Sigma 150-500 APO DG OS review

Microstock > Reviews > Sigma 150-500 APO DG OS review

June 2008

The first impression is that this is a very well built lens. It feels solid and somewhat heavy. However, once mounted on my Canon 350D (with battery grip attached) it feels well balanced and easy to operate.

I did find though, that after a few minutes of trying to track a sunbird the lens felt very heavy and it put some strain on my wrists. I guess most photographers would want to use this lens with a tripod or a monopod.

Sigma have done very well to include a lens hood, tripod collar, shoulder strap and a padded carry bag.

The optical stabilisation works well and I was able to capture some images handheld at shutter speeds as low as 1/200th sec. Generally speaking I found 1/800th sec or faster produced better quality images. Bokeh was very smooth and pleasing.

The image quality is slightly better than that of the Canon 70-300 IS lens in my opinion. But the longer reach of this Sigma makes it much more suitable for bird and wildlife photography. I can’t compare it to the Canon “L” series lenses, but never-the-less I was satisfied with the results I achieved and I am sure that the quality is more than good enough for my aim to sell photographs.

Autofocus worked very well. I was surprised at how quickly it focussed. The true test though would be focussing on birds in flight.

The biggest drawback with this lens is that it is not a low light lens - f6.3 at 500mm requires a fair amount of light, so as the sun begins to go down the lens does not perform well.

Sample shots

Below is a selection of images from a two hour visit (late afternoon) on 6 June 2008 to the Addo Elephant National Park near Port Elizabeth, South Africa.