Posted by Clayton Block on December 30, 2009 at 9:11 PM
Hi, I'm considering buying the Sigma 120-400mm lens for bird and wildlife photography. I'm looking for some insight from anybody that has used this lens. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Clayton
Posted by John Tobias on December 31, 2009 at 8:37 AM
Clayton, I have the Sigma 135-400, which is an older non stablized lens. I have not been real happy with it. I have had some problems getting sharp images at 400mm when the subject is some distance from the camera. But, I recently purchased the Sigma 150-500 IS lens. So far I have been pleased with it, but I have not had much chance to use it due to bad weather and stuff like that. In the Sept. 09 issue of PhotoPlus Canon edition there is a very good article on telephoto lens. The sigma 120-400 is rated very high. Hope this is of some help.
Posted by Jay Ryser on December 31, 2009 at 2:55 PM
I was not particularly happy with the 135-400 either.
I had its sibling, the 150-500 for a brief period. It was a very sharp lens, even at 500mm, focus was reasonably fast in good light. On the down side, it was a slow lens - f/6.3 at the long end. Sometimes it would take a bit to lock focus. And there were times even in good light when I thought I had the focus locked, I'd hit the shutter button, and the lens would start the focus process all over again. I finally couldn't take the focus hunting around and sold the lens.
Since the 120-400 is f/5.6 at the long end, you may not have the same problem. I got some great, sharp shots with it, when it wasn't hunting for the focus.
Discussion
2 repliesClayton
I had its sibling, the 150-500 for a brief period. It was a very sharp lens, even at 500mm, focus was reasonably fast in good light. On the down side, it was a slow lens - f/6.3 at the long end. Sometimes it would take a bit to lock focus. And there were times even in good light when I thought I had the focus locked, I'd hit the shutter button, and the lens would start the focus process all over again. I finally couldn't take the focus hunting around and sold the lens.
Since the 120-400 is f/5.6 at the long end, you may not have the same problem. I got some great, sharp shots with it, when it wasn't hunting for the focus.