Bigger Bigma
60-600mm monster zoom reviewed
Nicknamed the ‘Bigma’, Sigma’s original 50-500mm supertelephoto lens was launched back in 2001, updated in 2006, and then revamped in 2010 with the welcome addition of optical stabilization. It was renowned for being a big, heavy lens, but the new 60-600mm Sport is noticeably larger and nearly 40 per cent weightier, at 2700g. That’s almost as hefty as the Sigma 150-600mm Sport lens.
Like the preceding 50-500mm lenses, the new edition has a massive 10x zoom range. Its main selling point is that you can shoot at any focal length from standard to supertelephoto, at the flick of a wrist, without needing to swap the lens on your camera. It’s ideal when you need to react quickly to shifting shooting opportunities, especially in action sports and wildlife scenarios.
Much more than just having an upsized focal length, the new lens represents a major redesign. As a ‘sport’ lens, it’s built for speed, with an upgraded ring-type ultrasonic autofocus system that’s geared to a fast response and the ability to track moving objects. The new optical stabilizer has an improved panning mode, which now works in portrait and even diagonal orientations, instead of just landscape orientation.
The complex optical path is based on 25 elements and includes three top-calibre FLD (Fluorite-grade Low Dispersion) elements and one SLD (Special Low Dispersion) element. Fluorine coatings are applied to the front and rear elements, to repel oil and water. Build quality feels sturdy, based on magnesium, TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) and
carbon fibre-reinforced plastic parts. Weather-seals are fitted around the mounting plate, joints and switches.
The lens comes with a padded soft case and shoulder strap, plus an extra strap that connects to lugs on the side of the barrel. This avoids any undue stress on the camera’s mounting plate when carrying the lens. For use with a tripod or monopod, a mounting ring is included with an Arca-swiss compatible foot that also has 1/4-inch and 3/8-inch threaded sockets. Switches are on hand for AF/MO/MF – the mid position giving priority to manual override during autofocus. There’s an autofocus range limiter that can lock out the short or long end, and a zoom lock switch you can engage at any marked focal length on the zoom ring. Two switchable custom modes are available, for tweaking the range limiter setting, autofocus speed and stabilizer action, via the optional USB Dock.
Performance
Autofocus is fast and effective in the majority of cases, with only some hunting when trying to acquire tricky targets. The image stabilizer is highly effective for both static and panning shoots. Contrast and sharpness are impressive at all zoom settings, notably when shooting wide-open, which is crucial given the typically ‘slow’ aperture rating for a super-tele zoom. Colour fringing is controlled and, given the extra-large zoom range, distortions are of a low order.