Sigma formally announces the Sigma 200mm f/2 DG OS Sports

[P-visie]

Sigma has gotten a lot of attention lately and folks are raving about all their new lenses, so I kind of figured I´ll just take a look at what L-mount set up would look like for me. Honestly, at first I thought I might be tempted, but in the end I am not intrigued at all. There would be absolutely no equivalent for my RF 100-500mm (Sigma 150-600mm comes close, but AF is not as good plus it weighs 2.1 KG) and my RF 14-35mm F4 (my two favorite lenses) and even 70-200mm F4 doesn't seem to have an equal competitor.

Sigmas prime lenses line-up is impressive and I do love the price points Sigma is hitting (Sigma 35mm F1.4 at 879 €/ Canon 35mm F1.4 VCM currently 1.549 €). If one really needs more then one or two primes and is on a budget, I would strongly feel the urge to use e-mount or L-mount. But even when comparing the cheaper primes (RF 35mm F1.8/ 85mm F2) it is hard to find primes which have the same close focusing abilities. So, sry, L-mount does not seem the option for me but I understand why others would choose it. I´d be missing lots of great canon gear! I do hope and wish Sigma will one day release FF for Canon RF. Atm, I am looking to add the 50mm F1.4 L VCM prime, but I'll wait for a decent price. The difference of 700 € to Sigmas offering is ridiculous imho.

Comparing to e-mount, again no equivalent for my favorite two lenses. The 50-150mm F2 and the much lighter 28-70mm F2 are damn intriguing, yes. But with both lenses I´m pretty sure that with all the rumors floating around, Canon will release a 70ish...150mm F2 lens (hopefully even lighter) and a mkii (lighter than 1kg) for the 28-70mm F2. It just a matter of time. The only lens that I´m really jealous of is the Sigma 20mm F1.4. Canons option is just waaaaaaay too pricey. Not gonna happen...like ever...

Plus, I recently was able to shoot with the Sony A7vi again... the ergonomics of that camera are horrible! It feels like a brick. I´d gladly give up a couple of lens options for great ergonomics.

So, what I am actually saying: sailing ship and leaving would leave a lot to regret (at least for me) and of course, the gras is always greener on the other side. A prime heavy set-up will benefit from e-mount/ l-mount, but other than that I don´t really see the point of switching. L-mount lacks some great options, Sony prices are pretty much up there with Canon. There are options Sony has and Canon hasn't, but the way around as well.

For me, I have to be patient with my purchasing. Canon retail prices are sky high, but being patient usually saves several hundred dollars or Euros.

For me, as a bird photographer, the biggest disadvantage of the L-mount is that there are no camera’s which have AF that comes close to the AF of the R5 Mk II.

 

[frankchn]

So, what I am actually saying: sailing ship and leaving would leave a lot to regret (at least for me) and of course, the gras is always greener on the other side.

I don't think people should switch wholesale, but Sigma's pricing is cheap enough such that picking up a Sony/L-mount body to just use the Sigma lenses is increasingly viable.

For instance, for less than the price of a new RF 600 f/4L (US$ 14,000), you can pick up a new A1II (US$ 7,000) and a new Sigma 300-600 f/4 (US$ 6,600). Or you can pick up a new S1rII for US$ 3,300 and a new Sigma 200/2 for US$ 3,300 for about what Canon would have charged for a new 200L (launched at US$6,000 in 2008).

 

[DhlcadR6]

I don't think people should switch wholesale, but Sigma's pricing is cheap enough such that picking up a Sony/L-mount body to just use the Sigma lenses is increasingly viable.

For instance, for less than the price of a new RF 600 f/4L (US$ 14,000), you can pick up a new A1II (US$ 7,000) and a new Sigma 300-600 f/4 (US$ 6,600). Or you can pick up a new S1rII for US$ 3,300 and a new Sigma 200/2 for US$ 3,300 for about what Canon would have charged for a new 200L (launched at US$6,000 in 2008).

At the end of the day, Sony a1ii with Sigma only gets you 15fps, Nikon with PF tele primes has weaker AF than Canon Sony, Panasonic has a weaker AF tracking than Big3. The only one that makes sort of sense for switching is Nikon, but it's still a tradeoff.

The grass looks greener on the other side but it's still grass. And just grass, nothing game changing.

 

[Toamelicious]

Nothing personal, but "spray and pray" at 120fps doesn't even feel like photography to me. If it's your job and you absolutely have to capture the image then I get it, but it still doesn't feel like a creative, planned process. It's gotten to the point that it feels like there is real truth in, "Wow, nice photo! You must have a great camera."

Seems quite close minded to me. Why do you think high fps photography excludes creative planning? We look for the same light, perspective and subjects as you do, but we allow ourselves higher chances of not missing the crucial moment.

Why would I choose, after meticulous planning, making a trip, possibly spending a lot of money for a photography vacation, waiting for the sun to be just right and my subject in position, to have my photo ruined by my camera not being able to keep up.

 

[Exploreshootshare]

I don't think people should switch wholesale, but Sigma's pricing is cheap enough such that picking up a Sony/L-mount body to just use the Sigma lenses is increasingly viable.

For instance, for less than the price of a new RF 600 f/4L (US$ 14,000), you can pick up a new A1II (US$ 7,000) and a new Sigma 300-600 f/4 (US$ 6,600). Or you can pick up a new S1rII for US$ 3,300 and a new Sigma 200/2 for US$ 3,300 for about what Canon would have charged for a new 200L (launched at US$6,000 in 2008).

True. That actually sounds like a problem to me. But I can't believe Canon will drop their prices... they never seem to care about the competition...

 

[justaCanonuser]

There are Sony E to Nikon Z mount adapters that retain AF capability (see https://petapixel.com/2025/07/22/me...unt-adapter-review-viable-but-not-vindicated/ for a review of one), though results may vary.

Ah, thanks. I didn't expect that anyone offers a 2mm thin adapter ring...

 

[DhlcadR6]

Ah, thanks. I didn't expect that anyone offers a 2mm thin adapter ring...

But it's not the most reliable, new firmware from Nikon might brick the adapter....

 

[frankchn]

Ah, thanks. I didn't expect that anyone offers a 2mm thin adapter ring...

Yeah, it's actually quite impressive that such a thing is possible.

 

[frankchn]

But it's not the most reliable, new firmware from Nikon might brick the adapter....

Nikon seems to have gone out of the way not brick third party stuff. The Z8 3.00 firmware seemed to have made a lot of 3P lenses not work properly, and they released 3.01 as a bug fix pretty quickly.

 

[mimbu]

Sigma has gotten a lot of attention lately and folks are raving about all their new lenses, so I kind of figured I´ll just take a look at what L-mount set up would look like for me. Honestly, at first I thought I might be tempted, but in the end I am not intrigued at all. There would be absolutely no equivalent for my RF 100-500mm (Sigma 150-600mm comes close, but AF is not as good plus it weighs 2.1 KG) and my RF 14-35mm F4 (my two favorite lenses) and even 70-200mm F4 doesn't seem to have an equal competitor.

Why look at L and not E? On E there is the Tamron 150-500mm F/5-6.7 Di III VC VXD which includes incredibly fast magnetic linear drive motors and is an extremely well regarded lens. It's slightly heavier than the Canon but is half the price. Or, you could go with the also superb Tamron 50-400mm f/4.5-6.3 Di III VC VXD which is smaller and lighter, and starts much wider. Also optically superb. The Sony 100-400GM lens is very much due for a v2, probably sometime in the next 6 months or so. Quite possible that it will become a 100-500 but so far few rumors.

On the ultra-wide side of things there are various options. The Sony 12-24/4G or 12-14/2.8GM. The Sony 16-35/4G and 16-25/2.8G are also both good. Or the Sigma 14-24/2.8 or Tamron 16-30/2.8. The recent Samyang 14-24/2.8 has gotten good reviews too. No, none of these quite match your 14-35/4L but many are a full stop faster.

For the 70-200/4, the fairly new Sony 70-200/4Gii is an incredible lens. Not only is it superb optically as a telephoto but it does 1:2 macro across the entire zoom range, and does it well. It uses Sony's blindingly fast magnetic linear drive motors, and it's fully compatible with 1.4x and 2x TCs.

If primes are of interest, the 14/1.8GM is staggeringly good and only $1700. The 16/1.8G is a great lower cost alternative. The 20/1.8G is incredible. So many options both Sony and 3rd party. Too many to list, really.

 

[mimbu]

Ah, thanks. I didn't expect that anyone offers a 2mm thin adapter ring...

It works, but understandably there are limits to how fast it can translate AF commands back and forth. 15fps with tracking AF is no problem. The further beyond that you go the higher the miss rate gets.

If Canon ever opens RF (never going to happen...) it might finally push Sony to increase or remove the 15fps limit. Until then (and again, it's never...) it will probably stay.

 

[Zadak]

I am starting to lose faith in Canon TBH, shouldn't have invested in the R5 MII.

Canon is playing it too safe and too expensive for what others are doing these days. It's like that one uncle who thinks he knows everything

 

[Zadak]

Actually Canon is probably having an Intel moment these days. Intel had it too good in the early 2010's, they were at the top of the food chain in many aspects. 15 years later they are the laughing stock of the tech industry. And being complacent and only releasing iterative products with no apetite to take some risk or do anything different, just status-quo.

I don't want to invest in a brand that feels like just because they are doing well now in this situation they can keep doing this forever. I spent too much in my Canon gear to be stuck in the loser corner 10 years down the line

 

[snapshot]

Actually Canon is probably having an Intel moment these days. Intel had it too good in the early 2010's, they were at the top of the food chain in many aspects. 15 years later they are the laughing stock of the tech industry. And being complacent and only releasing iterative products with no apetite to take some risk or do anything different, just status-quo.

I don't want to invest in a brand that feels like just because they are doing well now in this situation they can keep doing this forever. I spent too much in my Canon gear to be stuck in the loser corner 10 years down the line

with any luck i will still be using my current gear 10 years down the line. knocking on wood, all of the canon DSLR gear I have purchased is still operational (even the EF50/1.4 not so L)

 

[becceric]

with any luck i will still be using my current gear 10 years down the line. knocking on wood, all of the canon DSLR gear I have purchased is still operational (even the EF50/1.4 not so L)

I'm enjoying my current cameras and I've got EF focal length range from 11 to 600mm, plus 1.4 and 2x TCs. I've only been daydreaming of one or two TS-E lenses.
Unless something breaks, I'm sure this equipment can produce better quality images than I can. If one enjoys using their gear and the results from it, then satisfaction has been attained.

 

[Zadak]

with any luck i will still be using my current gear 10 years down the line. knocking on wood, all of the canon DSLR gear I have purchased is still operational (even the EF50/1.4 not so L)

The point isn't that it will break in 10 years. Just want to be in an ecosystem (now it's closed) that doesn't contain just "what is the most value we can get while playing it safe". Canon has enough money to be able to afford taking more risks than it does.

I'm enjoying my current cameras and I've got EF focal length range from 11 to 600mm, plus 1.4 and 2x TCs. I've only been daydreaming of one or two TS-E lenses.
Unless something breaks, I'm sure this equipment can produce better quality images than I can. If one enjoys using their gear and the results from it, then satisfaction has been attained.

Canon has been sleeping enough on the Tilt Shift RF lenses, it's time they do something about it already

 

[becceric]

The point isn't that it will break in 10 years. Just want to be in an ecosystem (now it's closed) that doesn't contain just "what is the most value we can get while playing it safe". Canon has enough money to be able to afford taking more risks than it does.


Canon has been sleeping enough on the Tilt Shift RF lenses, it's time they do something about it already

While I understand what you mean, I will be quite happy with a TS-E 24 and 90. If I had specific business for advancements, I'd be more concerned.
And, yes In my mind, Canon can afford to take additional product risks.

 

[steven parker]

Yongnuo so far has a few AF primes in both FF and APS-C. Yes I might not get all different focal length for sub-200USD each.... But who needs that many cheap primes.

I own four of their YN600EX-RT speedlights and have mixed reviews. Build quality is poor: loss of connection between camera body and flash at the hot shoe, every battery door broke so I had to replace them plus some minor off-camera wireless sync problems. Still, all my problems seemed to be everyone's problems (after checking the boards) so I switched back. I'm a photographer in New York and the secondary market is flooded with Canon Speedlights at ridiculously good prices. I picked up four of them this week (September 2025). I'm not comfortable using Yongnuo lenses considering the problems I had with the YN600EX-RT Speedlights. If anyone has real world reviews or photos please share.

 

[DhlcadR6]

I own four of their YN600EX-RT speedlights and have mixed reviews. Build quality is poor: loss of connection between camera body and flash at the hot shoe, every battery door broke so I had to replace them plus some minor off-camera wireless sync problems. Still, all my problems seemed to be everyone's problems (after checking the boards) so I switched back. I'm a photographer in New York and the secondary market is flooded with Canon Speedlights at ridiculously good prices. I picked up four of them this week (September 2025). I'm not comfortable using Yongnuo lenses considering the problems I had with the YN600EX-RT Speedlights. If anyone has real world reviews or photos please share.

For 3rd party flash I always go for Godox, those Yongnuo flash are pretty old and it is from their early days. There's a lot of progress since then.