{"id":1494,"date":"2010-04-17T00:19:39","date_gmt":"2010-04-16T15:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-04-17\/1494"},"modified":"2010-04-17T00:19:39","modified_gmt":"2010-04-16T15:19:39","slug":"so-just-how-bigma-is-the-sigma","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/2010-04-17\/1494","title":{"rendered":"So, Just How Bigma is the Sigma?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n<div class='resize_warning' id='arw1494'>\n<b>NOTE<\/b>: Images with an <img class='raw' width='19' height='18' src='\/i\/s\/red_zoomup.gif'\/> icon next to them have been artificially shrunk to better fit your screen; click the icon to restore them, in place, to their regular size.\n<\/div>\n\n\n<div class='ic'><a name=\"031050\" href=\"\/i\/JF7_031050.jpg\"\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF7_031050_sm.jpg\" width=\"466\" height=\"700\"\nalt=\"Sigma Bigma Sigma 50 -500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i031050\"\ntitle=\"Sigma Bigma Sigma 50 -500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 70 mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2500 &mdash;\n<a href=\"\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF7_031050.jpg\">full exif<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Sigma Bigma<\/span>\n<br\/><span class='nobr'>Sigma 50<\/span>-500mm F4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM\n<\/div>\n\n<p>This continues from <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2010-04-14\/1492\">Part I<\/a> and <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2010-04-16\/1493\">Part II<\/a> on my new lens.\n<a href=\"\/blog\/2007-01-28\/375\"><span class='nobr'>A friend<\/span><\/a> came over and\n<span class='nobr'>I used<\/span> his camera either to take some pictures, or to model the lens.<\/p>\n\n<p>I'm no good at product photography (I <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2007-10-11\/601\">tried it once<\/a> <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> years\nago, and failed miserably), but I've tried spicing these up <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> to keep\nthem interesting....<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight'><a name=\"031045\" href=\"\/i\/JF7_031045.jpg\"\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF7_031045_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"301\"\nalt=\"Nikon D50 mounted on a Sigma Bigma -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i031045\"\ntitle=\"Nikon D50 mounted on a Sigma Bigma -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Nikon D700 + Nikkor 85mm f\/1.4 &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>500 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/1.4, ISO 720 &mdash;\n<a href=\"\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF7_031045.jpg\">full exif<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Nikon D50<\/span>\n<br\/>mounted on a Sigma Bigma\n<\/div>\n\n<p>The puppies on the hood and under the lens are tiny chopstick holders,\nseen in <a href=\"\/blog\/2010-04-13\/1491\">my &#8220;New Camera&#8221;\npost<\/a> the other day, and <span class='nobr'>I used<\/span> the &#8220;Mostly Monochrome&#8221; Lightroom\ndevelop preset seen in my <a href=\"\/blog\/2010-03-27\/1482\"\nclass='pt'>Stupid Tone-Curve Tricks<\/a> post as the basis for this\nlook.<\/p>\n\n<p style='margin-top:80px'>So, just how big is it? <span class='nobr'>The photo<\/span> below shows my\n(very big) full-frame <b>Nikon D700 with MD-10 vertical grip<\/b>, <span class='nobr'>a\ncombination<\/span> which is even larger than Nikon's flagship D3. <span class='nobr'>It looks<\/span> small\nin the photo below because the camera is zoomed so far back. Mouse over each\nbutton below the photo for <span class='nobr'>a different<\/span> situation...<\/p>\n\n<div id='p1494' class='ic' style='width:750px; position:relative'>\n<div id='p1494a'                                                            ><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/ShimadaD50-00514.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"270\"\nalt=\"My Full Frame Nikon D700 with MD-10 Vertical Grip\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"iShimadaD50_00514\"\nindexhint=\"left\"\ntitle=\"My Full Frame Nikon D700 with MD-10 Vertical Grip\"\/><br\/>\nMy Full Frame Nikon D700 with MD-10 Vertical Grip\n<\/div>\n\n<div id='p1494b' style='position:absolute; top:0; left:0; visibility:hidden'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/ShimadaD50-00518.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"270\"\nalt=\"\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"iShimadaD50_00518\"\nindexhint=\"left\"\/><br\/>\nI don't have a standard 50mm lens, so this shows an extension tube that's about that size\n<\/div>\n\n<div id='p1494c' style='position:absolute; top:0; left:0; visibility:hidden'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/ShimadaD50-00515.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"270\"\nalt=\"\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"iShimadaD50_00515\"\nindexhint=\"left\"\/><br\/>\nWith a cheap consumer 24mm-50mm zoom\n<\/div>\n\n<div id='p1494d' style='position:absolute; top:0; left:0; visibility:hidden'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/ShimadaD50-00511.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"270\"\nalt=\"\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"iShimadaD50_00511\"\/><br\/>\nWith the Sigma Bigma, at its smallest\n<\/div>\n\n<div id='p1494e' style='position:absolute; top:0; left:0; visibility:hidden'><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/ShimadaD50-00512.jpg\" width=\"750\" height=\"270\"\nalt=\"\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"iShimadaD50_00512\"\nindexhint=\"right\"\/><br\/>\n&#8220;<i>That's not <span class='nobr'>a lens.<\/span>... <b>that<\/b> is <span class='nobr'>a lens.<\/span><\/i>&#8221; &mdash;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=01NHcTM5IA4\">Crocodile Dundee<\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n  <div style='margin-top: 15px; margin-bottom:8px'>\n    <span id='p1494a_b' class='button' onmouseover='show1494(\"p1494a\")'>Body Only<\/span>\n    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n    <span id='p1494b_b' class='button' onmouseover='show1494(\"p1494b\")'>Standard 50mm<\/span>\n    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n    <span id='p1494c_b' class='button' onmouseover='show1494(\"p1494c\")'>Consumer Zoom<\/span>\n    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n    <span id='p1494d_b' class='button' onmouseover='show1494(\"p1494d\")'>Bigma @ 50mm<\/span>\n    &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;\n    <span id='p1494e_b' class='button' onmouseover='show1494(\"p1494e\")'>Bigma @ 500mm<\/span>\n    <\/div>\n  mouseover button to see that version\n\n<\/div>\n\n<style type=\"text\/css\">\n #p1494 img { margin-bottom: 6px }\n<\/style>\n\n<script type='text\/javascript'>\n   var ids = new Array('p1494a','p1494b','p1494c','p1494d','p1494e')\n\n   function show1494(id)\n   {\n      var i;\n      for (i in ids)\n      {\n           var x = ids[i];\n           document.getElementById(x       ).style.visibility  = (id == x) ? \"visible\" : \"hidden\";\n           document.getElementById(x + \"_b\").style.borderColor = (id == x) ? \"red\"     : \"gray\";\n      }\n   }\n   show1494(\"p1494a\")\n\n<\/script>\n\n<p>In <a href=\"\/blog\/2010-04-14\/1492\">Part I<\/a> <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span><!-- dbl okay -->\nastounded at how huge the lens is, yet, every time <span class='nobr'>I see<\/span> pictures of it, it\ndoesn't seem <i>that<\/i> big. <span class='nobr'>A reader<\/span> (thanks Itano-san) pointed me at the\nblog of <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.rytterfalk.com\/2010\/04\/15\/the-fabulous-70-200-revisited\/\">someone\nwho just got The Bigma<\/a>, and the photos of it on make it look cute. <span class='nobr'>So why was<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I so<\/span> astounded at the size?<\/p>\n\n<p>I think one reason I was surprised at the size is because <span class='nobr'>I had<\/span> seen <a\nhref=\"http:\/\/www.lensrentals.com\/rent\/nikon-600mm-f4-af-s-vr\/for-nikon\">this\ncool five-minute video at LensRentals.com<\/a> showing the sizes of <span class='nobr'>a bunch<\/span>\nof large lenses, including the previous (non-stabilized) version of the\nSigma Bigma. <span class='nobr'>The guy in<\/span> the video has massive hands that would make <span class='nobr'>a\nbasketball<\/span> look like <span class='nobr'>a grape,<\/span> and is surrounded by <b>HUGE<\/b> lenses that\nrightly make The Bigma look like <span class='nobr'>a child's<\/span> toy.<\/p>\n\n<p>It <a href=\"\/blog\/2010-04-16\/1493#comment-38746\">was\nsuggested<\/a> to take <span class='nobr'>a comparison<\/span> shot against the <a\nhref=\"\/blog\/2006-11-06\/275\"><span class='nobr'>Nikkor 70<\/span>-200 <span\nclass='f'>f<\/span>2.8 VR<\/a>, and when <span class='nobr'>I stood<\/span> them up next to each\nother, <span class='nobr'>I was shocked<\/span> to find them to be <i>exactly<\/i> the same length. <span class='nobr'>And when I<\/span> added the lens hoods, the 70-200 was actually <i>longer<\/i> by <span class='nobr'>a\nbit.<\/span> (This is, of course, when The Bigma is zoomed back all the way... as\nyou can see above, it gets substantially longer as you zoom out.)<\/p>\n\n<p>But The Bigma is much heavier and thicker, Here's <span class='nobr'>a thickness<\/span> comparison\nwith <span class='nobr'>a consumer<\/span> zoom:<\/p>\n\n<div class='ic tight'><a name=\"031053\" href=\"\/i\/JF7_031053.jpg\"\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF7_031053_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"292\"\nalt=\"Thick -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nid=\"i031053\"\ntitle=\"Thick -- Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<br\/><span class=\"camera-info robots-nocontent\">Nikon D700 + Nikkor 24-70mm f\/2.8 @ 58 mm &mdash; <sup>1<\/sup><big>\/<\/big>200 sec, <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2.8, ISO 2500 &mdash;\n<a href=\"\/imageinfo.cgi?url=http%3A%2F%2Fregex.info%2Fi%2FJF7_031053.jpg\">full exif<\/a><\/span>\n<br\/><span class='caption'>Thick<\/span>\n<\/div>\n\n<p>I'm feeling less intimidated now that I'm getting used to it, but wow, <span class='nobr'>I was surprised<\/span> when it first showed up.<\/p>\n\n<p id='problems' style='margin-top:45px'>Over all, <span class='nobr'>I'm really<\/span> impressed with it &mdash;\n<i>thrilled<\/i> with it &mdash; but <span class='nobr'>I have<\/span> noticed <span class='nobr'>a few<\/span> drawbacks...<\/p>\n\n<ul>\n  <li><p>It makes me feel like a paparazzi when I'm out with it. Yuck. <span class='nobr'>Not a nice<\/span> feeling.<\/p>\n       <p>The feeling is particularly pronounced when bracing the lens against something (railing,\n       telephone pole, etc.) because it looks like you're trying to hide behind something and photograph\n       covertly.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>The balance places the zoom ring in the perfect spot for gripping\n       with the left hand while holding the camera with the right, but the focus\n       ring is too far\n       back to be reached when holding the lens comfortably, so to manual\n       focus, <span class='nobr'>I have to<\/span> adjust my grip to one that's less comfortable and less steady.\n\n       Since <span class='nobr'>I prefer<\/span> to use manual focus when <span class='nobr'>I can,<\/span> this is unfortunate.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>Because the forward\/inner barrel extends out from inside the rear\/outer\n       barrel, <span class='nobr'>I worry<\/span> about using\n       this in the rain. <span class='nobr'>It was misting<\/span> slightly this morning when <span class='nobr'>I was<\/span> out with it for <span class='nobr'>a bit,<\/span>\n       and the thought of getting the inner barrel wet <b>then retracting\n       the wetness back into\n       the lens when unzooming<\/b> scared the heck out of me, so <span class='nobr'>I\n       abandoned<\/span> the outing. <span class='nobr'>I don't<\/span> know whether\n       this is <span class='nobr'>a valid<\/span> concern, but I'll not use The Bigma in the rain until <span class='nobr'>I know<\/span> for sure.<\/p>\n       <p>(The <span class='nobr'>Nikkor 70<\/span>-200's zooming is all internal, <span class='nobr'>a benefit<\/span> <span class='nobr'>I didn't<\/span> appreciate until today.)<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>It has a zoom lock to stop the zoom from self-extending due to gravity when you're walking around with the lens pointing down,\n        but <span class='nobr'>I wish<\/span> you could lock at 200mm as well (the focal length that has the maximum magnification).<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>It does not hold focus while zooming <i>at all<\/i>. <span class='nobr'>Not even close<\/span>. <span class='nobr'>You must refocus<\/span> after adjusting the zoom. <\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p><span class='f'>f<\/span>\/5.6 is definitely not <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/1.2, so pictures like\n       in &#8220;<a href=\"\/blog\/2008-09-15\/935\" class='pt'>Impossible Photography: No Light, No Tripod, No Hope. D700 and <span class='nobr'>a 50mm<\/span> <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/1.2<\/a>&#8221; and &#8220;<a href=\"\/blog\/2009-01-15\/1114\" class='pt'>Pushing Lowlight-Photography Limits: The Atta Terrace Hotel at Night<\/a>&#8221; are less likely with The Bigma.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>The tripod-mount foot has just one screw hole (unlike the <span class='nobr'>Nikkor\n      70<\/span>-200VR, which has two), so it could spin in place if not tightened down\n      with considerable force. <span class='nobr'>The bottom<\/span> of the foot is made of <span class='nobr'>a slightly<\/span> rubbery material\n      that seems to bite well, so I've not actually experienced any\n      inadvertent twisting (as of this writing, I've used\n      the foot just once, with <span class='nobr'>a monopod<\/span>), but it's <span class='nobr'>a concern.<\/span><\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>The optical-stabilization feature causes the view through the viewfinder to &#8220;swim&#8221; quite <span class='nobr'>a bit<\/span> at times,\n       much (much!) more than it does with any of the few other VR lenses I've used. <span class='nobr'>It's normally<\/span> not <span class='nobr'>a problem,<\/span>\n       but sometimes makes framing very difficult.<\/p><\/li>\n\n  <li><p>A few times it (or my Nikon D700) have gotten very confused with\n    each other, and the viewfinder reported that it was at the impossible <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/95, and at the same time,\n       autofocus and VR stopped working. Flipping the camera off and on would solve the problem.<\/p>\n       <p>Update May 2010: sometimes this problems happens <span class='nobr'>a lot<\/span> and gets\n       very intrusive, sometimes manifesting itself in an apparent shutdown of\n       len's CPU (causing the camera to consider it <span class='nobr'>a non<\/span>-CPU lens and default to\n       camera settings about non-CPU lenses, which in my case causes it to\n       comically be <span class='f'>f<\/span>\/2 even at 1000mm. <a href=\"\/blog\/2010-05-07\/1517\">I've contacted Sigma about it<\/a> and sent my lens in for them to check out. <b>)-:<\/b><\/p><\/li>\n\n<\/ul>\n\n<p>(I update the list above as I notice things; last update May 7, 2010)<\/p>\n\n<p>Other than that last issue, these are all relatively minor issues. <span class='nobr'>My overall<\/span> rating is\n   <span class='nobr'>\u300c\u30d6\u30e9\u30dc\u30fc\u30b7\u30b0\u30de\u3001\u30d6\u30e9\u30dc\u30fc\u300d(&#8220;Bravo, Sigma. <i>Bravo.<\/i>&#8221;)<\/span><\/p>\n\n<p><i><a href=\"\/blog\/2010-04-17\/1495\" class='quiet'>Continued here<\/a> with more samples...<\/i><\/p>\n\n<div class='ic'><a name=\"031046\" href=\"\/i\/JF7_031046.jpg\"\n><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"\/i\/JF7_031046_sm.jpg\" width=\"690\" height=\"301\"\nalt=\"Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\nclass=\"raw\"\nid=\"i031046\"\nindexhint=\"right\"\ntitle=\"Kyoto, Japan -- Copyright 2010 Jeffrey Friedl, https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/\"\/><\/a>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This continues from Part I and Part II on my new lens. A friend came over and I used his camera either to take some pictures, or to model the lens.<\/p> <p>I'm no good at product photography (I tried it once a few years ago, and failed miserably), but I've tried spicing these up a bit to keep them interesting....<\/p> <p>The puppies on the hood and under the lens are tiny chopstick holders, seen in my \"New Camera\" post the other day, and I used the \"Mostly Monochrome\" Lightroom develop preset seen in my Stupid Tone-Curve Tricks post as the [...]","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16,7,1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1494"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/regex.info\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1494"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}