Photography News Issue 33

Photography News | Issue 33 | absolutephoto.com

44 First tests

Sigma 150-600mm f/5.6-6.3 Sport DGOS HSM From£1199

Specs

Price Lens: £1199 Lens with 1.4x teleconverter: £1299 Teleconverter: £229 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon and Sigma Construction Lens: 24 elements in 16 groups Converter: 7 elements in 5 groups Special lens elements 3x SLD, 2x FLD Coatings Super Multi-layer Coating. Front and rear elements have water and oil-repellant coatings Filter size 105mm Aperture range f/5-22 Diaphragm 9 blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, standard manual and MO which is manual override in full- time AF operation Minimum focus 2.6m Focus limiter Yes, two options, infinity-10m, 10m to 2.5m Maximummagnification 1:5 Distance scale Yes, feet and metres Depth-of-field scale No Image stabiliser Yes, Sigma OS, two modes – 1 for normal use, 2 to minimise blur when panning Zoom lock Yes, at full focal length settings Tripod collar Yes Lens hood Metal hood supplied Weather-sealed Yes, dust- and splash-proof

Sigma offers a less highly spec’ed, lighter, cheaper version of the 150- 600mm under its Contemporary lens range banner. Here, though, we have the Sports version currently being bundled with the TC-1401 1.4x teleconverter at a price of £1328. You expect long telephoto zooms to be heavy, bulky optics especially those with fast apertures. This Sigma lens weighs in at 2.86kg, so lighter than the Canikon 200-400mm f/4 lenses but 900g heavier the Contemporary. It’s a serious lump of glass and not a lens to tote around on the off-chance of getting a picture. Fit it on a body (I used a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II and the Sony A6300 with Sigma MC-11 converter) and the lens is the dominant partner but the combination doesn’t feel too front heavy. Obviously it depends on the individual but for me the lens certainly proved a physical challenge to use handheld and support is essential for use over a period. One feature I really enjoyed was having lens lock at all key focal lengths, ie. 200mm, 300mm, etc. To unlock the lens at 150mm you physically have to operate the lock, but at the other settings, just rotating

the zoom barrel releases the lock, which is handy. The lens has an anti-shake system, Sigma’s version is called Optical Stabilisation (OS), and of course it is essential on this lens. There are two modes: 1 for general use and 2 for horizontal panning. Its effectiveness is reasonable rather than outstanding, especially at the longer focal lengths. With some image stabilisation systems the image seems to ‘float’ when it’s on but on the Sigma the effect is much more jumpy and not very smooth. I did tests outdoors on a calm day, standing on solid ground at 150mm, 300mm and 600mm shooting pictures down to 1/30sec. At 150mm, I got decently sharp shots at 1/40sec, at 300mm 1/50sec was acceptable and at 600mm I had some success at 1/60sec and at 1/80sec and out of five shots two were okay. At 600mm, the jumping around effect in the viewfinder was very evident so this hit rate was still good. However, it is worth putting this into context because a 600mm lens needs 1/600sec minimum for handheld shooting so to get any degree of sharpness at 1/60sec is quite an

achievement so the OS works despite its jumpiness. Optical performance at 150mm is impressive from open aperture onwards with our test shots showing plenty of contrast and detail. Matters improve with stopping down, though, with f/11 giving the best balance between central and edge sharpness. 150mm was actually the least impressive of the three focal lengths tried. At 300mm, image quality at f/5.6 and f/8 was excellent with bags of detail, great contrast and as good at the edges as the centre. That high level of performance was maintained at the 600mm setting too and you get impressive sharp, contrasty images. Even better news is that the best quality, centrally and at the edges, comes at the wider apertures with f/8 being only slightly

better than f/6.3 and both good enough for critical use. I then fitted the 1.4x teleconverter and repeated the test at the same 150mm, 300mm and 600mm giving equivalent focal lengths of 210mm 420mm and 840mm – of course, it’s the latter that’s of most interest. Fitting an optical accessory between lens and camera inevitably impacts on image quality but the good news is that the drop-off in image quality in terms of sharpness and contrast is minimal. At 840mm the effective maximum aperture is f/9 and you have to say that the result is good enough even for critical use. There is a benefit in stopping down to f/11, which does improve matters, especially in the corners and edges. Any further stopping down has a negative impact. WC

150mm

300mm

600mm

Verdict

High-spec telezooms don’t come cheap, but I’d have to say this Sigma is a bit of a bargain – and even more so if you go for the lens/converter bundle. It’s capable of excellent quality images assuming you get everything right – it is demanding on your technique. Nevertheless, if you need a lens for your wildlife or action work then you have got to take a look at this lens and while it is still a significant outlay, it’s nothing like the sort of cash you have to pay for a camera brand lens of similar spec so it is very good value for money.

f/5.6

f/8

Dimensions (lxd) Lens: 290x121mm Teleconverter: 69.9x25mm Weight Lens: 2860g Teleconverter: 190g Contact sigma-imaging-uk.com

f/11

24/25

Features WR, OIS, zoom lock and fast AF

f/16

23/25

Performance Very useable wide open and even better one or two stops down Handling Needs support ideally – or strong forearms!

22/25

f/22

25/25

Value for money A fine long zoom at a great price

Images These test shots were done on a calm, sunny day using a Canon EOS-1D X Mark II with Raw files processed through Lightroom with default sharpening. The lens was mounted on a Benro Mach3 TMA48CL carbon-fibre tripod fitted with an Arca-Swiss ball head and the self-timer used to make the exposures.

Overall If you want a top quality long zoom and your budget is limited, have a look at this Sigma. Pros Impressive image quality, swift AF, zoom range, converter Cons Heavy, OS system, big filters 94/100

600mmwith 1.4x teleconverter

f/9

f/11