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Sigma 170-500mm f/5-6.3 APO RF 35mm Zoom

4.03/5 (40 Reviews)

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  • Lens TypeZoom Lens
    Focal Length170mm - 500mm
    Lens Max Aperturef/5-f/6.3
    Min Aperturef/32
    Focus TypeAutofocus
    Macro LensWithout Macro Lens
    MountCanon EF
    Closest Focusing Distance126 in
    Diaphragm Blades9 Blades
    Picture Angle5 - 14.5 degrees
    Attachment / Filter Size86 mm
    Groups / Elements13 Elements in 11 Groups
    Diameter3.6 in
    Length9.1 in
    Weight47.4 oz
    MPN734101
    Product ID28143726

Product Description

This great lens combines a 5 lens group zoom system with an aspherical lens element to deliver sharp high contrast images throughout the entire zoom range. Using Sigma's unique apochromatic lens design and three SLD glass elements, the aberrations usually found in ultra-telephoto lenses have been eliminated. And with Sigma's new focusing system, the front lens group doesn't rotate, which makes using polarized filters a snap. A convenient built-in rotary tripod mount eliminates vibration during shutter release.


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Reviews 1 - 5 (40 Reviews Total) | Next 15

User Reviews

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Ted a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: May 2, 2011

Strengths:    you can have photo from this lens on front page CBC ottawa or montreal your photography. or from my page
http://hajiagha.tripod.com


Weaknesses:    is slow and dust going in I am looking to clean dust from inside of the lens ?
but for price I pay working fine for me

Bottom Line:   
looks to me slow but great and have sharp image , I was pay for canon sigma $1200 paint go off and dust go in ? but this older lens looks to me have all and is working fine on my sony A100

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   2-5 years

Price Paid:    $300.00

Purchased At:   secound hand

Similar Products Used:   sigma 150-500mm for canon
Tamron 70-300 mme for Nikon I do not likes

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by yc a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: April 7, 2009

Strengths:    Great optics - sharp even wide open, great color and contrast. Flair and AC are not bad to be noticed. Good tripod collar.

Weaknesses:    Lens cap is a joke. Lens creeks terribly. AF not good for moving tracking, MF not accurate. Heavy (not the lens fault for sure, but still, it's heavy) To me a 1.5lb lens is not heavy, but 3 pounder is.

Bottom Line:   
A great tele with crystal sharp image and beautiful color, if the subject is not moving. Basically this is a poor man's tele that happens to have great optics, yes, the optics is fantastic, but not much else.

AF is slow, tracking a flying bird is impossible for me. Manual focus ring is added as an afterthought for sure, it's loose with very limited travel, so not very useful at all. The lens creeks a lot if not careful. I bought a custom lens cap so I can actually close and open the cap when the hood is on. It's quite heavy. So tripod is very useful if not a must for this lens. The tripod collar is great though - smooth, secure and solid. Shooting slow moving or stationary animals in the zoo is perhaps the best use of this lens for me. The AF is quite accurate if you allow it to work its way through it.

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Duration Product Used:   2-5 years

Price Paid:    $588.00

Purchased At:   prestigecamera.com

Similar Products Used:   None. This lens is perhaps the cheapest 500mm tele out there today. With the Mark II out with HSM, this lens is even cheaper today, which makes this a great buy if you are not shooting flying birds. I tried the birds a couple times and give up - AF is just impossible - with 350D and 40D and 5D. AF Canon 70-200 USM is instant, on the other hand. But at 200mm, it's way too short.

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:3
Value Rating:3
Submitted by Hoang a Casual

Date Reviewed: October 24, 2008

Strengths:    Good value of money (of course can not compared with the L lens but alot better than the Cosina 400mm that I used before)

Weaknesses:    Heavy, blur photo in bad weather

Bottom Line:   
I just bought the lens well used from a private seller at £230 (around $378 at current exchange) and tried tens shot with my Canon 20D. The photos at 170mm is quite good while 500mm is well acceptable. I picked a pine branch around 15m away at F76.3 and F7.2 and still see the spider web very clearly in hand-keep mode.

I, however, believed using tripod or monopod is a must to avoide handshaking as this is truly heavy monster. Without tripod/monopod or other supporting tool you can not make more than a few shots continuously.

Given that outdoor/wild life shooting is not something regularly and only are carried out in good weather, I still recommend to buy this lens as it is only 1/3 of the payment I paid for my Canon 300mm L USM and photo, in some certain conditions, are acceptable. Should the potential photographer is less than 170cm and 60kg weight he.she should think twice before going ahead due to its heavy weight.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   2-5 years

Price Paid:    $230.00

Purchased At:   gumtree.com

Similar Products Used:   Cosina 400mm, Canon 300mm L USM

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by John a Expert

Date Reviewed: June 14, 2008

Strengths:    Sharp images, reasonable price

Weaknesses:    Very unforgiving of less-than-perfect technique, zoom creep if the lens is pointed downward, CA in certain situations with overexposed or very bright background with darker foreground objects.

Bottom Line:   
My experience has been a bit different than most others here, as I find this lens to produce very sharp images. I use it on a Nikon D70, and shoot RAW files. I've shot mostly in the focal length range of 400mm to 500mm, still good and sharp.

It does suffer from chromatic aberration (CA) in high-contrast situations of very bright (overexposed) backgrounds with darker foreground objects, had that happen when shooting birds in trees a few times, but under most conditions, CA is negligible-to-non existent. I've used this lens mainly for nature stuff, but have also shot a couple college football games with it, and it worked great for that, sharp, great contrast, no CA.

It does demand that your technique be almost flawless. It definitely requires a sturdy tripod or monopod and ideally an f/stop in the range or f/8 to f/11 for the sharpest results. For the money, I am very happy with this lens.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   21+ years

Price Paid:    $650.00

Purchased At:   B&H Photo

Type of photography:   Outdoor

Overall Rating:4
Value Rating:5
Submitted by Bob King a Intermediate

Date Reviewed: June 2, 2008

Strengths:    Zoom range, quite reasonable image quality, price - it includes a tripod ring, a hood and a carry case.

Weaknesses:    No zoom lock, filter size, though mine (used) came with a uv filter, noisy focus.

Bottom Line:   
This is a good lens for what it is - a "consumer zoom". You would have to spend a lot more money to get significantly better image quality such as provided by a Canon L zoom such as the 100-400 L. It can be hand held with an appropriately high shutter speed but I find its best used with some sort of support, even if its a monopod. I find I get the best images with the lens mounted on a sturdy tripod, stopped down a bit and using a remote shutter release. I use it on my Canon DSLRs but haven't used it on my film bodies.

Expand full review >>

Duration Product Used:   2-5 years

Purchased At:   eBay used

Similar Products Used:   Canon 70-200 f/2.8L with 1.4x teleconverter, Canon 70-300 IS

Type of photography:   Outdoor


Reviews 1 - 5 (40 Reviews Total) | Next 15

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  • Lens TypeZoom Lens
    Focal Length170mm - 500mm
    Lens Max Aperturef/5-f/6.3
    Min Aperturef/32
    Focus TypeAutofocus
    Macro LensWithout Macro Lens
    MountCanon EF
    Closest Focusing Distance126 in
    Diaphragm Blades9 Blades
    Picture Angle5 - 14.5 degrees
    Attachment / Filter Size86 mm
    Groups / Elements13 Elements in 11 Groups
    Diameter3.6 in
    Length9.1 in
    Weight47.4 oz
    MPN734101
    Product ID28143726
    Release Date12/21/2009


 

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