Canon..or...Sigma???

Boon

Boon

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i will be buying either the 100-400mm L Canon (not prime), or the 50-500mm Sigma, for my christmas present shortly, i have read varying reports on both lenses, and i am not sure which would be the best buy, some say that the canon having a push/pull lens lets in dust, could this be right, and some say the Sigma is just too long, so, my question is:
if you had the choice, which one and why...
 
Buy the Canon and don't go to dusty places :)

What do you want to use them for?
 
I think the Canon would be better. You have L quality glass, IS, negatives maybe the push/pull zoom (however people say this is quite fast to use once you get used to it).

However for example shots with a Bigma look for threads from Tommy6206, hes posted some great captures with that lens.
 
Steep said:
Buy the Canon and don't go to dusty places :)

What do you want to use them for?
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like the reply steep, i think it would be so handy to have a lens that gives you 100-400mm of choice, or 50-500mm, i could get into nature with a lens like that..
it all started a couple of weeks ago, when two ballonists flew over my house, not too high, so i put on the 200mm lens, and it did nothing, they were still too far up, so i though, i need a bigger lens, was going to go for matty's 70-300 sigma, but the wife said ' i thought you wanted L glass' and who am i to argue:thumbs:
 
The Canon 100-400mm is a sterling lens Boon, Stick to Canon if funds permit.:thumbs:
 
trust me, the 100-400 is a great lens. the push pull system imo is much better than the twist zoom, and miles quicker to use. wont take you 5 mins to get used to it ;)
 
antc said:
trust me, the 100-400 is a great lens. the push pull system imo is much better than the twist zoom, and miles quicker to use. wont take you 5 mins to get used to it ;)
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haha, antc, i see you live in nottm, well so do i, nearly, any chance i could see this lens, pm me if you like, if not no bother, can go hmmm, where??
 
Steve I aint no expert, but I'm thinking the same as you, L in the first instance or sigma, although I'm waiting till after xmas, either to grab a bargin in the sales, or wait till Focus on imaging in Feb as I know I will be able to get either at a very good price. I 'll be watching this one with interest.
 
A friend of mine uses the 100 - 400 and loves it. Reckons it took no time at all to get used to the push/pull and he now prefers that to the usual twist zoom!

Go for the 100-400 - just for the L of it! ;)
 
Glen said:
Steve I aint no expert, but I'm thinking the same as you, L in the first instance or sigma, although I'm waiting till after xmas, either to grab a bargin in the sales, or wait till Focus on imaging in Feb as I know I will be able to get either at a very good price. I 'll be watching this one with interest.
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not a bad idea glen, i would be gutted if i could have got it cheaper..
 
You will always be able to get it cheaper a few months down the line.
 
Boon,

If you go for the 100-400L I've got a voucher for £105 rebate you can have...
 
Ah, Joe throws in another good option ;)

From your first two I'd go for the canon, push pull hasn't caused any issues with dust either. But that 120-300..........
 
hmmm choices, choices. Not looked at the 120-300 2.8 sigma, but i have until the new year sales to choose, so not in a rush. When spending this amount of money, i want to get it right.
@pxl8 many thanks for the kind offer, not sure how they work, do you have to buy the lens from canon and then get the rebate, as i know where i can get the lens at an excellent price already.

@joe, do you have this lens??

EDIT:
holy shu-moley, get a load of that 80-400, or that 300-800mm, wow serious piece of kit.
 
The voucher can be used with any retailer - you fill out a form online and post it along with the voucher, bar code from the box, and purchase receipt to Canon who then send you money...
 
Boon said:
@joe, do you have this lens??
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CIMG0104a.jpg


One day I will get a decent pic of it, I promise.
 
I bought this lens from HK (via D-Rev), hence the price (I paid £1150, after reclaiming the VAT back from the seller).

Its a great lens for motorsport and wildlife. It is much more flexible than the big primes, and much cheaper than the Canon or Nikon 300 2.8s. For motorsport, the zoom is incredibly useful.

I use it with a Sigma 1.4 TC with no problems.

Due to the weight, I nearly always use it with a monopod (Giottos P-Pod). I have managed to learn to pan using a monopod, which isnt always easy.

I dont think it mounts all that well onto my D70 - there a very very small amount of 'play' in the connection, which is a slight pain.

If you cant afford a Canon/Nikon 300 2.8 and would like a lens of this quality, then I would recommend it.

If you have any further questions, please contact me. For examples, visit my website at www.diesel-power.org.uk. In the 2006 gallery all of the pictures with a focal length over 120mm will be taken with that lens. One of them is a Porshe panned at 1/25 at 300mm (its in the Le Mans Classic gallery)

Anyway, i hope this helps.
 
jeezus, thats a whopper.

Some impressive shots there joe, not sure if i want to push her to £1200 though, i need a tripod too, you see :naughty:
 
I think I'll defo wait till FOCUS and grab a bargin and use my voucher for the £105 off if i get the canon. Steve If you need one I've got a spare voucher book, I'll stick it in the post if you PM me your address, that way what ever route you decide to go you'll have the voucher incase.
 
Glen said:
I think I'll defo wait till FOCUS and grab a bargin and use my voucher for the £105 off if i get the canon. Steve If you need one I've got a spare voucher book, I'll stick it in the post if you PM me your address, that way what ever route you decide to go you'll have the voucher incase.
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Are you talking about the Focus show @ NEC in Feb 07? If so, check your vouchers as mine are only valid for purchases before 31st Dec 06...
 
Ah good point, will have a look when I get home from work, thanks for that!!!:thumbs:
 
Joe T said:
One day I will get a decent pic of it, I promise.
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Reminds me a bit of Busterboy's pic of the 300mm plus converters on the 300D :lol:
 
dod said:
Reminds me a bit of Busterboy's pic of the 300mm plus converters on the 300D :lol:
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Yeah but the Sigma has a good review behind it and at f/2.8 it has a low price tag too dod..;)
 
I would stretch to the Sigma 120-300mm f2.8 as Joe suggested.
 
Well Steve, as you know I opted for the 100-400L rather than the Sigma. Remember that the sigma doesn't have IS either - I'm pretty sure that the bird shot I captured at the weekend wouldn't have been anything other than a blur had I bought the sigma instead of the canon.

The battery grip should arrive this morning so I should know how that relates with the lens - it should make it a lot better to hold.
 
I massivly prefere sigma over the canon, end of story :)

My sigma 70-200 /2.8 + 1.4TC owns :)
 
hi matt
i have the battery grip and it improves the holding capabilities no end, i will wait for your view on it.
 
Marik said:
I massivly prefere sigma over the canon, end of story :)

My sigma 70-200 /2.8 + 1.4TC owns :)
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hi marik
i have no problem at all with sigma, its just that a mate recently bought his canon 350d to work, along with his 70-300mm sigma lens, unfortuately i couldn't even focus the lens, even on auto setting the tree looked blurred, and he said he didn't get very good results from it at all, which has left me wondering.
 
Joe T said:
Due to the weight, I nearly always use it with a monopod (Giottos P-Pod). I have managed to learn to pan using a monopod, which isnt always easy.
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Still managed to drop it though ;) :'(
 
I don't know what to make of the grip at the moment, its probably because I'm so used to using the 350d on its own and I'm sure after some use it will feel a lot more comfortable to hold. Certainly is a strange looking thing isn't it - for some reason I thought there was a side piece for it too.

Having the shutter button on the bottom for portrait shots is fab.
 
you will soon get used to it matt, i couldn't go back, as they say..
 
Just to balance things out here's a pic of my 100-400L fitted to my 350d and Opteka battery grip :) It really is a well balanced combination. I've not used the Sigma so I can't comment on that, but I know would not part with my Canon 100-400L IS.

canon100400lag1.jpg


Mike
 
it looks brilliant mike, ive just been out back swinging a sledge hammer about, think i need to go back and work some more yet, looks heavy.
ps, how do you or (matt) carry it about with you, have you got a rucksack or something??
 
Boon said:
it looks brilliant mike, ive just been out back swinging a sledge hammer about, think i need to go back and work some more yet, looks heavy.
ps, how do you or (matt) carry it about with you, have you got a rucksack or something??
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It's not light Steve ;) I do have a large rucksack, but I usually carry it around in it's case which has a very thin neckstrap, which I'm about to swop for a wide camera strap. I find carrying it around attached to the camera fairly comfortable if I hold on to the tripod mount.

Mike
 
I haven't had much experience of carrying it around - I had to remove a load of dividers and it fits into my micro trekker 200 now but as for Saturday - we'll find out. Probably around my neck with the camera for most of the day, we'll see if I can do it without getting neckache now I have the new strap.

The case for the lens itself is actually at home in the box - I figured it'd be too much hassle to use it plus it adds more size to it too so I'd struggle to fit it into the bag.

Saturday will be the first proper field test so we'll see how it goes, if you can get up there Steve it might be a good oppertunity for you to try a 100-400L out? :)
 
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