Better quality 70-300 or go 150-600

[Two66]

Hello everyone,

I'll give you a bit of background, photography on a whole is a real hobby for me, I don't like to get too technical and 90% of the time I shoot on auto. I just want to get the shot instead of missing it playing with settings, but I do get some good results. Mainly its aviation, stuff thats flying around me and air shows. But my camera also goes with me to my cricket games and takes a lot of photos.

I have a sigma 70-300, you know, the cheap one that you can get for £90 at Currys. It's done me well over the past 2 years but now I'm starting to struggle with the autofocus, so I'm looking at new lens options.

Obviously the primary option is getting a better quality 70-300mm which should hopefully yield better focus and improved quality photos. But as it looks likely I will be buying a new lens anyway, I've got half a mind to go for more zoom with a 150-600mm. I'd just like to get some closer shots of stuff, I get quite a lot of stuff at great distance/altitude where I am and one having 300mm needs a big crop. I'd say something like the Tamron 150-600 at £700 is absolute top end of my budget.

My body is a Canon 100d, I imagine a 150-600 could look a little ridiculous on that tiny body!

So I'm looking for advice, firstly on 70-300mm options and 150-600mm options. There are so many out there and without me really understanding the technical stuff they are hard to filter through.

And then just looking for peoples experience with the bigger lenses, are the 'cheap' big lenses worth the money.

Thanks

[Pen Pusher]

My body is a Canon 100d, I imagine a 150-600 could look a little ridiculous on that tiny body!

Not really.

I'm using a Sigma 100-400mm on a Sony a6000 Compact Systems Camera body, like the set up below, and getting some of my best pictures yet.



Brian

[Two66]

My body is a Canon 100d, I imagine a 150-600 could look a little ridiculous on that tiny body!

Not really.

I'm using a Sigma 100-400mm on a Sony a6000 Compact Systems Camera body, like the set up below, and getting some of my best pictures yet.



Brian

Haha, thats awesome! Is there an equivalent lens for my Canon?

[James1971]

I'd say go with the Sigma. I've got the 'C' version and it's fantastic. It weighs a bit, but that helps with the stabilisation.

Try and venture onto TV or AV modes. F8 and upwards will set the shutter speed to a workable one if the light is better than gloomy. If you're only getting 1/200 - 1/600 shutter speeds, bring your ISO up a couple of click to get a speed of 1/1000 and upwards.

If you put 1/1000 and upwards in TV mode, the camera will assign it's AV setting for you. The faster the speed, the less shake you'll get which should make your images sharper.

There's 1000's of stuff online both via forums and YouTube that explain it in simple terms.

Trust me, you'll see an improvement on your images if you're willing to push yourself.

[Two66]

Thanks James, the way you've explained it there has made it very simple to understand. I had been told to use Tv mode on helicopter to try and get some rotor blur but couldn't get it right and thus missed the shot!

Just have a play around then I'm starting to understand it more, the AV mode looks good.

Just to confirm, this in the lens you are recommending? http://www.jessops.com/online.store/cat ... /show.html

[James1971]

Yes, that's the one. I also bought (should be included IMO) the dock that updates the firmware and allows you to customise it if required.

[Yunglee]

I had the Tamron 150-600 on a smaller Nikon D5300 body and the two were fine together. You'll find that it's not perfectly balanced as the weight of the camera doesn't off set the weight at the end of the lens...BUT it makes no difference to the images coming out of the camera. It only means that you have to remember it's a bit front heavy if you are balancing it out of the window of a bird hide!

As for the difference between Tamron and Sigma for the 150-600mm's it's pretty small. We'll argue which it better, but there are both great. My advise would be to see if a local camera shop has both in stock and take your camera and see how they feel on it. They'll both help you take sharper and punchier photo's than the Sigma 70-300 and you'll have twice the reach.

Lee.

[Yunglee]

My body is a Canon 100d, I imagine a 150-600 could look a little ridiculous on that tiny body!

Not really.

I'm using a Sigma 100-400mm on a Sony a6000 Compact Systems Camera body, like the set up below, and getting some of my best pictures yet.

Brian

What's the autofocus like compared to a DSLR with the Sony? Does it lock on quick enough?

[Pen Pusher]

What's the autofocus like compared to a DSLR with the Sony? Does it lock on quick enough?

When the a6000 came out in 2014 Sony claimed it had the worlds fastest autofocus for an APS-C camera, and it is very quick at locking onto a target and maintaining that lock while panning.

Brian

[F6MAN]

The S600C is absolutely brilliant.
For example, I have a post from Shawbury.
The burner image is taken at 600mm, that's a focal length of 960mm on a APSC body, at f6.3 ISO 200 @1/400 sec handheld.
This image is also quite heavily cropped, I'm guessing it's about 1200mm and not sharpened.
When you couple all that to a pair of shaky hands connected to a 70 year old body, need I say more.
All the best.
PeteW

[luke28]

I had a similar predicament a few months ago and made a similar post regarding buying either a new 300mm f4 prime or the Sigma 150-600mm, in the end I brought both so here's my view..

Nikon 300 f4 prime, its sharp as a tack and the auto focus locks on very fast, in post processing it gives you the ability to crop quite alot with minimal loss of quality. Its light and easy to carry around, The only negative is that you're stuck at 300mm throughout but if you've already commited to buying a prime then this is an issue that you are comfortable with.

Sigma 150-600mm, decent sharpness from 150-500mm with a slight loss of quality at the 600mm end, in decent light its a gem of a lens and will provide you with some excellent results however in low light it will struggle slightly but if you're jumping from the standard 70-300mm to this then the 150-600 will blow you away. Its obviously heavy and after a full day at an airshow you will feel it in your arms.

Hope this helps a little

[sploosher]

The OP could always try this second hand Sigma 80-400.
http://www.ffordes.com/product/17052615445381



It is one of the Sigma EX range which are meant to be better than non EX lens`, and at only £199 may be worth it, even if you decide to change it later, you may get a similar price when p/exing.

Hope this helps

[Cornish-guy]

I had a similar predicament a few months ago and made a similar post regarding buying either a new 300mm f4 prime or the Sigma 150-600mm, in the end I brought both so here's my view..

Nikon 300 f4 prime, its sharp as a tack and the auto focus locks on very fast, in post processing it gives you the ability to crop quite alot with minimal loss of quality. Its light and easy to carry around, The only negative is that you're stuck at 300mm throughout but if you've already commited to buying a prime then this is an issue that you are comfortable with.

Sigma 150-600mm, decent sharpness from 150-500mm with a slight loss of quality at the 600mm end, in decent light its a gem of a lens and will provide you with some excellent results however in low light it will struggle slightly but if you're jumping from the standard 70-300mm to this then the 150-600 will blow you away. Its obviously heavy and after a full day at an airshow you will feel it in your arms.

Hope this helps a little

I back up what luke has said - Im slightly biased as I already own the none AF-s version of the nikkor 300 f4, and it rocks


C.