I am not much of a bird photographer, in fact I have never photographed birds. When the Sigma 150-600 was announced and people started posting great reviews of the lens I wanted to get this lens. Below is my view of the lens from the week I have owned it. Who knew a long lens would soon become one of my favorite lenses in my kit.
My observations.
| Auto focus speed: | Better than my 100-400 Ver 1. Performance improved a lot after setting focus distance limit using USB doc. |
| Image Stabilization: | Very smooth, even better after setting to dynamic OS using USB dock.. |
| Image sharpness: | At least in par with my 100-400 Ver 1.. |
| Weight: | Heavier than the 100-400 but I can still hand hold for a couple of hours. . |
| Build quality: | Beautifully built, very smooth feel and the zoom ring is an improvement over that push pull design of my 100-400. |
| Performance with 1.4x: | The lens hunted indefinitely with both Kenko 1.4x and Canon's 1.4x (with pins taped) on my 60D and 6D. |
With the Sigma USB Dock we can use Sigma Optimization pro software to customize the lens. Sigma 150-600 provides 2 customization modes C1 and C2. There is a switch on the lens that can used to set the customization mode. I set my C1 mode to Dynamic OS with Focus Limiter of max focusing distance of 20 meters. Below are screen captures of the Sigma Optimization Pro software.
Sigma Optimization Pro
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Image with 100% Crop
|
|
|
Image with 100% Crop
|
|
|
Image with 100% Crop
|
|
|
Image with 100% Crop
|
|
|
|
A few images captured using the lens
|
 |
| Semipalmated Sandpiper, Parker River National Wildlife Refuge, MA |
|
 |
| Willet, Sanibel Islands, Florida |
|
 |
| Great White Herons, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, FL |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
| Bactrian Camel, Franklin Park Zoo, MA |
|
|
|
 |
| Prairie Dog, Franklin Park Zoo, MA |
|
|
 |
| Flamingo Feathers, Franklin Park Zoo, MA |
|
|
|
 |
| Ibis, Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge, FL |
|
 |
| Key West Sunset, Florida Keys, Florida |
|
 |
| Aningha, Aningha Trail, Everglades National Park, FL |
|
 |
| Brown Pelican, Florida Keys, FL |
|
 |
| Wattled Crane, Franklin Park Zoo, MA |
|
 |
| Male Turkey, MA |
|
 |
| Blue Jay, MA |
|
 |
| Woodpecker, MA |
|
 |
| Common Sparrow, MA |
|
 |
| Goldfinch, MA |
|
 |
| Mourning Dove, MA |
|
 |
| Budgerigar, Franklin Park Zoo, MA |
|
 |
| Ibis, Sanibel Islands, FL |
|
 |
| Willet, Sanibel Islands, Florida |
|
