Sigma 729955 100-400 mm F5-6.3 DG OS C Nikon Fitting HSM Lens - Black

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Despite producing the relatively small image circle used by APS-C format cameras, the lens is about the same weight as competing Canon and Nikon full-frame compatible lenses. Thanks to the APS-C crop factor, the effective zoom range is boosted to 150-600mm and you can bump it up even more with one of Fujifilm’s 1.4x or 2x tele-converters, albeit with a loss of one or two f/stops in aperture width. This shifted-narrower angle of view range moves the 100-400mm range deeper into the sports and wildlife uses, with bird photography and big-field sports being especially good uses of the focal length range. The design of this lens includes one FLD ("F" Low Dispersion) and four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements for correction of aberrations and distortions.

At 150mm focal length the Nikon has a slight advantage in the APS-C/DX image-circle and the FF/FX-corner. Above: For another comparison, here’s Sony’s FE 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 G Master, a higher-end model costing around two and a half times more – I’ll show you how the quality compares later. In terms of size, the Sony’s a little wider and longer, but side-by-side they’re roughly similar. The Sigma has a smaller 67mm filter thread compared to 77mm on the Sony and both are supplied with lens hoods. Autofocus in this version and the Nikon F-mount version is rapid and practically silent, while the image quality is competitive with the own-brand versions. What tips it over into the Canon camp though is the fact that the rotational direction of the zoom ring is the same as it is in own-brand lenses, meaning it slots into an existing collection more naturally. Lateral CA shows as color fringing along lines of strong contrast running tangential (meridional, right angles to radii) with the mid and especially the periphery of the image circle showing the most significant amount as this is where the most significant difference in the magnification of wavelengths typically exists. Sigma sent me a pre-production lens to try out before the official announcement and in the video above I’ll show you what it can do when mounted on a Sony A7r III body; Sigma described the image quality as final, but I’ll follow-up with a full test on a final sample model soon.

Next here’s the Sigma at 400mm f6.3, refocusing between the clothes line and the plant in the distance using the central AF area and single AF. In my video review, you can see the Sony body employing contrast detect autofocus to help it nail the distance which it does fairly swiftly. In comparison, the Sony lens at 400mm f5.6 looked a little faster and more confident to me, with less of the contrast-detect hunting that you could see from the Sigma. This may be a pre-production or firmware issue with the Sigma, but from my initial tests, the Sony 100-400mm focused a little faster and more confidently at longer focal lengths which made it preferable when photographing birds in flight or other fast subjects. Immediately, careful framing at 400mm becomes significantly easier, with little drifting or jumping of the framing. Sigma 100-400mm DN Review | Who Should Buy It? Sigma 100-400mm DN, Sony A9II | 400mm, 1/3200 sec, f/6.3, ISO 400 Sigma 100-400mm DN, Sony A9II | 400mm, 1/800 sec, f/6.3, ISO 100 With the Sigma 100-400mm DN, despite its diminutive size and relatively affordable price, bokeh is quite soft and pleasing. When testing some of the most challenging types of subjects, (see above!) the Sigma is still capable of delivering beautifully rendered blur no matter what.

Aperture ring: no, same as with the competition. The aperture is actuated electromagnetically in the Nikon-version too which makes it the equivalent of a modern E-type Nikon lens and puts away with the mechanical coupling that Nikon uses on all older lenses. [0] Optical highlights include five ED (Extra-low Dispersion) elements and one Super ED element, for minimizing chromatic aberrations. Super-fast and virtually silent autofocus is based on twin linear motors, and there’s a highly effective 5-stop image stabilizer with automatic panning detection. One of Fujifilm’s highly acclaimed ‘red badge’ lenses, the XF100-400mm has robust, fully weather-sealed, professional-grade build quality. Handling is excellent, benefiting from Fuji’s typical control ring, ideal for controlling the aperture in aperture-priority and manual shooting modes. The Sony lens has a 1/3-stop max aperture advantage at most focal lengths, is compatible with teleconverters, and ships with the tripod mount ring in the box. I use all of the focal lengths in this lens for landscape photography and usually carry a lens covering the 100-400mm range for such use.this lens has a variable max aperture, ranging from f/5 to f/6.3 as the focal length range is increasingly traversed. This lens balances on the focus ring (when used with a non-gripped camera), leaving the zoom ring beyond fingertip reach. The only way to work around this is to just not over-edit your photos. Unfortunately, if you’re editing images with lots of haze and need to take the Dehaze slider past, say, +15 or +20, you’ll run the risk of seeing a very faint color shift. Honestly, though? This seems to be an issue with almost all mirrorless lenses; in fact, see if you can notice a faint bit of it in the Sony 100-400mm GM example, below… Sigma 100-400mm DN Review | Compared To The Competition Photo by Kurt Lawson | Sony 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM, Sony A7III | 400mm, 1/25 sec, f/5.6, ISO 100 100% Crop (f/5.6, 400mm, 24 megapixels) Above: At the other end of the scale, here’s the Sigma 100-400mm at 400mm f6.3 where again there’s a high degree of detail in the middle and in the corners for pixel-peepers to examine. Closing the aperture gradually down gives a very small boost in contrast and detail, but again it’s performing very well wide-open. Corner sharpness does not always matter, but it does matter for many disciplines, including landscape photography.

That most of the differences shown in the above table are only 1/3 or 2/3 stops should be considered. Upon reviewing the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary Lens's older sibling, the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary Lens, that lens became one of my most-frequently recommended lenses. Compared with typical 100-400mm lenses, this Pentax sets its sights a little higher, with a 150-450mm zoom range. It gives you generous telephoto reach on full-frame cameras, boosted to an effective 230-690mm range on APS-C format bodies.Switches are on hand for auto/manual focusing, an autofocus range limiter, and stabilization on/off. The built-in Power OIS (Optical Image Stabilizer) can work in conjunction with sensor-shift stabilization, available in Panasonic cameras with a ‘Dual IS’ function.