Up next in 10
Photographer Dustin Abbott shares the strengths and weaknesses of the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS vs the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DN OS Sport (with a few references to the Tamron 150-500mm F5-6.7 VC VXD.) Which will work better for you? This video should help. | This video is sponsored by Fantom Wallet. Visit https://fantomwallet.com/ and use code DUSTIN15 to get 15% off | Read the Text Review of the Sigma http://bit.ly/150_600DNda | Read the Text Review of the Tamron https://bit.ly/A057Review | Read the Text Review of the Sony http://bit.ly/FE200_600DA
Purchase the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DN OS Sport @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3fkPila | Amazon https://amzn.to/2VaIFv4 | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/33vfs | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3C98nRa | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3C9UCS3 | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3fk7ewn
Purchase the Tamron 150-500mm VC VXD @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3uypy9y | Amazon https://amzn.to/3yGXJPX | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/2zwh3 | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/3c3yhKK | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3yQgn7R | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3fwkf6s | Ebay https://ebay.us/ga91n3
Purchase the Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3G OSS @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/2sHUcUt | Amazon https://amzn.to/2ZRXXmi | Camera Canada https://shrsl.com/2zwhj | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/37CaUTV | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/37JQLuX | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/39LpGJF | Ebay http://bit.ly/FE200600
Purchase the Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DN OS @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/2MX1XfA | Amazon https://amzn.to/3fmmjej | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/30Fs5nl | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/2XXSuuS | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/2Yxejk2 | Ebay https://bit.ly/100_400DN
Check out the DA Merch here: https://bit.ly/TWIMerch
=============================
Table of Contents:
=============================
0:00 - Intro
1:18 Points of Similarity
2:27 - Sigma advantages
7:24 Sony Advantages
12:02 Tamron Considerations and Conclusion
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Hi, I'm Dustin Abbott and I'm here today to give you another episode like what we did when Tamron
0:16
released the new 150 to 500 millimeter VXD lens. We now have this new Sigma 150 to 600 millimeter
0:24
and I just wanted to give you a comparison to what is the kind of the standard in the class
0:29
the first party option, which is the Sony 200-600mm G lens. Today's episode is brought to you by Phantom Wallet
0:38
the minimalist, modern wallet that sets you free from a bulky traditional wallet
0:42
while also making it easy to access your cards and money when you need them
0:47
thanks to their unique fanning mechanism. Visit phantomwallet.com to check out their unique sizes, styles, and finishes
0:54
that span from aluminum to wood to carbon fiber. You can even customize your wallet with new accessories like a money clip, cash holder, ID display, and even the Chipolo tracking integration if you're the kind of person who loses their wallet
1:13
Use code DUSTIN15 for 15% off when you're ready to check out
1:18
Both of these lenses do have an optical stabilizer built in and they seem to work roughly about the same
1:25
In either case, I would say that they're maybe marginally better than what the Tamron's optical stabilizer was
1:32
But, you know, all of them are fairly close in that operation. When it comes to the optical performance, I break all of that down in detail in the Sigma review and then also in the Tamron relative to the Sony
1:46
But basically, all three of these lenses are within the same ballpark
1:51
There is a little bit of give and take throughout the zoom ranges. I do find that the Sony is the most consistent performer at the edge, at the end of the telephoto
2:00
giving you the sharpest, most consistent performance across the frame. But it's not by a large margin, and so you're not necessarily going to see a huge difference
2:10
And so I don't really think that optical performance really needs to be the metric by which you make this decision
2:15
There are some differences and areas of relative strength for each lens
2:19
And that's really what I want to break down for you today to give you a chance to make an informed buying decision if you're choosing between these lenses
2:27
So the first and maybe most obvious thing to talk about is the difference in price
2:31
The Sony remains the most expensive lens of the relative competitors here at about $2,000 US dollars
2:38
Obviously, that price point is going to vary relative to your market. And so this may be a strength or a weakness depending on how prices break down in your individual market around the world
2:48
In the U.S. market, the Sigma retails at about $1,400. And so we're talking about a 30% roughly difference between these two with the Sigma obviously being a much cheaper option
2:59
The other obvious difference we see as we look at the two lenses is that in the retracted position, the Sigma is the smaller of the two lenses
3:09
And so there's roughly a 50 millimeter difference. We're talking about 263 millimeters in overall length, not including the lens hood
3:17
and then 318 millimeters in overall length for the Sony in its overall length Again not including the hood The difference being however is that the Sony is an internally zooming design and so it never going to change length
3:33
whereas the Sigma does extend significantly. In fact, when it's fully extended
3:38
even with a slightly smaller hood, it actually becomes the longer of the two lenses
3:44
But for storage, it does have an advantage of roughly 50 millimeters when it comes to
3:49
in its fully retracted position for storage. So let's talk about a few other strengths for the Sigma
3:54
and then we'll deal with the Sony and the latter part of the episode
3:58
So other relative strengths for the Sigma outside of the size and the price
4:02
is the fact that it, like a lot of other recent zooms
4:06
gives you a couple of options when it comes to your minimum focus distance
4:10
So there's a different minimum focus distance at 600 millimeters relative to what there is
4:15
at 150 millimeters. and so at the 600mm position it actually has a longer minimum focus distance than what does the Sony
4:23
but at the wide end you can get a whole lot closer
4:27
in fact all the way down to 58cm and so at that point you can get actually at 180mm
4:36
just a little bit further on in the zoom range you get your maximum magnification of 0.34 times magnification
4:43
which is really really useful I don't need to convince you, that's an extremely useful magnification figure that allows you to
4:50
pretty much fill the frame with small blossoms like this. It's useful for a lot of other kind
4:54
of situations. It also means that there will be fewer situations to where you can't focus on a
5:00
close object than you will with the Sony. So the Sony has a lower magnification of 0.20 times
5:07
And so not quite, you know, twice as good, but the Sigma is significantly better and even a bit
5:12
better than what the Tamron was in that. Another thing that is a big deal to me, and I suspect to
5:20
many of you, is that the tripod foot here is Arca-Swiss compatible, which means you can go
5:24
right onto a tripod and mount it down without having to use a quick release plate. For whatever
5:29
reason, the Sony's is not. That's a major fail on Sony's part in my estimation. One other thing that
5:35
I do like here is that you do have detents at the cardinal positions, and so the Sony tripod
5:42
collar, or excuse me, the Sigma tripod collar is a little bit maybe better in operation than what we
5:48
see here with the Sony. The Sony just doesn't have that same flexibility in terms of those nice
5:54
detents that stop you right dead on at the, you know, the appropriate spots as you're kind of
6:00
rotating it around on the tripod. One advantage on this note though, when it comes to the tripod
6:05
foot is that the Sony's foot is easily toolessly removable. Whereas if you're going to remove the
6:12
tripod foot here, for one thing, it's not really designed for removing, extends out more so
6:17
and it's going to require using an Allen key and four different Allen screws here to remove
6:23
for that. It's really designed here more for replacing the tripod foot with another
6:27
not really for removing it just to eliminate a little bit of weight. So, you know, kind of a
6:32
strength and weakness on both sides there. And so there is a really, really minor advantage when it
6:38
comes to the weight of the Sigma Sport lens It comes in at 2 kilograms or 2100 grams The Sony is 2115 grams And so I mean we talking about a 15 gram difference That not enough that you going to notice it out in the field However you know it another reason to consider
6:58
Another area of strength for the Sigma is that it's got 50 millimeters of additional
7:03
of zoom range on the wide end, which actually makes for a four times zoom ratio
7:08
of 150 to 600 millimeters, whereas the 200 to 600 millimeters is only a three times zoom ratio
7:15
And so you're gonna have more flexibility on the wide end all around with the Sigma. So those are some reasons to consider the Sigma
7:22
relative to the Sony. Now, Sony has its own advantages and those advantages tend to be
7:28
significant ones. So let me run through some of the minor ones really quickly and then we'll get
7:32
to the major ones. And so one minor difference is there are 11 rounded aperture blades rather than
7:38
nine rounded aperture blades. You might get a little bit more circular aperture with the
7:43
stop down with the Sony relative to the Sigma. Maybe not a huge difference there. One of those
7:49
other significant differences is that while Sigma touts the fact that you can use this as either a
7:54
push-pull or a twist-zoom design, which I appreciate that flexibility, in the field
8:00
I vastly prefer the Sony and its internally zooming design. For one thing, it's a really easy
8:05
zoom change. There's obviously much less pump action here. You can hear, and some people are
8:12
really freaked out about that, that kind of pump action, think it's going to inject dust into the
8:16
lens. You know, the weather sealing is supposed to take care of that. However, a lot of people trust
8:21
you know, an internally zooming design a little bit more. There's a reason why Sony went that way
8:25
It gives you maybe a little bit more professional grade of weather sealing, but more importantly for
8:30
this application out in the field, it is just literally a finger where you can quickly zoom
8:36
And so it's a really great lens to use as a zoom lens in the field. And, and so I do definitely
8:41
prefer that. Another significant advantage here is that the autofocus is just better than what we
8:49
found on the Sigma. That's particularly true. It's not so much true for normal type things
8:55
You know, autofocus behaves roughly similar if you're shooting stationary or slow moving objects
9:00
but if you're tracking high speed action, there's just no comparison between the two. The Sony is
9:05
much better for high speed accuracy. It gives you more consistent results. And what I found is that
9:11
I just can go through, you know, action burst and I can get these beautifully frozen moments in time where focus is just fantastic
9:21
And you can take those frames and they look like it was just posed for that second
9:25
I mean, it's just so well focused. And so you're getting the full effect of the image quality from the lens, the optical performance, because the autofocus is just so good
9:34
You know, and they have the advantage of having first party algorithms designing for their own cameras
9:39
and so there's a little bit better of a compatibility, whereas Sigma is having to reverse engineer that
9:45
So it does make a real difference. And even relative to the Tamron, Tamron being somewhere in between these two lenses
9:50
in performance, but the Sony is at the top of the heap. That's a big, big deal
9:55
And obviously, if your photography style is fast action, Sony remains a better option for fast action
10:03
Now, there's a couple of other advantages, same as when we discussed with the Tamron
10:07
that are less advantages of design of the lens per se, but more just kind of realities of first party versus third party On Sony there been a limitation that pretty clear when it comes to teleconverters that at this stage there are only first party lenses
10:24
can be used with teleconverters. And so the Sigma lens on the Leica platform
10:29
there is a 1.4 times and two times converters that it's designed to be used with
10:33
Not on Sony, however. There are no Sigma, you know, Sony E-mount teleconverters
10:40
and it seems to be a limitation that Sony has imposed. So this Sigma lens you're going to have to use as a bare lens
10:46
whereas the Sony lens you can use with teleconverters and get effectively even more reach out of the lens
10:51
Obviously an advantage, one that Sony has baked into the cake for itself
10:56
The other thing that they've baked into the cake is that if you're using one of the higher end bodies
11:00
either the A9 series at the moment or the Alpha 1, that have a faster than 15 frame per second burst rate
11:07
Sony has capped the third party burst rate at 15 frames per second
11:12
Now, if I turn autofocus off on my Sony Alpha 1, for example, I can get 30 frames per second with no autofocus
11:20
But the moment that I turn autofocus on with the Sigma, autofocus slows to a burst rate of 15 frames per second
11:27
Same as what I saw with the Tamron and any other third-party lens on Sony
11:31
And that's going to be true whether you're shooting with an A9 or an Alpha 1
11:35
The cap is 15 frames per second. So with the A9 series, if you put the Sony lens on there, you're getting 5 frames per second faster
11:43
On the Alpha 1, you're getting 15 frames per second faster. That's obviously a significant advantage and one that, you know, Sony, it's not a level playing field
11:52
That's not Sigma's fault, but it is a reality if you're making a buying decision
11:56
So those are a few significant reasons to consider the Sony instead of the Sigma as well
12:03
So at the end of the day, the decision is going to be yours. there's no one size fits all solution here. There obviously are strengths and weaknesses. And if
12:10
you're considering the Tamron, it's the same price point as the Sigma. And the Tamron advantages is
12:16
it's a smaller still lens. And so it does give you more of a physical advantage relative to the
12:21
Sony. It's a little bit lighter and significantly shorter in length, but it also has a more compressed
12:26
zoom range. So you're getting only 500 millimeters maximum reach rather than 600 millimeters for
12:33
either one of these lenses. And so, you know, there are a few strengths and weaknesses there
12:37
for the Tamron, but the Tamron I think is a top choice, mostly if you want as small a size as
12:43
possible while still getting that good reach. And as I noted, the Tamron falls somewhere between
12:48
these two lenses and its overall autofocus performance. So I hope that this helps you
12:54
to make an informed buying decision. You're going to have to choose what best suits your budget
12:59
or also your shooting needs. But hopefully this gives you a little bit more
13:03
direct information on how to do that. I'm Dustin Abbott, and if you'll look in the description down below
13:08
you can find linkage to my reviews of all three of these lenses, and so you can check that out
13:13
There's also buying links there if you'd like to purchase one for yourself. And beyond that, there are links
13:19
to purchase my merchandise, to follow me on social media, become a patron, sign up for my newsletter
13:24
And if you haven't already, please click that subscribe button right here on YouTube
13:28
Be sure to ring the bell so you get notifications when new content drops
13:32
Thanks for watching. Have a great day. Let the light in