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