alazgr8 wrote in post #15450726
The biggest thing keeping me from buying a Sigma is the supposed quality control lottery of Sigma products. I know that many of you own or have owned perfect and trouble free Sigma lenses, but why all the stories? Is it a case of the squeaky wheel getting all the attention? I would really like the Sigma 50-500, because of it's versatility, greater range, and comparable price with the Canon. The Sigma 150-500 is attractive because of the price and range. The Canon, because it's a a Canon, and if the price isn't a problem, you can't go wrong...
I want to buy new because the prices I have been seeing on used lenses are not that far off of new prices, and also I won't have to worry about inheriting someone elses problems.
I will be shooting various youth outdoor sports including soccer, and baseball, vintage motocross, and trips to the zoo.
The three lenses I am interested in are (in order of preference):
1. Canon 100-400 f/4.5-5.6L IS USM $1499 @ B&H, Adorama & Amazon.
2. Sigma 50-500 f/5-6.6 OS HSM etc. $1509 @ B&H, Adorama & Amazon.
3. Sigma 150-500 f/4.5-6.3 OS HSM etc. $1069 @ B&H, Adorama & Amazon.
I think it is more on certain lens designs are more sensitive and thus have more variation. Some Canon lenses seem as prone as any other maker's.
I think sigma, at least in less than their most recent lenses, tended to have worse AF motors and algorithms though and Tamron used to have pretty slow AF motors (even their new ones are still no match for top Canon USM speed).
I think some of those sigmas you list above don't the greatest reputation for sharpness or AF and all above are quite slow. One of those two, I forget which, I read some pretty bad things about, very poor contrast and mediocre AF.
For youth sports and soccer and such a 300 f/4 might be good. Add a 1.4x TC for wildlife/outfield shots in baseball. If you forgot about IS for zoo, you could even get a used 300 f/4 non-IS for like $625-725, that plus the money saved to an upcoming 7D2. That body might do well (if the rumors are true and it will exist and it will have 5D3-type AF which is a lot better for field sports than the 40D AF).