Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsBest $1200 cat lens ever! (Satire and serious)
Reviewed in the United States on March 6, 2017
Just a quick FYI: This lens has a T-STOP of 1.7 (For any cinematographers or photographers that care). So the light making it out the back is pretty good. Not perfect at about a half stop of exposure, but it's by far not that bad.
At first I thought, it's crazy, why would I spend $1200 on a lens to just take pictures of my cat. But then I got the lens and I've gotta say, this is by far the BEST cat picture taking lens available. I will say, though, I wish it had some weatherproofing or should I say, drool resisting at the very least!
I started taking pictures of my cat though and boy, was I hooked! My cat never looked so good (And he knew it!)!
On a more serious note, this lens is a beast. I've had no issues using it whatsoever on my D500. Once I dialed in the focus on the lens (Which literally took me about 10 - 15 minutes), it's been razor sharp (You can use this with the Sigma USB Dock, not included, but just so you know). Focusing has been fast and precise. Bokeh is glorious and creamy. The lens isn't that heavy (But then again I'm used to hand holding 7lb lenses). The build quality is fantastic, and the giant focusing ring is a pleasure to use for photos and videos. The lens hood feels great, and the case the lens comes with is also pretty adequate. The only issue I have with the lens is the lens cap, but it's really nothing to complain about I just hate how you put it on and take it off. It's a great lens and if I had the choice of buying this lens or something else, I'd definitely pick this one up again.
I will say that compared to this and my 150-600 Sport lens from Sigma. I definitely feel like I have to baby this lens considerably more. This definitely feels like a lens that's aimed for studio use or only to be taken out on nice days.
Sigma has stated that this lens (Among many other ART lenses) is NOT meant to be out in harsh weather, and it is definitely not meant to be outdoors during pouring rain for an extended period of time. If you are going to use this lens outdoors unprotected and in harsh weather... Be warned that the lens might not be able to take it.
Update from 6/2/17:
After using this lens for the past few months, I gotta say I'm still in love and it's really good value for what you get.
I want to take a minute though and go over some things that some people have had issues with.
So, first things first. This is still a relatively cheap lens. Granted, it's not $100, $500... But this isn't a 200 f2. You're not spending over $5,000 on this lens. Even some 70 - 200 2.8's from Nikon and Canon need to be calibrated and they're around the $2000 mark. They aren't always perfect either. There are bound to be some of this lens that aren't perfect, that's just how manufacturing goes. They don't have the time and resources to make sure every single one of these lenses that goes out are absolutely perfect, and nor can they. Whatever body they might use and test could be completely different from what you're using and might not make ANY difference.
Using the Sigma Optimization Pro software is literally one of the most useful things and I would say almost required if you have a Sigma lens. You need to get the Sigma USB dock (I got mine for free when I got my 150 - 600 Sport lens but I believe it's $60) Sigma makes it extremely easy for you to fine tune the focus on your lens.
I've attached a picture showing my lens, and what my adjustments are (Obviously, this is only for this one specific lens). But it is SO easy to fix back and front focusing, all you need to do is spend 10 - 15 minutes, and that's it. It'll be perfect.
There are actual cases though of lenses that ARE too far gone to be fixed. If you go the ENTIRE range from -20 and +20 and nothing helps... Then in that case, I would send the lens back. However, some people are saying they sent back multiple lenses more than likely isn't a lens problem, it's a problem with that person and not knowing how to fix this on their own. They likely expect it to just be perfect straight out of the box, which isn't how most lenses work (At least, under the $3000 range).
If you have a problem with this lens and you're not fine tuning the focus (Assuming of course that you have a body that is able, if you don't then you probably shouldn't be shooting with this lens.), there isn't a lens problem there... There's a you problem.
The only other thing I want to bring up is that this lens (It should be obvious anyway) does NOT have any sort of VR/IS of any sort. I know people who got this lens and for some reason was under the impression it had some sort of image stabilization. It does not. If you tend to shoot at slow shutter speeds and rely on VR/IS to make your photos sharp... You'll only be disappointed here because that doesn't exist so all you're going to get are blurry photos.
Also note that this is similar to other Sigma lenses, which means it does tend to hunt quite a bit. That's just how a lot of them are, it's something you should be aware of. There's plenty of videos and reviews online that talk about this. Even in well lit, optimal condition this lens will tend to hunt more than first party lenses.
