Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX HSM

The Nikon- mount version of the Sigma 50-500 “Bigma”. The Bigma is probably the widest range telephoto zoom available in a high quality lens. A favorite among nature shooters and everything shooters for its great range and good image quality. Nothing else does quite what this lens does.

There are trade-offs, of course. This is a large lens that for most photographers needs a tripod for really sharp images unless the light is excellent. For those who want to shoot hand-held, the Nikon 80-400 VR may be a better choice.

High Risk Lens: The Sigma 50-500 lens has a higher failure rate than most lenses in our lineup.

• How high? The 50-500 has a problem rate of 1% of rentals, despite being checked out thoroughly before it leaves us.
• 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, loss of calibration, zoom lockup.
  Note: The Sigma 50-500 is a sharp lens. Almost every complaint of ‘soft copy’ we hear are actually from people trying to shoot this very heavy, very long lens in poor light handheld. Unless you’re really strong and skilled, you’re going to get motion blur handholding this lens at 500mm in anything other than bright sunlight.