Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras

I received my 150-500mm sigma lens on Friday (it's Sunday night). After two days of shooting about 800 pictures (with a variety of subjects) I have to say that I am extremely pleased with this lens!!!! It's definitely a large lens (particularly when zoomed out to 500mm). I am certainly an amateur photographer but I have to say this truly allows you to reach out and get the shot you want. I really enjoy shooting wildlife and landscape and this lens really fills the bill. I certainly couldn't afford to buy the Nikon expensive glass for the super telephoto. All lenses that I have so far have been Nikon lenses and I have been extremely pleased with them. Their quality is very very good!!! It's just nice glass....no other word for it. So to say I was a little apprehensive buying another brand of lens (and putting $ 1,000 into it, well)......let's just say I've read just about every website and blog site there is on long lenses. This lens kept coming up in terms of the quality for the dollars. Well, I'm now a believer (at least based on this weekend. How well it holds up in the long run is yet to be told). But from what I've read, (and I do take care of my equipment), this lens seems to hold up well. too. All I can say is at least from an amateur's viewpoint, this lens is extremely clean and the images are truly crystal clear. I have used this lens with a tripod and monopod (I tried holding and shooting but when it's cranked out to 500mm, I just can't seem to get a consistent sharp image) but then keep in mind, I shake pretty bad so holding most any lens for me is difficult. Even given that, the OS on this lens truly does a good job of steadying the lens (I think as good a job as VR does on Nikon lenses.....but that's just my opinion). I also bought the Sigma Teleconverter 1.4 to go with this lens. While it does extend the shot some, losing the autofocus, at least for me, was more of a big deal that I would have thought. Perhaps over time I'll get better at holding and focusing (even on a tripod). I'll just keep trying it now and then. But I have to say it's really nice to be able to keep my mind on the shot and let the lens do the stabilizing and the focus. I can concentrate on the camera settings and the layout of the shot. As everyone knows, with wildlife photography, you don't have a lot of time to figure out what to do. It's take the shot or lose it. This lens by itself let's you do that. Anyway, if you've been wondering whether to try this size lens, all I can say is, go ahead and make the jump!!! You won't be disappointed in this lens.

I've only had this lens for 24 hours, so any reliability issues aren't taken into consideration at this point. I am solely rating this on my first 3-hour hike with this lens, using my Nikon D5100. First of all, it's massive and weighs a lot. Be prepared to tire out your arms a little, taking this on a hike or walk, but it didn't bother me too much. First impressions: -Solid build, as always with Sigma. Heavy, but looks and feels very sturdy. The focus ring, zoom, and switches are all smooth and well-made -Incredible image quality. I took a couple hundred pictures of birds, chipmunks and prairie dogs and they all exceeded my expectations once I loaded them onto my computer. The images were so sharp from the lens (handheld on cloudy day) that I could reduce the noise from using a high ISO drastically and my images turned out beautifully. The optic stabilization seems to be top-notch. The color and contrast are SUPERB. I have not noticed any image quality issues. -I have not seen ANY problems at 500mm yet. The 500mm images I shot look nice and sharp. I did not close my aperture any more than f/11, so I do not know how it performs at narrow apertures. I typically shot around f/9 with 2000 ISO, between 400-500mm. Normally, 2000 ISO adds too much noise on my D5100 but with the lens it wasn't an issue. -Autofocus is incredibly quiet So far so good. If I decide this lens isn't as good as I thought, I'll change my rating. At the moment, it's a new favorite. UPDATE: 18 months of use. This is still a great lens. As a telephoto, you should probably shoot with a fast shutter. I find my images to be reliably high quality at 1/1,000 or faster, so this lens works best with a body that is good in low light. Focus can be somewhat unreliable in low light, so just be careful and check yourself when the light isn't great. When used properly (accurate focus, fast shutter) the images are tack sharp and beautiful.

Well, I had no idea what to expect when I ordered this over a year ago. The first time I took it out of the case, I was scared to death to even put it on the camera. I got over that pretty quickly. It's now the lens I use the most for outdoor sports photography. The AF is pretty quick, and the resulting images are sharp and clean, and I shoot 100% hand-held. Not once have I ever had any color aberrations (ie purple fringe) with this lens. I use a regular UV filter with it and the hood, and it's been great. So, the downsides... Well, it's heavy, but you get used to that. Its biggest shortfall is that it's an f5-6.3. So shooting indoor or night time outdoor sports is a challenge, even if you crank up your iso. I've used it for night water polo with some success, depending on the pool. The light reflecting off the water adds enough light that I can get some decent shots, but this is at an iso of 6400 and up on the Nikon D700. I've tried it at night soccer events, and even on a well-lit field, because of the size of the field, the extremely fast action, and dead light spots, it just doesn't work. I mostly use it as a sports lens, though have used it at the beach to catch surfers/boarders, also with good results.

I am writing this review from the perspective of a former user of the Nikon 80-400VR (2 years) and Sigma 120-300 f/2.8 (3 years). The Sigma 120-300 is incredible piece of glass that is even sharper than Sigmas 300mm f/2.8 prime. The Sigma 120-300 works very well with a matching Sigma 1.4x TC which is how I used it 80% of the time. Even with a TC is matches or slightly exceeds the 150-500 in the overlapping range but is obviously much faster glass and thus freezes motion and blurs backgrounds better. But the range is more limited, the lens is heavier, costs 3x more and doesn't go to 500mm which is what I wanted. The hood and tripod collar construction is inferior to the faster pro lens. For example, the hood can easily be crushed in your hand like a plastic cup, and the tripod collar cannot be removed without removing the lens but both are functional and quality is very acceptable at this price point. The Sigma compares favorably to the Nikon 80-400 in that is focuses faster since it has a built in HSM motor. 150-500mm is more desirable range than 80-400, at least for my needs, and I shoot DX format. I also own a Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 which pairs much better with a 150-500 than either of these two lens mentioned above - the Nikon 70-200 performs very well with a Nikon 1.4x TC so I have a 105 - 280mm f/4 as well. With proper technique the Sigma matches and possibly exceeds the sharpness of the Nikon 80-400 but again, it has a better/different range. The lens seems sharpest at 150-400mm and a tad soft near the 500mm end so you definitely need to stop down with f/9.5 being a good compromise if you have the light, else f/8. OS works very well and unlike other reports mine (purchased in June 2010) does not make very loud clicking sounds when OS is engaging. It is important to wait until OS is engaged which may take about a second else your shots will not be sharp. The best way to tell is to look through the viewfinder with the shutter pressed halfway and wait until gyro is spinning and the 'obvious shake subsides'. Then squeeze, don't press the shutter by rolling your finger down. Tip, the zoom ring is stiff and can be aggravating to turn. However, instead of using the zoom ring to zoom, instead grab the end and use it like a push-pull zoom. This method works very well and very smoothly. Also, with long lenses you must avoid shutter speeds of 1/8 - 1/60 sec unless you are using some type of mirror lock up since mirror slap vibration with FL's over 100mm are a known cause of slight blurring. This is not a pro lens but a very good lens with a very good range that will take very good pictures if, and only if, you exercise good long lens technique. With manual focus a Sigma 1.4x TC can work if stopped down and when you are not after large prints but smaller, or especially web-sized images. With such a narrow field of view the slightest movement can cause blur - the nature of all long lenses. This lens is a great value, I just wish they could have made it an f/5.6 instead of f/6.3 and I think most people would not mind paying about 20% more for that half stop. Also, the lens has a zoom lock to prevent lens creep which is great. I only wish sigma also included a limit switch like the Nikon 80-400 has and which is very useful for faster focusing. Note: At the time of this review Sigma has issued a notice that there may be a problem with some lenses with regard to Auto Focus (keeps hunting) with serial numbers between 10674301 and 10972000. Mine is in this range but does not have the problem. If yours does have the problem it may be best to return/exchange the lens since Sigma service will return the lens to Japan to be fixed instead of repairing in the US and this can take 4-6 weeks - see report here [..]

As I write this review, I have my second copy of this lens reboxed and awaiting return shipping. The first one had an autofocus issue where it would hunt endlessly for focus sometimes, declare successful focus on a blurry image other times, and, occasionally, when the stars aligned, would actually focus successfully. The second one is even worse. With both cameras I tested (a D600 and a D3100), it neither focuses nor communicates aperture information with the camera. So it would be a great zoom lens if I was ok with always taking photos wide open and focusing manually. *sigh* I think I will try at least one more time, because the lens has many positive points. Solid build quality, good image quality (when I manually focused), and a reasonable price. If the third one works, I will update my review and possibly add a star or two. Either way, I would recommend people do not buy this lens used. I suspect that has been my problem. I've bought "used - like new" both times, and my concern is that I'm just getting defective units returned by other people. Next time, I'm buying a new model.

I love this lens. It is so heavy that shortly after I started hauling it around I developed a hernia. I'm a sixty five year old man who lives by the sea. I typically walked 15 miles a day. This lens attached to a Nikon D7000 along with the other two cameras, lenses and equipment I carried weighed nearly 15 lbs. When I went in to have my hernia checked out, they discovered a golf ball sized tumor in my left kidney. The bad news was that it was cancer. The good news was that they got it out before it spread. No chemo and no radiation necessary. Were it not for this wonderful lens and the hernia that (I am convinced) was caused by adding its 5 pounds to my load, they most likely never would have detected this cancer until way after it had spread throughout my body. This lens is a life saver. Frankly, were it not for the fact that I owe my life to this Sigma 150-500mm, I would give it four stars. I really like this lens, but occasionally, I find myself wrestling with it for a shot. It seems to freeze. I have to zoom in and out and if that doesn't work, swing off of my subject and focus on something else to get the lens responding again. This happens when it is attached my D90 as well. I don't often encounter this problem and usually I can deal with it swiftly, but I have lost some shots because of it. Other than that, this lens is great and a joy to use. The captures are sharp and clear and the reach is simply tremendous. The optical stabilization works very well and the auto-focus locks up quickly. I would definitely recommend this lens to any nature photographer and because it literally saved my life, I will stick with my five star rating. Update, I purchased a D7100 in March, 2013. I am happy to report that the wrestling match is over, the auto focus locks up swiftly and the photo quality is wonderful even at 500mm. This combination works like a dream and I can now, without reservation, give this great lens five stars.

I just received this lens and made a test shot I've made with other lenses. I took a shot of a satellite dish over a half a block away. Handheld. Magnifying it with Photoshop not only can I see the 'Dish Network' clearly, but magnifying a little more I can read the 'TM' underneath the logo. Clear as a bell. This lens is a vast improvement over the 170-500 model. I used that lens on a wildlife trip and had to jack up the ISO to 800-1600 to get decent shutter speeds and a clear picture. Unfortunately that introduced noise, really bad in some shots. The D300 is much better than the D200 in that regard, but the lens was pretty much unusable without a tripod. This lens will alleviate any of those problems. I usually buy Nikon lenses. This and the Sigma earlier models including the 170-500 (which I had to buy for a trip and now I'm selling) are the only lenses I could find that gave a substantial difference over the Nikon 70-300 VR. The Nikon 80-400 VR is $[...] and focuses slowly, and you can pretty much just crop to achieve the 100mm difference (I tried it to be sure.) I'm looking forward to using this with a 1.4 teleconverter, you lose autofocus and 1 stop, can only go down to 100mm but get a 35mm equivalent of 1050mm! For only $[...]! The quality of the lens is very good. There is zero zoom creep. Autofocusing is fast, though just a tad off (a few pixels off on the 'TM' - could be the camera, and that can be adjusted.) Manual focusing is tricky with the tripod collar on, it blocks the focusing ring so either move your hand to the top, slide your hand in between the lens and collar, or take the collar off. I got perfect focus using the viewfinder indicator as a reference point. The finish is of high quality, but a little strange. The whole lens including the hood is coated in some kind of flat black matte textured finish, makes me think of a stealth bomber. I did a lot of research to find this lens, and was waiting for it since it's introduction 2 or more months ago. There is just no Nikon equivalent without buying a f/4 400mm with a TC-17 for about $5000 or so. If Nikon had a lens at 500-600mm for not too bad of a price hit I would have bought it. After playing with this lens just a little bit I'm glad I bought it. I'm fiercely loyal to Nikon, and it's arguably a better product, but I can afford to buy this lens 5 times over if it breaks, and it also saves the whole price of 2 photography workshops/tours. There will probably be a lot of testing and comparing of this lens. None of that matters to me as it passed the satellite dish test with flying colors, I didn't even know the TM was there before today. Edit 3/16/09 - I recently bought the Sigma 1.4 teleconverter to go with this lens. The 1st time I really used the combo was during the adding of the spire to the Trump Tower in Chicago. I was on the 7th floor of a building 1-1/2 miles away measured by Google Maps. I could see the men waiting in the spire for the next section to arrive. I had to back way off on the lens to get the tower and the helicopter lowering the sections into the frame. I lost autofocus, but it was no big deal to focus manually visually or with the in-focus indicator. Unfortunately I had to shoot through a dirty window, and it was pretty hazy, so the shots aren't that great but I don't blame the lens, the shots are better than anybody else got. Edit 3/18/10 - Added Trump Tower picture to product images.

I would never in a lifetime touch anything manufactured by Sigma every again. In late April I purchased a fairly expensive ($950) Sigma lens. In late June Sigma recalled a good number of the lens. Mine was one of the lens' recalled. I was never notified of this and it is five months after the recall. When I originally received the lens I was excited as the summer day is long. Put it on the camera took it outside and tried to photograph a hummingbird. The autofocus on the lens caused it to zoom in zoom out zoom in zoom out ... all in all it took about 60 seconds to finally focus on something ... and yes, that hummingbird was probably already migrating south by the time it locked in and was ready to take a photo. This blew me away to the point I took the lens in the house, put it back in it's box and put it up in the closet. Totally disheartened. Clock moves forward to mid November and we are cleaning out closets and I come across this darn lens ... three photos from being brand new. I advertise it for sale at a $300 loss. Two guys try it out and the same problem ... no deal. A third guy emails me and tells me he will buy it if it is not one of the recalled lenses and asks me for the lens serial number. Recall? New to me. I check the serial number and sure enough it is one of the recalled lenses. No problem, I will get Sigma to switch it for a good lens. This is where it all gets funny and I mean bad funny. Do Not Buy from Sigma! I talk to three people at their "customer service center" in New York. All they did was over and over again try to tell me not to pursue it that very few of the serial number lenses listed actually had a problem, basically go away. After a screaming tirade with the last Sigma "customer service" person I was once again disheartened. This group (Sigma) is acting exactly like the Toyota people did about their out of control cars. Toyota did it, Sigma is doing it and I am sure many other manufacturers are doing it ... giving us, their customers, a straight arm to the face instead of protecting us from poorly manufactured products. Amazon came to the rescue and all I can say it thank you protecting me from the manufacturer Amazon.