Evaluation: 
Conclusion: nice
Review: at 400mm sharpness is great
auto focus is very fast
feels well built
does not slide much
you get what you ordered
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Bigma: Not a lens, a window (.. yes .. it can be a pain)
Review: Other owners of this lens will walk up to you when you are shooting in public with this lens, and they will ask how you like "bigma." Bigma is the nickname of this lens.
I've used this lens for 4 years, it has enabled me to discover much. For example, girls and women, can *feel* you looking at them. With this lens, you can get far enough away (30+ feet) that females can't feel you looking at them. And, then you get great head and shoulder candid shots. And then, their mothers call you up and say "I just love that picture because she didn't know you were there." Another constituency you will have improved access to, is small children. They also, like to have their pictures taken, and with all the digital cameras around today, they are masters of over posing. With bigma your church will ask you to become the unofficial photographer because you get "better" pictures of the kids (i.e., candids without posing) than anyone else.
I've used the lens on a D70 taking kid-event pictures, high school soccer pictures, and high school marching band pictures. Yes, I had and hated the auto focus problems - particularly in sports. So, if you have a D70, be prepared to be patient until you get the hang of the lens. Bigma will force you to read your manual and to experiment with autofocus and to measure the % of out of focus pictures you get, and keep trying new things. But after the pain, this is a good thing. It is called learning.
Now I'm using the 50-500 on my D300 there are smaller and less frequent autofocus problems. The sensors in the D70 were not quite good enough, I think. So, if you have a D70 and don't like this lens, you might want to trade the 50-500 for a D300. Or borrow a friend's D200 or D300 and see if the lens performs better. Root cause may be the camera, not the lens.
Bigma Advice:
- You will need a [monopod[ASIN:B0002YE6EU Canon Monopod 100 for SLR Cameras & Lenses]] to avoid killing your back. If you get the Canon like I have, the swivel top has loosened to the point where super glue reengineering is required.
- You also need to know to turn the aperature all the way down when you put the lens on the camera, or Nikons won't shoot. You will know that this has happened by listening to your self say "What the __ll is wrong? Why won't it shoot?"
- Get a [Nikon lens cleaning pen[ASIN:B00006JN3G Nikon Lens Pen Cleaning System]]. With all the glass in a bigma, there are spots, dots, and nits galore to police off the inner and outer lens surfaces. Keep the glass clean and the pictures are visibly sharper.
- Don't ever use the tripod mount on the camera with bigma attached. I did this once by accident. Always, always, always use the tripod mount on the bigma handle. That's what I say to prevent a recurrence.
I must agree with the encomium shared by other positive reviewers. I wouldn't be without bigma. It puts the camera into a world you won't see without it. You bought the Nikon because your eyes are bad, you love the egoboo of giving an undeserving parent a great picture of their kid, and your pocket is no longer so empty. Buy the bigma to get the most out of your Nikon. Bigma + Nikon = increased egoboo.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Sigma 50-500mm APO Telephoto Zoom Lens for Nikon SLR Cameras
Review: I absolutely love this lens. True, it is kinda heavy and takes some getting use to, but well worth the effort. This lens takes great pictures. It is excellent for taking photos of birds and landscapes as well. Highly recommend this lens. It is of good quality and Sigma's price can't be beat on this particular lens.
Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Great in good light conditions
Review: Great lens when you have good light, heavy thouhg. Good feel, quality finish. Large diameter leads to expensive filters....
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Unique among its peers
Review: Last summer I borrowed the SIGMA 50-500 for a week while I was vacationing with the most wonderful woman in the world. We spent the week in a small rustic cabin on Seventh Lake in the central Adirondacks. I had a great time shooting with the lens, but frankly, I was not careful enough at that time to make the sort of outstanding images of which this lens is capable.
I tried snapping things in a hurry and on dark rainy days. The SIGMA 50-500 isn't really designed for that sort of low light grab work. Since then I've learned a lot about light, shutter speed, the relative stability of tripods, and what one should expect from a 500mm telephoto lens. Now I am taking the sort of images this unique lens is meant for.
The SIGMA 50-500 EX DG HSM APO is a very unique lens. Back in the day, the manufacturing process didn't allow vendors to make lenses like this with good optical properties. These days, they practically do miracles by the old standards. This lens isn't something you see around every day-yet at least-but it takes great pictures.
At a little over four pounds, it's very light as 500mm lenses go. Vibration reduction (Image Stabilization for Canon fans) would be a great benefit, but for the price, you just can't come close to the performance of this lens anywhere else. It comes with a carrying and storage bag, but you can't have a body attached while it's in the bag. On the other hand, this lens can be carried with a body attached without too much effort. I wouldn't want to hike with it, but it's OK for half-day birding trips and things like that.
For more information and some example shots, see my Blog at http://www.LarryEiss.com
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