Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras - USA Warranty

2022-08-13T13:16:02

Why I buy from Adorama? I was born in NYC and when I was a medical resident in the Bronx, back in the early 80's, On the rare free days residents had then, one of my favorite subway rides was to visit the Adorama store. It was the time of Popular and Modern Photography magazines, photography was big and most of us visiting the store were like kids at the candy store. always greeted with respect and always walked out with something. As the years went by I moved out of NY, then the family and life continued. I had already graduated from NYIP and when the 90's hit, the digital revolution took over I still continue to consider Adorama for fair prices, great honest service and reliable response to the customers needs and concerns. They must be doing something right to survive and thrive for these years.I was one of the pilot test program for my photography school,won some of the earliest digital Kodak and Fuji photo contests, among many others. I have bought many new cameras, lenses and other equipment. I have bought many used ones as well. My experience when I buy used lenses or cameras from Adorama has always been that they either meet or surpass the quality advertised. I just saved hundreds of dollars with this purchase. You would not know this is a used lens unless I mentioned it. Quality, performance and looks is perfect. All backed by their return policy. Thank you and hope you always continue to adhere to great customer support.

LUIS V.

2016-12-20T04:42:19

Excellent all around lens for concerts, fast focus and very good from wide angle, to telephoto!!!

REBECCA O.

2016-09-01T16:48:33

These reviews come too soon. While I haven't done much with this lens yet, my experimenting so far as proved the money to be well spent. Nice build quality, so far the pictures are nicely detailed (sharp !?). I can get pictures closer to me while getting good shots at 50/75 yards away, which is why I bought this lens, one lens does it all nicely. Not Prime good, but plenty close. Great for those that don't/can't carry around two or three lenses on their outings. Mike

MIKE V.

2015-03-12T21:00:00

I had one of the earlier film models that I used with a Canon EOS3 . When I got my Canon 50 D , I could see some Ghosting . I was shooting and eagle nest from 400 yds. Lots of backlight caused a reflection of the sensor . As soon as I saw and add that Sigma updated the lens in a DG version ,I ordered it and have Great results .Like any other tool ,you have to try different things to see what works and do your home work before buying anything . Sigma has a great website that you can find compatibility charts that tell what converts will work with .I love the lens and have sold a lot of pictures taken with it.I am in my 70's and I can hand hold it. Tripod best for long shots .Turn off IS

james k.

2014-09-10T21:00:00

Tt's not what I need.

Hi t.

2014-05-26T21:00:00

Great lens appears in excellent condition and works as advertised

Frank K.

2014-03-11T21:00:00

My wife and both use this lense for general photography and race car photos. It does have it's own focusing motor and auto focus works well. Very good bang for the buck.

jim

2013-12-09T19:00:00

If your thing is wildlife and you want to lug only one lens you may consider the Bigma as it's versatility can not be beat. At 200mm its useful for those quick shots of dragonflies and butterflies. IQ is far from a dedicated macro lens though, but this is to be expected. Three stars for me because the AF is slow,(initial focus acquisition is night and day as compared to my Canon 400 f 5.6) focus limiter might improve it a bit. I'm shooting it on a Canon 60d for the past couple of months. Not sure if I would keep it but I will give it more time.

Ariel

2013-12-09T19:00:00

I will be returning this lens. I bought it for bird photography. It is a very very heavy 4.5 lbs. It is very bulky. Even though they claim it can be hand held with great results because of its in lens optical stabilization I found that didn't work at all. You must have a tripod or forget it. Most of the time when you point it at a subject it just sits there out of focus and doesn't even hunt. It just sits there. I missed many shots because it wouldn't focus and when it did, extremely slow too slow for action shots. Also not sharp in focus, very soft. The manual focus actually works pretty good, very smooth but again you must have a tripod so you can turn the manual focus ring with a free hand. The image still comes out soft when the subject is shown to be in focus. With the large price it is a huge disappointment for the high dollar I paid for it.

Rick

2013-11-27T19:00:00

I just retired and my partner and I have found a common theme of bird watching and photography. We live near several bird sanctuaries in northern California, so we decided to move from binoculars and spotting scopes and a 55-300mm zoom on a Nikon D90 to gear that could reach out far enough to capture birds on camera. The goal is to capture birds in flight, a fascination of mine since childhood. After consulting with several very experienced wildlife photographers, I did not follow their advice, which of course was to buy a full frame camera, a Nikon 600mm F4 lens and a Gitzo tripod. I opted for a refurbished D7000 (see my review) which was/is mint. After much research I called Adorama yesterday morning and ordered the Sigma 50-500 f4.5-6.3 vibration stabilized lens (they call it OS and Nikon calls it VR) with a UV filter, polarizing filter, 1.4x Sigma Teleconverter, 5 year warranty for $2100. Reviews advise against a polarizing filter because it can get stuck but my solution is to buy another 95-86mm reduction ring if this happens and carry both. I wanted it fast so ordered it overnight delivery. It arrived at 1PM today, from New York, the day before Thanksgiving, despite all the weather and flight delays. I was impressed! Adorama made my day. Why this lens? Several reasons. Cost although not trivial was low compared to 8K+ for a refurb 600mm F4 fixed focal length lens. It is a walk around lens suitable for shots in the house as well as birding that is very well stabilized and suitable for shooting without a tripod. I am not too concerned at this point about taking the perfect bird photo, just to be able to try. Portability and use without a tripod were major considerations. Reviews raised issues about autofocus not locking in or locking in on a nearer object than desired. I looked for and noticed this but put the AF area mode on point focus and was able to shoot through a candelabra and focus on a more distant clock. Autofocus does not work with the teleconverter, of which I was aware from the product literature, reviews, and Adorama salesman. One reviewer had better luck with the Tamron teleconverter and autofocus, but I stuck with Sigma TC for the time being. Not too worried about AF in a lens that can reach out ~1000mm handheld. Of course I tried that combination first and found great image quality and no vingnetting (I did put on the 95mm to 86mm reduction collar recommended for Dx format cameras) and used a tripod. At 4 lbs I can handle it without a tripod, although my partner would have trouble. Will use a monopod or tripod for longer shoots. In the house hand held video and shots of my granddaughter were crystal clear. So very pleased. A great one size fits all starter lens to get into the difficult and $$$ birds-in-flight game. Probably a 600mm f4 and a full frame D610 in my future. Now to go to Tule Lake and shoot the eagles!. BTW picked Nikon over Canon because my partner has a D90 and we can share lenses and familiarity. Would have gone Canon if she had one. Would have rated this 5 but need more experience in the field.

RICHARD E.

2013-10-14T21:00:00

I just started using this lens and I love it. My main use for the lens is football and surfing. I have had the opportunity to use it for football and soccer,so far. I love the reach of the 500MM which I've never had with a 200MM. I like having the 50MM end for closeups on the bench and the stands. I have been using it on a Canon MarkII and it is very heavy. I mainly use it with a monopod which I use for most sports photography, and that worked well. I even used the 50MM end this morning for a scenic shot.The stabilization is a big plus especially with a lens this heavy and this slow. No complaints here. I'm looking forward to using it a lot. I returned a Canon lens to Adorama and ordered this one. After the exchange paperwork was completed and the order was submitted I received this lens in less then 48 hours. That's not bad either.

LEE W.

2013-07-31T21:00:00

This is my favorite lens to use for wildlife photography. It can get heavy, going long distances but, any lens that reaches the same focal length, will be heavy. Fast and sharp, auto focus, requires a sturdy tripod and it works best in good light. For wider aperature, in low light conditions, you'd have to but something more expensive.

RyukyuMike

2013-06-17T21:00:00

works well, is big and heavy. sharper than I expected.

genesail

2013-06-06T21:00:00

The Sigma 50-500 is an all terrain lens. It useful for landscape but grat for wildlife and sports. The problem is the weight, but is a very well built.

LUIS R.

2013-04-08T21:00:00

I bought this Sigma 50-500 lens to use with my Nikon D7000. My Nikon 18-300 mm lens has consistently out shot the 50-500 lens even using it on a tripod. I have noticed I have to constantly adjust the D7000 fine tune from +3 to -13. I am currently trying to find my options right now...it looks like it will have to go back to Sigma. Needs plenty of good light and good contrasting

ARTHUR S.

2013-03-19T21:00:00

Love this lens but have been using it for only 2 weeks. I am still getting use to it. This is my third Sigma lens. Like the others, this lens does not disappoint. Quality photos without breaking the piggy bank. I will be using this for wildlife photos. Adorama is the best.

JOHN K.

2013-02-11T19:00:00

I shoot a lot of wildlife and this lens is perfect. Since the lens arrived I have shot more than 500 pictures of bald eagles and never have had such clear and sharp pictures. The OS setting supports capturing the eagles in flight. I am surprised at how much I can shoot hand held.

Tim

2013-01-16T19:00:00

I have not used this lense much, however it appears to focus quickly and accurately. At this time I am very pleased With the lense. I will not know until July if it will perform as well as I would like.

old u.

2013-01-16T19:00:00

I bought this lens because it was "affordable" and I thought I could get closer to my subjects using it, I shoot landscapes and wildlife photos in Florida. I read all the reports of how heavy it is but bought it anyway. They were right, it is HEAVY. But then I'm a small woman, 5'2"/108 lbs. I thought I could handle it but ... I just cannot seem to get too many "in focus" hand-held shots using this lens because of it's weight. I'm not sending it back though! I'll use a tripod and keep the lens, it's just too cool and I'll figure out how to use it successfully. Thinking of sewing a bag using duck fabric and filling it with buckwheat hulls and carrying it along with me, then put the lens on it to steady my shots so I don't have to always carry my heavy tripod too. The lens is BIG and people really stare at me when I'm out shooting with it ... or they just come up to me and blatantly ask "how much does a setup like that cost anyway, it's so awesome" ... which takes me by surprise, what do I say? "Ummmm ... several thousand", then hang on tight in case they decide to reach for it. My husband comes along as bodyguard. ;) Can't recommend or not recommend yet, still too new to me. But it's a cool looking, heavy, huge lens for a small woman, I can say that so far. And you don't want to use it in low light either, I tried, (had to try once even though I knew better). So I'll only use it in really good light because it's slow. I'm too used to shooting with my Nikkor 70-200 2.8 VR and I can hand-hold that and get totally in-focus killer shots with it so this lens disappointed me a little (compared to that one). But I don't give up, I will figure out how to do the same thing with this one eventually. But if you have the extra money and want a really big, cool looking lens to wow people with ... this will do it. I will attach one of the very first images I took using this lens on a d600 Nikon (boy, did that camera look small on this lens!), lol. It's not totally in focus, but I was hand holding and that bird was waaaaay far away, so this is at 500mm with no tripod (a 100% crop). Imagine how cool it would've been if I had shot it using a tripod. Oh well.

AnnieAnnie

2012-12-14T19:00:00

An incredible range of focal lengths. Heavy, but compact for its focal range. Arm gets a good work out carrying this all day. But you can reach out and grab your shot. Nice compression of debth of field. Good for candid macro wildlife. Hard to use in a dense crowd, as it is so long, and you risk accidently banging someone with it. People notice this lens, it is a serious piece of equipment. This can be both good and bad, as you can impress the right or wrong people. (Theives)

Street F.

2012-12-10T19:00:00

I rented this lens for a week while vacationing at a private lake. I used it hand-held and carried it along on long walks, shooting mostly geese, swan, ducks and birds ... plus an occasional landscape. While I noticed the lens' heft, it wasn't bad enough to force me to cut short my outing, and I was carrying a second body equipped with a short-range lens and was not using any kind of Cotton Carrier vest. Others might not have the same stamina. I was pleased about the portability as well as the quality of sharp images, including many toward the longer end, where I had expected to see some softness. Incidence of sharpness definitely improved the more I pulled away from the long end. I'm very glad Sigma equipped this lens with OS.

Joe

2012-08-26T21:00:00

I did not keep the lens as the weight required either a tripod or a solid bracing. I prefer to shoot hand-held and it was just too difficult with this lens. On the plus side, when I did brace it on a stable platform the images were very sharp. If you don't mind using a tripod or monopod it's a very good lens!

CARL H.

2012-05-13T21:00:00

I bought this lens primarily for bird/wildlife pictures. For this purpose it works great. The images produced are very sharp and even across the entire picture. It is quite heavy and best if mounted on a tripod, but I have used it hand held with good results. The auto focus is very sharp and accurate with the following exception. On my Nikon D90, if the lens is close to the focus point, it will focus very quickly and be in perfect focus. If the focus is far from the correct range, the lens will sometimes go slightly past the focus point and then stop. It will be near enough that the second time shutter button is depressed, it will focus correctly. This has not bothered me as I almost always use manual focus to control my depth of field. There may be an adjustment in the D90 to correct for this, but I haven't investigated it. If this lens is used while pointing down, the zoom will start to change. There is a lock button to lock it in place, but if you forget to unlock it and try to use the zoom, you MAY cause a score along the barrel of the lens as some have previously reported. This will only happen if you try to force the zoom with the lock engaged. I an extermely happy with the performance of the lense at this price range. It does everything I need it to do and more. I just wish I had bought it sooner (I missed a lot of good photos without it).

WILLIAM D.

2012-04-23T21:00:00

Lighter than expected. Stabilization works much better that I expected. It's long so be ready to talk to people if you shoot with it in public.

John J.

2012-04-15T21:00:00

Finally I have my bragging rights. Awesome product...

LI

2012-02-19T19:00:00

I have had two of the Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras. The first one I shot about 1,000 images in two days on a Nikon D3 and the AF failed. I received a replacement lens the next week and shot 800 images with a Nikon D700 and Nikon D3 and the AF failed again.

DAVE U.

2012-02-06T19:00:00

I have used this hand-held at 500mm with clear sharp results.

KT

2012-01-22T19:00:00

Easy to use, some shots require manual focus which is not a problem. Good results through out range.

Hugh C.

2012-01-15T19:00:00

I bought this on a whim. Wanted to shoot my then 5 year old grandson playing baseball, which, if you know anything about kids that age playing baseball, is more than a challenge. Nevertheless, I spent a hot summer afternoon shooting him and his team and ended up with a whole new business line--providing yuppie parents with beautiful up-close action photos of their child, along with a team action photo collage, and finally a formal team photo with all the players and coaches. Since doing this for one team, word spread instantly and I have been asked to do more than 20 kids teams for this coming summer. Could I do it with a smaller, lighter lens? Probably but BIGMA gives you such a range of options that there is no reason for me to now look at anything else. And, if you're worried about the aperture range/limitation--have no fear. I use this lens on both my Nikon D700 and D300S (thereby getting the equivalent of a 750 mm lens) and when you shoot close-ups of action, the depth of field is so limited as to create fabulous bokeh. This is a HEAVY lens to lug around and not for the faint of heart to shoot freehanded. However, action sports require a great deal of flexibility. The lens produces great sharpness, contrast, and resolution. Any distortion is easily dealt with in post-processing. I like this lens a lot and it paid for itself in one day. Go get 'em!

JON S.

2012-01-09T19:00:00

Great price compared to the Canons. A bit heavy when your on the move. I'm thinking my next lens might be the Sigma 300-800mm.

TOM M.