Tech review: Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports

With its focal length range of 60mm to 600mm, this lens is really versatile, allowing users to shoot landscapes as well as close-up shots of distant subjects. PHOTO: SIGMA

An ultra-telephoto lens can cost a leg or an arm, with a price tag of over $20,000 for certain models. But the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports lens delivers quality at a relatively modest price of less than $3,000.

I reviewed this ultra-telephoto zoom lens, which is available in Sigma, Nikon and Canon mounts, with my trusty Canon EOS 7D DSLR camera.

With its focal length range of 60mm to 600mm, this lens is really versatile, allowing users to shoot landscapes as well as close-up shots of distant subjects.

Granted its maximum apertures are not as large as some expensive lenses, which usually range from f/2.8 to f/5.6, but this lens comes with an "intelligent" image stabilisation feature that is said to prevent camera shake up to the equivalent of four stops. So theoretically, shooting with its smaller maximum apertures should yield images that are sharper than what would be expected.

In terms of construction, it features 25 glass elements in 19 groups with nine diaphragm blades. The glass is protected by dust- and splash-resistant exterior made of magnesium, carbon-fibre-reinforced plastic and a thermally stable composite material. While these materials are supposed to reduce weight, the lens is still pretty heavy at 2.7kg.

But the lens is well-built. The zoom ring and focusing ring are both ridged for better grip. On the left of the lens are all the switches. There is a zoom lock switch that prevents unwanted "zooming" when you carry the lens around.

Behind the focusing ring close to the lens collar are four switches for changing focusing modes (from autofocusing to manual focusing), limiting the focusing distance, toggling through image stabilisation modes and selecting custom functions.

  • SPECS

  • PRICE: $2,788 (Sigma-mount; Nikon-mount; Canon-mount, version tested)

    FOCAL LENGTH: 60mm to 600mm

    MAXIMUM APERTURE: f/4.5 to f/6.3

    MINIMUM APERTURE: f/22 to f/32

    MINIMUM FOCUSING DISTANCE: 60cm to 260cm

    WEIGHT: 2.7kg

  • RATING

  • DESIGN: 3/5

    PERFORMANCE: 4/5

    VALUE FOR MONEY: 5/5

    OVERALL: 4/5

Performance of the lens is superb for its price tag. It is fast and has a silent autofocusing (AF) operation. When I used it to capture a scene of pollinating bees under bright sunlight, it was able to get a sharp focus of a fast-moving bee almost immediately. It was also able to track that bee pretty quickly as it flew around the flowers.

Images shot using this lens generally look great across the entire focal range. However, the centre looks sharper than the edges from 60mm to 200mm. But from 200mm to 600mm, the edge-to-edge sharpness becomes more even.

Images look slightly softer when shooting at the 600mm focal length compared to shooting at 200mm, which is expected for such lenses. But image distortion is minimal with well-controlled chromatic aberration throughout its focal range.

Verdict: The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports is an excellent value-for-money ultra-telephoto zoom lens.

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