Sigma 70-200mm F/28 Apo Ex Dg Hsm Review

The Sigma APO seventy-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM ($1,259) is a less-expensive professional alternative to like lenses from Catechism, Nikon, and Sony. The stabilized 70-200mm f/ii.8 zoom is the go-to lens for many an outcome shooter, and getting one for nether $2,000 is an highly-seasoned prospect. For the almost part, the Sigma 70-200mm delivers solid functioning, but it doesn't offer the impeccable paradigm quality that you'll get from our Editors' Choice Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Two USM ($ane,249.00 at Amazon) .

The APO 70-200mm ($1,249.00 at Amazon)  is bachelor for Catechism, Nikon, Sigma, and Sony cameras, but considering it's an older lens it's not available for the Sigma's mount conversion service. Information technology measures 7.8 by 3.4 inches (Hard disk) and is heavy at iii.2 pounds. There are a couple of toggle switches on the lens barrel: 1 to change betwixt automated and manual focus, and the other to arrange the epitome stabilization mode. Information technology tin can be turned off, put in Style ane for standard shots, or put in Mode 2 for shots where the camera pans forth with a moving subject during an exposure. The lens has a narrow manual focus ring and a wide zoom ring. It includes both a hood and tripod collar, and its forepart element accepts 77mm filters.

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I used Imatest to check the sharpness of the lxx-200mm when paired with the full-frame 36-megapixel Nikon D810 ($1,249.00 at Amazon) . At 70mm f/ii.8 it scores 2,395 lines per picture acme on our standard center-weighted sharpness test, which is well in backlog of the 1,800 lines nosotros use to mark a photograph as sharp. But border performance suffers, with the sharpness dropping to 1,386 lines at the periphery of the frame, and there'southward strong (2.iv pct) barrel distortion. Stopping downwards to f/four improves the center-weighted score to 2,998 lines, and edges are a more respectable 1,628 lines. At f/5.half-dozen the lens is sharp from edge to edge, scoring 3,390 lines across the frame with edges that approach two,400 lines. It's even meliorate at f/8—3,637 lines on average with edges that superlative 3,000 lines—and at f/xi the overall sharpness score is just a little bit higher, while edges top iii,300 lines.

At 100mm the distortion goes away, and sharpness at f/2.8 improves to two,714 lines, but edge sharpness is even so a niggling weak at 1,640 lines. Stopping downwards to f/4 boosts the overall score to 3,287 lines, with tack sharp edges that show two,231 lines. The lens just gets better as you stop down: 3,590 lines at f/five.6, three,711 lines at f/viii, and iii,623 lines at f/11.

There'due south nearly one percent pincushion distortion at 140mm, and the lens shows its sharpest results at f/two.8—3,003 lines using the middle-weighted metric with edges that fall just shy of two,700 lines. The lens gets ameliorate equally the aperture is narrowed: 3,490 lines at f/4, 3,629 lines at f/5.6, three,673 lines at f/8, and 3,569 lines at f/xi.

Baloney stays steady at 200mm, but sharpness drops off dramatically. At 200mm f/ii.viii the lens shows just ane,628 lines using our centre-weighted method, with edges that are simply i,030 lines. You'll want to stop downwards to f/4 when zoomed all the way in if the light allows it. That will better the overall score to 2,500 lines, merely you'll still have to deal with fuzzy one,355-line edges. The overall sharpness is better at f/5.6 (2,895 lines), simply edges only sharpen past almost 100 lines. You'll demand to ready the lens to a narrow aperture for the best operation—it's great at f/eight (3,211 lines boilerplate, 2,103 lines at the edges) and at f/11 (three,370 lines average, ii,614 lines at the edges).

The Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG Bone HSM isn't an optically perfect lens similar our Editors' Choice Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS Ii USM, but it isn't nearly as expensive. If you're willing to sacrifice some sharpness and distortion control in club to salvage some coin, though, it'south a solid option. If you lot shoot with a Sony camera y'all'll also get images with more than particular with the Sony seventy-200mm f/two.8 ($1,249.00 at Amazon) , just nosotros can't speak to Nikon shooters, every bit we've not yet been able to go an AF-Due south Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR 2 ($2,399.95) in for review. Some more than recent Sigma lenses, like the excellent Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM ($1,249.00 at Amazon) for APS-C cameras have offered more than performance than y'all'd wait for your dollar, just this Sigma zoom performs but in line with its budget-minded cost bespeak.

Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.eight EX DG OS HSM

Cons

The Bottom Line

The Sigma APO lxx-200mm F2.eight EX DG Os HSM is a value option for professional shooters who desire a stabilized f/2.viii telezoom.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/sigma-apo-70-200mm-f28-ex-dg-os-hsm

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