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Kristen Beck

7 Years Ago

Sigma 150-600 Sport Vs 150-600mm Contemporary

I am considering a major purchase, a sigma 150-600mm telephoto lens. it comes in two versions the sport which is about twice as much as the contemporary. now the sport has the dust and water protection and some other features which I'm not quite sure what they are. It is 2 pounds heavier than the Contemporary lens which concerns me. Does anyone shoot with either of these, and perhaps may have an opinion one way or the other....

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Matt Hammerstein

7 Years Ago

I've used the contemporary version... unless the weather sealing is something you absolutely can't live without, it is an excellent lens. I use a generally use a monopod and get good results. The focus seems fast enough for most use, just don't expect it to track fast action.

Overall I'd say it's plenty good enough for the use most will put it through.

 

Peter Krause

7 Years Ago

I'd like to be able to get a 150-600mm lens. Currently using a 55-300mm lens. I assume the 600mm lens would be great for wildlife photography or astrophotography.
As to the answer to your question I'm curious to know what the general consensus is.
Cheers.

 

Kristen Beck

7 Years Ago

Matt do you us a teleconverter on yours? I'm swaying toward the Sport because of the weather proofing and the zoom lock. I didn't see whether the contemporary had the zoom lock function, does it?

 

Kristen Beck

7 Years Ago

Peter this is a major investment for me so i'm curious about the general consensus as well. My thought is if i have the money to get the best i can afford, i don't want to skimp just because i save a little bit.

 

Steve Cossey

7 Years Ago

Get the sport if you shoot anything like birds in flight, anywhere there is fast action the AF is much faster and reliable. As in 90% in focus on targets moving towards you as opposed to 50% with the contemporary.

 

Matt Hammerstein

7 Years Ago

Haven't tried using a teleconverter. I can't say whether it would work or not; I think Sigma makes their own so you could look it up on their site.

 

Steve Cossey

7 Years Ago

TC on zooms that are not f2.8 is generally a bad idea. Sigma TC's are horrible at least they used to be, don't know about their newest ones. But on this lens you would probably have to stop down to f11 to be of any use...

 

Don Zawadiwsky

7 Years Ago

Before you plunk down your credit card, rent either one for a day and see how you like it. It beats spending the full retail price on the lens only to be faced with buyer's remorse if it doesn't work for you.

Shooting with supertelephoto zooms demands exacting technique at the long end. Any vibration or shake will be magnified and the image will suffer as a result.

Part of that technique means you must be able to balance, focus and trip the shutter as smoothly as possible. One of these lenses might be easier for you to handle than the other, and there's no way to predict which one you may prefer.

Long/heavy lenses mounted to your camera often make it front-heavy, as if the front of the lens were constantly being pulled down. I'm thinking the lighter lens is the one to start with to see how it balances for you. Then if you're OK with it, you can decide to purchase or try the other lens if you need the weather sealing and other features.

 

Kathleen Bishop

7 Years Ago

Kristen, I bought both lenses at the same time so here's my 2 cents. I used both lenses on my (crop sensor) 7D MK3.

I REALLY, REALLY wanted to love the Sports and send the Contemporary back. I'd gotten an amazing deal on the Sports so the difference in price was not a determining factor. I used both extensively in the field for bird photography, always hand-held and always with uncooperative subjects. The percentage of "keepers" was very low (nearly nil) with the Sports and very high with the Contemporary. I am incredibly pig-headed so I wasn't going to let the facts sway my desire to keep the Sports but I finally had to face reality. Because of its added weight, I couldn't hold the Sports steady enough to get really sharp images of moving objects. If I had good upper body strength or used a tripod, I would have probably gotten good results with the Sports but the Contemporary is very light in comparison (even lighter than my Bigma!) and I've been extremely happy with its speed and IQ.

 

Kristen Beck

7 Years Ago

Don I will look into renting one, not sure if there is a place locally that I can do that. The shake was my concern with the extra 2 pounds of weight on the lens vs. the contemporary lens.

 

Steve Cossey

7 Years Ago

Yeah if you are shaky for handholding due to upper body strength that's going to affect how well you do with heavier glass. I am a VERY strong guy and even I get tired using the 400mm f2.8E handheld so I got REALLY good at panning from a tripod. For the times I REALLY need to handhold though I am up for it.

 

Don Zawadiwsky

7 Years Ago

Kristen, if you don't have a camera place locally, there are places that will rent at a distance. One such: www.lensrentals.com

 

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