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

Product Information

When using a monopod, a monopod head or L-plate is needed to use the camera in vertical orientation, and the additional time required to change orientation will not go unnoticed when photographing action, including sports. A 100-400mm lens lets you push a little further than the standard professional focal length of 70-200mm, and also offers more flexibility than a 500mm prime. They tend to be more affordable than these types of lenses, too, though with an understandable trade-off in terms of raw sharpness. A 100-400mm is more for versatility than getting the absolute sharpest picture possible, so bear that in mind going in. Having said that, I should mention that if you’re considering the slightly more affordable Sigma 100-400mm DG HSM, a DSLR lens, here’s some bad news- that lens doesn’t have the option for a tripod collar at all, despite being just as front-heavy as this new DN version.

The rear of the hood is substantially contoured, permitting the lens to be push-pull zoomed from this grip position.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. As discussed throughout this review, the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM C Lens is very similar to the DN version lens. These charts show the lens-performance of both lenses at their largest aperture without influence of diffraction. This is a bit misleading as diffraction at apertures of e.g. f6.3 already robs 10-15% of contrast from the reproduction of finest details. The Nikon 80-400/4.5-5.6G VR is also at a slight disadvantage as its focal ratio is 1/3 of a stop brighter. To read these charts you need to know that higher values are better and the closer the line-pairs are together the less astigmatism (= resolution depends on the orientation of the test-pattern) the lens has. The x-axis displays the distance from the optical axis (=center of the sensor) in mm. I’ll show you the real-life performance at 4 mm (center), 13 mm (APS-C/DX-corner), and 20 mm (FF/FX-corner) on a 36MP Nikon D810 body. Above: Nikon 80-400/4.5-5.6G VR at 300mm, f5.6; 100% crop from center, APS-C/DX-corner, FF/FX-corner

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] You can try to manually correct this inadequate vignetting profile using Lightroom’s additional adjustment sliders, but unfortunately, another problem pops up, one that is again becoming all too common on mirrorless lenses and cameras: the actual color of the corrected areas may look colder than the un-corrected center of the image, so you’ll wind up with faintly cool/blue looking image corners, or a faintly warmer central circle in the image. In short, I’m very excited to see more third-party support for full-frame mirrorless systems, and this new Sigma 100-400 mirrorless lens is pretty good. However, this is one of Sigma’s “Contemporary” lenses, not a Sigma “Sports” or “Art” lens. So, it might not be as incredible as the current name-brand competition such as Sony’s own 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 GM, or Canon’s new 100-500mm f/4.5-7.1. Focal ratio: the maximum aperture is reduced when the lens is zoomed out. It is f/5.0 only up to 120mm focal length, f/5.3 up to 150mm, f/5.6 up to 220mm, f6.0 up to 340mm and f/6.3 beyond that. Focal ratios smaller than f/5.6 might not work too well with focus points outside the central one on some (older) cameras. The Nikon has the following focal ratios: f/4.5 up to 95mm, f/4.8 up to 130mm, f/5.0 up to 175mm, f/5.3 up to 240mm and f/5.6 beyond that. [0]Above: This is an impressive result for the lens, but even more so when compared side-by-side to the Sony FE 100-400mm. Here’s the Sigma on the left at 100mm f5 and the Sony on the right at 100mm f4.5 and to me they’re delivering essentially the same detail in the middle, and in the corners too. While you'll love those focal length ranges, the teleconverters have a negative impact on image quality — especially the 2x model. The DN lens costs moderately more, but the HSM lens requires an adapter, such as the Sigma Mount Converter MC-11, to mount on a Sony E-mount camera, offsetting the cost difference. I have not seen Sigma promote a water & oil repellent coating on the front and rear elements, but a significant fingerprint is not too challenging to wipe away. In the real world, lens defects do not exist in isolation, with spherical aberration and spherochromatism generally found, at least to some degree, along with axial CA.