Sigma AF 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 EX APO OS

[Ron M]

Does anyone use this lens and if so how is it?
Sigma AF 80-400 f4.5-5.6 EX APO OS

Thanks, Ron

[heycow]

Hi Ron,

I used to have the 80-400. It's a great lens if you're on a budget and need the range with IS/OS. It's super sharp, and does have FTM, but does NOT have HSM. This means that you can manually focus at all times, but the AF is rather slow. It's not unusably slow, and the only time I found it unusable was for VERY close VERY fast moving racecars. It's a heavy lens, but not that much more than its competitors.

Having said all that, I sold my 80-400 and bought the 100-400L. I never looked back, and wished I'd bought the 100-400L from the start. It's more money, is push/pull which I honestly never really got used to, but for tracking moving objects the faster AF on the 100-400L was amazing. It's lighter also.

If you find a good deal on it and are typically shooting at infinity, the 80-400 is a great lens. If you can afford the 100-400L and don't mind the push/pull or big honking white lens, get the 100-400L.

Hope this helps.

[Ron M]

OK. Thanks much.