina was just a tad "snappier" than the Sigma, but both are great lenses.

 

[Markw]

It's been a while indeed. It's really hard for me to judge how I liked the lens. The lens I had turned out to have fungus on one of the internal elements, and it made alot of the photos look pretty bad. When shooting a directly-lit subject, I somehow got around the fungus, and the photos always turned out very good. I thought the AF was reasonably slow, but not as slow as I expected it to be. The lens really was a featherweight and almost felt like a toy to carry around. Compared to any lens I've ever owned, including the fantastic plastic 50/1.8. It was metal, sure. But it still felt really, REALLY small and toy-ish.

So, in all, I would have liked the lens, and maybe still owned it, if it weren't for the fungus. The extra length was greatly appreciated. The AF was reasonably fast when used in sunny conditions, as fast as to be expected, on my D300s. The build felt toy-like, but was solid. If I were to be in the market for a comparable lens again, I'd probably either get a faster prime, or at least the Macro version so it will focus closer than 15'.

Hope this helped a little.
Mark

 

[nikon19804]

Bummer! From the photos, I thought the lens looked like a "honey." Lately, looking on the net, there have been several other folks who seem to think that the Sigmas in this class ( 400mm f/5.6, all three "flavors" ) had a problem with internal fungus. Really too bad. I was thinking that, if I could find one like yours for "not a great deal of money", then I would like to buy it and do a side-by-side road test against my Tokina AT-X just to see for myself which was the better lens. Looks like I should save my money.
So ... you still "wishin" for the 150-500 Sigma or are you seeing fungi in your sleep?

 

[Markw]

I'm still wishing for the lens. But I guess I should change that to the 50-500 OS. That mishap doesnt scare me away from Sigma lenses in the least. I've owned their 18-50/2.8 EX DC, and 50, 105, and 180mm Macro lenses. All of which were beautiful performers. My 180/3.5 is probably my favorite lens I've ever owned. And I will probably sell my 35/1.8 and 50/1.8 to pick up their 50/1.4 which is supposed to be better than any Nikkor competitor. The fungus of that lens really isn't such a big deal to me. The lens was something like 30 years old. That's the risk you run, I guess.

Mark