Question by Jim: what is the best nikon compatible lens for wildlife photography?
Hi I am an amateur photographer and I am looking for the best zoom lens for wildlife photography within my budget which is £400-700. I have looked at the new os sigma 150-500mm and think it is the best choice however i want to compare it to other before I make the decision to purchase. Thank you for your help!
Best answer:
Answer by AS
Every time I am working and need my camera repaired by a local technician, when I go in and ask him his or her opinion of lenses, I always get a thumbs up for Tamron and Tokina, and a thumbs down for Sigma. Understand that you get what you pay for. Sigma lenses may make some decent images, but there are downsides. The quality is not that great, the lens may front-focus or back-focus, the lens is built poorly, there is a lot of sample variation (so although a lens may have a decent design, Sigma doesn’t have the factory capability to produce it correctly every time on an assembly line. If you buy a Nikon lens, you can buy it and not worry. If you buy Sigma, you have to go to the store and try a few to make sure that you are getting a good sample), etc.
Your best choice is to get something like an older 300mm f/4. This lens quality will destroy anything that Sigma make.
Give your answer to this question below!
For that kind of budget I would go with a 70-300 VR. I don’t like Sigma because of sample variations. Also the 150-500 is f/6.3 at the long end.. and remember that you still have to stop down to get a sharp image so that takes you down to f/8 or even f/11. That is SLOW. Unless you’re shooting an FX body to compensate for the slow aperture (by raising the ISO) then I would say no on the Sigma. If you can swing the extra cash, the 80-400 VR gives you more range.
Wow, lots of negative opinions from non-users.
Sigma isn’t perfect, but neither is Nikon.
The 70-300 is not a replacement for a 150-500. It is a whole blazing 1/3rd stop faster at the long end, which happens to be 200mm shorter. Do you recommend a DX body for anything over f/5.6? How will the 70-300 be any better, since it’s sweet spot will ALSO be f/8 or so? Your post is ludicrous.
Spewing stuff you’ve read on the Internet isn’t impressive.
Sigma 150-500mm is a good zoom lens for your budget
this lens is far from perfect, but will enable you to get shots that cannot be matched for the money