Sigma 200-500mm F2.8 EX DG on the field

I always handhold my Canon 600 f/4 IS and some time ago I was asked if I can handhold the Sigma monster...yes, I can :-) but obviously it is just for fun; I can handhold it just for few minutes, and I need very fast SS to get sharp photos. The  photos taken during the test had been taken on the sturdy Gitzo tripod. Click here to enlarge.

Some months ago I reviewed the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 (click here for Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 EX DG review). In my first review, I did an in-depth studio test, but I hadn't many photos taken in the field. I absolutely wanted to try this lens on the field so in April 2009 I loaned again the lens from Sigma and I have spent one day photographing Cristina, a beautiful model. The photos had been taken in Rivalta, a medieval village between the hills of northern Apennines, Italy.

Using this lens means tons of fun :-) The people kept looking at us...sometime wedding photographers take photos in Rivalta, but none of them bring any lens that come close to the Sigma 200-500 f/2.8... Other than that, due to the extreme focal lenght - 1000 millimeters with the 2x extender - many times I had to take the photos from 15-30 meters, a pretty unusual experience of fashion photography!

There are various persons and manufacturers involved in this test. A big thanks to Cristina (http://cristinaventresca.com), the beautiful model who posed for these photos! Cristina is a young girl from Australia that now lives in Italy; she is both a singer and a model...it has been fantastic to work with her!

Cristina with the Sigma 200-500 2.8 and 1DsIII. Thanks Cristina :-) Click here to enlarge.

Other than her, thanks to:

Mamiya Trading, the Italian importer of Sigma (www.mamiya-trading.it), that kindly loaned me the Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG.
PhotoSeiki (www.photoseiki.com), that has manufactured a custom made head for the 200-500 f/2.8.
Gitzo (www.gitzo.com), that kindly loaned me the Gitzo 5541 LS tripod.
Christian from PhotoSeiki, who helped during the shot, suggesting poses and locations. 
Marco Sitzia from Mamiya Trading, who has taken some behind the scenes photos. 

This thing is darn heavy :-)

 

These are two of my preferred photos taken during the day; one is taken at 500 f/2.8 without the extender and the other one is taken at 1000 f/5.6 with the Sigma 2.0x extender. You can download both the post-processed JPEG, or the untouched RAW (large file!). Please respect the copyright! These images can used exclusively for personal purposes. All other usages are prohibited.

Cristina: a gallery with the 200-500 f/2.8

Cristina is a truly beautiful model, and the unparalled Sigma 200-500 allows to take photos against soft, creamy backgrounds...a perfect combination. 

Conclusion

Overall, the image quality is of Sigma 200-500 f/2.8 is good for such an extreme lens, even though it is far from easy to get the best from this lens: at f/2.8 the depth of field is very shallow, and the focus must be perfect...even an error of few centimeters may make the difference between a sharp photo and an out of focus photos.

The AF is pretty good, it is fast both as 200-500 and even with the 2x extender, as 400-1000 f/5.6. I missed, instead, image stabilization: even tough this lens is made to be used on tripod, image stabilization would help a lot, even on a sturdy tripod there are still some small vibrations due the the great weight.

Would I buy it?

If I had tons of money, yes :-) This lens gives an unparalleled brightness and background blur at 500mm, and using it is pure fun!

Do you have comments or questions?

If you have comments or questions about this article, feel free to ask in the Juza Nature Photography Discussion Forum!