Out with the S5 “busy box” for the first time under sauna sunny skies, with the Sigma 150-600mm, the lens impressed; the camera did not. Even the tiny CL, using “Field” AF, got BIF better than the S5 did. However, when I got back, I realized that the camera still had FW 1.1. I updated it and will reserve further comment until I have it out in the field again, hopefully tomorrow. The fact that it had been on a stockroom shelf almost since launch says a lot. It’s also worth noting that charging time for the battery from flat is almost four hours, and that this morning on a drain of a little over half, I got a paltry 70 shots.
To be fair, I guess no camera would impress after one had spent a couple of days with the R6. The bright side is that the Sigma doesn’t seem to have any weaknesses. So it doesn’t have expensive fast prime IQ, but neither does it have any of the shortcomings of its 100-400mm relative. If the S5 doesn’t work out and Sigma brings an RF version, I’ll hopefully have the option of doing a mount conversion.
Unfortunately I have managed to get both zoom setups back almost to 3kg, which does get a bit tiresome on long walks. But the heavier Sigma setup actually seems to be the lighter of the two, probably because I can attach my harness to the tripod collar without the foot. Canon’s foot attaches to the collar with a 3/16″ screw, making it too small for the harness fastener. Dunno why on earth they did that (even Sony got that one right), but I have many times wished they hadn’t.
No surprise, then, that I headed back out in the afternoon with the R6 and 600mm f11. But no one was home in “Raptor-ville” today. The critters somehow know when it’s the weekend . . .
