Bigma

[Mitcon]

Wow,

Just got the Bigma DG yesterday, what an awesome looking lens. How do people get used to shooting handheld with these type of lens. Dang it's heavy, is it normal on this lens to have to shoot at iso800-1600 just to get 1/500-1/1000 speeds ?

Still love it though, think maybe I need to get the 350d battery grip to make it easier to hold. Have to start saving now for some macro gear next. lol, is photography this addictive & exciting to everbody or do I just need to get out more. :D

[shiato storm]

in the sunshine you might find you can lower the ISO a bit...

p.s. yes its sad but true, everyone on here would rather go taking pictures than spend time at work/with their loved ones/pretty much anything else you can think of...

[condyk]

Battery grip will be essential and highly recommended.

Hand held shots are perfectly possible ... in fact, for some reason easier and more consistent than with my replacement lens the 100-300mm f4!! The Bigma handles well and seems to have good balance in use.

[LightRules]

Congrats on getting the Bigma DG; it's one amazing lens. It eats light so make sure to feed it plenty of it. But once well fed, it's a monster optically. You'll love it. And condyk is right: it has a great balance, even though it is so large. The B-Grip is helpful indeed.

See this: http://www.pbase.com/fstopjojo/3telezooms

[Hellashot]

Wow,

Just got the Bigma DG yesterday, what an awesome looking lens. How do people get used to shooting handheld with these type of lens. Dang it's heavy, is it normal on this lens to have to shoot at iso800-1600 just to get 1/500-1/1000 speeds ?

Hope not, unless you're using a teleconverter. It is an F4-6.3. I'm seriously consider purchasing it. You'll be better off with a tripod or monopod if you're using it at 400mm+.

[Mitcon]

I must admit I was shooting handheld at 500mm, & it was very overcast. Will grab a BG soon and try it out. I've not got the most steady hands so I tend to always try to keep my shutter speeds at 1/500 + no matter what length I'm shooting.
Will try a monopod soon as I get round to it also. I have a couple of tripods but I was shooting birds and needed the freedom/speed.

Don't let my thoughts impair your decision on buying the Bigma or not as others love it and I'm totally new to photography. That said I still love it, just wish it was lighter lol :eek: