The day started off with soft pastels in the sky, but before long the fat, heavy snowflakes that Aizu, Japan is famous for started to fall. To judge from the amount of snow weighing down roofs and banked along the sidewalks, it was hardly the first snowfall of the winter.
Aizu is famous for skiing, Onsen (traditional Japanese hot spring baths), and the production of saki, but we were there for none of these things. Our purpose in Aizu was to visit the factory where Sigma’s lenses (and cameras) are made. The snow was falling hard inside, but you can forget the typical mess that comes with snow once you step through the doors.
One of the first thing that stood out to me was just how pristine, well, everything was. There’s not a speck of dust on the floors. The walls are spartan and spotless. Before beginning the tour our shoes were covered with protective booties, our clothes with a white lab coat, and our hair with snow white Sigma branded baseball caps.
But its all intentional. Dust is the enemy of lens design, as we all know. If you buy a new lens, and you can see a speck of dust inside, it doesn’t really matter if you know it is optically irrelevant; many of us are looking for our lens to be replaced.
That’s not a positive outcome if you’re a lens maker, so Sigma and it’s 1850 employees are fastidious in keeping the facility as dust free as possible. They are producing a whopping 75,000 lenses and 2000 cameras per month in this factory, and they aren’t interested in any of them coming back with dust inside.
As a lens reviewer I haven’t necessarily put a lot of thought into the manufacturing process and all that goes into lens production. Most of the time my job is to critique the finished product; are the elements centered? Are there sticking points in the action of the rings? How much are chromatic aberrations or flare artifacts impacting the image quality? As a photographer or lens buyer, you’re probably concerned about the same things.
But it’s pretty remarkable to see the countless steps that have to be taken to keep you and I happy. (*Most of the interior images of the factory were taken by Mike Last and are used by permission. You can check out more of his work here.)
It starts in a large room full of engineers who are pounding out code, working on product design, firmware updates, and solving problems.
Sigma’s factory is unique in that almost all of the product design, development, and manufacturing is done in house. I walked through dozens of spaces where a variety of raw materials were being turned into components that would be assembled into a lens or camera. Aluminum, brass, magnesium, and other metal alloys start as ingots or long spools to be stamped, cut, carved, or machined in massive, spotless machines. Some finished components are no bigger than your finger nail, while other assemblies (like this aluminum housing for the front elements of the new 300-600mm F4 Sport) are pretty huge.
Engineered plastics, resins, and even carbon fiber are being molded into housings and hoods in robotic machine. Glass is molded, polished, and inspected for scratches, dust, or any other imperfection. Paints are applied by machine but also by hand in very precise work to fill etched areas on lens barrels.
Here’s a look at all the pieces that went into the popular 150-600mm Sport lens…all produced in house at this factory.
What stood out to me is the wide variety of smells. Each material has its own unique smell that permeates its lab or factory space. Also unique was the wide variety of temperatures, as some spaces have to be cool while others radiate heat.
Most lenses have have least nine or ten optical elements in them, and its not rare to have twenty or more in telephoto zooms. Each one of those glass elements are personally inspected, and I saw a few being rejected because of some imperfection. Each element has to be properly centered, which involves polishing the edges to ensure they all fit perfectly into the optical assembly to ensure proper optical performance.
Assembly of all those many components comes together in multiple labs, and it is a mixture of robotic and human collaboration to produce the end result. Optical tests follow along with final quality control inspections, and only then is a lens ready for retail packaging and shipment. I saw hundreds of employees working in a wide variety of disciplines to produce the end result.
I’m not sure that I can comment on the “happiness” of the employees (Japanese are rarely gregarious by nature) but I can speak to their precision and attention to detail. I saw no slackers.
At the end of the day, my job description doesn’t change. I’m here to critique, evaluate (and where appropriate) praise the end product, but I certainly came away with a fresh appreciation of just how much goes into production of a modern lens. We are living in an externally parodoxical time, as while the photography industry is shrinking year by year, we are actually in a golden age for design and quality across the industry. I’m glad that Sigma remains an integral part of that landscape.
Keywords: Aizu, Sigma, Sigma Corporation, BF, 24MP, 300-600mm Sport, Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS Sport, DG, Sport, F4, 300-600mm, OS, 16-300mm, Contemporary, F3.5-6.7, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Hello from Tokyo – Takeaways from Sigma’s New Product Announcements
Dustin Abbott
February 25th, 2025
It has been rare that I’ve had a chance to accept opportunities to travel to press events in my career as a photographer and influencer, my wife and team encouraged me to accept an invitation to Japan to be present in person for Sigma’s February 2025 new product announcement. Sigma decided to bring in a number of industry professionals and influencers for this particular event, as Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki took the stage to highlight a few corporate direction shifts along with the announcement of two new lenses and a new camera.
In Kazuto’s remarks he highlighted a recognition that the industry has changed due to the rise of smartphones and the sheer number of people who elect to use their phone’s camera rather than a dedicated imaging device (true). To that end they have designed a new camera, which they call the BF. The idea is for a simpler, purer user interface that allows people to focus on just taking photos.
In using the UI and the simplified control schemes, I found it took me a bit to wrap my head around the unique controls, but I think it does work reasonably well.
I’ll be doing a deeper dive review in the coming weeks, but the thing that stands out the most to me is how beautiful the camera is…particular in the silvery white finish and paired with the newly released silver versions of a number of Sigma’s iSeries lenses. The camera is crafted out of a single aluminum ingot, so there is no screws and panel attachment points. They had a display that showed various stages of the aluminum ingot being transformed into the chassis of the camera. It makes for a beautiful looking camera.
The Sigma BF is built around a 24MP full frame sensor, and, interestingly, there is no card slot. Instead the camera features 230GB of internal storage and has a USB-C 3.2 port on the side for fast media transfer. One potential misstep is the lack of an kind of wireless capabilities, which may limit those who either want to transfer images wirelessly to their smartphones or even post them directly to social media.
This is an interchangeable lens camera utilizing the L mount, so it will be compatible not only with Sigma L mount lenses but also any lens from another brand using the L mount.
Autofocus seemed to work pretty well in my limited testing at the event, but I will dive more deeply into that in my full review.
Previous Sigma cameras have been very niche, and I suspect the only way that will be different this time around is if the sheer minimalist beauty of the camera creates a viral “it factor” groundswell of response. In talking to a Sigma UK rep today I learned that preorders are already starting to roll in, so that’s a good sign. The announced MSRP will be $1999 USD.
The second announcement was for the new Sigma 16-300mm F3.5-6.7 DC OS Contemporary lens. Superzoom lenses aren’t always that exciting, but there are a few very interesting things about this one. That zoom ratio of 18.8x is industry leading, but more interesting to me is that this is the first APS-C lens from Sigma to receive their new HLA (High Speed Linear Actuator) focus motor system, which is vastly better than their older STM focus motors. It also has the OS2 algorithm which is significantly better than their old optical stabilizers (OS) in other lenses that I’ve tested. This one is rated at 6 stops of OS, and in my short tests using my own camera, I found that stabilization is quite good even on the telephoto end (which is 450mm full frame equivalent).
(This is a handheld 300mm shot).
Also interesting is that this lens starts at the wider 16mm point, which does create engineering challenges but also opens up a lot of additional framing opportunities with that 24mm full frame equivalent angle of view.
Price will be $699 USD, and I suspect that this is a lens that will sell well for them and does offer some unique advantages over existing alternates. Also interesting is that this will be the first of Sigma’s lenses (that I’m aware of) this is simultaneously launching on Canon RF mount alongside the more conventional E-mount, L-mount, and Fuji X-mount options.
I’ve saved the best for last, as the announcement I was personally most excited about was the 300-600mm F4 DG OS | SPORT lens. Sigma had yet to release a true “super-telephoto” on FE and L mounts, and this one is exciting. It’s a big lens (167mm in diameter and 467.9mm in length) and weighs nearly 4 kilos (3985g), but it also delivers a constant F4 aperture all the way through 600mm, which puts it into very rare company. The Sony, Canon, and Nikon 600mm F4 lenses on their respective platforms all costs $13,000 or more ($14,000 for the Nikon), while the Sigma offers the versatility of being a zoom and also comes at a price tag of right under $7000 USD.
This lens seems to have it all, including the premium HLA focus motor for sports work, an effective 5.5 stop OS2 stabilization system, and a huge amount of controls, including a drop in filter system including the ability to rotate circular polarizers. I noted and tested the ability to preset focus positions where a new unique control ring can be rocked and instantly return focus to the preset position – great for sports like baseball, for example.
As a Sports lens, it has Sigma’s premium build quality, including a magnesium alloy body and carbon fiber lens hood and completed with a thorough weather sealing. It’s also Sigma’s first white super telephoto lens, and it looks beautiful.
I can only foresee two potential “flies in the ointment” for the 300-600mm Sport, and that is Sony’s limitation on burst rates for third party lenses, meaning that the sport bodies this lens will get mounted on (Alpha 1 and a9 series cameras) that can achieve much faster burst rates will be limited at 15 FPS. The second limiting factor on Sony FE will be the restriction on using teleconverters on third party lenses. Neither of these limitations will exist on L-mount, though the former concern is somewhat of a moot point considering that L-mount still lacks a truly amazing sports camera (at least at the time of this writing).
I look forward to putting the 300-600 Sport through its paces and rendering a true verdict on the performance.
This has been a fascinating experience. I’ve enjoyed meeting a number of my fellow influencers and reviewers and being able to “talk shop” with them. Stay tuned for my deeper looks at these products once I can get them into my standard review environments.
Keywords: Sigma, Sigma Corporation, BF, 24MP, 300-600mm Sport, Sigma 300-600mm F4 DG OS Sport, DG, Sport, F4, 300-600mm, OS, 16-300mm, Contemporary, F3.5-6.7, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I was very interested in the premise of this lens when Sigma let me know about it, as this is just the kind of lens that people on all camera platforms routinely ask for – a long distance, high performing telephoto prime that isn’t ridiculously big or ridiculously expensive. The Sigma 500mm F5.6 DG DN OS | Sport is (at least on paper), the perfect telephoto option for those looking for a reasonably compact and lightweight long telephoto prime. The maximum aperture of F5.6 provides a nice balance between being large enough to be useful while small enough to keep the size (and the price!) of the lens down. Even F4 lenses at 500mm are very expensive: prices can range anywhere from $6000 (Sigma’s own 500mm F4 for DSLR mounts) to nearly $12,000 (Canon EF 500mm F4L II). The Sigma 500mm DN is much more approachable at $3000 USD; but is it worth buying? Explore my thoughts either in my video review below or by reading on.
Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
The Sigma 500mm DN Sport is being released on Sony E-mount (reviewed here) and on the Leica L-mount consortium where it will function as a first party lens. Leica users (as usual) will have a few advantages due to restrictions put in place by Sony for third party telephoto lenses. We will detail the reality of those in this review.
There are relatively few ways to reach 500mm on Sony in a native lens. Sigma provides the most options now, as there is this new prime lens along with their 60-600mm Sport (my review here) and 150-600mm Sport (my review here) lenses. Sony has a the 200-600mm G lens (my review here) that I will reference some in this review as I happen to own it. Tamron makes a 150-500mm VC lens for Sony (my review here), and there is a recent inexpensive TTArtisan 500mm F6.3 manual focus prime that I haven’t reviewed. The Sigma 500mm DN Sport immediately has one advantage going for it – it’s maximum aperture of F5.6 at 500mm is faster than any of the alternatives, most of which are F6.3 at 500mm and one (the Tamron) has a maximum aperture of F6.7. That does come with some advantages, both in the ability to get slightly faster shutter speeds as well as providing more shallow depth of field.
Sigma made significant strides forward in some key elements of lens design (particularly for telephotos) in their release of the 60-600mm DN Sport lens. The two most important areas were in the area of autofocus (high powered HLA autofocus motor) and optical stabilizer (OS2 algorithm). Those lessons learned are on display here, as Sigma has used these technologies to make for a better, more complete telephoto prime.
Does all of this add up a telephoto prime lens that is worth investing in over the alternative zoom lenses? That’s the question of the hour…and one we’ll explore here.
Build and Handling
Typically one chooses a prime lens over a zoom lens covering the same focal length for one of three reasons (or some combination of the three). These include:
Faster maximum aperture
Superior image quality
Smaller size and/or lighter weight.
We’ve already determined that the Sigma 500mm DN has a very slight maximum aperture advantage, though few would argue that the one third stop aperture advantage the prime has over the zoom lenses is meaningful. We’ll break down if the image quality favors the prime in the IQ section below, but there’s no question that the size and weight favors this prime lens. Sigma is touting it as a handholdable lens. In Sony E-mount the 500mm DN weighs 1365g (48oz) with the L-mount version slightly heavier at 1370g. The 150-600 Sport weighs 2100g (53% heavier) and the 60-600 Sport weighs 2500g (nearly 59% heavier).
The length is 236.6mm, with the 60-600mm Sport being nearly 280mm in length while the 150-600mm is 267mm long. The lens is slightly narrower at its widest point (107.6mm/4.2″), but the difference is that the prime lens only swells out to that width near the front element, while the zoom lenses are consistently thicker throughout the barrel. I happen to own the Sony 200-600mm G lens, and you can see that the 200-600mm dwarfs the size of the 500mm DN.
That final flare to the front element means that the front filter size is fairly large. It is 95mm, which is the same as the 150-600mm and slightly smaller than the 105mm of the 60-600mm.
Sigma divides its lenses into three different categories: Contemporary, Art, and Sport. The Contemporary lineup gets the lowest level of build and weather sealing, while the lines are a little more blurred with the Art and Sport lenses. Typically, however, the Sport lenses do have the highest grade of weather sealing because they are the most likely to be used in inclement conditions. Many sporting events will take place regardless of weather conditions, and, surprisingly enough, most wildlife is waterproof! With that in mind, the Sigma 500mm DN Sport has Sigma’s highest grade of weather sealing. While I haven’t seen a diagram yet (I’m doing this review before the public release of the lens and before any such diagrams are available), Sigma says this of the weather sealing, “The mount connection, manual focus ring, zoom ring, switches, switch panel and exterior connection are all dust and splash resistant to prevent dust and dirt from entering the lens. Further, the front element of the lens features a water and oil repellent coating to facilitate maintenance when water droplets or dust adhere to the lens.” That sounds like a very thorough weather sealing to me.
Sigma likes to mix materials on these Sport telephoto lens to try to find a balance between toughness and weight. They’ve mixed magnesium alloy metal bits with their high end plastics, which they call TSC, or “Thermally Stable Composites”. You will probably have a hard time telling which is which.
Sigma has really improved the feature set of their telephoto lenses, and they are currently as feature rich as anything out there. The 500mm DN employs a Focus Hold/Custom button in three different positions near the front of the lens, meaning that you have easy access to one regardless of how the lens is rotated. The function of that button can be set in the camera body.
There are two switches in that same section of the lens. On the left hand is the option to click/declick the aperture ring. That’s a feature video shooters value for the ability to rack smoothly through the various aperture values. On the right hand is an iris lock that can either lock you into the manual aperture ring (if that’s your preference) or lock you OUT of it if you happen to be someone who detests aperture rings.
The aperture ring has markings for each one third stop detent between F5.6 and F32, though there will be no detents if you select the declicked mode. This is the only the second Sigma telephoto to include an aperture ring after the 70-200mm F2.8 Sport (my review here).
Next comes the manual focus ring, which is fairly wide (27mm), has rubberized ribs, and has a nice bevel mid ring that makes it more ergonomic.
There’s a fairly standard (for Sigma) bank of switches along the left side of the lens about halfway up the lens. The top switch (AF/MF) is larger than the other three, but the other three switches are smaller and flusher to the lens barrel. The first of these is a focus limiter with three options, including Full, 10m to infinity, and minimum focus (3.2m) to 10m. You can obviously increase focus speed by employing this and eliminating part of the focus range, though I did find that focus was fast enough that I never reached for it. The third switch down is a three position switch for different OS (optical stabilizer) modes. Mode 1 is the Standard mode, while Mode 2 should be utilized while panning, as one axis of stabilization will be turned off to provide for smoother side to side panning. Sigma says of Mode 2 that, “In Mode 2, SIGMA’s Intelligent OS, an algorithm specially designed for panning shots, enables effective image stabilization even when the camera is moved vertically or diagonally, irrespective of the horizontal and vertical orientation.” In other words, a smarter stabilizer that helps stabilize panning shots without getting in the way. The third position is an OFF switch for the stabilizer.
Where things get a little confusing is that the final switch is dedicated to custom modes (OFF | C1 | C2). On DSLRs you could buy the Sigma USB dock and use the Sigma Optimization Pro software to tweak some functionality (including the function of custom buttons), and, while that same functionality is available to Leica L mount customers, it isn’t for the Sony shooters who still make up the lion’s share of Sigma’s market). That means that function of these switch positions is fixed, and they are really just more OS options. C1 prioritizes stabilizing the viewfinder (probably a good option if you’re shooting video or just have shaky hands), while C2 is called “Moderate View” and seems to focus more on stabilizing the image at capture and less on stabilizing the viewfinder (a good option when panning, for example). This final option option gives you the most stable results on your shots, but in most situations having a shaky viewfinder image at 500mm just complicates things. C1 does a nice job of really keeping the viewfinder steady, though, and is a nice option for video capture.
If you are using the Leica L version of the lens and the USB dock, you’ll be able to also tweak the distance employed on the focus limiter and assign a new value to the custom buttons.
Sigma has employed their new and improved OS2 which gives a nice rating of 5 rated stops. That’s not quite the 6 stops touted on the 60-600mm, but Sigma’s OS is very nice here. A good stabilizer is hugely important in a long telephoto like this even in properly composing your shots. I was able to get this stable shot at 1/8th of a second (I got about 35% keepers at this shutter speed).
That breaks down as 6 stops of stabilization, which is pretty impressive. As before, you can’t turn off the lens’ OS without turning off the camera’s IBIS, so I can’t tell you whether the two systems work in conjunction or not. The end result is effective, and that’s what matters most.
No for some bad news.
Sony has limited teleconverter compatibility to first party Sony lenses, so unfortunately you won’t be able to use teleconverters with the 60-600DN on Sony. L-mount users can use either the TC-1411 (1.4x) or TC-2011 (2.0x) teleconverters with the lens. There are obviously a couple of advantages for Leica L-mount owners due to Sigma being part of the L-mount consortium; it is a first party lens on L-mount. These continued limitations by Sony have become more grating to me as other platforms (like Fuji and Nikon) have started to open up.
Sigma employs a tripod foot that is Arca-Swiss compatible, meaning that it can be directly mounted onto a tripod without the need for a quick release plate. For some reason Sony (and Canon) do not employ this Arca design…and I’ve never understood why. Sigma’s tripod collar is not removable (a downside), but on the upside it does employ very nice detents at the four cardinal positions, which does make it easier to rotate quickly and to find the proper position. The tripod foot itself is removable and replaceable, though this is not a tool-less operation.
There’s also a significant lens hood here (about 84mm long) that will add a significant amount of length to the lens. The large hood is actually fairly lightweight. It attached via a tension knob on the bottom (it doesn’t bayonet on), and there is a nylon cover that goes over the lens hood when you have that attached or reversed for storage. Sigma also includes a traditional pinch cap in the box, though that is hard to access if you have the lens hood mounted (it’s quite a ways in there!). The lens hood is ribbed inside and, as is common with long telephotos, has a rubberized rim that will allow you to stand the lens on the lens hood (which is much more stable a position than standing it up on the rear lens cap).
A large nylon padded case with a carrying strap is also included. Sigma does go the extra mile in the presentation of their lenses, and they are proud that their products continue to be fully assembled in Japan.
Autofocus and Video
Last year Sigma developed and launched a new high performance focus motor called HLA (High-response Linear Actuator). It was a definite improvement over the stepping motors Sigma had used in the past, and it’s not surprising that Sigma has put their best into what becomes their most expensive and highest performing telephoto lens on E-mount and L-mount to date. Here’s how Sigma describes the focus system, “A linear motor is a linear actuator that controls electromagnetic forces and can be driven freely, enabling high-speed AF.” This high powered linear motor ensures that autofocus is fast enough to back up the “Sport” claim on the lens barrel.
Autofocus speed in my focus tests was nice and snappy, as expected. The only real delay you might run into will be due to the very long focal length. Sometimes when everything is out of focus it can take a moment to grab a contrast edge to focus on because you may not be “aimed” quite right, but that’s pretty typical across the board for long telephotos.
It’s always a little frustrating to me when I get telephoto lenses for testing in the dead of winter…which seems to be Sigma’s guaranteed release window! Many of my typical wildlife subjects are either in hibernation, have limited movement, or have just headed to warmer climes for the winter! It’s difficult to find active subjects, so it is not unusual to trudge though heavy snow for hours carrying a big telephoto lens and come back with ten shots of dead leaves because I saw no living thing out there…though here’s a lovely shot of some frost covered ground coverings!
The same limitation applies to outdoor sports, as there is just not much going on outdoors in the extreme cold. I took the lens to the fieldhouse to capture some basketball, but I was quickly reminded why an F5.6 lens is not ideal for capturing sports in typical gym lighting. I was shooting at ISO 5000-6400 on my Alpha 1 and still getting shutter speeds of just 1/125th-1/200th of a second – not nearly fast enough to consistently stop action. That means that not every shot was a keeper, but my primary purpose was to test how well the lens could track action.
A 500mm prime lens is also just too long for that kind of setting. I had my back against the wall about 10m (30 feet) away from the court, and even with my subject on the far end of the basketball court I couldn’t fit their whole body in the frame. This is a “Sport” lens, but the focal length is going to be too long for a number of sports. It is better served for field type sports where the lighting is brighter (preferentially sunlight) and there is more space. In the right setting 500mm is an asset; in a typical basketball gym it is a liability.
Bottom line: this is far from ideal from testing tracking accuracy for a lot of reasons. There’s definitely some motion blur at times. That being said, even with the tight framing of a subject dribbling at high speed toward the camera, I mostly had accurately focused results. There was one minor section of about five frames (out of nearly 80, in this burst), where focus dipped away for a moment, but picked up again right after.
You can see in the sequence above the momentary lost focus (middle frame).
I found this sequence interesting, as I was trying to get a different angle on the action to see if I could mitigate the length of the lens a bit. My subject was dribbling up the court for a layup, but when he turned the corner to drive to the basket, a screen/divider that is used to separate off spaces obscured the view of the camera. What’s interesting, however, is that while the material largely blocked my view, it was just transparent enough of me to be able to very slightly see the subject. You can see from the third shot in this sequence that the camera/lens did continue to accurately track the subject – a good sign!
Random shots of action over a few minutes were easy to grab, telling me that autofocus is definitely fast enough for action…even in less than ideal conditions.
Bursts of Ferrari moving over the top of the snow were virtually flawless. He was moving continually (but not running) and tracking didn’t lose him over the nearly 90 shots in the sequence.
Eye detection worked well and delivered well focused results even where the depth of field is TINY from the very long focal length.
I stopped by a farm and managed to get a wide variety of beautifully focused results of the horses in their shaggy winter coats.
My video focus pull test showed smooth, confident pulls with some apparent focus breathing. I had to change my test design to accommodate this very long focal length, but I’m confident this lens will work fine for those attempting to snap focus between two subjects. Obviously tracking a subject for video shots at 500mm takes some serious skill, but that has always been the case. Most important is that the autofocus is fast and accurate enough to keep up. Sigma’s HLA autofocus system is great.
Unfortunately I have to point out a second negative reality here on Sony. The Sigma is artificially limited on Sony’s sport cameras (the a9 or Alpha 1 series) to 15FPS in burst speed, as this is another area where Sony has put its finger on the scale in favor of its own lenses. You can only get a maximum of 15FPS with any third party lens on Sony. That means that even on the new a9III where you can theoretically get up to 120FPS with a Sony lens, you will still only get 15FPS with the Sigma 500mm DN. With many cameras that’s not an issue (on my a7RV, for example), but I can get twice as many frames with my Alpha 1 and my 200-600 G than I can with the Sigma on the Alpha 1. That’s not Sigma’s fault, but it would be irresponsible of me not to mention it. This won’t be an issue on Leica L mount, though unfortunately there aren’t really any serious L-mount sports cameras that are the equivalent of the a9 or Alpha 1.
Image Quality Breakdown
The new Sigma 500mm DN “sports” (see what I did there?) an optical design of 20 elements in 14 groups, including 3 FLD elements and 2 SLD elements. As noted earlier, this is a lens that needs to perform well optically to justify its existence. Does it manage to pull it off?
That large front element means that this is a lens that has plenty of room to operate without the heavier vignette common to zoom lenses at their telephoto ends. Most zooms show some pincushion distortion and at least several stops of vignette by 500mm, but that’s far from the case here. There is no distortion to see, and what little vignette I saw was easily correctible with just a +25 (about one stop). That’s a definite advantage over zooms.
Also extremely well corrected is longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LoCA) that show up as fringing before and after the plane of focus. The Sigma 500mm DN shows essentially perfection correction here, with no fringing showing up even in this high contrast scene of sunlight coming through frost crystals on dark contrast branches. Perfect!
I also noted that I saw zero lateral chromatic aberrations near the edges of images. That typically shows up as fringing on both sides of things like tree branches.
The test chart that I’ll be taking crops from can be seen in the vignette and distortion comparison above. Crops are near 200% magnification, while the comparison images below will all be shown at 200% magnification. The test camera is a 61MP a7RV, which represents the highest full frame resolution currently available. Here are F5.6 crops from across the frame:
This is an essentially flawless performance, with very high levels of contrast and resolution consistently across the frame. How about some perspective on how good that is?
I mentioned earlier that one of the ways a prime lens should distinguish itself from equivalent zoom lenses is through its optical performance. Often prime lenses can be less expensive than an equivalent zoom, but that’s not the case here. I’ll do some comparisons to both the Sony 200-600mm G lens and Sigma’s own 60-600mm (which I found slightly better than the 150-600mm Sport). Both of those lenses cost around $2000, or about $1000 less than the 500mm DN. On paper, one would expect the prime lens to outperform these zooms that cover many other focal lengths. Is that in fact the case?
Let’s start with Sigma’s own 60-600mm DN, which I consider to be the best of the long telephoto zooms that they have produced.
We can see that in the center of the frame the prime lens has a clear advantage over the zoom, with more detail and contrast. The prime will have a minor 1/3rd stop advantage of light gathering (F5.6 vs F6.3), but the amount of detail here shows the superior optical performance of the 500mm DN.
That superiority is, if anything, even more pronounced in the mid-frame. The 500mm DN is incredibly sharp there, delivering perfect levels of contrast and detail. The zoom lens is good, but looks soft and low contrast in comparison.
That advantage extends to the corners, which also look excellent on the prime lens. I actually think the zoom competes best here, but the contrast in particular really pops for the prime.
I’ve compared the Sony 200-600 G to at least five other competitors since its release, and I’ve felt like it won every one of the optical comparisons. It has a smaller zoom ratio than many competitors and Sony didn’t skimp on the size; they definitely went for performance. Can it compete with the Sigma 500mm DN?
The gap is a little closer here, but the Sigma prime still shows a clear advantage in the amount of detail captured in the center of the frame. Textures have more micro-contrast and “pop” more.
The advantage is again most obvious in the important mid-frame (where photos are often composed), with much more detail and contrast for the prime lens.
I would say the Sony corners are softer than the Sigma zoom, and so the advantage for the 500mm DN is even more pronounced here. It delivers a much stronger performance in detail and contrast.
By the way, when performing these tests I found I had to zoom the Sony to 518mm to equal the framing of the Sigma 500mm DN. The Sony zoom must focus breathe a bit, so the advantage between the Sony’s 600mm and the Sigma’s 500mm isn’t huge at closer focus distances (these tests were done at roughly 5 meters/16 feet).
My conclusion is that this is as good of image quality as you’re going to get at this focal length and price point…not that there are a lot of prime competitors on either Sony or Leica.
So that’s a lot of perspective on wide open performance, but is there more in the tank if you stop the lens down?
A little, but not much for a couple of reasons.
There is more room for improvement on lenses that aren’t optimized for wide open performance. This lens is already excellent, so there isn’t much room to get better.
A lens with a smaller maximum aperture like this has very little room for improving by stopping down because diffraction starts to offset any gains. On my a7RV, diffraction starts at roughly F6.3, which means that even at F8 there is a little diffraction effect that will intensify with each stop that the aperture is closed.
That being said, there’s a mild gain at F8 which can be seen a bit in the center:
There is a little bit more improvement (mostly to contrast) in the corners at F8:
F11 largely stays the same, but there will be increased softness after that due to diffraction. By the minimum aperture of F32 contrast is significantly reduced.
This is an incredibly sharp lens, and essentially 100% of that performance is available wide open at F5.6, though you can get similar results at F8 and very slightly less at F11. Beyond that diffraction will soften the image. That tells me that L-mount shooters should be able to get excellent results with an 1.4x Teleconverter and slightly softer results (but still very good) with a 2.0x TC.
This is a traditional telephoto prime lens, and as such (unlike some of the zoom lenses), it is not optimized for close focus performance. The minimum focus distance is 320cm (126″), which means you’ll always be working at some distance, and the maximum magnification is just 0.166x, which looks like this:
The 60-600mm Sport will allow you to achieve a very high 0.42x magnification at 200mm, so that’s obviously going to radically more flexible for up close work.
One advantage the prime lens will have over any of the competing zooms is that the slightly larger maximum aperture combined with Sigma’s ability to engineer for just one focal length means nicer looking bokeh. This is a lens capable of producing beautifully blurred out backgrounds even working at some distance.
Near minimum focus you will be able to completely blur out backgrounds, creating a very soft end result.
But even at a further distance and with a more complex background, the out of focus blur is pleasing. This is particularly impact for wildlife work, as this shot represents a more typical working distance than the closer shots above:
You will probably rarely use this lens for landscape work, but it is very capable of compressing scenes and bring distant vistas much closer.
It’s also interesting for compressing elements together, like in this industrial scene:
This is the type of focal length that means that the sun will rarely be in the frame, but, if it is, the Sigma 500mm DN shows a solid amount of flare resistance.
Colors look nice and rich, with good accuracy.
There’s not really anything to complain about here optically. There’s not really any optical flaws that I can point to. It’s a fantastically sharp, has great contrast, nice bokeh, and no fringing. You couldn’t really ask for more. Check out the image galleries through this link to see more photos.
Conclusion
The Sigma 500mm F5.6 DN OS | Sport is a very welcome addition to their lineup. This is the very type of lens that I’ve heard many, many photographers ask for over the years. Relatively small and lightweight, high performing, good autofocus and image stabilization, and a relatively affordable price. On paper, it is pretty much perfect.
And, for Leica L-mount shooters, it may just be that. It’s compatible with extenders, there’s a full range of customization options, and there are no artificial limits to performance. On Sony (by far the largest market for the lens) there are some very unfortunate limitations that are not Sigma’s fault. No teleconverters is a big one, as it means one can’t grab 700mm at a very manageable F8 (1.4x TC) or a whopping 1000mm at F11 (2.0x TC). You can activate APS-C mode on Sony cameras, which jumps you to a 750mm equivalent, though at a lower resolution point (26MP on my a7RV, but lower on lower resolution bodies). Those using Sony’s sport bodies like the Alpha 1 or a9 series will also find the burst rate artificially capped at 15FPS (which is still fast, but not nearly as fast as some of these bodies are capable of). Sony’s arbitrary limitations on third party lenses are starting to sting, and this otherwise excellent lens is hurt by these limitations perhaps more intensely than any other third party lens to date.
If you are willing to accept those limitations, however, then this is a unique telephoto prime that checks a lot of boxes. Well built, fast autofocus, feature rich, awesome optical performance, and light enough to carry around without need a monopod or a bodybuilder’s arms. And, while it isn’t cheap at roughly $3000 USD, that is half the price of what their older 500mm F4 lens for DSLRs was, so, considering inflation, that’s a reasonable price. It takes skill to use a 500mm prime well, but this is a lens that can reward you with great images for that money!
Pros:
Very nice build quality
Excellent weather sealing
Rich feature set
Much lighter than zoom lenses that cover the equivalent focal length
Fast autofocus motor
Very effective Optical Stabilizer
Clearly sharper than zoom lenses that cover 500mm
Less vignette and distortion than zoom lenses
No fringing of any kind
Nice bokeh
Good flare resistance
Cons:
About 50% more expensive than Sigma’s own 60-600mm Sport lens
On Sony no teleconverter compatability
On Sony burst rate limited to 15FPS on sport cameras
Keywords: Sigma, 500mm, F5.6, Sport, DG, DN, OS, Sigma 500mm DN Review, Sigma 500 F5.6, f/5.6, Sigma 500mm Sport Review, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA, #SIGMA, #SIGMA500mmSports, #SIGMASports, #SIGMADGDN
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
I was very interested in the premise of this lens when Sigma let me know about it, as this is just the kind of lens that people on all camera platforms routinely ask for – a long distance, high performing telephoto prime that isn’t ridiculously big or ridiculously expensive. The Sigma 500mm F5.6 DG DN OS | Sport is (at least on paper), the perfect telephoto option for those looking for a reasonably compact and lightweight long telephoto prime. The maximum aperture of F5.6 provides a nice balance between being large enough to be useful while small enough to keep the size (and the price!) of the lens down. Even F4 lenses at 500mm are very expensive: prices can range anywhere from $6000 (Sigma’s own 500mm F4 for DSLR mounts) to nearly $12,000 (Canon EF 500mm F4L II). The Sigma 500mm DN is much more approachable at $3000 USD; but is it worth buying? Explore my thoughts either in my video review below or by reading my text review here.
Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
The Sigma 500mm DN Sport is being released on Sony E-mount (reviewed here) and on the Leica L-mount consortium where it will function as a first party lens. Leica users (as usual) will have a few advantages due to restrictions put in place by Sony for third party telephoto lenses. We will detail the reality of those in this review.
There are relatively few ways to reach 500mm on Sony in a native lens. Sigma provides the most options now, as there is this new prime lens along with their 60-600mm Sport (my review here) and 150-600mm Sport (my review here) lenses. Sony has a the 200-600mm G lens (my review here) that I will reference some in this review as I happen to own it. Tamron makes a 150-500mm VC lens for Sony (my review here), and there is a recent inexpensive TTArtisan 500mm F6.3 manual focus prime that I haven’t reviewed. The Sigma 500mm DN Sport immediately has one advantage going for it – it’s maximum aperture of F5.6 at 500mm is faster than any of the alternatives, most of which are F6.3 at 500mm and one (the Tamron) has a maximum aperture of F6.7. That does come with some advantages, both in the ability to get slightly faster shutter speeds as well as providing more shallow depth of field.
Sigma made significant strides forward in some key elements of lens design (particularly for telephotos) in their release of the 60-600mm DN Sport lens. The two most important areas were in the area of autofocus (high powered HLA autofocus motor) and optical stabilizer (OS2 algorithm). Those lessons learned are on display here, as Sigma has used these technologies to make for a better, more complete telephoto prime.
Enjoy photos of the new lens along with a gallery of images taken with it below.
Photos of the Sigma 500mm F5.6 DN OS | SPORT
Photos Taken with the Sigma 500mm F5.6 DN OS | SPORT
Keywords: Sigma, 500mm, F5.6, Sport, DG, DN, OS, Sigma 500mm DN Review, Sigma 500 F5.6, f/5.6, Sigma 500mm Sport Review, Full Frame, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7RV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, let the light in, weathersealing, #letthelightin, DA, #SIGMA, #SIGMA500mmSports, #SIGMASports, #SIGMADGDN
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s finally here! After Sigma released their 24-70mm F2.8 DN ART at the beginning of 2020, we all expected that a 70-200mm alternative to the expensive GM lens would be right behind. But three months later it was Tamron that came out with their 70-180mm F2.8 VXD, and that lens became the de facto alternative to the GM lens. Surely Sigma’s own 70-200mm would come soon…but three more years have gone by. During that time Sony released an exceptional (but expensive!) 70-200mm F2.8 GM II, and earlier this year Tamron was back with a much improved G2 version of their 70-180mm F2.8 lens. I say all of that to say that Sigma has obviously waited to refine the formula for their own lens – the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN Sport – and give it an extra degree of polish. That has undoubtedly resulted in a more complete lens, but it also means that some of the competitors have had time to become more thoroughly established in the market. Has taking their time paid off for Sigma? You can get my thoughts in my video review below or by reading on…
Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
The Sigma 70-200mm DN follows Sigma’s recent trend of competing directly with Sony’s own GM lenses in terms of features and performance…but not with price. This is an extremely feature rich lens, and, as per usual, Sigma’s “Sport” designated lenses carry Sigma’s highest degree of build quality. This is a lens capable of performing in challenging environmental conditions and producing stunning images.
I think one of the main reasons why Sigma held off as they did is that while their lest robust STM motors might work with a lens like the 24-70mm F2.8, a 70-200mm lens (particularly with the “Sport” designation) required a more robust focus system. Sigma developed and first released that system with the 60-600mm Sport lens they released at the beginning of 2023. That focus system is called HLA, and it is a high powered linear focus system that allows for the faster, more responsive focus needed in a sport oriented lens like this one. In this case we have dual HLA motors and focus is near instantaneous. That allows you to tackle more subjects with the lens.
The Sigma offers real value compared to the GM lens, coming to market at an MSRP of $1499 USD, meaning that it is $1300 cheaper than the $2800 USD Sony GM II lens and a few hundred dollars more expensive than the $1300 USD Tamron 70-180mm G2. That feels like a good price point for the Sigma where it can offer strong value for money on either Sony E or Leica L mounts. Let’s dive into the details and find out if that is in fact the case.
Sigma 70-200mm DN Build and Handling
Sigma divides its lenses into three different categories: Contemporary, Art, and Sport. The Contemporary lineup gets the lowest level of build and weather sealing while the Sport lenses do have the highest grade of weather sealing because they are the most likely to be used in inclement conditions (the ART lenses fall in between). Many sporting events will take place regardless of weather conditions, and, surprisingly enough, most wildlife is waterproof! With that in mind, the Sigma 70-200mm DN Sport has Sigma’s highest grade of weather sealing. While I haven’t seen a diagram yet (I’m doing this review before the public release of the lens and before any such diagrams are available), Sigma says this of the weather sealing, “The mount connection, manual focus ring, zoom ring, switches, switch panel and exterior connection are all dust and splash resistant* to prevent dust and dirt from entering the lens.” That sounds like proper seals in all the places I would expect.
As with other “Sport” lenses I’ve tested, the 70-200mm DN feels very professional grade. Sigma uses a variety of materials in the design of the lens body and hood, including magnesium, carbon fiber reinforced plastics, and “thermally stable composite” (a high end engineered plastic that has an excellent thermal expansion rate). Sigma’s last 70-200mm F2.8 Sport lens for DSLR mounts was far and away the heaviest lens in the class (1800 grams), but Sigma has been more diligent in reducing the weight here. The 70-200mm DN Sport weighs in at 1345g (47.4oz), which is 455g less. Unfortunately that still makes it the heavyweight on Sony E mount, as the Sony 70-200 GM II is only 1045g and the reduced focal range Tamron a lighter still 855g. I happened to still have the Tamron on hand from my review of that lens, and the difference in weight is extremely noticeable. The Sigma will not be the top choice of those interested in “traveling light”, but it does feel very robust and professional grade. The Tamron continues to be the top choice if you want to pack light – the visual difference between it and the Sigma is significant.
They scarcely look like the same class of lens, particularly when the Tamron is in the retracted position. That weight difference is slightly exaggerated by the fact that the Sigma has a full non-removable tripod collar. It is an integrated design. The Sony GM II also has an integrated tripod collar, but in that case the foot can be easily removed (without tools). You can only remove the Sigma foot with tools, so prepare to have it mounted all the time. On a positive note, I found the weight balance on a tripod to be excellent using the tripod collar, and I also appreciated that it has strong detents at the four cardinal positions, making it easy to stop at those spots by feel. One core advantage over the GM lens is that the Sigma tripod foot is ARCA-compatible, meaning that it can go onto most tripods without the need of a quick release plate.
The 70-200mm DN is an internally zooming lens, so it will not change length during either zooming or focusing. The constant exterior dimensions are 90.6mm in diameter (3.6″) and 205mm in length (8.1″). That is very slightly larger than the GM II lens, which is 88 x 200 mm. The front filter thread is a very common 77mm, which is smaller than the 82mm filter thread the Sigma Sport lens for DSLRs sported.
The lens hood mounts and marries into the lens in an interesting way. The mounting mechanism is more like Sigma’s larger telephotos lenses, as it It attaches via a tension knob on the bottom (it doesn’t bayonet on). But what is interesting is that the way hood mounts actually results in a bit of overlap over the zoom ring near the front of the lens (by perhaps 3mm), resulting in an unusual look that I associate more with a lens hood reversed for storage. There’s still plenty of room to access the zoom ring, but the look is a bit odd.
The lens hood is made of carbon fiber infused plastics, is ribbed inside, and, as is common with long telephotos, has a rubberized rim that will allow you to stand the lens on the lens hood (which is much more stable a position than standing it up on the rear lens cap). I would probably have preferred a more traditional bayonet style hood (I find hoods with the tension ring more fidgety to mount and remove), but I do give Sigma some appreciation for the way they’ve taken a few chances and experimented with some of the basics in recent lenses. I’m not sure they’ve improved things over the traditional process, but at least they’re trying.
A large nylon padded case with a carrying strap is also included. Sigma’s lens storage cases are among the nicest in the industry. Sigma does go the extra mile in the presentation of their lenses, and they are proud that their products continue to be fully assembled in Japan.
The 70-200mm DN is an extremely feature rich lens that easily rivals the most recent GM lenses for controls. That starts with the basic like the Focus Hold/Function buttons, which are redundantly added in three different positions, meaning that you have easy access to one regardless of how the lens is rotated. They all have the same function; there are three of them for easy access, not for multiple functions.
You can see from the first photo in the sequence below that there is a lot going on if you look at the side the lens. It may take a little longer to learn where everything is just because there are so many different controls on the lens.
There’s a bank of four switches on the left side of the lens. The top switch (AF/MF) is a fairly good size, but the other three switches (like the 60-600mm Sport) are smaller, fairly flush, and a little stiff to operate. The first of these is a focus limiter with three options, including Full, 3m to infinity, and minimum focus to 3m. You can obviously increase focus speed by employing this, though I did find that focus was fast enough that I never reached for it. The third switch down is a three position switch for different OS (optical stabilizer) modes. Mode 1 is the Standard mode, while Mode 2 should be utilized while panning, as one axis of stabilization will be turned off to provide for smoother side to side panning. Sigma does note that the 70-200mm DN has “Intelligent OS” that utilizes info from an accelerometer to help with panning. The third position is an OFF switch for the stabilizer.
The final switch is dedicated to custom modes (OFF | C1 | C2). On DSLRs you could buy the Sigma USB dock and use the Sigma Optimization Pro software to tweak some functionality (including the function of custom buttons), and, while that same functionality is available to Leica L mount customers, it isn’t for Sony shooters (who make up the lion’s share of the market). That means that function of these switch positions is fixed, and they are really just more OS options. C1 prioritizes stabilizing the viewfinder (probably a good option if you’re shooting video or just have shaky hands), while C2 is called “Moderate View” and seems to focus more on stabilizing the image at capture and less on stabilizing the viewfinder (a good option in situations where you need to be very reactive to erratic movement). This final option option gives you the most stable results on your shots, but the image in the viewfinder will not feel very stable. C1 does a nice job of really keeping the viewfinder steady, though, and is my favorite for video capture. To recap – on Sony (at least for now), the “Custom” buttons are not really customizable buttons but are additional modes for the OS system. If you are using the L-mount version of the lens and the USB dock, you’ll be able to also tweak the distance employed on the focus limiter and assign a new value to the custom buttons. I think Sigma should probably follow Tamron’s lead and start in build a USB-C port into the lenses so that Sony shooters can benefit from the same custom options as L-mount shooters.
The OS is a Sigma’s new and improved system (OS2) which significantly improves the rating of the OS compared to previous Sigma lenses. This new system is rated at a whopping 7.5 stops on the wide end and 5.5 stops on the telephoto end, and you can really feel the improvement. As before, you can’t turn off the lens’ OS without turning off the camera’s IBIS, so I can’t tell you whether the two systems work in conjunction or not. What I can tell you is that the stabilization works well in both steadying the viewfinder and in allowing for low shutter speeds. Here’s one at 200mm and 1/6th of a second.
Sigma has found a way to work an aperture ring into the design of the 70-200mm DN, which will be welcome to those who enjoy this type of aperture control and also to video shooters because of the “declick” option. The is the first Sigma zoom (ever) to get an aperture ring. The aperture ring is the first of three rings on the lens barrel, and it is quite slim.
There are a variety of different options for controlling the behavior of the ring. The standard setup is that the ring has detents at each 1/3rd stop from F2.8 through F22. Those “clicks” are well defined and have a fair amount of resistances at each one. To the left of F22 is some resistance and then a gap to “A” or automatic mode where aperture is controlled from within the camera (either by the camera or the photographer). On the right side of the barrel there is a “Iris Lock” switch that allows you to lock into the aperture ring (keeping you from inadvertently switching into Automatic mode) or to lock you out of the manual focus ring and keep you in Automatic mode if you prefer not using manual aperture control. This being a constant aperture zoom, the maximum aperture of F2.8 remains throughout the zoom range.
Down underneath the bank of switches is another switch that allows you to “declick” the aperture. This removes all of the detents at traditional aperture positions and allows you to smoothly “rack” the aperture iris open or closed. This is mostly preferred by video shooters for the ability to rack the aperture to control depth of field during shots. This is a feature perhaps wasted on many photographers, but it is obviously a highly requested one, as we see this showing up on more and more premium lenses. The switch is a little inaccessible, but that’s probably okay, as this is not a switch you’ll regularly be reaching for. You tend to set it according to your preference and leave it.
There are two other rings on the lens – the zoom and manual focus rings. The manual focus ring is the first of the two, coming right after the aperture ring with just a few millimeters of space between them. It has very nice damping and a good feel, and the ergonomic position is good. When handholding the lens the tripod foot sits naturally in the palm of your hand, leaving your thumb and forefinger free to smoothly rotate the ring.
The zoom ring is located near the front of the lens and has a nice bevel in the first third of the ring to help to give it a tactile distinction from the other rings. It also has a larger, wider rib pattern. I do find the overhang of the lens hood a little odd, but there is still plenty of room there to grip it and zoom. This is an internally zooming lens, so nothing extends during zooming action. Internally zooming lenses tend to have smoother zooming action, and that’s true here, though there is a tiny bit of “drag” that I feel during the zoom action. It isn’t quite as smooth as the GM lens when zooming. It’s worth noting that Sigma persists in their zoom and focus direction being opposite of every other lens that I’m aware of on the Sony platform. Everything moves left to right, while Sony lenses (along with other brands) go right to left. My muscle memory often had me attempting to zoom or focus in the wrong direction as a byproduct of that.
Unfortunately there is another key area where the Sony E-mount version of the lens is limited compared to the L-mount version. Sony has limited teleconverter compatibility to first party Sony lenses, so unfortunately you won’t be able to use teleconverters with the 70-200mm DN on Sony. I was able to physically mount my Sony 1.4x teleconverter, but nothing registered through the camera with that combination. No aperture or lens information, and, unlike in the DSLR days when manual focus was direct, you can’t even use the lens as a manual focus lens because manual focus only works when the focus input is routed through the focus motors. You simply cannot use the lens with a Sony TC mounted…and there are no Sigma branded E-mount teleconverters. That’s not Sigma’s fault, but unfortunately it will be one reason for some photographers to spend the extra money and get the Sony version.
L-mount users can use either the TC-1411 (1.4x) or TC-2011 (2.0x) teleconverters with the lens. There are obviously a couple of advantages for Leica L-mount owners due to Sigma being part of a consortium that utilizes the mount and its focus protocols. It is technically a “first party” lens in L mount.
Like many modern zoom lenses, the 70-200mm DN has a variable minimum focus distance depending on the focal length. At 70mm the MFD is 65cm (25.6″), but at 200mm the MFD is 100cm (39″). The maximum magnification figure is on the telephoto end, where you can get a 0.19x magnification. Here’s what that maximum magnification (at 200mm) looks like.
That’s useful, but unfortunately it does lag significantly behind the Tamron (0.38x) and Sony (0.30x). That didn’t stop me from getting some lovely “up close” images with the lens.
This has a become an extremely competitive class of lens in recent years, but the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DN is largely able to stand toe to toe with the Sony GM II lens and match it feature for feature…and at a much lower price. The biggest downside has to be the extra weight for the Sigma, but other than that it is a beautifully made lens loaded with professional grade features.
Sigma 70-200mm DN Autofocus
I’m glad that Sigma waited until they had developed their new focus system before releasing this lens, as the 70-200mm DN will be one of the most important lenses in their lineup. The new HLA (High-response Linear Actuator) focus motor is a definite improvement over the stepping motors Sigma used in the past (and continues to use in less demanding lenses). Here’s how Sigma describes the focus system, “A linear motor is a linear actuator that controls electromagnetic forces and can be driven freely, enabling high-speed AF. It can move the heavy focus group while ensuring the lens remains quiet, but the weight is relatively heavier.” “The weight is relatively heavier” is an awkward phrase in English, but it essentially means that while typical stepping motors are smaller and lighter, the linear focus motor here is more powerful and has the necessary torque for rapid focus changes even with the heavy glass elements that a telephoto zoom with a maximum aperture of F2.8 throughout has. Sigma actually employs dual HLA focus motors in this setup to assure there is plenty of speed for all activities. And you can definitely feel the speed, as there is little hesitation when making focus changes and instead focus is essentially where you need it be near instantaneously.
A 70-200mm F2.8 zoom is a workhorse. It joins a standard zoom like Sigma’s 24-70mm F2.8 DN as being one of the top two most used lenses for many professionals. That means that it will be used for a wide variety of subjects – from portraits to sports and pretty much everything else in between. The inability to use teleconverters (on Sony) means that sports will perhaps be limited to court-based sports (basketball, volleyball, etc…), but a lens like this needs to be very reactive to focus changes to assure that people don’t miss those critical action shots.
But let’s start with the simpler side of autofocus. When doing my focus change tests, I found that most major autofocus changes either indoors or outdoors were near instantaneous. Low lighting conditions will slow things down very slight (as per usual), but the powerful focus motors allow focus to be prompt even in those conditions.
Eye AF lock was quick and accurate. I could move around and the “green box” would stay sticky on the eye of my subject at different angles. I had perfect results during a portrait session even when I put a variety of different layers in front of my subject. She wore sunglasses for part of the session, but that proved no problem.
It’s always a little frustrating to me when I get telephoto lenses for testing in winter…and though it is November, winter came early this year. Many of my typical wildlife subjects are either in hibernation, have limited movement, or have just headed to warmer climes for the winter! It’s difficult to find active subjects, and I did a few hikes through the woods packing the 70-200mm DN without seeing a single bird or even a squirrel. I had to find alternate subjects.
One of those came in the form of Nala, who was kind enough to at least move around on the snow so I could track her action. She wasn’t moving particularly fast (snow is new to her), but tracking was pretty much perfect during that sequence (263 shots during a few bursts) with only a few very minor variations.
I wanted something moving a little faster, so I asked my son if I could shoot a sequence of him heading off to school on his eBike. The bike (which I reviewed here) can accelerate very quickly and has a top speed of 28MPH, making it a decent action subject. Further complicating things was a sudden snowstorm, so you’ll be able to clearly document the misery of riding to school in a snowstorm from my son’s face. All of the falling snowflakes makes for a focus challenge, but I was happy to see that focus stayed linear and tracked him well without getting distracted.
I had hoped to photograph basketball, but when we went to the gym for a pickup game, we discovered that all of the space had been booked by badminton and pickleball clubs, so we weren’t allowed in. I saw enough during my action sequences to get a good feel of the performance. As per usual, I do think that the 2nd gen Sony branded 70-200mm lenses (70-200 GMII and 70-200mm F4 G Macro) provide slightly better performance than any of the third party alternatives, but the Sigma 70-200mm DN is clearly better than the first gen Sony lenses and is close to the 2nd gen lenses in tracking performance.
During my video autofocus tests I saw promising results. Focus pulls were smooth and confident. I also noted that focus breathing was well controlled, allowing the framing of the subject to be fairly constant regardless of the focus position.
When I did my “hand test” where I alternately block/unblock the camera’s view of my eye with my hand. The focus transitions were smooth other than one sequence where it grabbed the background instead of switching to my hand. This was consistent with a few experiences I had for stills where autofocus refused to grab the foreground subject and required me to manually focus into the right zone. That happens on occasion, and using the focus limiter can help.
This brings me to one other area on Sony where Sony has artificially tilted the playing field in their favor. Burst rate for third party (non-Sony) lenses is artificially limited on Sony’s sport cameras (the a9 or Alpha 1 series) to 15FPS in burst speed. 15FPS is still very fast, obviously, but if you’ve made a big investment in a sports camera, you might want to consider a Sony lens for that simple reason. I haven’t yet tested this on the a9III and its insane burst rate, but on my Alpha 1 the burst speed with a Sony lens is up to 30FPS but only 15FPS with a non-Sony lens. It’s not fair, obviously, but it’s pretty typical for camera makers to try to bias things in favor of their own lenses. This and the limitation on teleconverters does give Sigma a few disadvantages to have to work around.
But this might just be something you are willing to put up with in order to keep an additional $1200+ in the bank! Sigma has equipped the 70-200mm DN lens with a premium autofocus system, and I suspect that most people will be very happy with autofocus performance.
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 Sport Image Quality Breakdown
The Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DN is a fairly complex optical design of 20 elements in 15 groups. This includes a total 11 exotic elements, broken down as 6 FLD (low dispersion), 2 SLD (special low dispersion), and 3 aspherical elements). Sigma’s most recent 70-200mm lens (the 70-200mm F2.8 Sport) released in 2019 for DSLR mounts like Canon EF and Nikon F. Sigma’s lens technology has clearly progressed since that point, however, as they are able to deliver a lens that is clearly improved at both the wide and telephoto end despite condensing the size and reducing the weight. The MTF result is excellent, delivering a better than 80% result all across the frame on the wide and telephoto ends. The 200mm results in particular are exceptional, starting at extremely sharp in the center of the frame and dropping only about 8% even in the extreme corners. Impressive.
Gone are the days when lenses released into this segment were asked to resolve only 20 or 22MP. Today a lens like this will be asked to resolve 61 MP Sony a7RIV/V or Sigma FP-L bodies…so flaws are easier to spot. Lenses need to be extremely sharp to shine despite those demands, but the Sigma has no problem doing so.
We’ll dive into more scientific tests together, starting with a look at controlling longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LoCA). This shows up as fringing before and after the plane of focus, particularly at large apertures. We can see from the chart result that fringing is nearly perfectly controlled both before and after the plane of focus.
Light coming through this glass mug also provides a great opportunity for some fringing, but you can see from the detail crop from this photo that there is no fringing to see.
I also saw little evidence of lateral chromatic aberrations along the edge of the frame. You can see that the transitions from black to white are clean without any evidence of fringing.
How about vignette and distortion? Here is a look at the distortion and vignette patterns at 70mm, 135mm, and 200mm.
At 70mm there is a very mild amount of pincushion distortion that is very linear and easy to correct. I used a -3 and got a perfect correction. Vignetting was also very mild, requiring a +27 (about one stop) to correct.
The amount of pincushion distortion slightly increases at 135mm, needing a -7 for proper correction. The distortion pattern remains nicely linear and corrected easily. I used a +26 to correct the very mild vignette.
At 200mm there is a slight bit more distortion (-8 to correct) but vignette was surprisingly less still, requiring only a +21.
You can see from this uncorrected landscape shot at 104mm, F2.8, that neither vignette nor distortion presents a problem. This is a very well corrected lens.
I did have access to a correction profile Lightroom/ACR provided by Sigma, but frankly it really wasn’t needed. There isn’t enough distortion or vignette to present any kind of real correction issue. Sigma lenses enjoy solid profile support in camera for JPEGs and video along with good profile correction support in editing software.
So how about sharpness and contrast? The MTF charts from Sigma suggest an exceptional performance. Is that we’ll find?
All of the tests below are done on the 61MP Sony a7RV, which is Sony’s highest resolution full frame mirrorless camera at the time of this review. Here’s a look at the test chart we’re using for the tests.
If we start at 70mm, F2.8, we find that the lens produces stunningly good sharpness across the frame. The corners in particular stand out to me for excellent sharpness and contrast. Here are the roughly 180% magnification crops from the center, mid-frame, and lower right corner.
There’s enough resolution there for any task even on this high MP camera. Here’s a 70mm, F2.8 shot of friends out for a winter walk with us. You can easily see what model of camera my friend is holding in his hand…and that was just shooting MRAW resolution on my Alpha 1.
There was plenty of resolution for this wide open landscape shot at 70mm:
Such a strong wide-open performance leaves less room for improvement when stopping down. I didn’t expect any major improvements at smaller apertures, and that proved accurate. You can see a bit of a boost in spots across the frame when choosing F4 rather than F2.8:
By F5.6 the Sigma 70-200mm DN is producing corners that are just about as sharp as I’ve ever seen with a 61MP sensor. They look remarkably good.
In real world use you won’t be looking at 200% (and probably rarely at 100%), so you can primarily use stopping the lens down for increased depth of field rather than a need for increased sharpness or contrast.
Diffraction will be a factor after F8, however, particularly on the high resolution cameras. Minimum aperture is F22, but you can see that from F8 to F22 the image has dramatically softened due to diffraction. F22 is the minimum aperture throughout the zoom range, but the same observation is true at other focal lengths.
At 100mm the lens is very slightly softer across the frame, but still extremely good. You can only see the difference when comparing 70mm and 100mm:
You can see from this F2.8 “Jolly Roger” shot that the lens is extremely crisp in real world use at 100mm.
Stopping down to F4 improves image quality to levels that we saw at 70mm. There’s a much more dramatic difference when stopping down than we saw previously. Look at how much more contrast there is on Churchill’s face on the right side.
At 135mm the lens starts to sing. It is ridiculously sharp even at F2.8. You can see just how fantastic it looks compared to 100mm (135mm on the right side):
Remember that this is being shown at 200% magnification on a 61MP camera. That’s very, very impressive! Detail for portraits is exceptionally high.
This is a lens you are more likely to soften rather than try to sharpen!
You can squeeze a bit more sharpness out of 135mm by stopping the lens down a bit, but again I would say you only need to if you are looking for more depth of field rather than more resolution.
170mm (also marked on the lens barrel) is nearly as sharp, having perhaps 1-2% less contrast but still exceptionally good. The 170mm result is on the right side in the comparison below.
Here’s a portrait shot taken near 170mm. It is fantastically sharp even at F2.8:
So if 135mm is the high water mark thus far, how does the critical 200mm mark compare? Let’s take a look:
200mm is almost identical to the 170mm mark. It is very slightly softer than 135mm, but is exceptionally sharp. It’s a shame a lens like this cannot be used with teleconverters on Sony, as it would obviously handle them very well. It’s got the sharpness, contrast, and low aberrations that would allow it handle that stress and still deliver very sharp results. At least on Sony (at least on my a7RV) I have the option of easily switching to APS-C mode and getting 300mm on the telephoto end with a still useful 26MP of resolution.
It goes without saying that portrait shots at 200mm show fabulous detail:
Some of you may be asking for some context for this fabulous performance. I also raved over the sharpness of the recent Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 G2 lens. How do they compare? Here’s a 70mm, F2.8 comparison from the center of the frame.
The Tamron is delivering slightly more detail and contrast, though both are great. How about the corner?
Not much difference there. The Tamron image seems slightly brighter, but the amount of detail and contrast is quite similar. If I look at 200% all across the frame I see a little give and take between the two. They are both fantastic.
So how about the telephoto end? The Tamron ends at 180mm, so I’ll compare that to the 200mm of the Sigma, as the Sigma delivered nearly identical performances at 170mm and 200mm.
The Tamron is a little better in the center, while the Sigma shows an advantage in the corner. Once again there is some give and take depending on where you look in the frame, but both lenses are exceptionally sharp.
So who is the winner? You can see a more thorough comparison in this video:
But ultimately, we are, as the consumers. We not only have two very different alternatives to the outstanding but expensive Sony 70-200mm F2.8 GM II; we have two exceptionally good alternatives.
There will always be two schools of opinion when it comes to using telephoto prime lenses or zooms, and, as we can see, the zoom options are perfectly capable of providing all the detail we could want while also providing the versatility of the zoom range. Where prime lenses tend to excel is in their ability to deliver shallower backgrounds because of typically having larger maximum apertures. Put simply, a good prime lens will often deliver nicer bokeh than the equivalent focal length on a zoom lens. That’s true here, too, as the bokeh is very nice from the 70-200mm DN, but not as exceptionally creamy as, say, a 135mm F1.8 prime lens. At closer focus distances, 200mm will pretty much obliterate a background, which certainly helps.
At medium distances you’ll find that the backgrounds aren’t quite as clean, however. There’s a few more edges than what I would like, though I still really like the image despite that.
The bokeh in both the foreground and background looked nice in my portrait session, so I have no real complaints about the quality of bokeh.
Unfortunately the sun decided to not show its face during my review period, leaving me to have to simulate it with a spotlight. Not as effective, but at least it allowed me to evaluate how the 70-200mm DN did with bright lights in the frame. Flare resistance seems good, with just a mild ghosting pattern at smaller apertures (like F11 – in first image) but little loss of contrast and detail. Larger apertures hold up really well, so this should be an easy lens to shoot backlit portraits or if you get stadium lights in the background.
All in all, this is an exceptional optical performance. Sigma clearly took their time and got this lens right. There really isn’t much any optical weakness that stands out, and this lens will give you near a GM level of performance at a much lower price tag. You can check out even more photos by visiting the lens image gallery here.
Conclusion
The Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN Sport lens nails the Sigma formula, namely to provide similar levels of features, build, and performance as the top first party lenses at a much lower price tag. The Sigma checks most all of the boxes that I could have hoped for: nice build, great feature set, great OS, great autofocus, and a fantastic optical performance.
There are only two flies in the ointment: the first is the fact that the Sigma is easily the heaviest lens in the class, so there will be some that out of necessity or preference will choose a lighter option. The second potential issue is Tamron’s excellent 70-180mm F2.8 G2 lens. The Sigma is better built, has more features, and better OS (not to mention that crucial extra 20mm), but the Tamron is cheaper, MUCH lighter and smaller, and delivers similar levels of optical performance. There’s no wrong answer, there, but neither is there a clear cut winner.
The Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DN is a more direct competitor to the Sony G Master lens, however, and if all things were equal, it would be hard to justify the extra $1300 for the GM lens. But Sony has made sure things aren’t equal, however, so if you want to use teleconverters or unlock the top burst speeds on Sony’s sport cameras, you still have to spend the extra money and choose the Sony lens. But not everyone wants to use teleconverters, and not everyone is shooting with an a9 or Alpha 1 body, so I suspect there will be plenty of takers for Sigma’s long awaited take on the vital 70-200mm F2.8 zoom lens. The 70-200mm DN is an exceptional lens: feature rich, beautifully built, and high performing. And, at a price point of $1499 USD, it’s also reasonable. And, on Leica L, this probably becomes the most desirable telephoto zoom available from day one.
Keywords: Sigma 70-200, Sigma 70-200mm, Sigma 70-200 DN, Sigma 70-200mm Review, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DN Review, DN, DG, OS, DG, Sport, Tamron 150-500 VC Review, Sony 200-600, Sony 200-600mm, Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DN DG OS Sport, Sigma 100-400, Review, Telephoto, Action, Tracking, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Sony a9, sony a7III, sony a7RIV, a9II, Sony Alpha 1, Sony A1 let the light in, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
It’s finally here! After Sigma released their 24-70mm F2.8 DN ART at the beginning of 2020, we all expected that a 70-200mm alternative to the expensive GM lens would be right behind. But three months later it was Tamron that came out with their 70-180mm F2.8 VXD, and that lens became the de facto alternative to the GM lens. Surely Sigma’s own 70-200mm would come soon…but three more years have gone by. During that time Sony released an exceptional (but expensive!) 70-200mm F2.8 GM II, and earlier this year Tamron was back with a much improved G2 version of their 70-180mm F2.8 lens. I say all of that to say that Sigma has obviously waited to refine the formula for their own lens – the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN Sport – and give it an extra degree of polish. That has undoubtedly resulted in a more complete lens, but it also means that some of the competitors have had time to become more thoroughly established in the market. Has taking their time paid off for Sigma?
Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.
The Sigma 70-200mm DN follows Sigma’s recent trend of competing directly with Sony’s own GM lenses in terms of features and performance…but not with price. This is an extremely feature rich lens, and, as per usual, Sigma’s “Sport” designated lenses carry Sigma’s highest degree of build quality. This is a lens capable of performing in challenging environmental conditions and producing stunning images.
I think one of the main reasons why Sigma held off as they did is that while their lest robust STM motors might work with a lens like the 24-70mm F2.8, a 70-200mm lens (particularly with the “Sport” designation) required a more robust focus system. Sigma developed and first released that system with the 60-600mm Sport lens they released at the beginning of 2023. That focus system is called HLA, and it is a high powered linear focus system that allows for the faster, more responsive focus needed in a sport oriented lens like this one. In this case we have dual HLA motors and focus is near instantaneous. That allows you to tackle more subjects with the lens.
The final piece of the puzzle is the price, and, while that has not been finalized at the time of my review, the range is between $1500-1600 USD, meaning that it is over $1000 cheaper than the $2800 USD Sony GM II lens and a few hundred dollars more expensive than the $1300 USD Tamron 70-180mm G2. That feels like a good price point for the Sigma where it can offer strong value for money on either Sony E or Leica L mounts. You can watch the video review above, read my text review, or just enjoy the photos here.
Keywords: Sigma 70-200, Sigma 70-200mm, Sigma 70-200 DN, Sigma 70-200mm Review, Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DN Review, DN, DG, OS, DG, Sport, Tamron 150-500 VC Review, Sony 200-600, Sony 200-600mm, Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DN DG OS Sport, Sigma 100-400, Review, Telephoto, Action, Tracking, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Sony a9, sony a7III, sony a7RIV, a9II, Sony Alpha 1, Sony A1 let the light in, #letthelightin, DA
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
For the second time in about a month, I am working on a review of a lens that was designed on full frame but is being ported over to the APS-C only Fuji X-mount. Tamron determined that its full frame 150-500mm VC lens was compact and competent enough to work on Fuji (where there are few telephoto options). The result is (for the most part) successful, as I detailed in my review here. But Sigma also has an excellent candidate for this converter – a direct competitor to the Fujinon XF 100-400mm OS (my review here)in the form Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS (we’ll call it the 100-400X in this review for brevity). The 100-400X is going to be a bit of disruptor on X-mount for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is a very competent lens in terms of performance. The second is that is going to be a huge value alternative at $950 vs $1900 USD for the Fuji. The 100-400mm zoom range is one of the most popular for those who want some serious reach for birding, wildlife, or sports but don’t want the larger size that comes with longer focal lengths. When you consider Fuji’s 1.5x crop factor on X-mount cameras you get a focal length equivalence of 150-600mm on full frame, which is obviously incredibly useful, going from this at 100mm:
to this at 400mm:
I have the original Sigma 100-400mm DN a positive review on Sony E-mount in mid 2020. It was the first of the third party telephoto lenses to come to Sony E-mount, and it was very welcome because it was along about a third of the price (though you had to buy the tripod collar separately if you wanted one) while providing most of the features and performance of the Sony 100-400mm G Master lens. I suspect that it can serve a similar role here on Fuji, mostly because it can create images like this…
…for under a thousand bucks. The fact that Fuji’s own 100-400mm is getting a little long in the tooth won’t hurt, either, though there are still a couple of areas where the Fuji has the advantage (compatibility with teleconverters, for example). So, does using a lens designed for full frame on an APS-C only system make sense? We’ll try to unpack that in this review. If you prefer to watch your reviews, just click the video below.
Thanks to Gentec (Sigma’s Canadian Distributor) for sending me a pre-release review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.
Sigma 100-400X Build and Handling
The Sigma 100-400mm is mostly similar in Fuji X-mount build to the Sony E-mount and Leica L-mounts before, though with a few minor feature changes due to the unique market positioning on Fuji. The lens continues to be lighter than the competition despite being designed for a larger sensor. While the Fuji 100-400 OSS weighs in at 1375g (right over 48 oz), the 100-400X tips the scales at a relatively svelte 1135g (40 oz), a nearly 250g weight savings. This is without the tripod collar, obviously (as this is an optional accessory for the Sigma), which will add another 123g. (Nala really wanted to join this product photo session!)
The Fuji is 94.8mm in diameter and 210.5mm in length (3.73 x 8.29″), while the Sigma is thinner and shorter at 86 x 199.5mm (3.4 x 7.9″). Not a major difference, obviously, but enough to be noticeable. The front filter thread is also smaller at 67mm vs the 77mm standard for the Fuji.
Part of the reason for this difference is the fact that the Fuji lens does have an aperture advantage throughout the zoom range. It starts at F4.5 and doesn’t hit F5 until a little before 200mm. At 300mm, it’s f/5.2, and from 350mm on it is f/5.6. The 100-400X performs much worse in this regard, as, while it starts at F5 at 100mm, it reaches F5.6 by 113mm where it remains until it hits F6.3 at 235mm. What this means is that the Sigma is going to require more light (either slower shutter speed or higher ISO) than the Fuji in identical conditions regardless of the focal length.
While the Sigma 100-400mm DN lenses are compatible with teleconverters on Leica L-mount, Fuji X-mount shooters are in the same boat as Sony E-mount – there are no TCs that can be used on the lens.
Sigma has made a few changes to the controls to accommodate the difference in Fuji’s protocols. There are four switches and buttons on the side, but these have been slightly changed on X-mount. Instead of an AF/MF switch, there is an AF-L/AF switch instead. The Sony-style “Focus Hold” button has been rebranded as AF Function. When AF-L is selected, you can use the button to either lock focus or reactivate autofocus afterwards. So yes, we’ve got reduced function here compared to the Sony version. The loss of a direct AF/MF switch is because Fuji lenses don’t come with this function (typically AF/MF is controlled from a dial on the camera). The loss of more function on the “Focus Hold” button is due to the simple fact that unlike Sony or L-mount cameras, Fuji has no option to assign different values to this button in camera.
Other functions here include a 3 position focus limiter (FULL | 6M to infinity | Under 6M) and a three position switch for the OS (Mode 1 [Standard] | Mode 2 [Panning] | OFF).
The OS (Optical Stabilizer) has gotten an updated tuning here and is now rated for 5 rather than 4 stops, which puts it on equal footing with the Fuji 100-400mm, which is also rated at 5 stops. The first shot of Nala below was shot at 100mm and 1/7th of a second shutter speed, while the shot of the woodpecker is at 400mm and 1/20th of a second.
Both lenses have a standard zoom lock that locks the lens at 100mm and keeps it from extending. The lens barrel will extend out a fair bit when zoomed to the telephoto end of the zoom range on both lenses, as these are externally zooming designs.
While these lenses have mostly similar controls, I prefer the layout and feel of the Sigma controls. They are organized more logically and feel better to the touch. I do have one practical complaint, however. While hiking with the lens on a strap I would sometimes pull the lens up for a shot and it wouldn’t focus. I would look, and the focus limiter would have moved to close focus position (furthest to the right), limiting focus. I’ve not had this problem previously, so it does indicate in some carrying positions the switches can be inadvertently moved.
One feature the Fuji has that the Sigma does not is an aperture ring. Aperture rings are fairly ubiquitous on Fuji lenses, but obviously this redesign by Sigma for X-mount didn’t extend quite that far.
Another minor difference is with the lens hood. The Fuji lens features a little window in the hood to allow one to rotate a circular polarizer without reaching down into the hood. The Sigma lacks this feature, though it does have a relatively small 67mm front filter thread and a nice flare in the lens hood at that point which allows one to reach in to rotate a C-PL fairly easily. The lens hood also has a textured portion near the front for one to grasp as the 100-400 DN is designed to function as either a typical “twist” zoom or a “push-pull” design where one simply grasps the front of the lens hood and pushes or pulls the lens to the desired focal length. Something for everyone here.
The 100-400 DN is a very nicely made lens, using a mixture of premium materials, including a brass lens mount, magnesium alloy in the first section of the lens, and then engineered plastics over a metal frame. I didn’t get the feel that the Fuji lens was superior in materials. The 100-400X is a good looking lens that feels very sturdy and well made. It looks and feels more modern in design than the older Fuji option.
As noted already, the lens does not ship with a tripod collar (many people do not use one on a lens like this). It comes with a rubber sleeve that covers the screws where the tripod collar attaches. It has 100-400 stamped on there and makes for a cleaner finish when no tripod collar is attached.
The optional tripod collar is the TS-11. The tripod foot is nicely made, and, unlike the Sony tripod foot, it is ARCA compatible (meaning you can attach it right onto most tripods without the need for a quick release plate. You can freely rotate and lock it in any position.
Using the tripod collar and foot makes a significant difference when using the lens on a tripod. While the lens is on the lighter side of its class, it is still too heavy to easily balance on a tripod.
We have got a thick rubber gasket at the lens mount, but Sigma’s language does not specify other seal points in the lens itself, so that is likely another area where the Fuji lens is a little more robust. Thus far Sigma’s “Contemporary” branded lenses (like this one) have only had sealing at the lens mount.
The 100-400 DN sports a useful magnification figure at 400mm of 1:4.1 (0.24x), which actually bests the Fuji’s 0.19x . Minimum focus distance is 1.6m (5.25ft), which also best Fuji’s 1.75m. Here’s what the Sigma’s MFD looks like:
You can really compress the background at close distances, and the bokeh is quite beautiful. One could add an extension tube to allow for closer focus and higher magnification. One thing is clear: at minimum focus distance your backgrounds will completely blur out beautifully.
The overall build quality is familiar to those who have used the lens elsewhere, but, for the most part, the 100-400X holds up pretty well when compared to the Fuji competition.
Sigma 100-400mm DN Autofocus Performance
This is an area that has historically been challenging for Fuji in general and even more so for third party lenses being adapted to the platform. This is definitely the area where I experience my greatest frustrations with the 100-400x. Sigma’s most recent telephoto lens on Sony received a new focus system (called HLA), but unfortunately we don’t get that here. That means that we are working with an older STM motor that was in the original Sony design over 3 years ago. There are moments when it works great, and other moments where it is pretty frustrating…and that’s on the X-H2, which has one of the most robust focus systems available on Fuji at the time of this review. At times, autofocus was great, allowing me to effectively track and photography birds in rapid flight.
In other situations, just trying to focus on a slightly closer subject (but further than the minimum focus distance) would be impossible. Focus would only go to the background, and even trying to choose a more obvious focus choice would not motivate focus movement. Here’s what autofocus gave me in a shot that I wanted:
…and here’s what manual focus gave me.
I think we can all agree the latter is the much nicer shot. The optics on this lens are really quite good, but there are definitely moments when the autofocus experience holds it back. In the scenario above, there were a few minutes of trying to get autofocus to work, then another few minutes of trying to manually focus (a very slow process as it takes many full rotations to go through the focus possibilities ). I estimate I had about six minutes invested in trying to get two very easy photos that should have taken a couple of seconds each.
Frustrating.
And these subjects weren’t going anywhere. In another instance I had a great shot of a dragonfly about 10 feet away. By the time I went through all the effort to get focus to the proper place, I got this:
You’ll notice there are no dragonflies on this pine bough. The dragonfly patiently waited for a minute or so, but then moved on.
There were other situations where focus worked just fine. About fifteen minutes after the dragonfly episode I got a nice series of well focused images of a butterfly flitting around wildflowers.
About five minutes later I saw a pileated woodpecker through the trees, and tried to react quickly to get the shot. At first, this is all autofocus gave me.
It just refused to focus. I maneuvered around a bit to allow eye detect to focus on the eye, and even with some foreground obstructions, I got a well focused result.
My observation has been that the current iteration of Fuji autofocus is that focus is quite good if the AI has a detectable subject to track, but it’s not nearly as good if there is no trackable subject and the core autofocus system (which hasn’t changed much in years) has to do the heavy lifting. This shortcomings are magnified by a long focal range and a fairly slow maximum aperture of F6.3 on the long end. I’m pretty spoiled by the autofocus capabilities of my long glass on either Sony or Canon, so I do find all of this somewhat frustrating.
In long tracking sequences with the X-H2 and the 100-400x, I found that tracking was okay if I started the burst with a focus lock. There were some dips in and out, but probably about a 70% keeper rate.
If I started the burst without a good lock, the camera and lens never did achieve proper focus. I could follow the action of the bird for dozens of frames without focus ever locking on, which is rather disappointing for 2023.
Most of the time autofocus would grab the eye of the bird quickly, and I could get some great reactive shots.
Other times it just wouldn’t want to grab on at all. I can’t really tell you why…because other times focus would lock well even with the subject’s back turned to me.
I shot long bursts at 15FPS with the mechanical shutter on the X-H2, and, while I got some shots during the session that I really liked, I also had a lot more castoffs than usual. I would say that my overall keeper rate for the session was no better than 60%.
If you plan on doing a lot of BIF work or tracking a lot of fast paced action, you might want to spend a bit more for one of the Fuji options, though, to be fair, there isn’t really a “slam-dunk” option on the platform outside of the hugely expensive 200mm F2. I think most able photographers will be able to get the Sigma 100-400X to work just fine, but just realize that you won’t be getting anything like a 90% hit rate for action work. But I came away with dozens of great looking shots from just a 20 minute session of tracking gulls, so there is value here for birders or wildlife photographers.
On the video front I found that at 100mm (the easiest focal length to frame and typically fastest autofocus speed) focus pulls were reasonably successful, though with some obvious stepping. Focus breathing was fairly minimal, however, so that’s a plus. My “hand test” where I alternatively block the view of my face with my hand and then remove it went well, however, with good transitions from my eye to my hand. In another clip, focus picked up my face quickly when I stepped into frame.
On a more negative side, I shot a clip of flowers in the morning sun and focus was initially good, but then focus racked forward to where nothing was in focus and didn’t return for at least five seconds.
The footage itself looked good, with nice detail even when shooting at 8K on my X-H2. I wouldn’t buy this lens for video work if that work required sophisticated autofocus, but if you want to augment your footage with some long shots, it certainly provides the least expensive way to get that kind of reach…and the footage looks great.
There is obviously room for improvement on the autofocus fronts. I’m hoping that at least some of my complaints can be fixed via firmware updates, and perhaps the lens will also benefit from growth in Fuji’s autofocus systems in the future. Some of these frustrations are Fuji frustrations in general, but there’s no question that I had fewer complaints when using Fuji’s own telephoto options and even the Tamron 150-500mm faired better in my tests.
Sigma 100-400 DN Image Quality
The Sigma 100-400 DN has a moderately complex optical formula with 22 elements in 16 groups. This includes one FLD element (a low dispersion glass) and four SLD (special low dispersion element) to help with aberrations and distortion. I was quite impressed with this lens on its native full frame when I reviewed it on a 42MP Sony a7RIII years ago, but the standard of Fuji’s 40MP APS-C sensor is much more demanding. That many pixels on a smaller sensor is the equivalent of 90+MP on full frame, which requires a lens to be really strong optically to resolve the sensor. Fortunately that is an area of strength for the 100-400x, as the optical performance is very competitive with the more expensive Fuji options.
This is a lens capable of producing really great looking results even on the high resolution Fuji sensor.
The Sigma gives a very strong showing when it comes to vignette and distortion. What distortion is there is a very mild pincushion distortion that grows from a -1 to correct to a maximum of -3 to correct at 400mm (essentially 1,2,3), but at any point in the zoom range you could leave the distortion uncorrected and never even notice it. Likewise vignette is at one stop or less throughout the zoom range, and you could easily leave it uncorrected as well. You can see the uncorrected and then corrected results at 100, 200, and 400mm below.
You may have already figured out why these figures are so much lower here than what we saw on Sony – you are putting a full frame lens on a much smaller APS-C image circle, which means that the majority of the vignette and even distortion have been cropped off (they fall outside the APS-C image circle). This is the area where a full frame lens is most advantaged by using it on a smaller sensor. The Sigma does have full support of Fuji’s in-camera correction profiles for JPEG and Video as well, and RAW files will be corrected via the available correction profile in your favorite software.
I also saw minimal issues with Longitudinal Chromatic Aberrations (LoCA), which means that you should see little fringing in your shallow depth of field shots:
I also saw next to no Lateral CA near the edges of the frame.
All good thus far. The harder test is coming, however, as the 100-400x must now face a much more pixel dense sensor than it was initially designed for. The highest resolution E-mount or L-mount camera in 2020 was a 42MP full frame sensor; this pixel density is vastly higher. That can be the area where full frame lenses on high resolution APS-C sensors can struggle. My resolution torture test is done on the 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 and results are examined at a very high 200% magnification. Here’s a look at the test chart:
And here are the nearly 200% crops at 100mm, F5 from the center, mid-frame, and corners:
That’s an excellent result with very consistent sharpness across the image frame. It also compares very favorably to the much more expensive Fuji XF 100-400mm, both in the center:
and in the corners:
The Sigma is the clear winner here, particularly in the corner, where it probably benefits from having the weakest performance from the lens cut off by the crop.
And yes, the Sigma has a slower aperture here (F5 vs F4.5), but if I stop both lenses down to F5.6 and compare at 100mm, the Sigma is still the clear winner all across the frame. Impressive.
Stopping down to F5.6 or even F8 makes little improvement, if any, so you can be confident that you are getting close to peak performance wide open, which is really important on the 40MP Fuji bodies because diffraction arrives so early. Real world results look good as well:
Diffraction arrives early on these bodies, so while the minimum aperture is F22, I would avoid using it because diffraction really robs away sharpness and contrast progressively after F8:
100mm is the high water mark for the lens performance, however, so while 200mm is good, it isn’t quite as good as what we’ve seen at 100mm (though very, very close):
Maximum aperture is F5.6 at 200mm, so stopping down to F8 brings no advantage because diffraction has started to very slightly soften the image. Fortunately I think that most people will find real world results in and around 200mm at F5.6 very usable:
Image quality is weakest at 400mm, though it still exceeds what I saw from the older Fuji 100-400mm lens:
As before, the image quality is fairly consistent across the frame. There’s good sharpness there to begin with, and the weakest part of the image gets cut off by the crop factor, leaving still strong corners. When focus is nailed, you can get good results wide open at 400mm:
I don’t find contrast “off the charts”, but, to be fair, the only telephoto lens that I’ve been really impressed with on this high resolution sensor is the very expensive Fujinon XF 200mm F2 OIS (my review here). I haven’t really seen better performance than this from any of the zoom competitors. The Fuji 100-400mm has a slightly faster aperture of F5.6 at 400mm, but the more expensive XF 150-600mm is slightly slower (F7.1), and the Sigma results are as sharp as what I saw when testing that XF 150-600mm. Bottom line is that this is about as good of image quality you are going to get at 400mm on the Fuji platform at the moment:
F6.3 isn’t incredibly fast (even at 400mm), but remember that the compression of the focal length is equivalent to 600mm on full frame, meaning that you can really defocus a background. You can see from the image below that the quality of the bokeh doesn’t look like a $10,000 F4 prime (there is some nervousness to some of the textures), but also the background is strongly blurred. At closer focus distances you can really defocus the background and get very creamy results with nice subject isolation:
Obviously I prefer the images with greater compression, as the creamy backgrounds look great. But even in this image where the background is only mildly defocused, I still think the nature of the blur isn’t bad.
How about flare resistance? I replicated the results from Sony here, as they are representative for the behavior on Fuji, too. Flare is typically less of an issue with a lens like this, as the angle of view is so narrow (particularly on the long end), that you rarely point it at the sun. Still, however, the results aren’t bad here. There are six tests shown below. The first series (of four) is of the lens at 100mm where the sun is most likely to be in the frame. We’ve the sun centered in the frame wide open, then in the upper right corner, then with those results repeated at F11. There’s a mild flare pattern that doesn’t worsen when the lens is stopped down. Pretty good.
The final two images show the lens at 400mm with the lens wide open and then stopped down to F11. There’s a little most veiling and loss of contrast here, though this will probably rarely be a real-world factor.
I ended my section on the autofocus with many reservations, but I’ve got no such reservations here. The image quality stands up very well to the Fuji competition that will cost twice as much. If you’d like to see more photo samples, I would recommend that you visit the image gallery here.
Conclusion
The 100-400mm focal range is popular for a reason. By designing a variable aperture lens, lens makers are able to fit a fairly high performing long telephoto lens into a body roughly the size of a typical 70-200mm F2.8 zoom. The end result is a a very flexible tool that can meet most anyone’s telephoto needs without breaking their backs in terms of the weight. The Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS takes that to the next level, as it also won’t break the bank at a price point of right under $1000 USD.
Fuji has been a bit of a wasteland for telephoto options, with only two lenses reaching beyond 300mm from Fuji. The release of the Tamron 150-500mm VXD added a third lens, and this Sigma provides a welcome fourth option. But the Tamron and Sigma lenses are actually full frame designs, but their reasonably compact size allows them to work on this smaller platform. Like the Tamron, the biggest limitations include the lack of compatibility with teleconverters and the simple fact that autofocus isn’t as effective as what we’ve previously seen on Sony.
The difference in price between the Sigma and the Fuji options will probably mean that there are plenty of people who would be willing to do deal with a few more autofocus frustrations to get a quality telephoto lens that they can afford. The fact that the Sigma 100-400X actually bests the Fuji competition optically won’t hurt, either. The Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS is a perfect example of the role that Sigma can and should play in the Fuji marketplace – a quality mid-tier option that offers 90% of the first party lens at a much cheaper price.
Pros:
Nice build quality including some weather sealing and premium materials
Slimmer and lighter than competing lenses
Fairly good tracking results for birding or fast action
Excellent image quality…particularly at the very important 400mm position
Nicer bokeh than many variable aperture zooms
Almost no vignette or distortion
Excellent chromatic aberration control
Improved optical stabilizer (5 vs 4 stops)
Good magnification and close focus results.
Fantastic price
Cons:
Autofocus can be frustrating at times
Tripod collar a separate purchase
Variable aperture zoom reaches smaller apertures very quickly
Keywords: Sigma 100-400mm DN, Sigma 100-400 Fuji, Sigma 100-400, Sigma 100-400mm, Sigma 100-400 OS, Sigma 100-400mm OS X-mount review, 100-400mm, Dg DN, Dg, DN, OS, Contemporary, F5-6.3, Review, Fuji X, Fuji X-mount, Review, Telephoto, Action, Tracking, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Fujifilm X-T5, Fujifilm X-H2, let the light in, #letthelightin, DA, #SIGMA, #SIGMA100-400mmContemporary, #SIGMAContemporary, #SIGMAContemporaryPrime, #SIGMADCDN
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Fuji X-Mount Gallery
Dustin Abbott
September 5th, 2023
For the second time in about a month, I am working on a review of a lens that was designed on full frame but is being ported over to the APS-C only Fuji X-mount. Tamron determined that its full frame 150-500mm VC lens was compact and competent enough to work on Fuji (where there are few telephoto options). The result is (for the most part) successful, as I detailed in my review here. But Sigma also has an excellent candidate for this converter – a direct competitor to the Fujinon XF 100-400mm OS (my review here)in the form Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS (we’ll call it the 100-400X in this review for brevity). The 100-400X is going to be a bit of disruptor on X-mount for a couple of reasons. The first is that it is a very competent lens in terms of performance. The second is that is going to be a huge value alternative at $950 vs $1900 USD for the Fuji. The 100-400mm zoom range is one of the most popular for those who want some serious reach for birding, wildlife, or sports but don’t want the larger size that comes with longer focal lengths. When you consider Fuji’s 1.5x crop factor on X-mount cameras you get a focal length equivalence of 150-600mm on full frame, which is obviously incredibly useful, going from this at 100mm:
to this at 400mm:
I have the original Sigma 100-400mm DN a positive review on Sony E-mount in mid 2020. It was the first of the third party telephoto lenses to come to Sony E-mount, and it was very welcome because it was along about a third of the price (though you had to buy the tripod collar separately if you wanted one) while providing most of the features and performance of the Sony 100-400mm G Master lens. I suspect that it can serve a similar role here on Fuji, mostly because it can create images like this…
…for under a thousand bucks. The fact that Fuji’s own 100-400mm is getting a little long in the tooth won’t hurt, either, though there are still a couple of areas where the Fuji has the advantage (compatibility with teleconverters, for example). So, does using a lens designed for full frame on an APS-C only system make sense? You can get my thoughts either by watching my video review or reading the text review here.
Thanks to Gentec (Sigma’s Canadian Distributor) for sending me a pre-release review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. I’m doing this review on a 40MP Fujifilm X-H2 camera.
Keywords: Sigma 100-400mm DN, Sigma 100-400 Fuji, Sigma 100-400, Sigma 100-400mm, Sigma 100-400 OS, Sigma 100-400mm OS X-mount review, 100-400mm, Dg DN, Dg, DN, OS, Contemporary, F5-6.3, Review, Fuji X, Fuji X-mount, Review, Telephoto, Action, Tracking, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Fujifilm X-T5, Fujifilm X-H2, let the light in, #letthelightin, DA, #SIGMA, #SIGMA100-400mmContemporary, #SIGMAContemporary, #SIGMAContemporaryPrime, #SIGMADCDN
DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
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