what sigma 100-400, 150-600, 60-600 what to buy
The 150-600mm focal length is rare in the world of photographic lenses, with only three options on the marketplace. Sigma offers 2 of the iii with the Sigma 150-600mm F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Gimmicky and the Sigma 150-600mm f/v-6.three DG OS HSM Sport, giving customers a option between lightweight portability or premium optical performance and weather sealing. At B&H, we recently got our hands on the value member of this pair, the Contemporary, for a tour of the Big Apple. The Sigma lenses are bachelor in Sigma, Nikon, and Canon mounts.
When it comes to reach, the 150mm focal length at the curt end of the zoom range isn't very special, since many kit lenses encompass this focal length, merely when you zoom the lens out past 300mm, yous know y'all are going places that just a select few lenses always go, and that is the attractive feature of these lenses. Sure, yous can slap a 2x teleconverter on a 300mm f/4 lens for the 600mm feel, simply your sharpness is degraded, and you are starting at f/viii. The Sigmas and the competition bring y'all to 600mm without a crippling teleconverter, and you arrive at that place at f/half dozen.three. In the super-telephoto globe, every stop and every fraction of a end helps.
Speaking of teleconverters, these Sigma lenses offer compatibility with the Sigma TC-1401 i.4x Teleconverter (Canon mount), and the lenses are optically transformed into eye-watering 210-840mm glass with the loss of ane stop. Sigma offers the TC-1401 for Nikon and Sigma mounts, likewise.
Pattern
I'll say this: I am a fan of Sigma'south design aesthetics. Unlike the world of premium automotive design, the folk who draft lens bodies are relatively unknown. The pattern team at Sigma, or whatever team to whom they may outsource their blueprint work, deserves a round of applause. Like other Sigma glass, the 150-600mm Contemporary features a look that is about as clean every bit a lens can go these days. The flat black is satin-finished and satin-smoothen. The markings are articulate and everything looks harmonious. If you desire bling in the course of golden rings, carmine rings, or silver rings, Sigma is non for you. On some lenses, such bling denotes premium eyes; on other lenses, it simply denotes bling.
Although the Sport version features maximum weather sealing, the Contemporary features a dust- and splash-proof mount.
The Gimmicky'due south lens hood completes the lens with a squared-off attachment. Equally the main body of the lens curves outward toward the 95mm diameter objective lens, the curves and angles get right and and then extend to the terminate of the hood. I assume that, considering this lens is far from wide-angle, there was no demand to keep the widening of the lens when it came to the lens-hood design.
The main aligning ring is for zoom. A thickly ridged zoom ring provides a sure grip with the grooves running longitudinally with the lens. An anti-clockwise plow of the ring brings you from 150mm to 600mm. A reach beyond the lens volition let you get through the full zoom range with one twist, but using a standard shooting agree, information technology will take most users two separate turns to get from i terminate of the range to the other. A zoom lock slide lever will lock the lens at 150mm and prevent zoom pitter-patter, or at 600mm to prevent united nations-zoom creep.
The transmission focus band is tiny in comparison to the zoom ring, and it probably rivals other lenses for the title of narrowest zoom ring textured grip. There is plenty to grab onto, but like many lenses today, the money is going into autofocus applied science, not into transmission focus ergonomics. Aft of the manual focus band is a clear window with a focus distance scale.
Switchology
Next to the focus window is a quadruple-switch suite. The top switch runs through your focus modes: AF, MF, and MO. The MO mode is a combination auto/transmission mode that allows the shooter to overrule the AF. When in AF, a patch of white appears aft of the switch, to permit a quick glance to confirm you are in AF mode.
The next switch is the 3-position focus limiter switch that allows full range, 10m to infinity, or 2.8m (minimum focus distance) to 10m.
The iii-position Optical Stabilization (OS) mode switch features an OFF setting and 2 modes. Fashion 1 is full stabilization, and Mode ii is used to isolate either the vertical or horizontal sensors, so if panning with your subject field, the OS does not interfere with the panning. The lens detects the lens orientation to the horizon and automatically disengages the advisable OS motors.
Concluding of the switches is the 3-position custom switch. When combined with the Sigma USB Dock, you can create custom profiles for OS, AF, and focus-distance limits to run across your specific needs.
Size
The Sigma 150-600mm Contemporary is similar in stature to a mod lxx-200mm f/2.8 lens or a 300mm f/4. When zoomed out, the lens displays pronounced growth in the length section. Zooming is definitely not internal and the lens grows past 3.25" when zooming from its fully retracted position at 150mm to a fully extended 600mm.
The butt size is manageable in the hand and may fifty-fifty clasp into the spot in your camera pocketbook formerly reserved for your 70-200mm. The objective filter thread is, equally mentioned before, a gaping 95mm. The larger Sport version checks in at 105mm at this stop.
Weight
Sigma designed the Gimmicky to be the lightweight pick of the 150-600mm lenses, and it tips the scales at 4.25 lb. This is non a calorie-free lens, but the Sport version adds more than 2 lb of additional ballast to your photographic camera handbag, weighing over 6.3 lb.
The weight and matte finish of the lens combine to give it a solid feel. The body is made from a combination of aluminum alloy and polycarbonate resin. Although lighter than the Sport, you will discover that the Sigma on a full-frame body will give your arm a workout as y'all carry it between shooting locations. But, but remind yourself that y'all are carrying a 600mm lens with a respectable maximum discontinuity, and all volition be forgiven. Many 600mm lenses could be sold with optional pack mules, assistants, dollies, or fork lifts.
Mechanicals
The zoom ring has a nice heft, equally does the diminutive focus ring. Turning through the zoom range makes you believe that you are turning plastic on plastic. Likely, that is exactly part of what you are doing. Nothing on the Sigma feels like metal aside from the tripod collar, and the mechanicals accept a plastic feel. This is not a criticism; it is just a statement of fact. The weight of the zoom ring and focus band are actually quite nice, but alchemists have yet to design polycarbonate lens mechanicals that feel like metal. Until then, you get plastic feel with plastic construction. Trust me, there are dozens of lenses on the market place that accept plastic components that are drastically inferior in tactile feel to the Sigma.
Shooting
Information technology must be the conservative pattern of the black Sigma or the blasé attitude of nearly New Yorkers, but the big Sigma, fifty-fifty when zoomed out, rarely got a 2nd glance from passersby. Shooting in popular tourist areas with the lens mounted on a brand-new Canon 6D got me exactly nix queries on what I was shooting or what I was shooting with. That is a adept thing for most photographers trying to go good shots and not disturb others.
On my first outing, I wanted to really test the lens. Before I took the lens out, I was told to keep my shutter speeds high and stay away from caffeine. Well, I quit caffeine several years agone. All that was left for me to control was the shutter speeds. To heck with the warnings, let's shoot this thing handheld, at twilight, at 600mm. Later on all, digital is free!
Well, it was either my non-caffeinated hands or an excellent Bone system from Sigma, but I was able to get sharp photos, with the lens wide open in fading calorie-free and without a tripod in sight, at ISOs less than 1600. Sigma advertises a four-stop Bone on a few of its lenses, but I was not able to find a published Os spec for the Contemporary. Regardless, I either have the steady hands of a surgeon, or the Sigma works hard to keep the image steady. I'll requite Sigma all the credit here before I claiming friends to a round of Milton Bradley/Hasbro'south Performance game.
Were the images tack sharp? No. But, information technology was getting dark and I am sure if anyone watching me knew anything almost photography, they would doubt that I was able to come abroad with the shots you see here. Perfectly sharp? No lens could get a perfectly abrupt epitome in those conditions without the benefit of a tripod. Sharp enough? You bet.
The post-obit dark, I retraced my steps, this time with a tripod. Success! This fourth dimension I stopped down from wide-open, used mirror lockup on the 6D, and soaked in the light.
At 600mm, the lens features very shallow depth of field, and if focusing on something relatively near (even hundreds of yards away), you lot will get a soft background. If you are looking for gorgeous star-points effectually distant highlights, this lens is not for yous. Fifty-fifty stepped down to f/xvi, the 9-blade aperture diaphragm failed to produce super-attractive aperture stars.
For some shots with the lord's day overhead, I left the Sigma in its included soft carry instance, attached the 6D, and biked over to Prospect Park, in Brooklyn, in search of Tennessee Warblers and Louisiana H2o Thrush. I heard many birds in the trees, just none posed for the Sigma. For birding fans, I stopped past the water to photograph the famous (they have appeared in the New York Times) mute swans (Cygnus olor) of Prospect Park Lake, as they and their neighboring geese are not in hiding.
Overfed by scores of children, the swans and geese were on the shore, ignoring the food being tossed at them and immune to the close company of humans. I was able to bespeak the Sigma at its minimum focus distance at the swans that could care less nigh my presence or the presence of the Sigma lens.
I wanted to try the Sigma'south power to rail fast-moving wildlife. The one squirrel I saw dove into a bush before I could get a model release prepared and the Sigma pointed in its direction. Undeterred, there were scores of high-speed Human being sapiens on two-wheeled machines cruising past. Perfect.
I won't written report a 100% hitting charge per unit, but I did get handfuls of sharp photos of the bikes speeding by. It was probably a combination of user mistake, lack of practice at panning subsequently 20-30mph targets, and my relative unfamiliarity with the Canon 6D that kept me from getting more successful images of the bikes. I cannot pass the blame to the Sigma, as the silent and fast autofocus definitely seemed up to the task. The shallow DOF of the Sigma gave me more than one shot where the biker's shoe was tack precipitous, just the wheel's drive train was soft and vice-versa. This could also be a side effect of the cacophony of motion involved in bicycling, even at baking shutter speeds. Regardless, I feel that the Sigma and 6D delivered some keepers.
Overall
Later on a few days with the Sigma 150-600mm lens, I was left impressed, and I wanted to go on taking it out to capture images that mere mortal telephotos cannot capture. Birders, wildlife shooters, and those wanting to simply extend the reach of their DSLRs without breaking their backs or wallets should have nifty fun with the Sigma 150-600mm f/five-vi.3 Contemporary.
Source: https://www.bhphotovideo.com/explora/photography/hands-review/hands-review-sigma-150-600mm-f5-63-contemporary-lens-canon-0