Tamron 150-600 versus Sigma 150-600 contemporary

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I’ll be taking a trip to Western United States and I’m looking for a good wildlife telephoto lens, I have narrowed down my search to a Tamron 150-600 or a Sigma 150-600 contemporary.(I shoot a Cannon) Which one do I go with? What are your thoughts advice or recommendations?
 
I’ll be taking a trip to Western United States and I’m looking for a good wildlife telephoto lens, I have narrowed down my search to a Tamron 150-600 or a Sigma 150-600 contemporary.(I shoot a Cannon) Which one do I go with? What are your thoughts advice or recommendations?
Josiah
Do a search on this forum pertaining to those lenses. There is a thread which discusses them.
 
That’s a close call between those two.

the Sigma is lighter (a little bit, probably not that significant) and cheaper ($300 cheaper right now so about 30% - not insignificant). its long end is also closer to a true 600mm

the Tamron has closer minimal focusing, slightly better build quality, and its image quality at infinity is often superior (but sample variation comes in play here). I also founds it’s AF slightly more snappy on my Nikon D500 but no idea if it translates to your camera. But its long end is not quite 600mm (more like 560 if I recall).

So which one?
is budget a limitation? If yes, go sigma with no regrets.
is weight a big deal? If yes, go sigma with no regrets.

if you don’t care as much about the first two, is image quality at or close to infinity important (lots of birds in flight in your future)? If so, take the Tamron with no regrets. AF is also a bit better for BIF.

i ended up picking the Tamron in the end because I found it better built and optically superior (a very tiny bit) With snappier AF. But honestly, it was really a close call.
 
I’ll be taking a trip to Western United States and I’m looking for a good wildlife telephoto lens, I have narrowed down my search to a Tamron 150-600 or a Sigma 150-600 contemporary.(I shoot a Cannon) Which one do I go with? What are your thoughts advice or recommendations?

I had a similar decision to make a few yeas back. I was looking at the Tamron 150-600 G2 v the Sigma 150-600 Sport. The reviews did not help a lot with pros and cons both ways. so I started looking at forums where real-world users like you and me discussed them. I formed the opinion that either would give me what I wanted, and at the time my favourite Hong Kong dealer was doing the Tamron for under 900GBP! So I ended up with the Sigma!

I've been very happy with it ans it suits my usage. However, if you are travelling, it is heavier than the Tamron so this could be the decider for you - not so important for me.
 
I had the same question a couple years ago. I went to the last camera store in Atlanta. They let me put the Tamron 150-600 on my D7200 and step out off the store to take some shots. I took the lens back in and put the Sigma 150-600 on my camera, went outside and took the same shots again. I did not see much difference in the two lenses. I went with the Sigma as I felt it was a touch sharper. If there is a camera store close see if they will let you try each lens before you decide, then purchase from them.
 
I owned the Sigma 150-600 sport a heavy beast. When the Tamron 150-600 G2 came out I switched and have never regretted it. I have friends who are happy with the Sigma Contemporary but when they shoot along side of me I get on focus on flying birds etc. faster. The full line Nikon, Canon and Sony dealer I deal with in Idaho Falls thought the Tamron 150-600 G2 was better than the Sigma 150-600 contemporary and so does not stock the Sigma contemporary but only the Sport. I have a Sigma 60-600 Sport that I had not used much for a while but I am liking it on my new D6.
 
I've had both and my Sigma C is sharper the the Tamron G2 I had. My wife uses the Tamron G2 and has good results. I haven't noticed any difference in focusing between them.
 
I just realized that I forgot to mention a disclaimer on the Tamron 150-600 G2 (I have mentioned this in other threads) I took advantage or Tamrons's lens fine tune service. Tamron will fine tune a Tamron lens that is still in warranty to your camera body. There is not charge for the service but you have to pay the shipping of the lens and body to Tamron they tune the lens to the body through the full focal length of the lens (not the body AF fine tune) and they pay the shipping back. I sent the 2 other lenses along with the 150-600 G2 and my D500 body and their service works and was fast and efficient. I am quite sure that for my copy this makes it stand out from the Sigma 150-600 contemporary and the 150-600 sport which was quite a bit better than my old Tamron 150-600 pre G2.
 
If you have a Canon then the Sigma might be right for you. The zoom ring will rotate in the normal direction for Canon. On a Nikon it’s backwards to Nikon glass. Some people might be more adaptable than me but my muscle memory is well tuned and I constantly found it a pain....wide when I wanted long and visa versa. Other than that, the only other thing of note is that the Nikon VR seems better, particularly the stability of the image in the viewfinder
 
If you have a Canon then the Sigma might be right for you. The zoom ring will rotate in the normal direction for Canon. On a Nikon it’s backwards to Nikon glass. Some people might be more adaptable than me but my muscle memory is well tuned and I constantly found it a pain....wide when I wanted long and visa versa. Other than that, the only other thing of note is that the Nikon VR seems better, particularly the stability of the image in the viewfinder
It does take a moment with the zoom direction when I switch between Sigma, Tamron/Nikon.
 
@Josiah Gawin @Steve W reminded me of one other feature that I really prefer on my Tamron 150-600 G2 over my Sigma 60-600 sport. The Tamron can be locked at any focal length by simply pushing the zoom ring slightly forward. The Sigma has very limited focal length lock points and when not locked the lens has a lot of focal length creep if tilted slightly downward.
 
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I looked at the Tamron, Sigma and Nikon equivalent zooms that offered somewhere around the 600mm focal length. Mainly for wildlife with some tele-landscape shooting as well. Online the reviews I read offered pros and cons for each, though there wasn't anything in my opinion that constituted being a 'show-stopper' to guide my purchase.

In the end I purchased the Tamron 150-600mm G2 as Tamron at the time were offering significant discounts on this (and other) lens. I've used this lens with my Nikon D850 for over 2 years and are very happy with the results. Focus is quick and accurate, with the resulting images being sharp.
Good luck in your decision!
 
I own sigma 150-600mm C and I am very happy. It is insanely sharp, but the stabilization requires tweaking in Sigma Optimization Pro. I set it to dynamic view mode and now it is very good(although not as good as Tamron), I can shoot somewhere around 1/30-60 of a second. If you want to shoot birds in flight I recommend the first-party lenses, because the AF is faster.
 
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