Sigma 500mm f/4.5 EX APO HSM vs Canon ef 300mm f2.8 IS USM + 2x Extender

[Sanderling]

Which of these two are better for bird photography?

[Ken Nielsen]

I think renting is the way to go. Give each a try and decide based on your results.

I looked at the 600mm USM today. I'm going to give that a try.

Renting is a great thing.

Ken

[TooManyShots]

Which of these two are better for bird photography?


The Sigma is a hit or miss lens. There are copy variations. It can hit or miss a focus. I had it for 2 weeks and Neil had one too. He got the 300L F2.8 IS instead, adding a converter for birds. I exchanged it for a 500L. :) At least with the 300L the lens can resolve well enough for cropping. At least you can nail the focus with the shot. Not sure about the Sigma.... I am sorry but I don't believe I should go through "lens quality risk" when dealing with a close to $4000 lens here.... Did I tell you I went through 2 brand new copies of the Sigma and only the second batch was slightly better. Cheaper if it is not the DG version.

[BradM]

No experience with the Sigma 500 f/4.5 but have owned the Sigma 300-800 f/5.6 and it was a very good piece of glass with a couple caveats, primarily no AF on my 1D body with the 1.4x, Sigma or Canon and I believe this maybe the same case with the 500 f/4.5 and the lack of IS makes a real difference in big glass. Otherwise optically as good as just about anything Canon makes, AF is a bit slower but not by much from the 500mm f/4 L which is what replaced it.

But I would not buy a lens with the expectation of using an extender to shoot a subject. It is usually better to buy the focal length you need and then work from there.

If the primary use of the 300mm is for something other than birds, like sports then it would make more sense.

But if you are expecting to use it for birds with either a 1.4x or 2x it would make more sense to start with a 500mm f/4 or 600mm f/4.

You get the reach you need and can still go longer with a 1.4x and still have AF on all of the Canon bodies or a 2x and have AF with the 1D's.

[CyberDyneSystems]

I had an excellent copy of the SIGMA 500mm, it was the best lens I had ever used (until I got a super deal on a Canon 500mm :mrgreen: )

It's only been in the past few months that we have started to hear about people being disappointed with copies of this lens.. a real Shame. SIGMA used to pay more attention to there multi-thousand dollar lenses.. Never heard any negative feedback on them until very recently.

IMHO, though this supports my theory on this lens.
Get a used one for about 1/3rd the cost of the Canon 500mm :) It's a very affordable way to get a serious birding lens.

[HYBEagle]

Get a used one for about 1/3rd the cost of the Canon 500mm :) It's a very affordable way to get a serious birding lens.

I thought Lens hold their value forever. How could a multi thousand dollar lens drop the price to 1/3 (assuming it's optically and mechanically perfect)?

[Roy C]

I thought Lens hold their value forever. How could a multi thousand dollar lens drop the price to 1/3 (assuming it's optically and mechanically perfect)?
I believe this was referring to the cost of a used Sigma 500 in relationship to a new Canon 500 (which is a lot more expensive than the Sigma to start with).

[BradM]

I thought Lens hold their value forever. How could a multi thousand dollar lens drop the price to 1/3 (assuming it's optically and mechanically perfect)?

It is not uncommon to find that one can buy a used Sigma, Tamron or other 3rd party manufacturers big dollar lens for half or less of the original selling price, where Canon (or Nikon for) that matter hold their value quite well usually in the 80% range of new. An exception being those without IS compared to the newer version w/ IS, these older lenses are often now getting closer to the 50 to 70% of new pricing.

One of the reasons with Sigma for example is that the lens design may or may not work on more current bodies, Sigma in the past has offered to re-chip a lens to work on a more current body released by Canon but the guaranty that a 3rd party lens will work is never really there.

The instance I mentioned previously is a case in point, I had a Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 which should have AF abilities with the 1.4x added to the lens on my 1D Mk2 as the f/stop would have been f/8, however it didn't do so regardless of which extender I used, Canon or Sigma.

There is some very good glass from 3rd parties, and can certainly be worth the price of new based on the reach, AF and image quality captured but the real bargain can be finding one of these used and taking advantage of the big hit that the original purchaser takes in selling.

The value then stays fairly static, if the lens will work with the current bodies, and the 2nd or later owner will usually get as much from the lens when selling as they paid for it. It is the original owner that takes the bit hit on it.

[CyberDyneSystems]

A Sigma losses a lot of it's value the day it is purchased,.
Used Sigma rarely hold there value in the way that Canon and Nikon lenses do.

In the last three years some Sigma's seem to be holding value better than they did a few years back but still, it's not as good as Canon.