Sigma 150-500mm F5-63 Apo Dg Os Hsm Review

Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG Os HSM Review

The Sigma 150-500mm f/v-6.3 APO DG Os HSM is one of a growing number of "affordable" telephoto zoom lenses is the $800-$1500 price range. While non equally fast or as sharp as a premium telephoto prime, these lenses oftentimes provide good value for money and they take a number of advantages over a prime lens. They are smaller and lighter, they zoom and they're significantly less expensive. With optical stabilization they can be handheld and with college ISO setting condign bachelor on more cameras, the fact that they may be ane or 2 stops slower than a prime lens is less important than information technology used to exist.Lenses of this blazon are useful for wildlife photographers and sports shooters, enabling them to obtain images without getting too shut to their subjects. The "APO DG Bone HSM" designation indicates that it is a Sigma DG lens (full frame coverage), with OS (Optical Stabilization), an HSM (HyperSonic Motor), and is an "APO" (Apochromatic) blueprint to minimize chromatic aberration.

The end of the lens is semi matte black and, at around 4.2lbs, it's low-cal plenty to handhold fairly easily. The stabilization (Bone, iii-4 stops) ways that it'south a reasonable proffer to handhold this lens, even at 500mm and f6.3.

The lens comes with a hood, hard carrying case, and two straps(one for the lens and i for the case). It's covered past a 1 year Sigma warranty, but for US purchasers who buy the lens from a Sigma-authorized US dealer, the warranty is extended to 3 years

Specifications

Focal Length	150-500mm (240-800mm equivalent on Canon APS-C)
Aperture	Maximum: f/5-vi.iii Minimum: f/22
Format Compatibility	Full Frame, APS-C
Angle of View	16.four° to five° (150mm to 500mm, full frame)
Minimum Focus Distance	7.22' (2.xx m)
Maximum Magnification	0.19x
Filter Thread	86 mm
Diaphragm Blades	9
Elements/Groups	21/15 (including 3 Special Low Dispersion (SLD) elements)
Dimensions (DxL)	3.7" x 9.ix" (nine.xl 10 25.fifteen cm)
Weight	4.19 lb (i.90 kg)
Camera Mountain Type	Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sony, Sigma
Lens Hood	Supplied with lens
Approx. Price (02/15)	$870 -

Focal Length, Aperture and Optical Stabilization

The marked focal length span of the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-six.3 APO DG Os HSM is, of course, 150mm to 500mm. Think that focal lengths are ever specified for the lens focused at infinity, and it's non unusual for the actual focal length to exist up to +/-5% different from the nominal values. A change (subtract) in effective focal length is also pretty mutual when a telephoto zoom is close focused. Bearing this in mind...

When set to maximum zoom (nominally 500mm) I measured the actual focal length of the Sigma 150-500mm f/five-6.iii APO DG OS HSM fix to be around 480mm focused at infinity and around 450mm focused at x m (about thirty ft). At the closest possible focus (~2.ii m), magnification is around 0.2x, which implies a focal length of roughly 300mm. None of these numbers are out of the ordinary for a lens of this type.

I did observe some zoom creep. The lens extended from 150mm to 500mm when held pointing downward and retracted from 500mm to 150mm when pointing up. There is a zoom lock at the 150mm position to ensure the lens doesn't accidently extend when being carried.

The maximum aperture of the Sigma 150-500mm f/five-6.3 APO DG OS HSM varies from f/5 between 150mm and 173mm to f5.6 between 174 and 313mm to f6.3 from 314mm to 500mm.

The time required to focus from the closest focus distance (ii.2m) to infinity was around 0.95 seconds and that did not alter with focal length. The HSM focusing motor noise is very tranquillity. It's inaudible in normal apply. Focusing was generally positive (no hunting) and accurate, with the dandy majority of the images I shot being well focused.

At 500mm I found the optical stabilization (OS) system enables me to become pretty sharp handheld shots most of the time down to a shutter speed of effectually 1/125s, occasionally as slow equally one/60s. That'due south about two stops of stabilization about of the time, iii stops if you are lucky and/or shoot a burst of shots and selection the sharpest. Two stabilization modes are available, one for static subjects and one for moving subjects where the camera is panning to follow them. Potential buyers of the lens for Pentax and Sony cameras should be aware that models in those mounts are not optically stabilized because both organisation use sensor shift stabilization which is built into the camera trunk. The Nikon, Sigma and Catechism mount lenses all have optical stabilization.

Image Quality

I tested the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-half dozen.3 APO DG OS HSM by shooting both resolution test targets and normal pictorial subjects, using both APS-C ingather sensor and total frame DSLRs. I won't attempt to reproduce all the images hither, simply I'll give my overall conclusions and a few samples. Disquisitional sharpness tests using resolution targets were done using Live View and manual focus in order to separate the intrinsic sharpness of the lens from the accuracy of the AF system. Normal pictorial shoots were taken using AF, which in fact proved to exist accurate and consistent.

At 150mm the Sigma 150-500mm f/five-half dozen.three APO DG Bone HSM shows loftier sharpness from center to edge at f5 and little is gained by stopping down. Chromatic aberration is very well controlled.

At 200mm image quality is very similar to that at 150mm with very skillful sharpness and negligible chromatic aberration.

At 300mm there'south a very slight drop in sharpness wide open. Stopping downward does amend sharpness a little, merely on normal pictorial targets y'all'd exist hard pressed to see the deviation. A very small amount of chromatic abnormality can be detected at the edges of the frame.

At 400mm center sharpness remains high the edges are slightly less sharp with the lens wide open. There'due south a small improvement stopping downwards to f8, but not so much that I'd feel that I had to practice so to get a sharp shot. Chromatic abnormality is low, just visible at the edges of the frame.

At 500mm wide open (f6.3) the paradigm is slightly softer and lower in contrast than at 500mm. I'd guess what I'm seeing is probably a pocket-size amount of uncorrected spherical aberration, but whatever the cause, stooping down by 2/3 stop to f8 bring up the sharpness and contrast. The edges of the frame aren't equally sharp as the center and show a pocket-sized amount of chromatic aberration. At 500mm I'd probably effort to shoot at f8 with this lens if I wanted maximum image quality, all the same I wouldn't do then if I needed the extra shutter speed that f6.three would allow.

My lesser line determination is that the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG Os HSM is a pretty good lens, specially considering its cost (02/15 around $870). Sharpness at 150mm is very adept from center to edge, even with the lens broad open and on both APS-C and full frame sensors. Sharpness at 500mm is a notch lower wide open up at f6.3, just stopping downward (by 2/3 stop) to f8 brings the sharpness dorsum up shut to that observed at shorter focal lengths.

Here'due south an example of the sharpness that the Sigma 150-500mm f/five-6.3 APO DG Bone HSM is capable of at 400mm and f8. First the whole image (EOS 7D):

And now a 100% ingather of the cormoramt's head. This shot was taken handheld at a shutter speed of 1/250s.

At present here are two similar shots, this fourth dimension taken at 500mm wide open at f6.iii. Showtime the whole frame (EOS 7D)

And now a 100% crop of the head and eye of the cormorant:

While sharpness certainly isn't bad, I call up you can encounter information technology's not quite equally good as it was at 400mm and f8.

Chromatic aberration

Chromatic aberration is visible betwixt 250mm and 500mm just it's at a fairly low level. Here'south an example at 370mm, shot using and EOS 7D DSLR. Outset the whole frame:

And now the area at the correct border of the frame indicated by the carmine box in the image abobe. This crop is at 100%.

as you can see there is a modest amount of ruddy/dark-green fringing on high dissimilarity edges. This can exist minimized in mail service processing if information technology becomes an issue, but that's only likely if you're making large prints for close viewing. The CA seen at the edges of a full frame shot at 500mm isn't very different from this.

Vignetting

Vignetting is observed with the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM, peculiarly when the lens is used with a full frame DSLR, wide open or at 500mm. The images below show the extent of corner darkening when shooting with a full frame camera

At 150mm vignetting is negligible if the lens is stopped downwardly to f11, simply at 500mm the corners are darker even with the lens stopped down to f11.

While this could be an issue, ordinarily it's not. Vignetting is fairly piece of cake to digitally correct in post processing. Also, unless the corners of the frame contain areas which are uniform in effulgence (e.one thousand. sky), vignetting even broad open up may non exist noticeable. If shooting with an APS-C ingather sensor photographic camera, vignetting, even wide open at 500mm is very unlikely to be a problem. The image beneath is the full images captured using an EOS 7D with the Sigma 150-500mm f/5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM wide open (f6.iii) at 500mm.

The worst example scenario is shown beneath. A full frame shot at 500mm and f6.3 with a uniform sky. The acme corners are conspicuously darker.

However with a little digital processing the epitome is much more than uniform as shown below:

Macro

The Sigma 150-500mm f/five-6.3 APO DG Bone HSM isn't a macro lens. Maximum magnification is 0.19x (well-nigh ane/5 life size) but nevertheless it'south fine for closups of flowers and particular shots of larger objects. On a full frame photographic camera at maximum magnification the surface area in the paradigm will measure most v" x seven.5". On an APS-C ingather sensor camera like the EOS 7D, the frame will cover almost iii.1" x 4.vii".

Baloney

Baloney is low at all focal lengths, every bit would be expected from a telephoto zoom of this type. Information technology would be very unlikely to be a trouble, in fact you'd probably have a hard time seeing it, fifty-fifty in architectural shots.

Conclusions

The is a very overnice lens, especially considering the price which is currently around $870 (02/fourteen and includes a $200 instant rebate). The optical sharpness is first-class at shorter focal lengths and nonetheless very good through 400mm. The harpness does drop a little when the lens is used at 500mm wide open, though stopping down to f/8 makes it almost as sharp at 500mm as it is at 400mm. The AF speed is average for a lens in this cost range. The defended telephoto prime lenses from the major manufacturers are faster, only that'south to be expected based on their much college price.

The exhibits low distortion and chromatic aberration is well controlled, especially at shorter focal length settings. Even zoomed out all the mode to 500mm, chromatic aberration is not really problematic and if it really bothers you, digital correction can remove virtually of it. On the downside at that place is noticeable vignetting when used with a full frame camera, merely that tin can be easily corrected digitally and even the best and nearly expensive telephoto primes bear witness some vignetting. The bottom line is while information technology may non be as fast, sharp, or quick to focus as a 500mm prime lens from Canon or Nikon, information technology's nevertheless a adept performer and a good deal at around 1/10th of the cost...plus it's a zoom as well!

Alternatives

None of the major camera manufacturers (Canon, Nikon, etc.) make a telephoto zoom that's this long or that'south close to the price (~$870 every bit of 02/15) so the alternatives are lenses made by Sigma themselves and by Tamron, unless you're willing to settle for a reduced focal length range with something like the ($2200) and pay about ii.5x the price.

Sigma has three lenses that are similar to the . There's the new Sigma 150-600mm f/five-half-dozen.3 DG OS HSM, which adds 100mm to the focal length, two FLD elements (a glass like to Fluorite), and an accelerometer to further stabilize the lens when panning. There are two versions of this lens, a "C" version (Contemporary) and an "South" version (Sports). The Sports version, , should have meliorate functioning, with extra elements (24 vs. twenty), and is weather sealed. The toll of the "Due south" version is more than $1000 college than that of the 150-500mm, and at the time of writing (November 2014), the lens has not however arrived in stores. There'south no toll or availability information still on the "C" version, , though presumably it will be less expensive than the "S" model. There's as well the , which adds 100mm to the short end of the range along with an extra depression dispersion chemical element and a toll that's around $650 higher.

From Tamron in that location'due south the . It's only around $200 more than the Sigma 150-500mm and information technology adds 100mm to the long end of the range. Though it was announced quite a while ago (I reviewed last year - Tamron 150-600 Review), information technology's withal in limited supply as of 02/14, though the wait times for an club to be fulfilled are getting shorter. It's a very nice lens though, so worth the wait! For me it would exist worth paying the extra $200 over the Sigma 150-600 equally the slightly longer attain would exist useful for wildlife piece of work.

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Source: http://www.bobatkins.com/photography/reviews/sigma_150-500_apo_dg_os_review.html