Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 OS

Sigma’s new ‘ultra telephoto’ as they refer to it. The 150-500 is improved by an ultrasonic (HSM) motor and Optical Stabilization reported to allow 4 stops improvement in useable shutter speed. If you want to get a 500 mm zoom with an image stabilization system your choices are this or – well, this would be your choice.

One thing to note: this is a very large lens – longer and a bit heavier than the 50-500 “Bigma” which many considered too big to handhold, and 50% heavier than the Canon 100-400. The weight of the lens offsets the theoretical advantage of Optical Stabilization a bit: you can handhold it, but you might not want to all day.

Canon 40D owners Sigma has stated that the OS should be turned “Off” when attaching the lens to a 40D, then turned “On”. If not, an electrical issue may slow the maximum frame per second rate.*

Roger’s take: This is an adequate lens from the point of view of sharpness and focusing ability. It is NOT a $4,000 supertelephoto and isn’t going to compete with them. But it does provide an affordable alternative to get to 500mm. Note that I said ‘to 500mm’. Given its f6.3 aperture, the use of even a 1.4X teleconverter is strongly NOT recommended. The lens won’t autofocus with it, and image quality drops from ‘adequate’ to ‘just this side of point and shoot’. If you rent it for what it is you’ll probably be happy. If you are planning to use it for ‘stop action’ sports shooting, with a teleconverter, etc. you won’t be.

High Risk Lens: The Sigma 150-500 lens has a higher failure rate than most lenses in our lineup.

• How high? We haven’t got firm figures, but 6 of our first 12 copies had problems, which is a lot.
• Why? We can’t be sure. Sigma lenses as a rule have more problems than other brands. The larger Sigma zooms seem to have more issues than other Sigma lenses, possibly because of the weight of the glass elements and shock damage in shipping.
• What’s the point? We’re letting you know on the front end make sure you order this lens in time to check it out before you leave for vacation or schedule your big shoot. We can send a replacement if it has a problem, but we can’t send a replacement Friday night to get to you you Saturday morning.
• Type of problem: Front and backfocus, zoom mechanism failure, IS failure.