Sigma 150 600mm f5 6.3 dg os hsm pro#

Image quality is very usable, but AF makes it a bit of a frustrating experience. There was a lot of hunting, and a unique (and uniquely frustrating) straying from focus even once lock was achieved.

Sigma 150 600mm f5 6.3 dg os hsm pro#

Adding a 2x tele doesn’t strike me as a great idea as your maximum aperture on the long end becomes f/13 and image quality is seriously degraded! Using the Kenko DGX Teleplus Pro 1.4x extender on a Canon 6D was not a productive experience. I did not have one of these teleconverters on hand, but if you check out Bryan Carnathan’s chart testing here you will see that the results with a 1.4x teleconverter are certain viable. AF performance (or viability) is going to come down to your camera body, but it is encouraging to know that the lens is designed with teleconverters in mind. Sigma is also promoting that this new lens is compatible with their new Global Vision line of teleconverters. I haven’t yet reviewed that lens, but I suspect it is designed to compete more directly with the Tamron. Please note that the more inexpensive Sigma “Contemporary” 150-600mm does not share this optical formula but has 20 elements in 14 groups along with fewer of the exotic (and expensive) FLD and SLD elements. It does accept standard threaded filters, but at a massive 105mm size. The aperture iris is a nine rounded-blade design for nicely shaped bokeh highlights even when the lens is stopped down. The lens optical construction is fairly complex, with 24 elements in 16 groups, including two FLD (low dispersion elements) similar to fluorite and 3 SLD (special low dispersion) elements for greater contrast and clarity. They’ve also gone the extra mile in providing a seriously nice (and seriously huge!) padded case (which came in handy for traveling with the lens) and a padded lens “cap” that works well but will also be a bit of a pain to bring along or remember. Here’s a promotional video from Sigma about the weather proofing on the lens. They call it “dust and splash-proof construction” and especially mention resistance to ocean spray. It has the rubber gasket around the lens mount, of course, but it also has fluorine coatings on both the front and rear elements to resist water and oil and nice sealing around the switches.

The Sigma has the “extra mile” when it comes to its weather sealing. It is a premium/pro lens, and it gives up nothing in its build to Canon’s high end telephoto lens. The Tamron 150-600 VC is an extremely good lens, optically amazing for its value price point, but the Sigma Sport lens is in a completely different category when it comes to build quality. Even the lens hoods feel like they’ve been given a lot of thought. At key points there are soft touch, rubberized sections that just feel great. The materials all feel very premium under your fingers. There is great attention to detail that must be experienced to be fully realized. While they are all essentially a black on black design, Sigma has done an exceptional job mixing textures and materials to produce lenses that look very sleek and modern while also feeling tough and durable. I think that Sigma’s new design philosophy is producing the best looking (and feeling) lenses of any of the modern lens makers. In this second video I take a very close look at the build quality of the lens in an interactive fashion. I shared my initial thoughts in the unboxing video where you can also see how the lens arrives and what comes with it. In this review I will be highlighting what I perceive as the strengths and weaknesses of this lens and will also be sharing a host of images that should help tell the story. For a primer, you can read my review of the Canon 100-400L II here or my review of the Tamron SP 150-600mm VC here. One should not mistake them for being optically inferior.

Yes, it is a variable aperture lens, but it is a variable aperture lens in the way that the Canon 70-300L and the new 100-400L II are variable aperture lenses. This is a pro lens with a pro build and premium optics. Yes, it is definitely very heavy (more on that in a moment), and yes, it’s price is nearly double that of the Tamron, but the Sigma is undoubtedly a premium lens that, if anything, is probably a bargain at its roughly $2000 price tag. While some of those initial reservations are undoubtedly true, I must confess that the new Sigma won me over during the review period. I struggled to see the market for a more expensive, much heavier version of the already very popular Tamron lens. I saw the specs (including the heavy weight and increased size over the Tamron 150-600 VC), and the MTF charts and early shots didn’t seem to be a lot better than the Tamron. Confession time: I had pretty much written off the new Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM SPORT lens before I reviewed it.