This ultra telephoto zoom lens covers a standard range of focal lengths from 50 mm to 500 mm ultra telephoto range. This lens is equipped with Sigma's unique OS (Optical Stabilizer) function. This system enables hand held photography for many types of subjects such as motor sports, air planes, macro and wildlife. Four SLD (special low dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of color aberration throughout the entire zoom range. Incorporation of HSM (hyper sonic motor) ensures quiet and high speed AF, while allowing full-time manual focus override.
This ultra telephoto zoom lens covers a standard range of focal lengths from 50 mm to 500 mm ultra telephoto range. This lens is equipped with Sigma's unique OS (Optical Stabilizer) function. This system enables hand held photography for many types of subjects such as motor sports, air planes, macro and wildlife. Four SLD (special low dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of color aberration throughout the entire zoom range. Incorporation of HSM (hyper sonic motor) ensures quiet and high speed AF, while allowing full-time manual focus override.
in 3 offers
The lowest price for Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Lens for Nikon right now is $3,608.00 at Ubuy Australia, compared across 3 retailers.
The all-time low was $404.06 on 10 May 2026 — today's price is 793% above the lowest ever. It has been notably cheaper before — worth setting a price alert.
Prices last updated 14 June 2026.
Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Lens for Nikon
This ultra telephoto zoom lens covers a standard range of focal lengths from 50 mm to 500 mm ultra telephoto range. This lens is equipped with Sigma's unique OS (Optical Stabilizer) function. This system enables hand held photography for many types of subjects such as motor sports, air planes, macro and wildlife. Four SLD (special low dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of color aberration throughout the entire zoom range. Incorporation of HSM (hyper sonic motor) ensures quiet and high speed AF, while allowing full-time manual focus override.
This ultra telephoto zoom lens covers a standard range of focal lengths from 50 mm to 500 mm ultra telephoto range. This lens is equipped with Sigma's unique OS (Optical Stabilizer) function. This system enables hand held photography for many types of subjects such as motor sports, air planes, macro and wildlife. Four SLD (special low dispersion) glass elements provide excellent correction of color aberration throughout the entire zoom range. Incorporation of HSM (hyper sonic motor) ensures quiet and high speed AF, while allowing full-time manual focus override.
Last updated at 14/06/2026 05:52:59
Sigma 4738955 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Optical Lens for Nikon, Black
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Camera
Delivery between 18–22 June $15.52
50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Camera
Delivery between 20–23 June $29
originally posted on wexphotographic.com
I have a love-hate relationship with this lens, but ultimately it's a keeper. Wonderful build quality, solid and rugged, I have put the lens through it's paces and the frustratingly inconsistent auto focus can be a real pain.... demanding perfect technique and a different approach than when using my Nikkor pro lenses which are virtually flawless. And strangely, that for me is part of the challenge and the charm of this lens.The Sigma makes you work for every shot, and with a steady hand, back button focusing enabled and taking my time,as well as sharpening of the lens in camera to between -10 and -15 to cure the obvious back focusing issues, I can achieve excellent results with my 36mp D800 and the Sigma but the misses are many. When it works, the images captured ... MoreI have a love-hate relationship with this lens, but ultimately it's a keeper. Wonderful build quality, solid and rugged, I have put the lens through it's paces and the frustratingly inconsistent auto focus can be a real pain.... demanding perfect technique and a different approach than when using my Nikkor pro lenses which are virtually flawless. And strangely, that for me is part of the challenge and the charm of this lens.The Sigma makes you work for every shot, and with a steady hand, back button focusing enabled and taking my time,as well as sharpening of the lens in camera to between -10 and -15 to cure the obvious back focusing issues, I can achieve excellent results with my 36mp D800 and the Sigma but the misses are many. When it works, the images captured are fabulous with superb detail and wonderful colours and my agent, Getty Images, have taken over 100 of my photographs with this lens already in just a short time. I also shoot with a tripod and release cable when possible, and the Sigma still isn't sharp on many occasions when the optical stabilization fails to work. Even manual focus throws up the same inconsistency with sharpness. But... I love this lens, there, I have said it. I really love what it can capture, and it makes me work hard to achieve successful images. I even use it for sunrise and low light shoots. It's a keeper despite it's flaws. I now just shoots more images at any time, a mixture of manual and auto focus, and also switch the auto focus button on and off regularly to try and ensure that it IS focusing. The lens is traveling with me to Canada and Alaska in several months time and I can't wait to use it on my road trip. It's frustrating and wonderful, it makes me work harder and strive for excellence in technique, I should not love it, but I REALLY do.DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
originally posted on bhphotovideo.com
Wasn't sure exactly what this lens would be like when I ordered it. First thing you notice is that its huge and heavy (heavy usually = quality). When you attach the lens hoods this lens looks like a telescope. At 500mm I was thinking there would be no way I could hand hold it and get sharp photos, but wow was I wrong. Even fully extended to 500mm and shooting wide open my photos are crisp. The optical stabilization gives you several stops which is awesome when hand holding at 500mm. With the zoom range you can get just about anything you want so don't have to switch lenses. This will make your other lenses look like toys. Build construction feels excellent. I'm able to get in tight on wildlife and other subjects like never before with my Canon 70-200 or Tamron ... MoreWasn't sure exactly what this lens would be like when I ordered it. First thing you notice is that its huge and heavy (heavy usually = quality). When you attach the lens hoods this lens looks like a telescope. At 500mm I was thinking there would be no way I could hand hold it and get sharp photos, but wow was I wrong. Even fully extended to 500mm and shooting wide open my photos are crisp. The optical stabilization gives you several stops which is awesome when hand holding at 500mm. With the zoom range you can get just about anything you want so don't have to switch lenses. This will make your other lenses look like toys. Build construction feels excellent. I'm able to get in tight on wildlife and other subjects like never before with my Canon 70-200 or Tamron 18-250 and the quality of images are very close to or better than my Canon L, but I would give the bokeh edge to the Canon, but not by much. You will get tired hand holding it for a long time, but the beauty is you can hand hold and get great shots. It does an excellent job of collecting light. There is some vignetting at 500mm but it can be corrected post production if you need to. I'm very satisfied with this lens and would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a jump into this price range. Just know it won't fit in your camera bag, but thankfully it comes with its own carrying bag.
originally posted on bhphotovideo.com
I bought this lens two years ago and have used it heavily and also have some experience with other people who have bought the canon 100-400mm and direct comparison by borrowing their 100-400s. I use this lens for nature photography/birds and found some fairly serious issues with this lens. Compared to its competitor the 100-400mm the Sigma 50-500mm offers better reach, versatility, minimum focusing distance and image stabilization. The image stabilization is not 4-stops as Sigma claims it is only 3-stops but this is a good deal better than the 2-stops offered by the canon 100-400mm. The Sigma has some serious durability issues, more chromatic aberration, bokeh issues, autofocus problems and markedly worse image quality than the canon. While photographing at a zoo a ... MoreI bought this lens two years ago and have used it heavily and also have some experience with other people who have bought the canon 100-400mm and direct comparison by borrowing their 100-400s. I use this lens for nature photography/birds and found some fairly serious issues with this lens. Compared to its competitor the 100-400mm the Sigma 50-500mm offers better reach, versatility, minimum focusing distance and image stabilization. The image stabilization is not 4-stops as Sigma claims it is only 3-stops but this is a good deal better than the 2-stops offered by the canon 100-400mm. The Sigma has some serious durability issues, more chromatic aberration, bokeh issues, autofocus problems and markedly worse image quality than the canon. While photographing at a zoo a toucan flew down and landed a few feet away while I was near a fellow canon user with a 100-400mm. I was able to retract my lens and get a beautiful shot that he missed. Please note that the MFD value is at 50mm and the maximum reproduction ratio is at 250mm. The better MFD and MRR are extremely useful in real life applications and allowed me to explore quasi-macro photography and take portraits without changing my lens which is not an option with the 100-400mm. The build quality is substantially worse on the sigma. I used the lens for 1 year before the autofocus broke and I did not even call sigma because although I did not drop the lens it was used almost every day for 1 year. The paint chipped, the lens picked up a ton of dust and I highly doubt sigma will honor a warranty on a lens that looks like this. It was not abused but definitely used hard for that one year. I recently called sigma and they informed me that it would take 2 weeks for the lens to be returned and I don't feel sending it for repair is worth my time. For now it is a manual focus lens with a very nice focus ring. I only used the autofocus on a t2i and it hunted a lot especially in low light. Everything but the 1d series will only autofocus to f5.6 and this lens is f6.3 the the vast majority of its zoom range. 1/3 stop is not significant in real life situations except to your AF system. While it will autofocus in bright light on a rebel it is fast but extremely inconsistent compared to the 100-400. The sharpness is good till about 250mm and then it falls off like a ski jump. Extra reach becomes a null issue if the images are soft. Better to crop the canon than get the extra reach. Even wide open sharpness or lack thereof consistent across an APS-H (1.3x) sensor and stopping down does not significantly improve sharpness. At 500mm it is mush and although you can get slightly better results with a 1.4x TC the contrast will suffer substantially and CA becomes common on high contrast images (backlit dark birds). The kenko 1.4x is much better than the sigma 1.4x which broke on me in 6 months. In post you will spend a lot of time restoring contrast and this leads to an almost surreal look to your pictures if you shoot RAW, have fun with JPEGS. You can also get more onion bokeh and although OOF points of light appear circular they sometimes get banding through them. Not so pretty. The weight will be an issue for people not used to super-telephoto lenses; for those who have handled super-telephoto lenses the weight will be refreshing. I was considering buying the 180mm 2.8 OS macro but the Sigma corporation did not inspire confidence when I talked to them about my issues with their products. I will miss the reach and razor thin DOF but I do not have the time, money and effort to waste on a poor quality lens with better IQ so I will be purchasing the Canon 100mm IS macro and will probably stick to Canon, Tamron (research the lens model before purchase) and Kenko. I hope this makes your choice lens choices more clear and if you can only get one lens, will not use it hard, don't need the best autofocus and IQ is not paramount then this will be a good lens for you, for the rest of the world get the 100-400, a good walkaround lens and some extension tubes for close-up photography (I have a hard time calling it true macro).
| General | |
| Length | 21.9 cm |
| Diameter | 10.44 cm |
| Weight | 1.97 kg |
| Lens System |
Sigma 4738955 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Optical Lens for Nikon, Black
Affiliate Disclosure: We may receive a small commission for purchases made through this link at no extra cost to you. This helps support our site. Thank you!
Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Camera
Delivery between 18–22 June $15.52
50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM SLD Ultra Telephoto Zoom Lens for Canon Digital SLR Camera
Delivery between 20–23 June $29
I have a love-hate relationship with this lens, but ultimately it's a keeper. Wonderful build quality, solid and rugged, I have put the lens through it's paces and the frustratingly inconsistent auto focus can be a real pain.... demanding perfect technique and a different approach than when using my Nikkor pro lenses which are virtually flawless. And strangely, that for me is part of the challenge and the charm of this lens.The Sigma makes you work for every shot, and with a steady hand, back button focusing enabled and taking my time,as well as sharpening of the lens in camera to between -10 and -15 to cure the obvious back focusing issues, I can achieve excellent results with my 36mp D800 and the Sigma but the misses are many. When it works, the images captured ... MoreI have a love-hate relationship with this lens, but ultimately it's a keeper. Wonderful build quality, solid and rugged, I have put the lens through it's paces and the frustratingly inconsistent auto focus can be a real pain.... demanding perfect technique and a different approach than when using my Nikkor pro lenses which are virtually flawless. And strangely, that for me is part of the challenge and the charm of this lens.The Sigma makes you work for every shot, and with a steady hand, back button focusing enabled and taking my time,as well as sharpening of the lens in camera to between -10 and -15 to cure the obvious back focusing issues, I can achieve excellent results with my 36mp D800 and the Sigma but the misses are many. When it works, the images captured are fabulous with superb detail and wonderful colours and my agent, Getty Images, have taken over 100 of my photographs with this lens already in just a short time. I also shoot with a tripod and release cable when possible, and the Sigma still isn't sharp on many occasions when the optical stabilization fails to work. Even manual focus throws up the same inconsistency with sharpness. But... I love this lens, there, I have said it. I really love what it can capture, and it makes me work hard to achieve successful images. I even use it for sunrise and low light shoots. It's a keeper despite it's flaws. I now just shoots more images at any time, a mixture of manual and auto focus, and also switch the auto focus button on and off regularly to try and ensure that it IS focusing. The lens is traveling with me to Canada and Alaska in several months time and I can't wait to use it on my road trip. It's frustrating and wonderful, it makes me work harder and strive for excellence in technique, I should not love it, but I REALLY do.DESPITE STRAIGHT LINES (Paul Williams)
Wasn't sure exactly what this lens would be like when I ordered it. First thing you notice is that its huge and heavy (heavy usually = quality). When you attach the lens hoods this lens looks like a telescope. At 500mm I was thinking there would be no way I could hand hold it and get sharp photos, but wow was I wrong. Even fully extended to 500mm and shooting wide open my photos are crisp. The optical stabilization gives you several stops which is awesome when hand holding at 500mm. With the zoom range you can get just about anything you want so don't have to switch lenses. This will make your other lenses look like toys. Build construction feels excellent. I'm able to get in tight on wildlife and other subjects like never before with my Canon 70-200 or Tamron ... MoreWasn't sure exactly what this lens would be like when I ordered it. First thing you notice is that its huge and heavy (heavy usually = quality). When you attach the lens hoods this lens looks like a telescope. At 500mm I was thinking there would be no way I could hand hold it and get sharp photos, but wow was I wrong. Even fully extended to 500mm and shooting wide open my photos are crisp. The optical stabilization gives you several stops which is awesome when hand holding at 500mm. With the zoom range you can get just about anything you want so don't have to switch lenses. This will make your other lenses look like toys. Build construction feels excellent. I'm able to get in tight on wildlife and other subjects like never before with my Canon 70-200 or Tamron 18-250 and the quality of images are very close to or better than my Canon L, but I would give the bokeh edge to the Canon, but not by much. You will get tired hand holding it for a long time, but the beauty is you can hand hold and get great shots. It does an excellent job of collecting light. There is some vignetting at 500mm but it can be corrected post production if you need to. I'm very satisfied with this lens and would recommend it to anyone who wants to take a jump into this price range. Just know it won't fit in your camera bag, but thankfully it comes with its own carrying bag.
I bought this lens two years ago and have used it heavily and also have some experience with other people who have bought the canon 100-400mm and direct comparison by borrowing their 100-400s. I use this lens for nature photography/birds and found some fairly serious issues with this lens. Compared to its competitor the 100-400mm the Sigma 50-500mm offers better reach, versatility, minimum focusing distance and image stabilization. The image stabilization is not 4-stops as Sigma claims it is only 3-stops but this is a good deal better than the 2-stops offered by the canon 100-400mm. The Sigma has some serious durability issues, more chromatic aberration, bokeh issues, autofocus problems and markedly worse image quality than the canon. While photographing at a zoo a ... MoreI bought this lens two years ago and have used it heavily and also have some experience with other people who have bought the canon 100-400mm and direct comparison by borrowing their 100-400s. I use this lens for nature photography/birds and found some fairly serious issues with this lens. Compared to its competitor the 100-400mm the Sigma 50-500mm offers better reach, versatility, minimum focusing distance and image stabilization. The image stabilization is not 4-stops as Sigma claims it is only 3-stops but this is a good deal better than the 2-stops offered by the canon 100-400mm. The Sigma has some serious durability issues, more chromatic aberration, bokeh issues, autofocus problems and markedly worse image quality than the canon. While photographing at a zoo a toucan flew down and landed a few feet away while I was near a fellow canon user with a 100-400mm. I was able to retract my lens and get a beautiful shot that he missed. Please note that the MFD value is at 50mm and the maximum reproduction ratio is at 250mm. The better MFD and MRR are extremely useful in real life applications and allowed me to explore quasi-macro photography and take portraits without changing my lens which is not an option with the 100-400mm. The build quality is substantially worse on the sigma. I used the lens for 1 year before the autofocus broke and I did not even call sigma because although I did not drop the lens it was used almost every day for 1 year. The paint chipped, the lens picked up a ton of dust and I highly doubt sigma will honor a warranty on a lens that looks like this. It was not abused but definitely used hard for that one year. I recently called sigma and they informed me that it would take 2 weeks for the lens to be returned and I don't feel sending it for repair is worth my time. For now it is a manual focus lens with a very nice focus ring. I only used the autofocus on a t2i and it hunted a lot especially in low light. Everything but the 1d series will only autofocus to f5.6 and this lens is f6.3 the the vast majority of its zoom range. 1/3 stop is not significant in real life situations except to your AF system. While it will autofocus in bright light on a rebel it is fast but extremely inconsistent compared to the 100-400. The sharpness is good till about 250mm and then it falls off like a ski jump. Extra reach becomes a null issue if the images are soft. Better to crop the canon than get the extra reach. Even wide open sharpness or lack thereof consistent across an APS-H (1.3x) sensor and stopping down does not significantly improve sharpness. At 500mm it is mush and although you can get slightly better results with a 1.4x TC the contrast will suffer substantially and CA becomes common on high contrast images (backlit dark birds). The kenko 1.4x is much better than the sigma 1.4x which broke on me in 6 months. In post you will spend a lot of time restoring contrast and this leads to an almost surreal look to your pictures if you shoot RAW, have fun with JPEGS. You can also get more onion bokeh and although OOF points of light appear circular they sometimes get banding through them. Not so pretty. The weight will be an issue for people not used to super-telephoto lenses; for those who have handled super-telephoto lenses the weight will be refreshing. I was considering buying the 180mm 2.8 OS macro but the Sigma corporation did not inspire confidence when I talked to them about my issues with their products. I will miss the reach and razor thin DOF but I do not have the time, money and effort to waste on a poor quality lens with better IQ so I will be purchasing the Canon 100mm IS macro and will probably stick to Canon, Tamron (research the lens model before purchase) and Kenko. I hope this makes your choice lens choices more clear and if you can only get one lens, will not use it hard, don't need the best autofocus and IQ is not paramount then this will be a good lens for you, for the rest of the world get the 100-400, a good walkaround lens and some extension tubes for close-up photography (I have a hard time calling it true macro).
I shoot a lot of high school sports events. The 2 main lenses I use are this one and the sigma 70-200 2.8 ex dg apo. The latter's image quality is far superior, even at wider apertures.I know the studio I shoot for is not going to buy a 3k+ lens to lend out to their photographers, so I have to make due with this budget zoom.For the price, I suppose it is ok. If you demand better than ok, look elsewhere.Fully extended to 500mm in well light situations this lens doesn't produce one useable image. I have to constantly remind myself to not zoom in past 300mm. Even at 300mm the images need A LOT of sharpening and correction before I will submit them.It focuses relatively fast and is lighter than prime lenses. Those are the only 2 positives I can draw from this.
Great zoom capabilities and rivals my Canon L lenses in quality. Heavy as to be expected, definitely carry the camera by the lens not the lens by the camera. A good camera strap that not only secures the camera body but the lens as well, with the most weight bearing on the lens support. Not a lens for the faint of heart or short of breath, but will get the image in the 50-500mm zoom range. A good mono-pod works well for lower light situations. The OS (optical stabilization) works well in most handheld applications. A handful for sure, but a small price to pay for securing a WOW image.
I just retired and my partner and I have found a common theme of bird watching and photography. We live near several bird sanctuaries in northern California, so we decided to move from binoculars and spotting scopes and a 55-300mm zoom on a Nikon D90 to gear that could reach out far enough to capture birds on camera. The goal is to capture birds in flight, a fascination of mine since childhood. After consulting with several very experienced wildlife photographers, I did not follow their advice, which of course was to buy a full frame camera, a Nikon 600mm F4 lens and a Gitzo tripod. I opted for a refurbished D7000 (see my review) which was/is mint. After much research I called Adorama yesterday morning and ordered the Sigma 50-500 f4.5-6.3 vibration stabilized lens ... MoreI just retired and my partner and I have found a common theme of bird watching and photography. We live near several bird sanctuaries in northern California, so we decided to move from binoculars and spotting scopes and a 55-300mm zoom on a Nikon D90 to gear that could reach out far enough to capture birds on camera. The goal is to capture birds in flight, a fascination of mine since childhood. After consulting with several very experienced wildlife photographers, I did not follow their advice, which of course was to buy a full frame camera, a Nikon 600mm F4 lens and a Gitzo tripod. I opted for a refurbished D7000 (see my review) which was/is mint. After much research I called Adorama yesterday morning and ordered the Sigma 50-500 f4.5-6.3 vibration stabilized lens (they call it OS and Nikon calls it VR) with a UV filter, polarizing filter, 1.4x Sigma Teleconverter, 5 year warranty for $2100. Reviews advise against a polarizing filter because it can get stuck but my solution is to buy another 95-86mm reduction ring if this happens and carry both. I wanted it fast so ordered it overnight delivery. It arrived at 1PM today, from New York, the day before Thanksgiving, despite all the weather and flight delays. I was impressed! Adorama made my day. Why this lens? Several reasons. Cost although not trivial was low compared to 8K+ for a refurb 600mm F4 fixed focal length lens. It is a walk around lens suitable for shots in the house as well as birding that is very well stabilized and suitable for shooting without a tripod. I am not too concerned at this point about taking the perfect bird photo, just to be able to try. Portability and use without a tripod were major considerations. Reviews raised issues about autofocus not locking in or locking in on a nearer object than desired. I looked for and noticed this but put the AF area mode on point focus and was able to shoot through a candelabra and focus on a more distant clock. Autofocus does not work with the teleconverter, of which I was aware from the product literature, reviews, and Adorama salesman. One reviewer had better luck with the Tamron teleconverter and autofocus, but I stuck with Sigma TC for the time being. Not too worried about AF in a lens that can reach out ~1000mm handheld. Of course I tried that combination first and found great image quality and no vingnetting (I did put on the 95mm to 86mm reduction collar recommended for Dx format cameras) and used a tripod. At 4 lbs I can handle it without a tripod, although my partner would have trouble. Will use a monopod or tripod for longer shoots. In the house hand held video and shots of my granddaughter were crystal clear. So very pleased. A great one size fits all starter lens to get into the difficult and $$$ birds-in-flight game. Probably a 600mm f4 and a full frame D610 in my future. Now to go to Tule Lake and shoot the eagles!. BTW picked Nikon over Canon because my partner has a D90 and we can share lenses and familiarity. Would have gone Canon if she had one. Would have rated this 5 but need more experience in the field.
Sony a550 is 14 MP, with a half-frame APS size chip. Effectively instead of 50-500, it's 75-750 or 15x power at 500 mm. ** Auto focusing is smooth. Status of Image under manual focus is reasonably detected. ** Switch will lock the lens at the 50 mm position only. ** A Sony 75-300 lens in use produces a second sun image; this Sigma's glass is preventing it. ** OS within lens is still under field review. ** A Slick tripod with a 15 lb. capacity is very stable. A Manfrotto monopod with a tilt head and 5 lb. capacity is suitable. ** Step-down filter ring (95mm to 86mm) can be used only with a half-frame APS chip camera. Apparently Sigma provided the step-down ring as the previous 50-500 model had a 86mm filter size. Cheapest 95mm UV filter was found at B&H for $25. ** ... MoreSony a550 is 14 MP, with a half-frame APS size chip. Effectively instead of 50-500, it's 75-750 or 15x power at 500 mm. ** Auto focusing is smooth. Status of Image under manual focus is reasonably detected. ** Switch will lock the lens at the 50 mm position only. ** A Sony 75-300 lens in use produces a second sun image; this Sigma's glass is preventing it. ** OS within lens is still under field review. ** A Slick tripod with a 15 lb. capacity is very stable. A Manfrotto monopod with a tilt head and 5 lb. capacity is suitable. ** Step-down filter ring (95mm to 86mm) can be used only with a half-frame APS chip camera. Apparently Sigma provided the step-down ring as the previous 50-500 model had a 86mm filter size. Cheapest 95mm UV filter was found at B&H for $25. ** Case provided seems adequate for lens protection. Case strap at 42 is too short for 'comfortable' cross-shoulder carrying. B&H has many to choose from. ** The lens keeps your home's A/C temperature for a long duration. Do watch out for condensation on the inside of the UV filter. It's a sizeable lens with a good range from close in to far away.
I'm no pro but I can see fairly well (with glasses). The 50-500 gives you plenty of reach to capture photos. It's heavy but if you have to shoot hand held. Bottom line is I've used it to shoot golf outings, it's slow but you learn how to focus. You also learn how far the lens can reach and still produce acceptable images. I have better glass and I do use it but the Sigma 50-500 allows you to capture a wide range of events without having to change lens. The photos are acceptable. My golf groups loves the photos but a photographer would probably delete them. Sigma Bigma is a pain, but is also capable of bring pleasure. If you're looking for somthing in this range you can grab one reasonably cheap. I've also grabbed a Nikon 70-300 4.5-5.G VR which produces better ... MoreI'm no pro but I can see fairly well (with glasses). The 50-500 gives you plenty of reach to capture photos. It's heavy but if you have to shoot hand held. Bottom line is I've used it to shoot golf outings, it's slow but you learn how to focus. You also learn how far the lens can reach and still produce acceptable images. I have better glass and I do use it but the Sigma 50-500 allows you to capture a wide range of events without having to change lens. The photos are acceptable. My golf groups loves the photos but a photographer would probably delete them. Sigma Bigma is a pain, but is also capable of bring pleasure. If you're looking for somthing in this range you can grab one reasonably cheap. I've also grabbed a Nikon 70-300 4.5-5.G VR which produces better images but lacks the range. Hope this helps.
I am a semi-professional photographer and have sold a fair number of images. I have used this lens to great advantage at the Greatest Week in American Birding as well as on my bird tours to Alaska for the past 6 years. I find the focus to be really nice and responsive with my Nikon D500. With this combination, I do not think that the AF hunts much (if at all). It works particularly well in bright lighting, with quick focus and sharp images obtained on almost all images. I find that the relatively compact size is really convenient while on tour so that I don't have to lug around a larger lens as well as binoculars and a spotting scope and tripod over my shoulder. Works very well on a shoulder sling as well as a chest holder. I would have given this a 4.5 but can't ... MoreI am a semi-professional photographer and have sold a fair number of images. I have used this lens to great advantage at the Greatest Week in American Birding as well as on my bird tours to Alaska for the past 6 years. I find the focus to be really nice and responsive with my Nikon D500. With this combination, I do not think that the AF hunts much (if at all). It works particularly well in bright lighting, with quick focus and sharp images obtained on almost all images. I find that the relatively compact size is really convenient while on tour so that I don't have to lug around a larger lens as well as binoculars and a spotting scope and tripod over my shoulder. Works very well on a shoulder sling as well as a chest holder. I would have given this a 4.5 but can't due to the criteria. It is not a 400mm f/2.8, but then why would you carry around a $12,000 lens on a birding tour when you can get some nice images with this high quality, compact, and affordable lens? In my mind, this is a no-brainer.
| General | |
| Length | 21.9 cm |
| Diameter | 10.44 cm |
| Weight | 1.97 kg |
| Lens System |
