Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Review

Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM S Performance

At 150mm, sharpness already approaches outstanding levels in the centre of the frame at maximum aperture and the clarity achieved towards the edges of the frame is excellent. Stopping down improves performance slightly, with peak performance being achieved at f/8.

Zooming to 300mm results in outstanding sharpness in the centre of the frame with excellent sharpness towards the edges at maximum aperture. In fact, peak performance is at maximum aperture for this focal length, which is ideal for a lens a lens like this, which has a relatively slow maximum aperture.

Finally, at 600mm, sharpness in the centre of the frame approaches very good levels in the centre of the frame, with performance towards the edges being good at maximum aperture. Stopping down to f/8 results in peak performance for this focal length, with the lens producing excellent sharpness in the centre and very good sharpness towards the edges at this focal length.

MTF@150mm
 

MTF@300mm
 

MTF@600mm
 

How to read our charts

The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column.

The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest.

Chromatic aberrations are extremely well controlled for a super-telephoto zoom lens with fringing barely exceeding 0.50 pixel widths at any aperture for much of the zoom range. Only at 150mm do CA levels increase to beyond a pixel width, but even then, that's only with the aperture stopped down to f/22. This extremely low level of CA should pose no issues, even in large prints, or harsh crops from the edges of the frame.

CA@150mm
 

CA@300mm
 

CA@600mm
 

How to read our charts

Chromatic aberration is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.

Apochromatic lenses have special lens elements (aspheric, extra-low dispersion etc) to minimise the problem, hence they usually cost more.

For this review, the lens was tested on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III using Imatest.

Falloff of illumination towards the corners is fairly typical for a lens covering this range, with the corners being 1.68 stops darker than the centre at maximum aperture at 150mm and 1.84 stops darker at 600mm. Visually uniform illumination is achieved by f/8 at 150mm and f/11 at 600mm.

Mild pincushion distortion is present throughout the zoom range. At 150mm there is 0.35% pincushion distortion, which increases to 0.54% at 600mm, which should pose few issues in normal use. If absolutely straight lines are paramount, then you'll be glad to hear that the distortion pattern is uniform across the frame, which should make applying corrections in image editing software fairly straightforward.

A deep, circular hood is supplied as standard with the lens, which does a great job of protecting the lens from extraneous light that may cause unwanted flare and loss of contrast. During testing there were no issues with flare and contrast holds up well, even when shooting into the light.

Value For Money

Priced at around £1500, this 150-600mm lens from Sigma appears to offer decent value for money when compared to other lenses offering a similar field of view.

Another way to get a 600mm equivalent, but with a slightly faster maximum aperture would be to use Sigma's 120-300mm f/2.8 lens, which costs around £1940, with Sigma's TC-2001 teleconverter, which costs around £300. This combination will provide you with 600mm f/5.6, and the benefit of f/2.8 maximum aperture through the 120-300mm range without the converter.

Canon's 200-400mm f/4 L IS USM includes its own built-in 1.4x teleconverter, providing a maximum telephoto reach equivalent to a 560mm f/5.6 lens. Unfortunately, this lens costs around £8310, which is beyond the reach of most people.

Nikon's 200-400mm f/4 can be picked up for around £4890, which can be used with their TC-14e III teleconverter, which costs around £310.

Tamron offers the 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Di VC USD lens for around £900, or if your budget is more limited, the 200-500mm Di f/5-6.3 lens costs around £730, but gives up 100mm at the long end, lacks stabilisation and silent focusing. 

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