At 3.8 pounds and measuring 3.7 x 7.5 inches, this lens has
a bit of heft to it, but it sits well in the hand. That’s
important, since OS really is mainly a handholding assist.
The 80-400mm range is excellent for wildlife, sports and telephoto
landscapes. With a small-format digital SLR, you can get the
equivalent of up to 640mm, which offers remarkable capabilities
for a lens of this physical size and maximum aperture.
The lens includes two SLD (special low dispersion glass) elements
in the front lens group and one in the rear, promising true
apochromatic quality for correcting chromatic aberration.
I found the lens to produce crisp images of high sharpness.
But this long a lens does make close-ups and extreme telephoto
shots (at the 640mm equivalent) a challenge. Even with OS,
don’t expect miracles at slow shutter speeds under these
conditions.
At reasonable speeds, however, I saw excellent sharpness in
conditions in which I’d never have been able to handhold
a non-stabilized lens. Handholding a long lens has never been
my forte, so this lens really helped me.
The Sigma 80-400mm ƒ/4.5-5.6 EX lists for $1,499, with
a street price of around $999.
Contact: Sigma, (800) 896-6858, www.sigma-photo.com.
Specifications
Focal Length: 80-400mm
Max. Aperture: ƒ/4.5-5.6
Min. Aperture: ƒ/22-32
Size: 3.7x7.5 inches
Weight: 3.8 pounds
Lens Groups: 20 elements
in 14 groups
Special Glass: 3 special
low dispersion glass elements
Filter Size: 77mm |
