Sigma 50-500 lens, any good????

[Seajay]

I agree with Eeyore. I have bought and sold hundreds of items on e-bay and it CAN BE a matter of caveat emptor. As for photographic items I have been lucky but have heard stories of those who haven,t. Think about it. Expensive items that can be sold five times over - a nice scam. As Eeyore says watch the price and the goods could be damaged
or damaged or lost in transit, so insure against loss should you go down this avenue. If the seller will not allow you to collect the item - run a mile! Always check the seller's feedback espescially with an expensive item. Remember items from abroad can be charged duty and can work out dearer than you would pay in this country should H M Customs collar you plus should you be lucky and evade the duty there could be problems when you go on holiday when the item has a serial no. where duty has not been paid. Finally when you buy from a recognised retailer or someone you know you are getting a bona fide item not a copy.
As for the Bigma I have only recently acquired mine (from Warehouse Express) and I am most impressed. When I opened the package I was amazed at the quality of the engineering then picked it up! It was heavy. It needs a lot of light but with a tripod it can still produce beautiful bird pictures on a lousy day. It took me a while to get to grips with it but now I am over the moon with it! One word of warning keep the strap around your wrist. I dropped mine and the cost of repair? £205! But I still love it. I've just posted a couple of images in the Gallery which take 48 hrs to show so check those when you can and if a beginner can produce those then the lens speaks for itself. (That's if I've done it right!)

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Seajay

I agree with Eeyore. I have bought and sold hundreds of items on e-bay and it CAN BE a matter of caveat emptor. As for photographic items I have been lucky but have heard stories of those who haven,t. Think about it. Expensive items that can be sold five times over - a nice scam. As Eeyore says watch the price and the goods could be damaged
or damaged or lost in transit, so insure against loss should you go down this avenue. If the seller will not allow you to collect the item - run a mile! Always check the seller's feedback espescially with an expensive item. Remember items from abroad can be charged duty and can work out dearer than you would pay in this country should H M Customs collar you plus should you be lucky and evade the duty there could be problems when you go on holiday when the item has a serial no. where duty has not been paid. Finally when you buy from a recognised retailer or someone you know you are getting a bona fide item not a copy.

It's not all doom and gloom on ebay, or buying from abroad. I bought my Bigma from Digital Rev, based in Hong Kong. They supplied a vaild invoices, and there was no attempt to evade customs, in fact I paid the customs due, which they promptly reimbursed. The lens had a fault from new, I was able to get it quickly repaird by Sigma on producing the invoice and the customs certificate, with no problems at all.
By buying from Digital Rev I saved a total of £120 from the best UK price I could find. So by all means be wary, but there can be bargins out there, if your selective where you go.

[eeyore]

true but you were buying new from an ebay trader - i was talking about the second hand "bargains" that are out there

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by eeyore

true but you were buying new from an ebay trader - i was talking about the second hand "bargains" that are out there

Yep, your right of course. I was just trying to balance a little of what Seajay was saying re buying from abroad, not specifically buying second hand.

[speckled wood]

Originally Posted by glsammy

I agree with Boddie, it's utter rubbish! That's why I use one all the time, I love to punish myself..

Here's a few shots with mine:



Either hand held or with a Monopod.

Fantastic shots.

Rest assured that in my hands, hand held, tripod, monopod whatever the results would be mediocre, badly exposed, spoilt by camera shake and noisy and with a fantstic high IS Canon prime lense little little better. The truth is that the vital element is the person behind the lense.

Life is full of injustices, I passed my driving test first time after about half a dozen lessons, my next door neighbour had more than a dozen tries before she passed, she is ten times a better driver than me.

SW

[Seajay]

Your quite right Graham Digitalrev is a good firm to deal with having used them myself though they do not pay custom dues on all items only those marked. As I stated I have bought and sold hundreds of items on E-bay with no problem but the points made were very valid and should be born in mind by anyone new to the game. If it comes across as doom and gloom that was certainly not intended.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Seajay

Your quite right Graham Digitalrev is a good firm to deal with having used them myself though they do not pay custom dues on all items only those marked. As I stated I have bought and sold hundreds of items on E-bay with no problem but the points made were very valid and should be born in mind by anyone new to the game. If it comes across as doom and gloom that was certainly not intended.

No problem, I agree entirely with what you said, I was just doing my "show the other side" job!

[nightshade]

Amazon has the 50-500 £668.99

[silverspring]

Having read this thread with interest I note that the last post was in February 2007.

My present setup is the D300 with 18-200 Nikon.

I am now in the market for another lens; my choice, at this point in time is the Sigma 50-500, but still have the Nikon 80-400 in the background.

Now year or more has passed, are we all still happy with the Bigma or if you were able to swap it for something else in the same focal range, what would it be ?

Regards Steve

[glsammy]

If I was buying now, I'd look seriously at the Sigma 150-500mm. I've seen a few full frame shots taken with the lens wide open that have really impressed.
From what I've seen so far, that lens looks a better lens to use especially wide open. You've also got the added bonus of OS.