There are a lot of crazy lenses out there, whether by design or price (some by both), and the Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG sits near the top of both those categories. Not many photographers ever get the privilege to shoot with one, but this camera reviewer did, and this awesome video takes a look at his experience with this ridiculous lens.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this neat video review takes a look at the Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG. f/2.8 is generally the standard aperture of professional-level zoom lenses and supertelephoto primes — that is until you get into the longest focal lengths (past 400mm). And that is what makes the Sigma lens so ridiculous: not only is it an f/2.8 lens that reaches 500mm (and is the only one to do so to my knowledge), it is also a zoom lens, which explains aspects like its need for its own dedicated battery and its eye-watering price tag (normally around $25,000). Without a doubt, there is no other lens out there like it, and while pretty much none of us will ever get a chance to use it, it is still quite fun to see what you can do with it. Check out the video above to see it in action.
Christopher. Thanks for posting. I've always had my eyes on this lens but the price pushed it out of range. Fast forward several years and this is definitely within budget. Would love to see an updated version. I wonder what improvements we'll see in the updated Canon EF 200-400mm f/4.
I had this lens an afternoon years ago to catch some birds with a Canon 350D (yeah, a lot of years ago).
It was very useful to me cause I learned that is the lens that gives you quality and not the body.
I will settle for my Nikon 120-300mm f/2.8 and if I need a bigger image there is always Gigapixel AI. ;)
This translates as 'Look at me, I have a £9000 camera lens'
For me this $25,000 Sigma lens still is useless @ F2.8 ( I had sigma 120~300/F2.8 for while, it was useless @ F2.8)