I tried out the Tamron lens back in 2014 by renting one for an airshow. The lens was very nice, and at that time (August) there was no competition from Sigma. Because of the subject that I specialise in very often requires very slow shutter speeds, I usually limit myself to 1/160s having optical image stabilisation is quite important with the longer lens for me. I shot the show with the Tamron VC engaged, as I had heard that the VC in Tamron lenses could auto switch while panning. As I found out that was not the case with the 150-600 at that time. The VC when used while panning caused significant feedback problems that made any shot taken at under 1/1000 to suffer from extreme amounts of blur. It was interesting that you couldn't really see this through the viewfinder. After the show I spoke to a rep from the UK Tamron importers who confirmed that the VC could not work during panning because the electromechanical systems couldn't handle the load while moving. I know that Tamron have released a firmware fix for this, but I'm not sure if it simply disables the VC when it detects panning, so that you don't have to switch it off, or if it really enables the VC system to actually work effectively in that situation.
Since I had already had a problem with the Tamron and the VC I went out and got a Sigma 150-600 Contemporary. This lens is of a very similar construction to the Tamron, and is about the same price. The lens is IMO superior in image quality to the Tamron for static subjects, but since it has a dedicated Mode 2 for panning in the OS system it is much better in that regard, which since most of the time I am using it I am panning with slow shutter speeds. There are a lot more features available on the Sigma, especially if you get or already have a dock. The 150-600 C is the exception to the "Contemporary" line from Sigma, in that the dock options are exactly the same as for the "Sport" series lenses, so you get the OS and focus speed customisation, as well as the ability to set in lens MFA at four focal lengths and four focus distances, for a total of 16 MFA points. The added functionality that you get from the Sigma C is definitely worth the small price difference. If you have other lenses from the new Sigma Global Vision Range then you can use the same dock with all of those lenses too.
The much more expensive 150-600 Sport brings a much better build quality, at the least equal to Canon big white L quality. It's fully weather sealed, and is built on a solid aluminium lens barrel, it's one big chunk of metal, they have a bare body on display in WEX in Norwich, it's quite impressive. The optical arrangement for the Sport is different too, and the image quality is said to be even better. I haven't actually tried out the Sport, as it was never in my price range. Of the five reasonably priced big zooms on the market today, if you include the original 100-400L, I have used three of them, the other two I can only judge by the comments of others. When it comes to image quality I would say that from best to worse they run as follows:
- Canon 100-400 V2
- Sigma 150-600 S
- Sigma 150-600 C
- Canon 100-400 V1
- Tamron 150-600.
Example from Tamron 150-600, one of the few decent shots I got, as when coming towards you there is not much panning movement.
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/oDhvja
North American P51D Mustang
by
Alan Evans
, on Flickr
Example from Canon 100-400 V1
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/FiYLzC
North American P51D Mustang
by
Alan Evans
, on Flickr
Sample from Sigma 150-600 C
IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/EG6iVt
Hawker Hurricane Mk I
by
Alan Evans
, on Flickr
I tried to pick reasonably similar shots from each air show.
Alan