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Sigma 60-600mm lens first look

We take a quick look at Sigma's brand new 60-600mm lens - a sports lens with an impressive 10x optical zoom

Sigma have announced their new 60-600mm lens - a super-telephoto lens the equivalent to 10x optical zoom. On the outside it may look familiar - the Sigma 150-600mm Sports lens is a firm favourite with sports photographers - and this lens is not far off in terms of appearance and size.

We got our hands on the lens for a couple of hours – here’s our first impressions from our limited time with the lens.

Sigma's flexible 10x optical zoom

So the big news is that Sigma has created the first 600mm lens that has a 10x optical range – now starting at 60mm at the wide-end. Sigma’s intention here is that to offer an all-in-one lens that negates the need to cover the wide angle aspect below 150mm. So – bye bye 70-200mm!

It comes with Canon EF, Nikon F and Sigma SA mounts, and on the outside it’ll look familiar to anyone who’s used the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 Sports.

The lens has been constructed with 25 elements in 19 groups, with 3 low dispersion (FLD) layers and 1 special low dispersion element. These elements are specially crafted to reduce chromatic aberration, as well as maintaining corner to corner sharpness and maximising resolution to match today’s high-end camera bodies.

The front elements are coated to protect the large front element, repelling water and oily substances, as well as making any residues easier to clean.

Handling 

There’s no denying that this is a heavy lens – but it comes with the territory so won’t be any surprise here. To counter the weight, there is a tripod mount. The mount can be tilted to help offer extra flexibility when shooting.

In our brief time with it, we did struggle to get sharp handheld shots at the 600mm unless we were using very fast shutter speeds. For anyone using this lens for serious sports action, using a tripod or monopod over the course of a day will be needed, although this is hardly news.

The lens hood is considerable in size, and is locked into place via an adjustment dial. We found it handy to keep on, even inverted, to add an extra level of protection.

Image quality

Sigma are rightly proud of the image quality achieved from the 150-600mm Sports lens, and first impressions are that they have kept this on the 60-600mm.

Image quality looked decent, with great clarity from corner to corner at both ends of the focal plane, with nice colour tones and subjects that impressively ‘popped’ out from the background. This may be expected when you have a 600mm view at f/6.3, but it’s still always pleasing to see.

Autofocus and Tracking

The Sigma uses a Hyper Sonic Motor for fast and quiet autofocus, as well as Intelligent Optical Stabilisation contains Sigma’s latest updated algorithm to deliver a quoted 4 stops of stabilisation.

There are options to change stabilisation based on how your subject moves – whether tracking movement towards you, or panning – perfect for those days trackside at motorsport events. As is the minimum focus lock – no need to worry about the lens hunting between the subject and foreground interest.

Video review of the Sigma 60-600mm

The Sigma is available in three mounts, priced at £1,899:

Sigma 60-600mm Lens f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Nikon Mount
Sigma 60-600mm Lens f/4.5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports Canon Mount

If you have any questions, let us know in the comments below and we’ll get back to you.

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By Park Cameras on 16/10/2018