[daveyuk]

I've just bought myself the above lens and had sometime with it in the garden this morning. As a 150 - 500mm lens it works very nicely and will work well for airshows, however it will give your neck, shoulders and back a hard time this is no light wieght lens it get heavier when use the 2x tc or if you're feelling brave use it with the 2xtc and 1.4tc then it gets real heavy. I tried this set up this morning and yeah you get some great length but with manual focus trying to track aircraft and focus at the sametime is not easy, I also found that my arms and shoulders began to ache very quickly!!

However I did find the 1.4 tc plus lens setup to be a very usable setup as it gives you a total length of 700mm which for wild life airshows and some motorsports events you should come home with some good results.

Test shots in order to try and keep the same shot I used my tripod the subject it a tad boring plus my manual focus skills need a bit of time put into them but hopefully you'll get a good idea of how good this lens is.

As for the test shots all that I've done to them in photoshop is to save them for the web, no other tinkerings have been applied...
1.

Just the lens set to the shortest length, auto focus switched on.
150mm, f5.0, ISO 640, SS 6400

2.

Just the lens set to full length auto focus switched on.
500mm f6.3, IS0 640, SS 3200

3.

Lens plus 1.4x tc manual focus.
700m f9, ISO 640, SS 2000

4.

Lens plus 2.0x tc manual focus.
1,000mm f13, ISO 100, SS 1/125

5.

Lens plus 1.4x and 2.0x tc's manual focus.
1,400mm f13, ISO 100 SS 1/60

For me I think I'll be favouring the lens plus 1.4x tc setup for airshows and some motorsport events but need some manual focus practice time first

If you're in the market for a long length lens then have a look at this one you do get Sigma's OSwhich does work very nicely and is also quick and responsive to your movements AF is both quick and as near slient as you can get, down side it is heavy and you will know it if you use it all day although I think the old 80-400 is a tad heavier this one.

It was fun having both tc's on but in reality I can't see me using this setup for real it's just too heavy, too long and trying to focus at this lenght is near almost imposible as you feel mlike the lens is waving all over the place, as it is most off putting and it does make you feel a little queazy.

I do look forward to taking this lens to Brands Hatch for a good workout there.

Hope it helps
Regards
David...

[silkstone]

I wonder how cropping the image without TC would compare with using the TC?

Did you use mirror lock-up? That can make quite a difference at these focal lengths, though obviously it's no use for action shots.

P.S. Clean you sensor before Brands Hatch!

[AQ]

This is a lens I am thinking about getting. I assume that theses are the whole image that you got from the camera.

What I would like to see are the central portions of the first first two images at their full resolution. Can you please post something like that

[WOODY]

SOME GREAT ARIEL SHOTS DAVE

[Kajuah]

It's a great lens, but you can see some serious distortion as you start to get to the long end of the scope ! I'm not sure if that's the lens or the slow shutter speed's fault. I've shot with the sigma 300-800mm, I think i have a photo of me using it with the d300 laying around somewhere..It's one of those lenses that needs it's own turret mount, I've never seen a 150-500 though, how heavy was it?