Amateur Photographer (2019-04-13)

subscribe 0330 333 1113I http://www.amateurphotographer.co.ukI 13 April 2019 47

LENS TEST Testbench

Afteralongwait,anewflagshiptele-zoomhas

arrivedinSigma’sSportsseries.MichaelTopham

hadtheprivilegeoffindingoutjusthowgooditis

S

igmahada busyendto lastyear,

addingnofewerthanfivenewlenses

intoitsalreadyextensiveline-up.

We’vereviewedthreesofar:thebeast

of a telephotolensthatis the60-600mm

F4.5-6.3DGOSHSMSport,theinsanelysharp

40mmF1.4DGHSMArtandthesuper-

compact56mmF1.4DCDNContemporaryfor

SonyE mountandMicroFourThirds.We’reyet

to testthe28mmF1.4DGHSMArt,butover

thenextfewpageswe’llbefocusingonthe

70-200mmF2.8DGOSHSMSports– a lens

thathasbeenin theoffingforquitesometime

andis successorto Sigma’sAPO70-200mm

F2.8 EX DG OS HSM from 2010.

Perhapsthebiggestdrawof thislensis the

savingit offersoveritsrivals.TheCanonEF

70-200mmf/2.8L IS III USM(£2,099),

NikkorAF-S70-200mmf/2.8FLEDVR

(£2,299)andSonyFE70-200mmF2.8GM

OSS(£2,399)allcostsignificantlymore

moneythanthe£1,349forthislens.Doesit

competein thesameplayingfieldandoffer

justasmuchgood for less? It’s time to fi nd out.

Features

Theopticalconstructionof thelensis entirely

newandfeaturesmoreelementsin more

groupsthanthepreviousversion.Whereasthe

APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM had

Maximumaperturewasusedtogood

effecttoblurtheforegroundpuddle

andemphasisetheCaterhamcar

CanonEOSR withEF-EOSR mountadapter,

101mm, 1/1300sec at f/2.8, ISO 100

F2.8

22 elementsin 17groups,t is newexampe

arranges 24 elementsin 22groupswith 11

diaphragmbladesasopposedtonine.Aspart

of thedesign,nineFLD(‘F’lowdispersion)

glasselementsandonespeciallowdispersion

(SLD)elementareusedtocurtailcolour

aberrations,withSigma’ssupermulti-layer

coatingusednotonlytoreduceflareand

ghosting,butalsotomaximisesharpnessand

contrastwhenshootingdirectlytowardsthe

light.A water-andoil-repellentcoatingis

appliedtothefrontandrearelementstoo.

Sigma’shypersonicmotor(HSM)is used

tokeepfocusoperationfastandquiet.It has

beenrefinedsincetheolderversion,delivering

extratorqueandprovidinga morestable

performanceacrossits120cmtoinfinityfocus

distancerange.Thelensis alsoequippedwith

opticalimagestabilisationthatenablesusers

toshoot4-stopsslowerthanis otherwise

possible. When this is set to Mode 2 via