Sigma Sport 60-600mm

Del Paso

M3 Singlestroke
CR Pro
Aug 9, 2018
3,298
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Curious if this lens is already making friends, I'll start with a few from my first day's shooting
Not the best conditions, had to push ISO to 1250,
7DII, at 600mm f/6.3 1/200s hand-held:
View attachment 184821

7DII, at 600mm f/6.3 1/500s hand-held
View attachment 184820
W.
Once again, this lovely dog! :love::love::love:
Please, more!
PS: bird shot is very nice, too...
 
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I had this lens for a month or so. My impression was that the combo of EOS-R and Sigma 60-600 is good for slow moving birds/objects with acceptable quality (details and color, for me anyway) and acceptable keeper rate. A few shots are below.
  1. Spotted sandpiper @600mm, f/6.3
  2. Red-winged Blackbird (Male) @600mm, f/6.3
  3. Cliff swallows @600mm, f/6.3
and a wide end 60mm shot
4. Landscape (Weasel head flats)
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,351
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I had this lens for a month or so. My impression was that the combo of EOS-R and Sigma 60-600 is good for slow moving birds/objects with acceptable quality (details and color, for me anyway) and acceptable keeper rate. A few shots are below.
  1. Spotted sandpiper @600mm, f/6.3
  2. Red-winged Blackbird (Male) @600mm, f/6.3
  3. Cliff swallows @600mm, f/6.3
and a wide end 60mm shot
4. Landscape (Weasel head flats)
View attachment 184841
View attachment 184838View attachment 184839
View attachment 184842
Thanks for posting. My usual question, are they straight 100% crops or are they reduced in size? It helps to know to judge the lens.
 
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Thanks for posting. My usual question, are they straight 100% crops or are they reduced in size? It helps to know to judge the lens.
The birds pictures are cut from the center of frame as captured (100% crops).
The landscape is a panorama of a few vertical shots stitched together in Lightroom and resized.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
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f/6.3 is too high. I wait for 500mm f/5 or f/5.6 and no doubt will wait for a long time. I can't see buying a $10K lens and don't like the compromises that come with a zoom.

This lens feels heavy on a 5DIV and is really long.

John
Thanks for replying. I have the 150-600mm C Sigma. It’s a very nice lens and not too heavy. But, as the years are catching up on me, the lighter 100-400mm II gets relatively easier to handle.
 
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f/6.3 is too high. I wait for 500mm f/5 or f/5.6 and no doubt will wait for a long time. I can't see buying a $10K lens and don't like the compromises that come with a zoom.

This lens feels heavy on a 5DIV and is really long.

John


My "dream" lens (that I might be able to afford) is if Canon would make a fixed 600mm F5.6, but I doubt it will ever happen. It seems (to me) that there would be a market for such a lens (especially considering the excellent high-ISO performance of modern cameras), but I guess that market is just too small for Canon (or anyone else) to bother with.
 
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AlanF

Desperately seeking birds
CR Pro
Aug 16, 2012
12,351
22,524
My "dream" lens (that I might be able to afford) is if Canon would make a fixed 600mm F5.6, but I doubt it will ever happen. It seems (to me) that there would be a market for such a lens (especially considering the excellent high-ISO performance of modern cameras), but I guess that market is just too small for Canon (or anyone else) to bother with.
Nikon has a patent for a Fresnel such lens, which is rumoured to be announced maybe this year.
 
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f/6.3 is too high. I wait for 500mm f/5 or f/5.6 and no doubt will wait for a long time. I can't see buying a $10K lens and don't like the compromises that come with a zoom.

This lens feels heavy on a 5DIV and is really long.

John
Agree that it is a not too bright and heavy lens :oops:, and I have been contemplating whether to splash out for a fixed focus 500mm (f/4) but with my style of photography I'd run into too many limitations (price of the Sigma is already around 3x the 60-600; weight is another 0.6kg or so more; MFD is near infinity :p and no flexibility in getting an "overview" composition in between zoomed-in shots)
Btw., the lens is slightly smaller and lighter than its sibling - the 150-600 Sports; and it reports as f/6.17 at 600mm wide open which is consistent with the entrance pupil of 98mm. So it is only a quarter stop slower than the f/5.6 of the 100-400mm II (or your 500mm f/5.6 ;))...
Did I mention that the stabilization is in close competition with that of the 100-400 II? It only lacks the 'mode 3'.
Yet, for my purpose (getting more reach while keeping some flexibility) it appears to serve well. With more shots on it I'll be able to tell whether it really does...
W.
 
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After some more shots I must mention the effectiveness of the image stabilization of the Sigma 60-600 S ;)
I took a couple of shots of a robin taking a bath - which is positioned underneath a tree shading it quite well...
Both shots: 7DII, 60-600mm at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, ISO1250 hand-held
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In the second the robin is shaking its tail feathers - but head and feet did not move significantly...
To me that suggests at least 4 stops of "help"! (Without OS I would have needed shutter speed faster than 1/600s, probably even 1/1000th)
W.
 
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Joules

doom
CR Pro
Jul 16, 2017
1,801
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Hamburg, Germany
After some more shots I must mention the effectiveness of the image stabilization of the Sigma 60-600 S ;)
I took a couple of shots of a robin taking a bath - which is positioned underneath a tree shading it quite well...
Both shots: 7DII, 60-600mm at 600mm, f/6.3, 1/40s, ISO1250 hand-held
View attachment 184933

View attachment 184934

In the second the robin is shaking its tail feathers - but head and feet did not move significantly...
To me that suggests at least 4 stops of "help"! (Without OS I would have needed shutter speed faster than 1/600s, probably even 1/1000th)
W.
Beside showing the capabilities of that lens nicely, those are some really cool shots! Also, for the head to be so still despite the shaking body, the bird's head must have above 4 stops of stabilization as well, right? :ROFLMAO:

Too bad that the price is were it is. Looks like they managed to improve everything about the 150-600mm variants despite going from 4x to 10x zoom.

Sigma gets a lot of comments about their supposed inferiority to 1st party. But from what they put out it seems like they make steady progress. Wonder if we might see something with a DO or Fresnel equivalent from them someday. Or if they could at least motivate Canon to make more efforts in bringing down the cost of long lenses.
 
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My experience after almost 1000 shots with this lens:
  • Sharpness is very good, better than all Canon non-L tele-zooms I've ever used; slightly below the better of the Canon L zooms (e.g. my 100-400mm II)
  • Weight and handling: it can be used hand-held for a full day - retracted it is small enough not to get in the way while hiking (I keep it suspended on a PD capture pro clip); when taking a shot I can hand-hold it steady for several minutes without issue. Yet perception is, it "feels" like twice the weight of camera with 70-200 f/2.8 or with 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6 (although the real weight difference is between slightly under 3kg and slightly above 4kg for the camera-lens combo)
  • OS for steady objects is very effective, but it is not as convenient for movement / panning as the 100-400mm especially using IS mode 3 for that lens. Also the OS causes frame creeping - most obvious if you leave OS "on" mounted on a steady tripod, subject starts 'swimming' through the frame slowly... This is hardly noticeable hand-held.
  • There is a higher level of CA's than with the Canon L tele-zooms, especially in the 60-100mm range. Above 100mm it is very acceptable (and easily removed in post).
  • Focusing speed is good in favorable light conditions; between my 70-200 f/2.8 and 100-400mm; hunting can occur if no focus limiter is applied. In less favorable light conditions and/or used with 1.4xTC III, it starts hunting for focus quite often (although speed when it hits focus correctly appears to be not much slower)
Some pictures will follow, and some have been posted in the "bird portraits" thread (and other 'Animal Kingdom' threads).
W.
 
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As mentioned the lens will still autofocus with 1.4xTC (-III Canon version) but focusing speed / hunting starts becoming an issue unless lighting conditions are excellent...
Dandelion seeds at ~15m from a tripod (OS off, shutter release on camera without delay, so possibility of some vibration)
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7DmkII, S 60-600mm with 1.4xTC-III at 840mm f/11, ISO640 1/1000s
W.
 
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