This is a delight, but a wee bit heavy one.
I used to own Sigma's earlier lenses (150-500, and the 120-400) when I was a Pentax user, but various things happened, and i switched to Nikon 1 cameras, and a D600. Then I got the then new 80-400, which I eventually sold, and started to look around for a new long lens, to be used with my Nikon V2 (I already had a few 70-300 lenses, which compares, when used on a Nikon 1 camera, to a 190-810mm lens on a full format, so I kind of wanted something long and sharp, with fast focus.
The then introduced Nikon 200-500 promised to be great, but the first reviewers had great problems in finding sharp copies, as the lenses had various serious problems. At the same time the fairly established Sigma 150-600 Sport was well established, but more costly, and the simpler Sigma Contemporary and the Tamron 150-600 were not really in the same league when it came to focusing speed and sharpness.
Then Sigma slashed the price of their Sports to be the same as the 200-500! I just had to test both out!
Without lens shades on I took a few sample shots in the shop, and they felt very much alike, but I preferred a faster-focusing, water-resistant one to the slower, but marginally lighter Nikon.
Now, after a couple of months use, and near 10,000 shots, I have found out, like many others, a few basic facts:
- Fast focusing, very
- Outstanding sharpness at 500mm
- Great sharpness at 600
- Excellent on DX and CX cameras (aka Nikon 1 cameras)
- Center of garvity shift forward as you zoom out
- Delightful bokeh in most circunstances, but not always
- The lens shade is over engineered and heavy
With help of Sigma's dock you can update the firmware, fine-adjust the focusing, and set most other parameters as well, like focusing speed.
There is a whole row of switches on the side of the lens, including focusing mode, anti-shake on/off, settable limiter (the basic settings: full, 26-10 meters, and 10 to infinity can be accessed through the dock), Custom settings 1 & 2 (or off), where the custom settings first have to be set by the help of the dock.
Can be used handheld, but you need to be a beefy kind of person to do it. I occasionally do it, sitting down on a small, foldable, stool or similar, to rest my arms between shots. Works, but not very comfortable.
If you have a beefy tripod, and a Wimberley Sidekick, or similar tripod head, you are well equipped to have a great time with your Sigma Sports!
I use mine both with OS (Optical Stabilisation) on, and off: always on handheld and if it is very windy so the tripod moves/vibrates a bit, but otherwise off.
I mostly shoot birds with it, from 2.6 meters to the infinity, from goldcrests to eagles.
I liked the 80-400 VR II I used to own, but this takes the game at least one step further.
Not found it best with my FX gear, but with my newly acquired DX camera it really shines, and so it does when used with my Nikon 1 V2 (you'll need the FT1 adapter, of course), if the light is good enough to keep the noise at bay. The Nikon 1 J5 would have been even better, had it been made compatible with the lens, which Nikon has not, due to reasons of their own (the camera can't use anything hefty, no matter what make).
The TC-1401 Sports-dedicated TC helps if the animal/object in question is far off, or you're shooting at the full moon.
If the lens shade was much lighter (it weighs close to a pound), and the CG didn't move forward as you zoom, this would have been worth a 10 out of 10, but now I just give it a 9, but fully recommended!
