Sigma 50-150 2.8 HSM I

NikonsandVstroms

I still can't handle the heft of a 70-200 2.8 but this one is about the same size/weight as the Nikkor 70-210 F4 that I currently use and can be had for a relatively affordable price used so it's looking pretty promising. I was wondering what people's experiences have been?

This would be used largely for portraits as I need to get really close (around someones glasses in some cases) and would like some working distance and something that's a step up from the F4 in terms of sharpness. And the other thing is that I'd like to have a similar DOF with my D7100 as I get with the Nikkor and D700 for a given focal length as I need the former cameras resolution for these shots.

divamum

Paging Matt Savile... who LOVES this lens! It can be hard to find used for Canon, but I think there are quite a few N ikon ones knocking around.

ZBlack

I had the non OS version of this lens for a while, and just a couple weeks back traded it in to help out with a gear upgrade. I loved the lens as well, and it did indeed provide some fantastic portraits. If you have a good price available for one, I'd say jump on it. It's significantly smaller than a 70-200, it's fast to focus, sharp and great color rendition from my experience. I don't have nearly any comparison experience to other lenses like Matt has, but he's the one who persuaded me to get it in the first place from all his raves about it in posts. I think you'll have a hard time finding a better lens in that focal range for DX cameras.

NikonsandVstroms

ZBlack wrote: »

I had the non OS version of this lens for a while, and just a couple weeks back traded it in to help out with a gear upgrade. I loved the lens as well, and it did indeed provide some fantastic portraits. If you have a good price available for one, I'd say jump on it. It's significantly smaller than a 70-200, it's fast to focus, sharp and great color rendition from my experience. I don't have nearly any comparison experience to other lenses like Matt has, but he's the one who persuaded me to get it in the first place from all his raves about it in posts. I think you'll have a hard time finding a better lens in that focal range for DX cameras.

Just to double check was it the HSM I or II that you had? I'm reading conflicting reports on if the newer version is a big improvement or not.

ZBlack

I had the HSM I version.

NikonsandVstroms

Found the post he wrote to you about the lens......and after reading that I bought it

Matthew Saville

I absolutely love love LOVE my old mk1 Sigma 50-150 2.8 DC. It's a rock-solid champ, I've had it since 2006 and it is still pretty dang sharp, focuses nice and snappy, and has no external moving parts so even though it is beat to crap, it works great.

The depth isn't as delightfully shallow as a 70-200 2.8 on full-frame, but then again IMO that's what an 85mm f/1.4 is for anyways. I like owning both an 85 1.4 and my Sigma 50-150; I simply use them for various occasions.

It is a shame they discontinued the un-stabilized version of this lens when the OS version was released, because the OS version is a little more expensive and significantly larger / heavier, almost to the point that IMO it's not worth it; you might as well just get a 70-200 2.8 on a D700.

I've used my Sigma 50-150 on every Nikon DX camera from the D70 to the D7100, and I just got a D5300 recently but I have yet to test it out with this lens cause I've currently glued a new (to me) Tokina 11-16 which has been amazingly fun for the 2x megapixels compared to my D700. Loving it for landscapes, and I cannot imagine a better combo for adventure / general photography than something like the Nikon D5300 / 7100 and the likes of the Sigma 50-150 2.8 (mk1) plus an ultra-wide crop sensor lens. If you ask me, this is the pinnacle of performance that rests in a perfect spot between behemoth FX monsters like the D800 + 14-24, and the even smaller sensors with mirrorless systems. I have tried out the mirrorless cameras a bit, and although the EVF affords a handful of cool things like focus peaking and histograms and such; I cannot let go of the controls and lens options that something like the Nikon D7100 / 5300 affords...

=Matt=

NikonsandVstroms

The hardest part of ordering a new piece of kit is the wait......Wed I should finally have it and I already set up a studio shoot to test it out for the end of the week.

Matt you actually brought up another lens I'm looking at for the future, have you ever tried your 11-6 VS Tokina's 12-24?

Matthew Saville

NikonsandVstroms wrote: »

The hardest part of ordering a new piece of kit is the wait......Wed I should finally have it and I already set up a studio shoot to test it out for the end of the week.

Matt you actually brought up another lens I'm looking at for the future, have you ever tried your 11-6 VS Tokina's 12-24?

Yep, I've tested all of those older generation crop-sensor ultra-wides, and in fact I just completed testing of the entire set of new generation ultra-wides, including the Tokina 12-28 f/4, Nikon / Tamron 10-24, and Sigma 10-20 3.5.

Bottom line - If you need the aperture, the 11-16 is hands-down the way to go, obviously. However for most types of landscape photography, you're going to be stopping down anyways in which case I find the Nikon 10-24 to be the best overall investment because of it's range and sharpness.

=Matt=