Sigma C 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM review - Summary

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Sigma C 100-400 mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM

26 May 2017

Arkadiusz Olech

11. Summary

Pros:

High quality casing,
Excellent image quality in the frame centre no matter what focal length you employ,
Very good image quality on the edge of APS-C sensor,
Good image quality on the edge of full frame,
Lack of problems with spherical aberration,
Slight lateral chromatic aberration,
Imperceptible longitudinal chromatic aberration,
Moderate distortion,
Excellent coma correction,
Very low astigmatism,
Low vignetting on the smaller APS-C/DX sensor,
Silent autofocus,
Efficient image stabilization.

Cons:

Distinct vignetting at longer focal lengths on full frame,
A bit too many flares and losses of contrast during the work against bright light,
Minimum focusing distance the worst in this class of equipment,
Slow autofocus.

When Sigma presented the C 100–400 mm f/5–6.3 DG OS HSM model and launched it on the market with a price tag of 800$ I got a clear sign. The lens was aimed at those who used to buy older models of the Nikkor 80-400 mm VR and the Canon 100-400 mm which could cost as much as near 1100$ and then lost that possibility when their successors have been launched. In such a situation only one thing was expected from the Sigma – offering a similar optics quality than the quality of those well-done but older brand name lenses. After all at the very start the new lens had an advantage in a form of a modern stabilization unit, non-existent in older Nikon and/or Canon products which stabilization was on a level of 2 EV.

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I have to say once again Sigma surprised me quite nicely. Despite being a bit slower aperture-wise and, by default, weaker than the new lenses from Canon/Nikon when it comes to apertures and vignetting, it didn’t have any problems to win a resolution duel with them. Its autofocus is inferior but if you apply the focus limiter and USB Dock calibration it might help a lot in specific usages you are interested in. Overall I think the lens might meet its users’ expectations.