Lens sale... but get in quick !

[Rose]

HDew have a lens sale - for a short time only, until this coming Monday 27 July. If you're thinking of a new lens, there are some really good deals... eg: a Canon 100-400 MKii is just £1,539 compared to £1,999 at Wex !!!

[Mike Farley]

As you say, there are some keen prices on offer. Thanks for the tip, Rose.

[Rose]

I was going to wait till we got back from our trip to Canada/US and then get the Tamron 24-70, but it would be silly to wait till the prices go back up ! It's just £559 in the sale

[Peter Boughton]

I've been wanting to get a telephoto lens for a while, and they have a 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6G ED VR for £1375 - Wex price is £1,900 so that's a significant saving.
Almost all reviews (on various sites) are 5 star, a handful are only 4 star, so it seems like I have 48 hours to convince myself it's worth spending the money.

Except... I saw a reference to the Sigma 50-500 F4-6.3 APO DG HSM OS which is almost £400 cheaper still and also has good reviews.
The last Sigma telephoto I had was terrible - noisy & slow autofocus with soft images - but the reviews for this one mention it as being sharp, fast and silent, (despite lacking the "EX" designation which I thought differentiated the better Sigma lenses from the crappy budget ones).

Both these two lenses are relatively similar spec wise - the Sigma is 400g heavier, and a bit larger than the Nikkor, but at the same time the longer zoom range is more versatile.

Hmmm. Guess I've got the weekend to make my mind up... be great to know if any fellow Nikon users have used either lens and have thoughts either way.

[Mike Farley]

..... be great to know if any fellow Nikon users have used either lens and have thoughts either way.

Not just Nikon users, as presumably the Sigma lens is available in other mounts.

[Mike Farley]

The lens I would be most interested in the Olympus 40-150 f/2.8 with the 1.4 converter. The lens on its own is £825, but £1,125 with converter, which means that Hdew is selling the latter at the standard UK price of £300. It's possible at present to buy the combo for £1,100 through the Amazon Marketplace, so Hdew is not necessarily always the cheapest option.

http://www.hdewcameras.co.uk/olympus-mz ... 2982-p.asp

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listin ... dition=new

Not that I shall be buying the lens as I just do not want to commit that kind of money to a mirrorless system at the moment, however good the lens is.

[GrahamL]

Hi,

Yes, those prices look good. I did an assessment a month or so ago that may be of help, and have some links to reviews that MAY be of help in deciding.

Nikkor AF-S 80-400mm FX VR G ED N
https://photographylife.com/reviews/nikon-80-400mm-vr
http://www.kenrockwell.com/nikon/80-400mm.htm
http://www.naturalart.ca/artist/fieldtests/AF-S_80-400mmVR.html
http://www.cameralabs.com/reviews/Nikon_Nikkor_AF-S_80-400mm_f4-5-5-6G_ED_VR/verdict.shtml
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/nikon-nikkor-80-400mm-f-4-5-5-6g-ed-vr-ii-review-22065

Tamron SP 150-600mm F/5-6.3 Di VC USD
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/reviews/lenses/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f5-6-3-vc-usd-review
http://www.kenrockwell.com/tamron/150-600mm.htm
https://photographylife.com/reviews/tamron-150-600mm-f5-6-3
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/tamron_sp_150_600mm_f5_6_3_di_vc_usd_review/
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/tamron-sp-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-di-vc-usd-lens-review-23866

Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM CONTEMPORARY
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/sigma-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-dg-os-hsm-contemporary-review-27247

Sigma APO 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM SPORTS
http://www.amateurphotographer.co.uk/reviews/lenses/sigma-150-600mm-f5-6-3-dg-os-hsm-s-field-test
http://www.kenrockwell.com/sigma/150-500mm.htm
http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sigma_150_600mm_f5_6_3_dg_os_hsm_sports_review/
http://www.lenstip.com/417.1-Lens_review-Sigma_S_150-600_mm_f_5-6.3_DG_OS_HSM.html
http://cameralabs.com/reviews/Sigma_150-600mm_f5-6-3_DG_OS_HSM_Sport/
http://www.ephotozine.com/article/sigma-150-600mm-f-5-6-3-dg-os-hsm-sports-lens-review-26786

The others telephotos have all been launched after the Nikon, which I guess was the benchmark they were aiming at. Below is a comparison table I recently collated on these lenses. Only real issue with the Nikon was the consistent comment on the poor quality of the tripod mounting bracket on the lens, hopefully they will change it... The new 'Sports' Sigma seems the best optically review-wise, but at nearly 3Kg that's an hefty chunk of glass to carry around. Especially as you probably need to carry at least a monopod to take the weight off.

comparison-June15.jpg (135.95 KiB) Viewed 4258 times

Like Mike now is not good time for me to spend on optics, been a pretty expensive year already, and thinking of getting a wide-angle first.

Graham Land

[Rose]

I pulled the trigger on the Tamron 24-70 yesterday from HDew. I'm still not intending to take it on my Canada/US trip (ask me again when I'm packing my bags ! LOL) but it seemed silly to wait till the price went back up as I'd decided to get it anyway. As for the broken 24-105, I'll put it on one side and decide what to do in due course. I could get it repaired and sell it, or get it repaired and keep it if I really miss the extra length. Or just dispose of it as is.