Canon 50 - 500 lens

[johanba]

Looking to buy a Canon 50 - 500 lens zoom lens for my Canon
Should I buy the sigma lens, or what is my options
money is important here

Johan

 

[Derrick]

AFAIK there is no Canon 50 - 500, though there is a Sigma 50 - 500 like you mentioned. I know quite a few photographers who get great results with the lens and love it for it's versatile zoom range.

The nice thing is on a crop body you'll get an effective zoom range of 80 - 800, great for wildlife photography. What body will you use it with?

The other Sigma option is the 150 - 500 which I have (at the price we got it for I couldn't say no). It's big, its heavy, and its quite slow, that aside it represents great value for money second hand and will perform great.

My pick of the littler would be the Canon EF 100-400mm L IS USM, what it loses out on in terms of reach it gains on IQ and focussing ability. Also, L series glass brings nifty features such as weather sealing as standard.

These are all relatively expensive lenses (R12,000 - R16,000 new) so it would help knowing the following:

Your budget?
The body you'll be using the lens on?
What will you use the lens for?

 

[mikef]

Hi Johan

Both the Sigma 50-500 (Bigma) and the 150-500 are good value lenses. They are however both relatively heavy. Sigma also make a 170-500 model which is not generally as highly recommended. I previously owned the 50-500 (non OS) which I sold when I bought my current Canon 100-400 (which is not weather sealed by the way). In my opinion I find the Canon 100-400 overall a faster and lighter lens and I obtain a higher percentage of good results. That said I do still sometimes miss the versatility of the 50-500 and when I got it right the IQ was great as well.

 

[Derrick]

Hi Johan

Both the Sigma 50-500 (Bigma) and the 150-500 are good value lenses. They are however both relatively heavy. Sigma also make a 170-500 model which is not generally as highly recommended. I previously owned the 50-500 (non OS) which I sold when I bought my current Canon 100-400 (which is not weather sealed by the way). In my opinion I find the Canon 100-400 overall a faster and lighter lens and I obtain a higher percentage of good results. That said I do still sometimes miss the versatility of the 50-500 and when I got it right the IQ was great as well.

I stand corrected. : ) I see the lens is partially weather sealed, though its missing one or two key sealing factors.

The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens is a partially weather sealed lens. A lens mount gasket is not present, but the switches, focusing ring and zoom ring have moderate dust and moisture resistance. A front filter should be used for sealing purposes.

 

[P924]

Well, recently I looked at the Sigma 120-400mm OS (the new one). It beats the canon 100-400 in some regards, like edge sharpness is much better on the sigma, it has way less chromatic aberration, and centre sharpness is comparable. Overall, much better value for money.