SIGMA 100-400MM F/5-6.3 DG OS HSM | C
A high-tech lens with advanced, controls, this Sigma is a direct competitor to Tamron’s 100-400mm telephoto zoom
CANON 100-400MM AND NIKON 80-400MM ZOOMS ARE GOOD PERFORMERS BUT FAIRLY HEAVYWEIGHT AT OVER 1.5KG, WITH SIMILARLY WEIGHTY PRICE
TAGS. THIS SIGMA LENS BROKE NEW GROUND WHEN IT WAS LAUNCHED THREE YEARS AGO – A COMPACT AND LIGHTWEIGHT YET FULL-FRAME COMPATIBLE SUPER-TELEPHOTO ZOOM. IT’S SMALLER AND ONLY TWO-THIRDS THE WEIGHT OF COMPARABLE CANON AND NIKON LENSES, AND A THIRD OF THE PRICE.
THE SIGMA BOASTS A COMPLEX DESIGN WITH ADVANCED CONTROLS. THERE ARE 21 ELEMENTS, INCLUDING FOUR SLD (SPECIAL LOW-DISPERSION) ELEMENTS. LIKE THE NIKON LENS ON TEST, IT HAS DUAL, SWITCHABLE AUTOFOCUS MODES, GIVING PRIORITY EITHER TO AUTOFOCUS OR TO MANUAL OVERRIDE. YOU CAN ALSO SWITCH TO FULLY MANUAL FOCUSING. ADDITIONAL SWITCHES NOT FEATURED ON EITHER OF THE 70-300MM LENSES ON TEST INCLUDE AN AUTOFOCUS RANGE LIMITER THAT CAN CUT OUT EITHER THE LONG OR SHORT END OF THE RANGE, AND SELECTABLE STATIC AND PANNING MODES FOR THE FOUR-STOP OPTICAL STABILISER.
ANOTHER HANDLING REFINEMENT IS THE PAIR OF SWITCHABLE CUSTOM
MODES, WHICH YOU CAN SET UP USING SIGMA’S OPTIONAL USB DOCK. FOR EXAMPLE, YOU CAN ADJUST THE SPEED OF AUTOFOCUS, HOW VISIBLE THE
EFFECT OF STABILISATION IS IN THE VIEWFINDER, AND THE CUT-OFF POINT FOR THE AUTOFOCUS RANGE LIMITER. THE USB DOCK ALSO ENABLES YOU TO FINE-TUNE AUTOFOCUS ACCURACY AND TO APPLY FIRMWARE UPDATES.
PARTICULARLY WELL-SUITED TO CANON CAMERAS, THE SIGMA WORKS WITH IN-BODY CORRECTIONS FOR LATERAL COLOUR FRINGING, DISTORTION AND PERIPHERAL ILLUMINATION, WHERE FEATURED. THE DIRECTION OF THE ZOOM RING OPERATION IS ALSO THE SAME AS IN OWN-BRAND CANON LENSES, WHICH IS THE OPPOSITE TO NIKON LENSES. THE HIGH-SPEED RING-TYPE ULTRASONIC AUTOFOCUS AND OPTICAL STABILISER SYSTEMS WORK WELL, AND OVERALL IMAGE QUALITY IS VERY GOOD. HOWEVER, IN OUR LAB TESTS, BASED ON RELATIVELY CLOSE-RANGE TEST CHARTS, THE SIGMA WAS SLIGHTLY LESS SHARP THAN THE OTHER LENSES HERE.