Lens review

Sigma 150-500 mm f/5.0-6.3 APO DG OS HSM

1. Introduction

Originally posted 2008-08-10 on Optyczne.pl

Last year, the PMA fair saw a Sigma Corporation offensive - this company presented as many as five new lenses, most of them equipped with the image stabilization mechanism. Among them was a model called Sigma 150-500 mm f/5.0-6.3 APO DG OS HSM. One glance at its long name and you already know something about its properties. The APO letters suggest a lot of low dispersion glass elements, DG means that it was optimized to cooperate with reflex cameras, also on full frame; OS – that it has image stabilization, which, as the manufacturer assures us, works on two planes and is efficient up to 4 EV; HSM indicates that the lens is equipped with a silent and quick focusing mechanism.

Taking into account the price, which, after launching in Poland, fell to the level of 3200 PLN, the amateur photographers got a very nice telephoto zoom - its equivalent would be very hard to find on other companies’ offer. In fact, only the Tamron 200-500 mm can compete with it, although it has neither a silent AF motor nor the stabilization system.

That fact additionally spurred our interest and curiosity about how the Sigma 150 – 500 mm would fare in the tests. We had the opportunity to check it by courtesy of the K-Consult company, which kindly lent us the instrument.

Information about our review method can be read in our article “How do we test lenses?"