Third party Lens vs Canon lenses

[ronaldinhoaditya]

guys, im an amateur photographer. I like taking wildlife. Im planning on buying a new lens but im confused whether i should get a sigma 150-500mm f5.6/6.3 APO DG OS HSM or the Canon 100-400mm f4/5.6 IS USM...i have heard that third party lenses have slow auto focus but i guess the HSM on the Sigma should make up for that. Also i have a Canon 70-300mm f4/5.6 IS USM already with me......i am going to an african safari this winter, which lens do youll suggest i get...

Thanks in advance

[inkista]

This side-by-side can help
Juza Nature Photography

My advice? Rent a 100-400L for the trip. The Sigmas are nice, but the Canon L is nicer. If you can afford the L, it's a clear win to me. If you can't afford the L, though, then the Sigmas are perfectly good. But I'd be tempted to go with a 50-500 over the 150-500. Weird, I know.

[gturner]

I own the 100-400 and actually used the 120-400 Sigma at the rugby field this morning.
My thoughts.
Build feels good, but the focus is slower than the Canon L and found the zoom tight and slow. The push pull works very well for fast moving sport.

[3bayjunkie]

The only third party I would bother with is Carl Zeiss, but thats just personal preference. They have exceptional glass quality and are metal not plastic.

[Quo Fan]

I own the Canon 100-400L, and the wife owns the Pentax version of the Sigma 150-500. I got mine used, and I'm having focusing issues with it, so I need to send it in to get repaired. She loves her lens, her next shortest lens is around 200mm.

The only beef I have with my lens, apart from it needing repaired, is the push-pull zoom. I actually prefer the twist zoom, but I'm not going to give up my lens just for that.

Edit: Sigma makes good, quality lenses that I feel are on par with Canon and Nikon.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by Quo Fan

I own the Canon 100-400L, and the wife owns the Pentax version of the Sigma 150-500. I got mine used, and I'm having focusing issues with it, so I need to send it in to get repaired. She loves her lens, her next shortest lens is around 200mm.

The only beef I have with my lens, apart from it needing repaired, is the push-pull zoom. I actually prefer the twist zoom, but I'm not going to give up my lens just for that.

Edit: Sigma makes good, quality lenses that I feel are on par with Canon and Nikon.

All the reviews ive read on Sigma lenses say they are slower to focus than Nikon, but I haven't personally waisted my time to test it myself. I honestly don't see the reason to by a 3rd party lens, when the Nikon and Canon lenses are perfectly good lenses.

[RichardTaylor]

@ ronaldinhoaditya

I am a Canon shooter, and my experience with third party lenses.
2006 purchased a Tokina 100mm macro lens that failed in 2011 (it hadn't seen a lot of use.

2006 - Purchased a Tokina 12-24 - It is still OK

2007 purchased a grey market Tokina 80-400 (it was 1/4 the price of a Canon 100-400).
The first one failed to auto focus after about 40 pics. It was replaced by the retailer.
The second one failed to autofocus after about 15000 pics. It was a lens with good IQ, but a little slow to focus.

I purchased a Canon 100-400 to replace the failed Tokina. Three years latter & approx 100,000 pics it is still going strong. It is my most used lens and is very versatile.
It is a good lens, the only downside is that it can be a little havy for a vacation/walk around tele, unless you are going to shoot wildlife etc.

See this thread.
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens

And this one.

Help me choose a telephoto lens.. Canon User..

==========================================

@3bayjunkie

Two reasons.
(1) Cost
(2) the third party manufacturers may make lenses Canon & Nikon don't.

[3bayjunkie]

Originally Posted by RichardTaylor

@ ronaldinhoaditya

I am a Canon shooter, and my experience with third party lenses.
2006 purchased a Tokina 100mm macro lens that failed in 2011 (it hadn't seen a lot of use.

2006 - Purchased a Tokina 12-24 - It is still OK

2007 purchased a grey market Tokina 80-400 (it was 1/4 the price of a Canon 100-400).
The first one failed to auto focus after about 40 pics. It was replaced by the retailer.
The second one failed to autofocus after about 15000 pics. It was a lens with good IQ, but a little slow to focus.

I purchased a Canon 100-400 to replace the failed Tokina. Three years latter & approx 100,000 pics it is still going strong. It is my most used lens and is very versatile.
It is a good lens, the only downside is that it can be a little havy for a vacation/walk around tele, unless you are going to shoot wildlife etc.

See this thread.
Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM Lens

And this one.

Help me choose a telephoto lens.. Canon User..

==========================================

@3bayjunkie

Two reasons.
(1) Cost
(2) the third party manufacturers may make lenses Canon & Nikon don't.

This is exactly why I only by Nikon or Zeiss lenses. for one you wasted time and money and ended up with the lens you wanted in the first place. At least you learned your lesson. Thanks for sharing your reviews

[Izzy]

I like all my Canon lenses. I have never been happy with any third party lens yet. Sigma was among the worst. They reverse engineer the lens parameters to get their chip to work with Canon bodies. EX - A lens that worked on an older Canon body may not work on a newer Canon body.

[Jonbar18]

Originally Posted by 3bayjunkie

I honestly don't see the reason to by a 3rd party lens, when the Nikon and Canon lenses are perfectly good lenses.

They're a lot cheaper, for one thing. I bought a Sigma 70-300 for about 200, versus over 500 for the Nikon version. After trying both, I can say there isn't much of a difference in focus, but the sigma is a little softer at 300. Not a big deal to me, but could be night and day to someone else. Sigma seems to be the best of third party lenses (well, zeiss is, but its a lot more expensive) but even then, is still not as good as Nikon/Canon. I'd just look at you can afford. If you can afford the Canon, go for it, because it will be better. If you're tight on cash, and don't mind small differences in quality, Sigma's the way to go.