While it’s not quite as ideal for sports photography as the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports for Nikon, this “Contemporary” version is perfectly suited for wildlife and outdoor shooting. This long-range zoom provides a large focal range to capture subjects at a great distance. This field test does leave one question unanswered, though: how does it compare to Tamron’s 150-600mm f/5-6.3 SP Di VC USD lens, which is £555 cheaper for essentially the same versatile focal range? There’s only one way to find out the answer, and that’s to call in its direct rival to run a head-to-head.Super Telephoto Zoom. The build quality is exemplary for use in the great outdoors by the enthusiasts and pros it’s out to target, while the sharpness of the final result doesn’t disappoint – just don’t expect distortion-free images straight out of the camera without having to apply lens corrections first. Autofocus is generally swift and reacted sharply to focusing on a high-speed subject. There’s no getting away from the fact that it weighs a ton, so you won’t last long using it handheld before you cry out for a set of sticks or a monopod, like I did. Locking the zoom ring reveals it can also be locked at 200, 250, 300, 400, 500 and 600mm, and I value the way this lock can be easily unlocked again with a sharp twist of the zoom ring or a sharp pull or push of the front of the lens, except for when it’s locked at 150mm.Īpart from the somewhat nervous start, when I lost the screw out of the lens hood – which, in hindsight, would benefit from being captive and irremovable – my experience of using Sigma’s latest telephoto zoom in the sort of conditions it was designed for was extremely positive. It is 1,480g heavier than the Canon after all.Īs I set the zoom to 180mm to give myself every chance of freezing the action at the maximum aperture of f/5, I discover the lens closes to f/5.6 between 180mm-310mm and operates at f/6.3 thereafter up to 600mm. The difference here is that while it’s consistently smooth throughout the range, the push/pull mechanism of the Sigma requires considerably more effort. Pulling the front of the lens back towards the camera exploits the potential of being able to push/pull to zoom in and out, just as users of Canon’s EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 L IS USM lens will be accustomed to. Supporting it in my left hand just behind the lens hood is a much more comfortable way of holding the lens at full telephoto, and makes it feel better balanced and less front heavy. With no time to support the lens on my monopod, I resort to flicking the Optical Stabilizer to Mode 1 for general shooting and set the focus distance switch that’s positioned above to 10m to infinity, which will prevent the lens attempting to focus closer than I need. ‘You won’t want to risk removing that again today,’ an intrigued photographer beside me comments. Just in the nick of time, my fingers somehow stumble upon it and I fasten the hood in a frantic panic. This is far from ideal – I can hear the first car approaching and if I don’t find the screw soon, I’ll have no option but to gaffer tape the hood on. Without this screw, I have no way of securing the large metal lens hood to the front of the lens, and no way of protecting the huge front element from damage as stones and debris are flung towards me. Within moments of pulling the camera and lens out of my backpack, I’m on all fours, fingers searching through the mud, trying to find the tiny screw that dropped out of the lens hood as I loosened it ready to inverse and reattach it.
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