DJBee4920's reviews

  • Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art

    2 out of 10 points and not recommended
    Build quality. Excellent sharpness if in focus! Very good colour rendition and contrast.
    Would not focus reliably on Nikon D810.

    This lens has been a sad experience for me. I have now tried two separate copies of the lens and to my great regret, I had to send both back. On each of them I spent hours calibrating the focus on the Sigma USB Dock but however hard I tried, the focus was very variable. Most of the time, real focus was acquired less than 50% of the time. In the end I gave up, returned both copies and have just reverted back to my Nikkor 50mm f1.8 G that (in contrast with IR's review) is very sharp, in the centre at least, even when wide open. I wonder if they had a poor copy of this lens?

    The puzzle and tragedy of this lens is that when I did manage to get it in focus it was absolutely superb! There is nothing wrong with my camera body (Nikon D810) as this performs perfectly well with my collection of both Nikkors and the three other Sigma lenses that I own, and my testing and calibrating procedure is solid. The puzzle is that the metadata kept telling me me that the lens had acquired focus and had locked on (both copies), when it patently had not. It was much worse, on both copies, at longer object distances than close up. One of the copies of this lens was significantly worse than the other and both needed quite a big front focussing compensation factor.
    Was I just unlucky with two bad copies? Maybe but I just would never have been able to use either if I had been foolish enough to keep one. My other Sigma lenses are excellent and have only needed minor adjustment using Sigma's USB Dock, just in case anyone might think me to be anti Sigma!

    It was in some ways a relief to return to the Nikkor, as this is so small and light by comparison.... and its focus is usually spot on. I could not own a lens that I could not rely on in terms of acquiring focus.

    reviewed September 3rd, 2018 (purchased for $771)

  • Sigma 500mm f/4 DG OS HSM Sports

    9 out of 10 points and recommended
    Very good image quality. Highly customisable. Excellent fine-tuning available using the Sigma USB Dock. Solid build.
    Heavy but they all are!

    I used to own a Nikkor 500mm f4 VR - the one before the latest PF version. For some reason this lens and I did not bond. It was a little heavier than the Sigma and really did not like TCs, even the TC1.4 was not great on it. By contrast, my Nikkor 300mm f2.8 is wonderful with the TC1.4 and TC2.0.

    So, I sold the Nikkor, waited a while, researched a lot and eventually splashed out and bought the Sigma. I have not had the time to use it as much as I would have liked but am getting on with it much better than the Nikkor. I use it on two bodies, the D810 and D500 and it works really well. The weak point in the quality cycle is me, not the lens! These big lenses are difficult to use and vicious in pointing out your own flaws! Nonetheless, I have managed some decent bird and mammal shots on both bodies and love the challenge of using it. Not for the faint-hearted though and considering how much money it costs, you need to think hard before buying!

    It is much happier on a tripod and gimbal head but you can hand-hold it for short periods. I often compromise with a monopod but in all honesty much prefer the tripod option when everything is much more under control - if you can carry everything to wherever you are going!

    It really is sharp even at f4 but of course does improve if you stop it down a stop, especially if using the 1.4TC. With the 1.4 TC (Sigma's own) it is better I think than my Nikkor was with the Nikon TC1.4 but I never did side-by-side comparisons. The AF is excellent, just as good as the Nikkor was and reliably getting things in focus if you do your job properly! The AF and IS tune-ability on the Dock and the alternative AF and IS couplings available on the lens itself are very clever. It is very solidly made and the tripod foot is better than the Nikkor's I think, although I replaced mine with the Jobo, Arc-Swiss foot anyway, as all my supports have Arca Swiss plate fittings.

    It comes with a genuinely useful carrying pack that carries the lens and a body in a rucksack design, rather like the excellent Lowepro bags. This is in contrast to Nikon's bullet-proof, hard box that no-one ever could carry into the field!

    reviewed September 3rd, 2018 (purchased for $6,436)

  • Nikon 300mm f/2.8G ED AF-S VR II Nikkor

    10 out of 10 points and recommended
    Fabulously sharp. Blisteringly fast and accurate AF. Very effective VR. Extremely well built. Excellent with TCs.
    None I can think of except that it was a lot of money. What would you expect?

    I absolutely love this lens!

    I have used it extensively for birds, mammals and motorcycle and car racing and it never stops amazing me. No-one would label it as a small, lightweight lens but is small and light enough to bring as hand luggage on air flights and the same properties make it a viable hiking companion.

    It is brutally sharp on its own at f2.8 and then gets even better if stopped down. Its bokeh is gorgeous! It produces great images with the TC1.4 and the TC2.0. It is heavy but can be hand-held fairly easily. However, I usually use it on a tripod with gimbal head if I can, or if I have to walk a long way, I take a monopod. In terms of angle of view, on the D500, it acts as a 450mm would on a FF body and as a 800mm lens with the TC2.0. In spite of 'only being a 300mm lens' it is long enough to get to small birds with a crop sensor camera like the D500 and even with the TCs attached is still very sharp. As you are starting out with a maximum aperture of f2.8, even with the TC2.0 on it, you end up with a 800mm equivalent, f5.6 lens. Not bad!

    It is built like a tank. I know this for a fact as I dropped mine when it was attached to a D500 body onto concrete, from my shoulder, when it fell off my monopod (triple check Arca Swiss attachments, they can appear to be fine but it is possible to have them on incorrectly at an angle!). The impact tore the D500 body from the lens, breaking the whole mount and wrecking the camera. Surprisingly, the camera was rebuildable and Nikon said that the lens was absolutely fine! They checked the alignment, AF etc. and said that it needed no attention other than the removal of the remains of the camera mount! I have been using it for the last two years and its performance is still flawless.

    If you can afford one and can justify it, get it!

    reviewed September 3rd, 2018 (purchased for $4,500)