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A couple of years ago, I wrote a post titled Buy to rent: enjoying travel gear without buyer’s remorse. Spoiler alert: the post wasn’t really about renting, it was about buying an item I wanted for a trip and selling it later (lucky for me, I sold it for more than I paid for it). The item in question was a lens I brought on a safari (the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM ‘Contemporary’ Lens) and that same lens is now available for a slightly better deal than what I paid since you can currently stack an Amex Offer, so I figured I’d write up some information about it and the deal for those interested. You could also go through a shopping portal for a bit further savings yet. I haven’t kept on on competing lenses, but I can’t recommend this particular lens highly enough and the price for this lens is great. The pictures in this post are all photos I took with the lens I’m writing about here on my trip to Kruger National Park in January 2017.
The Deal
- Adorama is offering the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM “Contemporary” Lens for both Canon and Nikon for $649. Stack with an Amex Offer for $25 or 2,500 Membership Rewards points back on $250+
- Direct link to this offer for Canon (our affiliate link; note that you can alternatively click through a shopping portal)
- Direct link to this offer for Nikon (our affiliate link; note that you can alternatively click through a shopping portal)
Key Details
- Note that portal terms indicate that rewards are not paid out on purchase or redemption of gift cards (check portal terms for any other key details prior to purchasing)
Quick Thoughts
Again, I’m writing this post up because it is a product that I owned and I loved this lens for its purpose: to take some nice animal photos on safari. I am not much of a photographer, but this lens served us well on our self-drive tour of Kruger National Park in January 2017. I know nothing at all about photo editing, so these photos are all the images straight off of the camera, with no editing. Here were a few favorites (you’ll see these and more in that post linked at the top):
So if you’re a DSLR owner and interested in a lens with some moderate reach, this could fit the bill. To give an idea as to my distance from some of the animals in those pictures, here’s a shot of me in the car taking a picture and the picture I was taking:
I’m not a photographic equipment expert, but I paid more for this lens than you’ll pay through this sale if you can stack it (note that I did receive an additional accessory — a dock for updating the lens firmware — though that accessory is not included in this sale, the price is enough better to make up for it when stacked).
The current prices of the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM ‘Contemporary’ Lens at Amazon are interesting in that the used prices are all more than the new price (apart from one used lens that notes it is damaged, the used lenses start higher than the current $724 Amazon price, with the first Used – Good price starting at $740):
When the used price is higher than the new price, that’s an indication that the lens is on sale (and probably doesn’t often dip that low, hence the higher used prices).
However, camera superstore Adorama is offering the same lens for $649, and it can get a bit better yet as there’s an Amex Offer out that I noticed earlier today that is good for 2,500 Membership Rewards points when you spend $250 or more (I assume there is likely also a cash back version good for $25 back).
That drops the price down to $625. That’s a great deal for this lens and puts it in the territory where, similar to the post I linked at the top of this post, I would consider buying the lens just to bring it on a single trip and then sell it afterwards.
Don’t get me wrong, as I wrote about the last time I covered buying and selling this lens, there is some risk involved. Things can go wrong when reselling. However, quality lenses like this tend to hold decent value. When I bought mine, I figured I should be able to sell it and come close to breaking even — even if I were down $50 in the end, it was $50 worthwhile in getting a chance to use the lens during the trip. In the end, I sold it for more and actually came out ahead (as you’ll read in that post, I actually bought a few to resell for profit as well).
If you’re playing the game in 2-player mode (with a spouse or partner who has their own Amex accounts), you might even be able to stack this one a bit farther by having one of you buy a $250 Adorama gift card and the other use the gift card and pay the balance with the other partner’s Amex card (assuming you both have the offer synced of course). That said, I don’t know how long this lens will be on sale / available and the last time I tried to do that I recall the gift card processing taking a day or two, so YMMV. Alternatively, a purchase like this could be a good way to hit minimum spend if you’re comfortable reselling it. Again, look before you leap — but you might be able to get your money back out of it.
In terms of shopping portal rewards, it looks like you can choose between about 2% back or 3 JetBlue TrueBlue points per dollar. However, note that portal terms indicate that rewards will not be paid out on the purchase or redemption of gift cards. I’m not sure whether either or both are true. That drops your net cost a bit further yet potentially.
Again, I’m no J.M. Hoffman, and I haven’t studied the current lens landscape. I’m sure that you can get something better for double or triple the price. But when I went on my trip a couple of years ago I had done some research. This was the lens I wanted because I felt confident that it would take the pictures I hoped for and it would be something I could fairly easily resell after the trip because, well, I’m no J.M. Hoffman.
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Thanks Nick – that lens looks great. I’ve taken a 150-300 lens for wildlife & safari twice and it wasn’t quite enough. What do you recommend for the camera itself? What general specs to be able to capture moving wildlife with that lens? Would a Costco combo Nikon for $500 be sufficient?
Yes it is interesting and attractive, and all the pictures are having life and thanks for sharing all these
Nice job capturing the ‘Grey Ghost’ – greater Kudu – antelope with curly horns they are extremely skiddish and disappear in the landscape
We leave for ZA in a little over a week for Cape Town, Jo-burg and the bush for several weeks – I mulled going this route and buying a 600mm lens and a camera kit , but haven’t really used DSLR with film since late 80s and 90s. I upgraded to Note10+ for this trip primarily for optical wide angle and zoom as well as the Note10 AF and low-light photos. The phone does a pretty amazing job for pictures – bit has weakness and limitations.
Personally the idea of schlepping a 5# lens, plus camera and kit around for several weeks just to use for 2-3 days of shooting in the bush – not knowing if laptop and other valuables would fit in hotel room safes (cc theft protection -yes but police report would; take X number of hours). That said I might buy a DSLR combo with a 300mm lens, 50 and 75mm lens from Costco – they have a BF deal for $400 and other combo’s around $1K then just the camera and 300mm telephoto on the trip but even on the fence about going this route.
On a side note about the kudu:.
The Kudu are highly desired but very elusive game animal – that international trophy hunters will spend $300K or more for the chance to hunt one (the govt fees, permit and license for the a hunt is actually used to preserve the habit and fight poaching of other endangered African animals and the meat of the rare successful hunt provides food for local villagers. I don’t hunt or fish but saw a documentary on the Kudu and how they have helped to preserve elephants and rhino’s.
The weight and inconvenience of carrying the gear is what keeps me from bringing the DSLR most of the time, but this was my second trip to Kruger. I had gotten a couple of good shots on my first trip, but I really wanted to get a few I could print out and put on the wall during the second trip. I took thousands of photos, so by the law of averages I was bound to get a few I could print. I was willing to deal with the inconvenience in that instance, but ordinarily wouldn’t carry the equipment just for a regular trip.
I’m sure the Note cameras will be great, and I’m not sure that I’d carry all the equipment for 2-3 days of a trip of a couple of weeks in length. On the flip side, you never know how far you’ll be from the animals. As far as the software has come, I don’t think optical zoom is likely to do the trick in those situations where you’re not fairly close. Of course, maybe you’re more focused on the experience itself and capturing pictures of it is a secondary concern. That’s certainly reasonable, too.
Personally, if and when I go back (and I sure hope I get another chance), I’ll probably bring my DSLR again and likely buy a similar (if not the same) lens again. I used a 50-250mm lens on my first trip to Kruger and while I did get a few terrific shots with it, I often found that I wanted a little bit more reach, hence the 150-600mm choice.
I assume you’ve been to ZA before based on your comments, but if you haven’t done a bush trip before, definitely bring binoculars. I feel silly to have not thought about this on the first trip (we ended up buying some in the park). We came prepared on trip #2.
Just a note – this deal expires at midnight NYC time today so if anyone is on the fence, act fast!
Nice job Nick, to say the least!! I don’t know JM, but you know your stuff!
Do you think it’s voyuerism taking photos of animals in their intimate moments? They are not even wearing any clothes.
I think it’s time a law was passed banning sharing photos of nude animals without their consent.
debit
Maybe their homeless so send them aid then pursue the court system .
CHEERs