(03-01-2010 09:13 PM)mikoyan29 Wrote:  Either That Sigma or the 100-500 version I was thinking about getting.

Nice shots there.

The Sigma 50-500 APO DG is a glorious lens. It makes telephoto shots of great distances a little easier to get. If you had a grand just laying around, I say you would not regret it's purchase. It focuses past infinity which is always strange to me. Turn the focus ring all the way counter clockwise to infinity and you would think the lens is set to capture anything more than 600 feet away. Not so with a few lenses. Set focus at infinity with the Bigma, point it at the moon and then focus down a bit to find the sharp image.
It also has a teleconverter lock at 100mm so if you have a tc connected and try to go down to say 50mm, the glass won't crash together.
While I had the use of Bigma I did some comparison shots which I will post later.
The bottom line was there is an older manual 500mm lens made by Five Star aka Tou/Five Star that can be often found on Craigslist or eBay for less than $60 that can produce images just as good as the Sigma. I think you already have the Phoenix 500 don't you? These lenses, the Phoenix and the Five Star do have obvious limitations compared with the Sigma. Think about renting the Sigma before you buy it and then go back to your Phoenix again to see the differences.

-edited to include examples and more nonsense
One of these is the lowly Five Star 500mm (est. value $60) and hand held, while the other is the contentious "Bigma" (est. value $1000) at 500mm secured to a very rigid metal tripod. You tell me which is the hand held Five Star:
1.

2.
Both images are from unedited RAW files.
Thus endeth the lesson.