Sigma 80-400 confusion, new lens coming out?

O.k. I am in the market for a new lens. (tax refund burning up the pocket, you know)

I have decided on the Sigma 80-400 OS becasue 1) I have a 300 and want to go longer, and 2) if I am going longer I might as well add OS/IS. (The 50-500 is interesting, but I don't always carry my tripod).

Here is my question... is there a new version coming out? I see that NO ONE has them online in stock. I called one place and they said that it has not been released yet?!?! I think, the new version is the DG version, but cannot confirm it. The Europe sigma website lists a DG version, there are many reviews for a DG version, most nearly a year old or more. Sigma's product .pdf shows a DG version, but not their website.

Is is only availible in Europe, is it coming to the US, or do I have it totally wrong.

I almost bought a non-DG version on ebay, and I also ask is there a difference.

Amazon had a version listed as having HSM focus on it, but I cannot find the page again, under availibility it said "January 2007, order now"

So what is the story? Anyone know. Or do I give up and get a used Canon 100-400. (I cannot afford a new one, its either a used canon or a new Sigma)

Kevin

boufa wrote in post #2597243
Amazon had a version listed as having HSM focus on it, but I cannot find the page again, under availibility it said "January 2007, order now"

Thats very interesting as HSM is what Im wanting in this lens. Its surely worth a wait for the HSM version if you read about it correctly.

Hi guys,

The Sigma APO DG OS 80-400mm is not a new lens.

I had this lens about a year ago and had to sell it because the OS did not work properly with my XT. In my search for a solution I found that at least one other person had the same problem. We concluded that the XT did not provide enough current to drive the OS or something like that.

Apart from the OS not working the build quality and optics of the lens are great:
http://www.pbase.com/e​vandavies/sigma_80400m​m

I got the 100-400 instead and its loverly

That would be surprising. Sigma is notorious for announcing things 4 or 5 months before they're actually available.

If they'd add OS to the Bigma it would be perfect. I'd own one in a second, heck, I'm thinking about getting one right now. haha this forum is terrible for my wallet.

1) no I don't have the link to the Amazon listing. I was poking around at the early stage of the research and was not paying attention to how I got there.

2) Is this at all a common problem with the XT, since that is the camera I have?

Maybe it is only a varient of the DG lens, and the lens will be the same with a few minor tweaks... don't know, hoping someone out there knows.

Kevin

it hasnt been in stock most places for months now i think, not sure why. if they were in fact adding HSM to it that would be a good thing no doubt, but i would suggest looking at the bigma (50-500) or 100-400 canon

"DG" is really only a coating on some of the internal surfaces to reduce reflections between the rear glass element and the sensor - but most people never have a problem with that.

Optically and functionally the DG and non DG versions are essentially identical.

In the UK the 80-400 has always been a pig to get hold of, and I've heard similar stories the world over.

If it had HSM it would be a match for the 100-400mm in every way, though it's no slouch without - it has (at least the Nikon version has - I presume the Canon-fit is the same) an internal AF drive rather than relying on the camera's own AF drive.

That makes it surprisingly fast focussing for a geared focus motor, and it's fine, even for most bird photography.

The IQ is great.

I don't like people who answer there own questions, so I hate myself at the moment.

Called 1 place and they gave me sigma's phone number. The person at sigma did not seem to appreciate dealing with a customer on a dealers line, but she did transfer me to a tech.

He said that the upgrade was last year to the DG coatings, and he doesn't know of any pending upgrades. He did say however that the next shippment is due in around march. The lens suffers from limited production time in the factory, so they sell out fast between shippments.

I asked about the cannon rebel xt/250 thing. He said that he has heard of the issue, but said it is isolated, and said that the lens IS compatible with the rebel, but sometimes does not work. He estimates less than 1%.

Thanks for the imput, I think I will get in line for the 80-400 sigma and if I cannot get one of those then the 100-400 canon.
Kevin

I have the 80-400 OS DG version and using it with the 350D (XT). The optics are good and the image quality what I was expecting from the lens.

I did not notice any issues with the OS. What I did notice is that the lens causes a delay in rapid shooting (3fps) sometimes. I was able to determine that the symptom occurs when the shutter speed is between 1/125 ~ 1/160.

I cannot really understand why this happens, just an inconvenience. The end result is that shooting speed is reduced by a little, perhaps down to 2.5fps, however this is not constant. You can hear that shooting is not steady. Some frames shot at 3fps some at a very lower speed. Like stutter.

I have read some suggestions that it may have to do with too much current requirements from the lens side, and although this lens drains batteries like a ****, I am using it with a battery grip with two batteries and have seen no difference in performance. Just batteries getting drained fast.

The lens is not HSM and I have not read any rumours or plans to put HSM to it. The focusing speed is, for me, the biggest issue with this lens. AF is noisy and slow. In some cases AF will fail and at least the focus ring can be used in AF mode to focus manually.

I have trained myself in a technique for AF, by which I zoom out, focus, zoom in with the shutter button half pressed, and then take the shot.

Considering that with moving subjects AI Servo is the proper way to AF, this technique just blends with the AI Servo technique and is not really bothersome.

One nice thing with the lens is that it gives acceptable to good results with the Sigma 2xTC. Manual focus only, and it is a **** to focus, especially in close ranges, due to the very small depth of field. I need to stop down 1-2 stops to get very good results, and given that with the TC the min apperture becomes f/11, good pictures can be obtained at f/22 with the 2xTC attached. This really reduces the exposure / ISO options dramatically, which means that with the TC, I need to set ISO to 800 to take pictures.

On the brightest side, the OS works very well. At 400mm it is very hard trying to frame and focus without OS enabled. At 800mm, it becomes a nightmare. The OS works wonders there and allows the lens to be handholded at 800mm with very crisp results, provided ISO is set at 800 and sometimes the lens is used wide open.

This is clearly a bright sun lens.

Before choosing this lens, I was also considering the Canon 100-400. I did not select the Canon and I regret it. It doesn't cost much more and lacks nothing that the Sigma provides. The push-pull zoom is blamed by several people to be a source for dust suction, however the large tube on the Sigma is also sucking air when zoomed as well. I can hear the air flowing in and out while zooming.

All in all, this is no better lens than the Canon, is not substantially cheaper, so I cannot see any reason for choosing this over the Canon.

Since Nikon also has a similar lens, with a similar price, I can imagine this lens is not produced in numbers, hence very hard to find.

On the other hand, now that I have it, I find no reason to sell it and buy the Canon in it's place. I will, though, be investigating primes and brighter than the Sigma. The problem is, what I am looking for is called EF 300/2.8 and costs a lot.

I ended up going in a totaly different direction, when I did end up buying a lens. I did some looking, and some more research and ended up going with a Tokina 80-400 instead of the sigma.

Let me explain my thinking. The Sigma was already at the very top of the budget, so the Canon lens was never really a possibility (at least not new.) So when I evaluated what I was getting for the money vs. the Tokina, I decided it was not worth it to get the sigma. The focus is not HSM, USM etc, on either lens. The only difference was the size (the tokina is much smaller) and the OS (the tokina didn't have it) and the cost (the tokina was about $400 cheaper).

I discovered that mostly, over 90%, of my pictures would be outdoors in pretty bright light, most shutter speeds over 1/1000, meaning that the value of the OS would be significantly reduced.

In addition the much lighter weight make the tokina easier to travel with (you don't get good pictures from a lens that you leave at home!)

The biggest win, was that reducing the cost of the 80-400, allowed me to get a second lens (Sigma 10-20) which I really love! significantly expanding the coverage of my lenses, picked up 8mm on the low end and 100mm on the long end.

Hope this helps someone
kevin