Sigma EX lenses

[Woodman7]

I am thinking about buying these two lenses is anyone awhere of any problems with these lenses and the 10D. Also, does anyone have any feedback on these lenses. How do the Ex Sigma Lenses stand up against the canon non L lenses and against the L lenses in general.

Zoom Normal-Telephoto 50-500mm f/4.0-6.3 EX APO RF HSM Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS

Zoom Super Wide Angle 15-30mm f/3.5-4.5 EX Aspherical DG DF Autofocus Lens for Canon EOS


My current lense is the 28-135 IS canon lense and I am thinking that these two lenses will fill out my bag with the both ends of the spectrum for the cost of one L canon 100-400.

Thanks for the help

[danphoto1]

I have both lenses and They both seem to have issues when used with the D10. The camera dowdsn't always meter properly with the 15 to 35. Some shots are blasted and washed out I have tos shoot a shot and ceck in the screen to make surea that it is ok.

The 50 to 500 is a great lens in you have tiemto focus and use a mpmopod or tripod. It will shoot soft otherwise.

I AM SAVING MY PENNYS AND GETTING CANON LENSES FROM NOW ON THERE ARE JUST TO MANY PROBLEMS AND ISSUSES WITH 3RD PARTY LINSES.

I would rather get a used L lens thatn a new Sigma and I love the Sigma lenses they are a great valueand a excellent quality lens but the better the comos or ccd the higher quailith the lens has to be. What happens at 11 megapixils with a Sigma vs. Canon

I am currently using a EOS 24-70 100-400 70-200 and 75-300. The canon lenses just work and function better. I did not have this problem with the D-30 and 3rd party lenses. I loved the 28 - 300 and miss not having that range for general shooting

[jambo]

i now have the Sigma 50-500 EX and love it. it is a cracking lense,

of course, as woodman7 noted it needs mounting on a monopod at the least. It is a big heavy lens. A point to note with this one is it chews through batteries. A small price to pay for 800mm (on a 10D) though

i also have the Sigma 17-35 EX, seemed an allround better lens to me. for a start you can actually fit filters on the front which is a big advantage over the 15-30 EX.

[slau]

I have been shooting with the Sigma 50-500 since Jan 2003. I am very happy with it and probably shot with this lens 90% of the time (mostly on tripod).

In order to fully explore the potential of this lens, you do need to use it on tripod/monpod, which is a lot more critical than (high) shutter speed from my experience. I have been lucky to get some nice shots at low shutter speed. If you are planning to use this BIG lens handheld and at the 500mm end, you probably will be disappointed and the Canon 100-400IS will be a better choice. The 50-500 has no compatibility problem with my D60. Good luck.

[Woodman7]

Does anyone have two shots that I can see that compare a shot from an L lense vs. a consumer grade lense. I would like to see just how much clearer they are. Its hard to judge if 3 times the price is worth it.

[danphoto1]

I agree that the Canon 100 - 400 is a wonderful lens and I use it all the time. It is heavy but can be used hand held and works exceptionally well. It is a pleasure to shoot with it. take a look at my site and scroll down to the air show photo click on it and you get a real good idea as to how sharp this lins is. I also use a 1.4 multiplyer on the1D. The Sigma is a great lens but does not compare with the speed of focus thet the Canon has in Al Servo mode. Again Sigma lenses are wonderful but the Canon lens on a canon camera just work better. I love the Sigma 50-500 for long telephotos shots where I have time to focus but for sports and speed the canon is clearly a much more accurate and focuses more quickly. I also use a 70-200 to shoot basket ball and it is again quicker in respinse time than the sigma lenses that it replaced

[CyberDyneSystems]

Woodman7,

I can't speak for the 15-30mm,.. but the 50-500mm is an exceptional value.

Of course it needs to be on a Monopod or tripod??? There isn't a long telephoto made that works as well hand held? Yes the 100-400mm IS will have an advntage over the 50-500mm hand held,. but even so you should use a monopod with it.

Plus a lens of this size is quite heavy. Even steady hands like mine :) can't hold the weight of a lens this size very steady. You will in fat WANT a monopod to support the weight. I really enjoy hiking with this lens on a monopod. It makes it very easy to carry.

If you want the 500mm focal lenth,. this is the lens to buy. (unless you are ready for a $6,000.00 prime! )

Check my gallery below for examples taken with the 50-500mm.

As far as side by side comparisons... this won't really work. Incredible images can be taken with the cheapest lenses (look at the 50mm f/1.8 for $75.00 ) What sets a really good lens apart is consistancy of image quality, focus etc. Any side by side image comparison will not tell the true story.

[slau]

Here are the images I have when I was checking these three lens out back in January 2003 (before I bought my 50-500). The 300f4 is the discontinued non-IS model. All three are new lens. This is not exactly scentific test but you can download the images and compare them side-by-side, and form your own conclusion.

All shots were shot with my own D60 and handheld (with my back resting on a wall for support). The shutter speed should be high enough to avoid any camera shake. No other processing except converting the raw files with C1LE and cropping.

Test images (http://www.pbase.com/stephenl/lens_test)

[Patrick 10D]

danphoto1 wrote:
I also use a 70-200 to shoot basket ball and it is again quicker in respinse time than the sigma lenses that it replaced

Is your 70-200 L f4 or f2.8? I want this lense (f4 will do) for sports/action photos - for the most part, outdoors. Since I cannot find the f4 version anywhere, I am trying to justify buying the 2.8 ... I have almost convinced myself!

[eastendr]

I have recently bought a D-10, having been a D-30 user since they came out. I also have a EOS-5 and IX-APS.

I originally bought the cheaper Sigma lenses with the EOS5;
28-105 f4/5.6
100-300 f4.5/6.7

I then added;
Sigma 170-500 f5/6.3
Sigma 28-70 f2.8EX
Sigma 70-200 f2.8EX
Sigma 28-300 f3.5/6.3
Sigma 14 f.28
Canon 50 f1.4
Cosina 19-35 f3.5/4.5

I found all the lenses worked acceptably with the D30.

Since the D10 arrived I have had some issues that have made me re-evaluate things a bit.

I had to send 2 lenses back to Sigma (170/500 & 28/300) for modification to cure the ERR99 problem.

Full praise to sigma service. They carried out the work FOC and extremely quickly.

Since the 28-300 has come back and I have tried to use it, I find that it still gives regular ERR99's. It also now has trouble with AF in lower light conditions, where it seems to hunt and then settle significantly out of focus. It also seems to sometimes stay stopped down after the shot is taken, leaving a darker viewfinder and wrong exposure for the next shot.

To be fair, I havn't had a chance to report this back to Sigma yet for investigation & rectification. I should stress that the lens seems to perform OK on the EOS-5.

By contrast, at the same time I sent back to Canon my 50 f1.4. This had literally 'fallen apart' with the rear lens dropping out and the whole assembly rattling. How this happened I do not know as this lens has had very little use and always travels in the camera bag with many other lenses. Canon charged me over £230 and took about a month.

When I originally bought this Canon lens, it stopped working (af failed), and Jessops replaced it as it was only a couple of days old.

Reliability and quality of service Sigma - 1, Canon - nil.

I have used the lenses for a couple of months on the D10 now and have always thought the results of the sigma EX's were soft and not accurately focused. This seems much more noticable on the D10 than on the D30.

Motor-racing shots taken with the Sigma 70-210 f2.8 seemed particularly soft, and the D-10 had real problems in AI servo mode keeping up.

I have just bought a Canon 100-400 f4.5/5.6 L U IS. I have to say that speed of focusing has improved considerably. Pictures now seem to have more contrast and focus seems considerably better. I have to say that I'm VERY impressed with this lens.

I have decided that I am going to get the Canon 16-35 f2.8 L U next. If this works as well as anticipated, a Canon 70-200 f2.8 L U IS will be added shortly afterwards.

The point I am making here is that my progression of equipment has shown that as the camera resolution has increased, issues with the Sigma lenses, not apparant with the D30, have appeared.

While I found the combination of my Sigma lenses and D30 camera to be very good, the D10 has raised the game to the point where I feel that I need to use Canon L lenses to get the quality that I expect.

I could, of course have been unlucky with some lenses, but you can see that I have a wide range of Sigma lenses, and remain a fan.

I will probably continue to use the D30/Sigma combination as a backup system, but only buy Canon L for the D10 (and maybe 1-Ds one day).

I am doing something wrong, I am seeking enlightenment !

Sorry this has been a long first post, but thought my experiences may be of interest to the forum.

[mkaplan]

I have and use the 15-30 and it is a very nice lens. It has the extra reach you need with the 1.6x crop factor so you have a 24-48 and I have had no problems yet with any errors, autofocus or anything else. It has worked as expected. You can see some sample shots on my site:
http://www.pbase.com/mkaplan/sigma_1530_samples

[reggie]

Hello Patrick,

I can sell you a two month old 70-200 f4 L that I have no use for. I'm based in the UK but I believe the Scandinavion prices are very high.

greg.newby@virgin.net

[canonut]

I have shot extensively with the 15-30 and have been very pleased with the results. I too have only recently started to get the Error99 message on my 10D - but not just with Sigma lenses. I also have had it happen with the Canon 70-200L. These seem to happen in high temperature/high humidity situations. After exploring all the options, it appears to be in the camera - it has lost the ability to shoot in Tv mode altogether. Waiting on a response from Canon about this one.

[blackviolet]

i use the 50-500 almost every weekend for taking outdoor sports. it's super sharp from about f/6.7 onward. i use a monopod - mostly because i'm shooting all day and it gets heavy, but i have hade good success hand-holding it - especially if the monopod is hanging off it. no err99 on my 1dmkii or 10d, ever. it's been to the shop once, to have the screws holding the mount tightened. sigma had it back to me in 5 days, fixed free of charge.

i should definitely point out that it's strictly outdoor/daytime. definitely won't work for gym sports, indoor swim meets, etc. i have been very happy with the af speed.

i have tried the 15 - 30 (just around the shop and on the street near the shop), but i found i liked the 12-24 much better and it was about the same price. again, it's pretty sharp.

[Olegis]

I also have the 15-30, it's a great lens - wide and sharp. The only downsides of it are :
1. Flare - you have to carefully control the light sources you're putting inside the frame.
2. AF/MF switching mechanism is a little strange at first, but once you get used to it - it's OK.

Overall it's wonderful lens. You can have it for $480 here (http://deltainternational.com/store/Item_SGL15%2D30C.htm) (about $100 cheaper than in B&H and Adorama).

You can see some examples made with this lens in my galleries (the link is in the signature).

[photamat]

I also have the 15-30, it's a great lens - wide and sharp. The only downsides of it are :
1. Flare - you have to carefully control the light sources you're putting inside the frame.
2. AF/MF switching mechanism is a little strange at first, but once you get used to it - it's OK.

Overall it's wonderful lens. You can have it for $480 here (http://deltainternational.com/store/Item_SGL15%2D30C.htm) (about $100 cheaper than in B&H and Adorama).

You can see some examples made with this lens in my galleries (the link is in the signature).

Olegis,
I also own a sigma 15-30. Recently I have had some backfocus problems with it. Do you normally shoot in Av/Tv? what is your normal shooting range and the apertures?

[Rudix]

I have a 50-500 EX and I find it to be a superb lens, sharp and with fast AF. I have never had an error or any problem with it, like all Sigma EX lenses the build quality is great ! I own serveral Canon Lenses including L lenses so I am comparing it with other good lenses.

I normally use this lens for nature (mostly bird) shots but have used it quite a lot for motor and motorcycle races and airshows.

I have used it on the following bodies without ANY problems: 300D, 10D, 20D, 1Dmk2 and 1DSmk2.

I am sure you will be happy with it as long as you except that it is a long lens and might require support if you shutter speeds are not high.

Rudi

[wolf]

I agree with all the above regarding the Sigma 50-500. It is a superb lens and built like a tank. You can not go wrong for the price.

[Olegis]

I also own a sigma 15-30. Recently I have had some backfocus problems with it. Do you normally shoot in Av/Tv? what is your normal shooting range and the apertures?

Hi.

I shoot almost exclusively in Av mode with pretty small aperture values, around f/8, f/10 or such. Lately I'm using the longer side of the lens for some reason ...