DSLR Telephotos

[Ben]

Does anyone have experience with either of these Sigma telephoto lenses?

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF
Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AF

They both seem to get pretty good reviews.

I currently have Nikon 35mm and 18-200mm lenses. I've been getting into "camera walks" instead of running at the county park across the street from  me. It's a cool park where I can take pictures of everything from giant clumps of Monarch butterflies, to dozens of different bird species in a pond and slough, to planes taking off / landing at the airport, to boats and dolphins and stuff along the beach.

I've been using my 18-200mm as my walking lens (really great "all around" lens BTW), but for a lot of the stuff I see, it just doesn't "reach out and touch". I was at first looking at the Nikon 70-300, but we have one at work that I've tried at distances I usually see stuff on while on my walks. It almost gets there. The extra 100mm makes a big difference at the pond and slough, but it doesn't cut it for the beach shots.

I was also looking at the Nikon 80-400mm, but unless it's vastly superior to the Sigmas, it's getting out of my price range.

[MillCreek]

In the spirit of the standard APS philosophy of not answering the original question, have you thought about the Tokina 80-400: http://www.amazon.com/Tokina-80-400-4-5-5-6-Telephoto-NIkon/dp/B000G7PLCY

I have one for my Canon 20D, and a 2X teleconverter also works on it.  The lens runs for about $ 500 and gets reasonable reviews, bearing in mind that it is not the fastest lens out there.  

[Ben]

In the APS spirit of responding to your response with a tangent :) 

What do you think of your teleconverter? I was looking at going that route first, but I'm an old timer (was using an OM2 for 25 years before I finally went DSLR). Back in the day, teleconverters were a "second choice" option. The ones I recently looked at aren't cheap, so maybe quality has improved as well?

I'll definitely take a look at the Tokina though.

[Harold Tuttle]

http://lenshero.com/

[Ben]

Great site - thanks Harold!

[KD5NRH]

Does anyone have experience with either of these Sigma telephoto lenses?

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 AF
Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 AF

Never used either of those, but I do have a Sigma 75-300 f/4-5.6.  It's a good lens, but awfully slow to focus if it needs much travel.  As long as your subject holds still for a while, that's fine, but it can be frustrating on some shots.