Am i making a mistake?

I currently have the 100-400 IS USM L from canon and been thinking of selling it to get the 50-500 Sigma. Is this going to be a big mistake? i have hunted on the tinterweb but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information and it doesn't seem much in it!?

Can anyone help?

they are both good lenses if you get good sharp ones I have the 100 - 400 and it too k me 3 goes to get a good sharp one but I really am happy with it and will be keeping it - don't have the sigma but some who do really like it - I reckon if the lens you have is nice and sharp on cam keep it if not move it on - obviously 500 is better than 400 if you shoot wildlife provided I Q and AF performance is similar - you can add a Ext 1.4 to the 100 - 400 snd tape the 3 pins and still get a bit slow af at 560 and I do that now ans then !!!
cheers

Is there a good way of telling the sharpness like how sharp it should be? I will mainly be using it for motorsport, Thought it could go well with my 24-70 f2.8

I was thinking of going 70-200 but will miss the reach.

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17202120
I currently have the 100-400 IS USM L from canon and been thinking of selling it to get the 50-500 Sigma. Is this going to be a big mistake? i have hunted on the tinterweb but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information and it doesn't seem much in it!?

Can anyone help?

mistake: yep. go into the field. the serious guys are using big guns and the 100-400L. every time sigma or tamron releases a new lens there's all this hype and smack talking about the 100-400L but give it a few months and it gets real quiet and you'll see the third party lenses quietly disappearing from gear lists. and then you'll realize why canon is in no hurry to replace the 100-400L because nothing else can touch it.

fair enough, I'll stick with it! at a later stage i htink i'll have to add the 70-200 f2.8 just becuase i like having a complete L setup covering the whole range

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17202120
I currently have the 100-400 IS USM L from canon and been thinking of selling it to get the 50-500 Sigma. Is this going to be a big mistake? i have hunted on the tinterweb but there seems to be a lot of conflicting information and it doesn't seem much in it!?

Can anyone help?

Heya,

Hrm. To me, yes, mistake. You're not gaining anything in my book. Sure, the Sigma is wider and longer, but it costs you something to get that little bit of extra convenience to be able to get a zoom that does that range. I'd stick with the 100-400. If you want longer, buy a truly longer lens. I find 100mm is a very small increase. 200mm will be much more noticeable and worth the expense if you are going to trade up. Maybe look into the Tamron 150-600 or the new Sigma flavor of the 150-600.

Or I'll save you a lot of time and overall money by spending big now and suggest a Sigma 120-300 F2.8 with a set of 1.4 and 2.0 TC's. Skip the climb.

Very best,

MalVeauX wrote in post #17202338
I'd stick with the 100-400. If you want longer, buy a truly longer lens. I find 100mm is a very small increase. 200mm will be much more noticeable and worth the expense if you are going to trade up. Maybe look into the Tamron 150-600 or the new Sigma flavor of the 150-600.

+1 to all

i think the only way at this moment after reading this that i would upgrade is if i had something to cover the gap of 70-100.

I guess if i go for the 70-200 i'll really miss the 200-400 range?

Thanks for all the advice

I happen to have a Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM that just sits and gathers dust. I ended up with a Canon 28-300 and a Tam 150-600 which I prefer. If interested PM me

ed rader wrote in post #17202232
mistake: yep. go into the field. the serious guys are using big guns and the 100-400L. every time sigma or tamron releases a new lens there's all this hype and smack talking about the 100-400L but give it a few months and it gets real quiet and you'll see the third party lenses quietly disappearing from gear lists. and then you'll realize why canon is in no hurry to replace the 100-400L because nothing else can touch it.

I am going to wager that the Sigma 150-600 sport changes this.

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17202149
Is there a good way of telling the sharpness like how sharp it should be? I will mainly be using it for motorsport, Thought it could go well with my 24-70 f2.8

I was thinking of going 70-200 but will miss the reach.

sharpness re focus for a lens is pretty obvious usually e.g blades of grass, animal fur, eyes etc and especially so when you blow it up 100 % - if it looks a bit soft or slightly out of focus then mfa it or move it on

70 - 200 f 2.8 is a real gem of lens but it is a bit heavy to hand hold all day so I have the 70 - 200 f4 which is sharp and fine to hand hold for long periods -

my 100 - 400 is my go to lens for all my wildlife shooting and i do mostly hand hold it but sometime use it with my monopod - also have the tam 150 - 600 is there for when the wild life is a long way away from me and use a monopod or tripod with it as I find it pretty hard to hold steady hand holding

70 - 200 is often ok for reach and can add the 1.4 Ext to get a bit more - but hard to go past the long lived 100 - 400 when its a good sharp copy
cheers

i'm very tempted to go for the 70-200 2.8 as i shoot 100-400 pretty much whole day at castle combe circuit here in the UK. I'm going to have a look through my current shots and see what focal length i seem to use the most on the track, my thinking is that if most of them are under 250mm i could get away with the 200 and crop a lil.

urbanfreestyle wrote in post #17202350
i think the only way at this moment after reading this that i would upgrade is if i had something to cover the gap of 70-100.

I guess if i go for the 70-200 i'll really miss the 200-400 range?

Thanks for all the advice

Now you're talking...24-70 + 70-200 + 200-400L

crbinson wrote in post #17202499
Now you're talking...24-70 + 70-200 + 200-400L

yes please me too - now what are those lotto numbers again

HAHA! well if i win the lotto i'll buy one of them for you!

I'm meeting a fellow motorsports tog this weekend with a 70-200 and i have the 100-400 so i think we'll do a bit of a lens swap for the day.... see how it goes.. Do you really need IS on a 200?