sigma 120-400 os

[evan47]

i am thinking of getting this lens for wildlife, mostly birds. i intend to use it on walks rather than sitting around in bird hides. i am currently using the nikon 70-300vr and d7000. i know that an extra 100mm is not that much but i already own the sigma 1.4 tc (works rather well with my sigma 150mm macro lens).
i was wondering if it is worth the expense of getting the 120-400 os, and if the 1.4tc will be useful with it. has anyone compared this sigma with the 70-300vr?
some sample images taken with the sigma would be nice to see.

[Manfred M]

The one thing to watch for with the teleconverter is that your autofocus may not work. I don't know about the D7000 (I shoot the D90 and D800) but the D90 technically can have autofocus issues with apertures below f/5.6 but the D800 is fine to f/8. Add your 1.4 TC to the lens and you are pushing f/8 on the long end. On the other hand, I think your 70-300 is also f/5.6 at the long end, and if the TC is working there, you might be lucky.

My wife has the Sigma 150-500mm lens and while the image quality is okay, the build quality is not great and it has been in the shop for repairs to the focus motor and controller board twice. I understand that the lens you are looking at has a similar track record and there quality seems to be a bit variable. The other negative about Sigma is that the zoom works in the opposite direction from Nikon lenses (zoom in clockwise on Nikon versus counter-clockwise on the Sigma) which is a bit of an annoyance.

[Hero]

Manfred, I thought it was focussing that was the other way round? Both my old sigma and my current nikor 70-300 zoom in the same direction. The focus on the other hand....

[sqjaw]

May I suggest you also look at the 200-500 mm lens I had it till my son got never a problem

[Manfred M]

Hero, in the case of our Sigma, it works in exactly the opposite direction from the Nikkors for both zoom and focus. All of my lenses are less than 4 years old.

When mounted on the camera and looking through the viewfinder:

Nikon - turn clockwise to zoom in and turn counterclockwise to zoom out. The focus turn clockwise to move focus to infinity and turn counterclockwise to focus closeup.

Sigma - turn counter clockwise to zoom in and turn clockwise to zoom out. The focus turn counterclockwise to move focus to infinity and turn clockwise to focus closeup.

[Manfred M]

May I suggest you also look at the 200-500 mm lens I had it till my son got never a problem

Are you sure? The only 200-500mm lens that Sigma makes is the f/2.8 one that weighs 35 lbs and lists for $26,000.

http://www.adorama.com/SG200500DNKA.html

[Hero]

Sigma - turn counter clockwise to zoom in and turn clockwise to zoom out. The focus turn counterclockwise to move focus to infinity and turn clockwise to focus closeup.

Guess in that case the Sigma 70-300mm is the odd one out in their telephoto zoom collection. It zooms in by turning the ring clockwise

[gt13013]

Hello. I have used the Sigma 120-400, and I have made some reports and comparisons that could be of interest for you. They are here:
http://sn.im/gt_telephoto
http://sn.im/25zadmm
Regards.