Sigma 300-800mm f/5.6 EX HSM -Sigmonster-

It's as big and heavy as all your other lenses put together and then some and it doesn't have any built-in image stabilization. It's harder to handle than any other EF lens out there but if you can mount it on a rock solid tripod and head and practice your long lens technique to the point of obsession then the rewards are there to be taken because this lens has quite outstanding optics. Mine is the more recent DG version but by all accounts the non-DG version is just as impressive.

Let's get this archive started with some recent bird photographs. First a couple of Robin shots:

1/125s at f/5.6; 536mm; ISO 400

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Two blue-tit photographs:

1/50s at f/5.6; 572mm; ISO 400

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Two greenfinch photographs:

1/100s at f/5.6; 572mm; ISO 400

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Two coal-tit photographs. This is a tough little bird to capture as they're very small and only ever settle for a second or two.

1/80s at f/5.6; 610mm; ISO 400

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The moon. Every sigmonster owner has to shoot the moon at least once

With the Kenko 2xTC. 1/10s at f/11; 1462mm; ISO 200. Full frame on a 450D.

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I can't believe no one has replied to this thread yet. The quality is amazing. I love the light spot behind the Robin. The moon passing behind clouds one is also quite different from other moon shots. It had a Halloween mood to it, but the detail of the moon also made it realistic. Congrats on this lens and your skill

Nice shots! The lens is huge and whats even bigger is the price tag! ENVY...

Wow those bird shots are superb. Loving the second moon shot as well.

nice pics of the moon mate and i love the birds

insanely awesome

how is this compare with 600IS?

First shots with my new (to me) Sigma 300-800

Bought primarily for birds but with the neighbours cat about they were somewhat scarce.

Seems great at f5.6 and sharper still at f8. Still need to get a new tripod and head for this lens.

These were both converted from Raw in Capture One 4. A boost to contrast and saturation with the default shapening applied. No further process in photoshop other than resize and save to .jpg

Both shots are 1/80, f8 and Iso 800. The head shot is at 610mm and the wider shot at 501mm

Can't wait to get out and shoot some birds with this lens.

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Hey Scoobs congrats on the Sigmonster; it's one amazing lens. There's no need to stop down up to around 750mm and after that f/7.1 is usually enough to bring back the prime-like sharpness. You'll need to chase that little predator away if you want to do some back garden birding though!

I recommend the sturdiest tripod you can lay your hands on and for a head the Manfrotto 393/3421 is just perfect for this lens.

Here's another robin wide open @536mm from the garden this morning - first fine weather we've had in 2009 and I'm looking forward to stretching the legs of this lens some more this year.

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foxbat wrote in post #6647258
Two blue-tit photographs:

1/50s at f/5.6; 572mm; ISO 400

What a shot!!! The sharpness is perfect

1/50s at 572mm..... outstanding technique!

Thanks Foxbat, agreed the weather has been rubbish. Just one recent day of sun and blue sky in a long time.

Am saving up for a new tripod and luckily the neighbours cat is normally housebound.

It's taking some getting use to the super narrow Depth of field this lens has at the longer focal lengths. Will be adding some birds to this thread soon i hope.