Sigma 150-600mm Sports Series Shipping and Lens Review

[apacheebest]

Hi Friends,

Sigma 150-600mm Sports is all set to go on sale from 28th Oct in India, Have any one purchased it in US or Canada, Kindly give us your reviews to help other buyers also.

Awaiting your replies.

thanking you

Anil George

 

[kyle86]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Ah you are lucky!!! We (Australia) only get it the middle of November, maybe later apparently!

Sigma Rumors has been compiling test shots and reviews here - http://sigma-rumors.com/2014/10/sigma-150-600mm-f5-6-3-dg-os-hsm-sports-reviews-sample-images/

This looks like it will be a beast of a lens! Got one of pre-order!! Cant wait!!

 

[WesternGuy]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

I have one on pre-order, but no news from the camera store yet. I am keeping my fingers crossed that it will come this week.

WesternGuy

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

I'd recommend keeping a eye on the popular review sites. They often get early copies, they test them, get them repaired or adjusted, if necessary, and then publish their results. Its unfortunate, but true that lenses sometimes arrive in less than perfect condition, and the professional testers are quick to spot issues and get them fixed.

I think that a lot of us are awaiting Roger Cicala's test results at Lens Rentals. He usually gets multiple lenses, and that makes it easier to spot one that is obviously not up to par, and remove it from the test results until its fixed. That way, he can give results for a good lens. And ... in the unlikely but possible event that too many of the lenses are defective, then that is also valuable information for potential buyers.

 

[apacheebest]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Hello Friends,

today i telephoned The Indian Importer at Chennai , he says the consignment not cleared customs due to Diwali Holidays backlog, there may be a delay for another week now.

however i found a new video on you tube posted from Italy.

Link here : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMjmA7yfkM4

Awaiting this Lens arrival.

Anil George

 

[chrysoberyl]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

Be aware that they received the lens they tested from Sigma. To me, receiving a test lens from the lens manufacturer means that:

1. The lens has probably already been tested by the manufacturer, and selected as being one that is the best possible.

2. You will never be able to get one as good as the one tested thru a store.

3. Its also implied that a poor review means no more free lenses to test, so there is pressure applied to go easy on any flaws. Even DXO does not take manufacturer supplied equipment, but purchases or rents the test items, and usually they test multiple items.

Those may or may not be true, but should be considered when reading the review. Independent review sites do not take freebies from the manufacturer of the product that they are reviewing. Its like a Automobile Magazine that not only gets a car to test, but depends on advertising.

 

[NancyP]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip does do MTF studies on the lenses they review, plus some practical flare and coma and astigmatism tests, so they are not entirely subjective in their testing. Still, the copy provided to Lenstip is likely to be a pre-tested one, not one that was selected randomly.

 

[apacheebest]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

saw this new video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrd8OjKeQHE

on 5dMark IIII Body , cud not understand what he said but saw some sample images shot in this video

 

[hendrik-sg]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

Be aware that they received the lens they tested from Sigma. To me, receiving a test lens from the lens manufacturer means that:

1. The lens has probably already been tested by the manufacturer, and selected as being one that is the best possible.

2. You will never be able to get one as good as the one tested thru a store.
...

This is an urban myth and I'm sure that I've read a response to this somewhere that goes along the lines of "We (manufacturer) don't have the time to test 100 different lenses and pick the best one to send to a reviewer."

I would say it is pure marketing that the lenses are not carefully selected. if you consider what developpement and marketing of such a device costs, the cost to select the best one out of 100 costs nothing, and a good review is miles more worth than any Marketing campain....... because the reader believes the test is independant.

Despite of this lenstip does the best and most scientific tests available for free (and i donated them a nice sum for reading the tests). Lens Rentals is a good addition, as they can test the sample variation

 

[AlanF]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

I had missed this thread and started another yesterday - sorry. Anyway, I posted the comparative MTFs of the Tamron and Sigma in

http://www.canonrumors.com/forum/index.php?topic=23442.0

Whatever the reservations about the lens being provided by Sigma, and that it might be a chosen good copy, this behemoth is very good, although not for me.

 

[Plainsman]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

Be aware that they received the lens they tested from Sigma. To me, receiving a test lens from the lens manufacturer means that:

1. The lens has probably already been tested by the manufacturer, and selected as being one that is the best possible.

2. You will never be able to get one as good as the one tested thru a store.
...

This is an urban myth and I'm sure that I've read a response to this somewhere that goes along the lines of "We (manufacturer) don't have the time to test 100 different lenses and pick the best one to send to a reviewer."

I would say it is pure marketing that the lenses are not carefully selected. if you consider what developpement and marketing of such a device costs, the cost to select the best one out of 100 costs nothing, and a good review is miles more worth than any Marketing campain....... because the reader believes the test is independant.

Despite of this lenstip does the best and most scientific tests available for free (and i donated them a nice sum for reading the tests). Lens Rentals is a good addition, as they can test the sample variation

It would take a lot of effort and money to test rigorously 100 lenses!

Even a jpg at each aperture from 150, 200,300,400,500 and 600 and then examine them all at 100% mag would be a hell of a task and all you would find is say 80 approx all the same and 20 sub par. So you send out any 10 from 80 to 10 reviewers!

The major problem with Sigma is it has quality control issues and the question for the 150-600 buyer is - is Tamron's qc any better?

 

[lycan]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

saw this new video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jrd8OjKeQHE

on 5dMark IIII Body , cud not understand what he said but saw some sample images shot in this video

He made it look not heavy at all lol

 

[gruhl28]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

Be aware that they received the lens they tested from Sigma. To me, receiving a test lens from the lens manufacturer means that:

1. The lens has probably already been tested by the manufacturer, and selected as being one that is the best possible.

2. You will never be able to get one as good as the one tested thru a store.
...

This is an urban myth and I'm sure that I've read a response to this somewhere that goes along the lines of "We (manufacturer) don't have the time to test 100 different lenses and pick the best one to send to a reviewer."

I would say it is pure marketing that the lenses are not carefully selected. if you consider what developpement and marketing of such a device costs, the cost to select the best one out of 100 costs nothing, and a good review is miles more worth than any Marketing campain....... because the reader believes the test is independant.

Let me turn this around for you.

You've got a production line manufacturing lenses and each one is different at a level that no human can detect (this is true for Canon lenses too.) From that production line you're advocating that someone compares each lens with each and every other lens to find which is best. If you've decided to do that, how do you know that the 101st lens isn't better than the preceeding 100 that you decided to compare or that the 102nd isn't better again? Once you've decided to "find the best", where do you stop in terms of comparisons? You could seriously do your head in (and the heads of those around you too.)

It is thus far easier to pick a lens at random and send it off for review. Afterall, that's what the review should show: what a random sample of the production output is like.

No, all you do is pick twenty or so lenses at random, test them and pick the best ones, and send those out to reviewers. I'm sure manufacturers have time for that. They're not looking for the very best one they have ever made, just one of the better ones. If there is significant variation, this makes a big difference.

 

[docsmith]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

No, all you do is pick twenty or so lenses at random, test them and pick the best ones, and send those out to reviewers. I'm sure manufacturers have time for that. They're not looking for the very best one they have ever made, just one of the better ones. If there is significant variation, this makes a big difference.

Huh...then why did they send lenstip a 150-600S that looks so bad and FF edge at shorter focal lengths? And why did Canon send lenstip a 70-300L that was bad at FF edge for 300 mm compared to what was seen with other reviewers.

There might be some selectivity, but I doubt it is very robust, if it exists.

 

[Artifex]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Lenstip has reviewed the Sigma 150-600 S.

Be aware that they received the lens they tested from Sigma. To me, receiving a test lens from the lens manufacturer means that:

1. The lens has probably already been tested by the manufacturer, and selected as being one that is the best possible.

2. You will never be able to get one as good as the one tested thru a store.

3. Its also implied that a poor review means no more free lenses to test, so there is pressure applied to go easy on any flaws. Even DXO does not take manufacturer supplied equipment, but purchases or rents the test items, and usually they test multiple items.

Those may or may not be true, but should be considered when reading the review. Independent review sites do not take freebies from the manufacturer of the product that they are reviewing. Its like a Automobile Magazine that not only gets a car to test, but depends on advertising.

Although you are right in pointing the possible lack of objectivity of reviews done in such condition, it doesn't seems to stop Lenstip from being harsh in their reviews. As a proof, you can read the Nikon 58mm f/1.4G review if you want a good laugh!

Exhibit A:
"Perhaps I am naive but I admit when Zeiss announced their Otus 1.4/55 and Nikon – the Nikkor AF-S 58 mm f/1.4G I though we were going to deal with two lenses which were a match for each other. It seems, though, that only Zeiss was serious about it and Nikon was joking all along, trying to sell you a rough piece of trash for a lot of money under a cover of a storied Nikon legacy. I really don’t intend to torture the tested Nikkor any longer because it is not worth the time and trouble."

 

[Mt Spokane Photography]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

No, all you do is pick twenty or so lenses at random, test them and pick the best ones, and send those out to reviewers. I'm sure manufacturers have time for that. They're not looking for the very best one they have ever made, just one of the better ones. If there is significant variation, this makes a big difference.

Huh...then why did they send lenstip a 150-600S that looks so bad and FF edge at shorter focal lengths? And why did Canon send lenstip a 70-300L that was bad at FF edge for 300 mm compared to what was seen with other reviewers.


There might be some selectivity, but I doubt it is very robust, if it exists.

Probably because it was one that fully met their internal specifications. A $2,000 lens is not going to match a $12.000 one, it will be a compromise.


Contrary to those who seem to believe that a huge company with rooms full of lens testing equipment don't know how to test a lens in a short period of time, I can tell you that its possible.

Lenses are constrained by their design, so its not possible to pick one that's better than the design, all that is necessary is to give a 2nd look and make sure it meets the design specifications, and is not a dud. Failing to do this would be pretty stupid.

Virtually every lens tester refuses to accept lenses from a manufacturer for their testing, and rents, buys, or borrows from a dealer. Lenstip also often borrows lenses from dealers.

I've been in the industry for 30+ years, and have seen many carefully prepared samples submitted to my lab from manufacturers, and then seen the real product. That's why we always grabbed random parts from incoming lots and gave them a careful testing.

 

[apacheebest]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

 

[candyman]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

O, yes!
Now you can open a thread in the lenssection Third Part Manufacturers "Anything shot with the Sigma 150-600 Sports"

 

[BubbaGumbo]

Re: Sigma 150-600mm Sports Shipping and Lens Review

Spoke to a few Sigma reps yesterday at Photo Expo in NY. According to them, the Nikon version of this lens will be widely available before the Canon. Due to its mechanical shutter interface, if I recall correctly, the Nikon lens is more complicated to manufacture. That is why Canon lenses are usually available first.

In this case Sigma appears to have decided to throw a bone to the Nikon users and give them first crack. Don't expect general availability of these lenses for Canon anytime soon was the message. Just what I heard. Don't have any first hand knowledge and the reps may have been misinformed.

Can say the overall build quality and weather sealing of the lens seem excellent. Sharpness, from what I could see in the demo unit, seemed excellent as well but I suppose it should.

That thing is a brick though. Not something I could see myself handholding for an extended period without paying the price for it later. Nice monopod or tripod rig though. It is deceptively heavy for its relatively compact size.