![]() Despite their clunky size, hippos are quite fast and agile. You might not think that’s a compliment, but it is. I like the think of the Sigma 150-600mm as the hippopotamus of lenses. The Sigma 150-600mm is definitely the larger of the two, but it’s not embarrassingly large to the point that you’d be uncomfortable using it outside of wildlife and sports scenarios. In my highly scientific test of holding each in my hands at the same time and sort of bouncing them around, it felt like the 150-600mm had about the same weight as my Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 VR. Perhaps this is the world’s first carbon fiber lens?!?! It is perplexingly light, which is significant because it means you can use this lens handheld without having to take a crash course in P90x. This lens feels like a toy, and I mean that in the best sense of the phrase. When discussing build quality, photographers often contend a lens “feels like a toy” to throw shade on cheaper lenses (ironically, the opposite is true of tripods–if it’s not carbon fiber, the “real” photographers won’t touch it). Some also claim it performs better at the longer end, too.īy contrast, the Sigma 150-600mm is quite light. I haven’t used the “Sport” version, but through the magic of the internet, my understanding is that it’s more optically complex, weather-sealed, and bulkier. The one being reviewed here is the “Contemporary” version (the competitor of the Tamron 150-600mm in terms of quality and price) and the other is the “Sport” version. Let’s take a look at why…įor starters, this is one of two very similar Sigma 150-600mm lenses. If you want to stare at a bunch of photos of sharpness and color charts cropped to 100%, this is the wrong review for you.ĭespite my bear woes, which (probably?) can’t be blamed on the lens itself, I was really impressed by the Sigma 150-600mm, and it definitely lives up to its reputation as an exceptional value. As an actual photographer taking real photos, I see more value in how the lens performs during ordinary shooting, and how edited photos from it look. As best I can tell, no real photographer is out there shooting lab charts and close-ups of pennies for fun or for clients. It’s not based on a bunch of scientific photos in a sterile lab. It’s based on my use of the lens in the regular course of taking photos in the field, how I felt about it as a result, my subjective take on its quality, and to whom I think it would be most useful. With my anecdotal preface out of the way, now is probably a good time to state the obvious–that this is unlike most other camera reviews in that this is a “real world” review. I was thereafter able to photograph animals at Disney’s Animal Kingdom and the San Diego Zoo Safari Park, but that isn’t quite the same, as those animals are basically presented to you on a platter.īut I digress. Of course, once I had the lens necessary for shooting them, there was nary a bear in sight. My main motivation for testing the lens this year was a trip to the Canadian Rockies, and my assumption that those parks would have an equally stupid number of bears to photograph. I was basically tripping over bear, goats, and sheep every time I turned around. I was kicking myself for not having one of the lenses at that point, becuase we had an embarassment of wildlife riches. I first heard about this lens and its main competitor, the Tamron 150-600mm f/5-6.3 VC last year while in Glacier National Park when another photographer was raving about the Tamron and how he could more or less use the thing to capture tack sharp photos of the bear’s nostrils (or something like that). This review features sample photos I took while using the lens in the Canadian Rockies, Walt Disney World, and Disneyland and my thoughts about the lens. The Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary is a budget super-zoom telephoto lens aimed at sports, wildlife, and other types of photography. ![]()
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