Handling and Features
Performance
Verdict
Specification
Over the past year or so, Sigma has been gradually updating their lens lineup to fit into one of three categories, Art, Contemporary and Sports. This super-telephoto zoom lens fits into Sigma's 'Sports' line-up of lenses that promise excellent optical quality, fast autofocus and a dust and splashproof construction. With a cost of around £1500, it is quite keenly priced for a lens providing a 600mm focal length. This lens is available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts and in this review, we'll take a look at how the Canon mount version performs.
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM S Handling and Features
Weighing just under 3kg, this lens is a hefty beast, and some kind of support is recommended if using the lens for long periods of time. Luckily there is a hefty tripod collar included. The high-quality matt finished plastics and metals used for much of the construction add to the overall robust feel of the lens. The lens balances well on the Canon EOS 5D MkIII used for testing and is even hand-holdable for short periods of time, but may feel a little lens heavy in combination with some of the more compact SLR bodies available today. The lens is resistant to dust and moisture, which will suit those looking for a lens that can be used in a variety of conditions.
A silent HSM focusing motor powers the focusing mechanism, resulting in quick focusing in a wide range of conditions. Focusing is performed internally, so the 105mm filter thread does not rotate, making this lens ideal for use with polarising and graduated filters, if you can afford them in that size, of course.
Full-time manual focus adjustments are supported by simply adjusting the focus ring at any time. Manual focusing is a pleasure as the focus ring is well damped, and very smooth to operate. The close focusing distance of 2.6m is quite close for a 600mm lens. The zoom ring is smooth to operate too, although it does have a tendency to creep forward when pointed downwards. A switch to lock the zoom at the desired position is provided. This is very useful, as the lens barrel tends to creep forward of its own accord when pointed downwards without the lock engaged.
With care, it is possible to take sharp images handheld using the image stabiliser at shutter speeds as low as 1/80sec at 600mm, around half the time. This is roughly three stops slower than the usual rule of thumb for shooting handheld will allow. The image stabiliser also holds the viewfinder image fairly steady, which can help with focusing and composition.
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM S Performance
At 150mm, sharpness already approaches outstanding levels in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture and the clarity achieved towards the edges of the frame is excellent. Stopping down improves performance slightly, with peak performance being achieved at f/8.
Zooming to 300mm results in outstanding sharpness in the centre of the frame with excellent sharpness towards the edges at maximum aperture. In fact, peak performance is at maximum aperture for this focal length, which is ideal for a lens a lens like this, which has a relatively slow maximum aperture.
Finally, at 600mm, sharpness in the centre of the frame approaches very good levels in the centre of the frame, with performance towards the edges being good at maximum aperture. Stopping down to f/8 results in peak performance for this focal length, with the lens producing excellent sharpness in the centre and very good sharpness towards the edges at this focal length.
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How to read our chartsThe blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple. For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest. |
Chromatic aberrations are extremely well controlled for a super-telephoto zoom lens with fringing barely exceeding 0.50 pixel widths at any aperture for much of the zoom range. Only at 150mm do CA levels increase to beyond a pixel width, but even then, that's only with the aperture stopped down to f/22. This extremely low level of CA should pose no issues, even in large prints, or harsh crops from the edges of the frame.
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How to read our chartsChromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimise the problem, hence they usually cost more. For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest. |
Mild pincushion distortion is present throughout the zoom range. At 150mm there is 0.35% pincushion distortion, which increases to 0.54% at 600mm, which should pose few issues in normal use. If absolutely straight lines are paramount, then you'll be glad to hear that the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, which should make applying corrections in image editing software fairly straightforward.
A deep, circular hood is supplied as standard with the lens, which does a great job of protecting the lens from extraneous light that may cause unwanted flare and loss of contrast. During testing there were no issues with flare and contrast holds up well, even when shooting into the light.
Value For Money
Priced at around £1500, this 150-600mm lens from Sigma appears to offer decent value for money when compared to other lenses offering a similar field of view.
Another way to get a 600mm equivalent, but with a slightly faster maximum aperture would be to use Sigma's 120-300mm f/2.8 lens, which costs around £1940, with Sigma's TC-2001 teleconverter, which costs around £300. This combination will provide you with 600mm f/5.6, and the benefit of f/2.8 maximum aperture through the 120-300mm range without the converter.
Canon's 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM includes its own built-in 1.4x teleconverter, providing a maximum telephoto reach equivalent to a 560mm f/5.6 lens. Unfortunately, this lens costs around £8310, which is beyond the reach of most people.
Nikon's 200-400mm f/4 can be picked up for around £4890, which can be used with their TC-14e III teleconverter, which costs around £310.
Tamron offers the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens for around £900, or if your budget is more limited, the 200-500mm Di f/5-6.3 lens costs around £730, but gives up 100mm at the long end, lacks stabilisation and silent focusing.
Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM S Verdict
Recently Sigma seem to have hit a fine run of form, producing interesting lenses that provide good specification, for a reasonable price. This lens continues that trend, being capable of producing images with excellent sharpness, low CA and distortion. Those looking for a long lens to add to their kit bag should certainly add this lens to their list of considerations.
The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 offers excellent sharpness and is dust and moisture resistant.