im looking at this lens for a longer range. its the EX+ SIGMA APO 170-500MM F5-6.3 d lens for Nikon. can anyone tell me more about it. is this a good lens to get. I have a Nikon 55 to 300mm lens, but want something alittle bigger zoom
Sigma makes good lenses, that being said I would check for a refurbished Nikon lens because you will save a ton of money while getting a better quality lens. Now as far as the size lens itself, that is quite a spread any not offer the best shot anymore than 150-200mm spread is too much for any lens to do a great job all of the way through. If is for a general carrying around lens that size would be fine but if you are using it professionally I would consider a smaller spread just because you may have some focus lag.
I borrowed a friend's Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM APO. It's big and heavy. I would not want to carry this thing around. I just used it in our room at AKL Jambo. The lens is perfect for that situation. I used it handheld, even though I had a tripod. Just wanted to see how well the optical stabilization worked, and it did the job quite well. As for image quality, it's excellent for everyday use; web, email, printing. But for pixel peeping and poster sizes, it tends to be a bit soft compared to other Nikon lenses. It's not necessarily a deal breaker, unless you were actually looking for pro quality. Also, this lens needs a lot of light. It's not something one would use indoors.
This was at 500mm (no crop) f/8 and 1/60 second.
Here is the view from the same spot at 16mm. The zebra was at the closest tree in the center.