Update on Sigma 50-150 f/2.8

Not too long ago, I got a Sigma 50-150 to complement my Tamron 17-50 VC.  Initially I hardly got any use out of it.  I had gotten so accustomed to the 17-50 that I rarely ventured to use the 50-150.  A few weeks ago, I decided I ought to use the 50-150 exclusively to force myself to learn it.  I'm still learning its full potential but a couple of things have since made me more excited about this lens.

First, the depth of field when used wide open is just enough to keep most of the face in focus, while throwing the background completely out-of-focus.

Second, even when used wide open, it's still reasonably sharp.  Click on the crops below to see 100% crops of the shots above (both of the shots were taken at f/2.8).  These are straight out of the cam, with no sharpening or any post-processing applied:

The lens also focuses quite accurately, though I found I had to dial in -2 on the AF Fine Tuning for my copy.

The Sigma 50-150 is an endangered species, reportedly discontinued in the Nikon mount.  That's too bad because it fills a very useful focal length range for small sensor cameras.  Fortunately, there are usually some copies on ebay.