Ever since Sigma announced the 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 Sports lens, enthusiasts have been eagerly waiting to get their hands on the new lens, e...
Ever since Sigma announced the 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 Sports lens, enthusiasts have been eagerly waiting to get their hands on the new lens, especially after the hot reception accorded to the 150-600 mm lens variants. The new lens can effectively replace two lenses. Let us see how it performs.
It has 1/4 and 3/8-inch screw holes, allowing the lens to be attached to a quick release plate. The foot is replaceable similar to the 15-600 mm Sports model. The tripod collar offers click stops at every 90 degree position. The zoom ring has markings at 60, 70, 80, 100, 120, 150, 200, 250,300,400 and 600 mm positions.
The lens has four switches. On top is the focus selector, which allows you to set AF (Autofocus), MO (Manual Override) or MF (Manual Focus). The second switch lets you set the focus range. The options are Full, 6 m to infinity and Up to 6 m. Next is the OS mode switch with options of OS 1, 2 and Off. Mode 1 activates optical stabiliser along both vertical and horizontal axes, while Option 2 stabilises the lens only in the vertical axis, helping you to achieve better panning effects. The Custom button at the bottom allows you to create and set custom profiles for OS, AF and focus distance with the help of a Sigma USB Dock. The lens has a focus distance scale that displays a scale marked in both feet and metres.
The lens measures 120.4 mm in diameter and 268.9 mm in length when zoomed out. At 600 mm, it extends a further 95 mm approximately. It weighs 2700 g.
The 60-600 mm features intelligent Optical Stabilisation (OS), which, the company claims, offers up to four stops of shutter speed advantage. The inclusion of special elements reduces chromatic aberration and delivers edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range. An HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) ensures highspeed and quiet autofocus.
The lens is compatible with Sigma USB Dock. It is also compatible with the MC-11 mount conversion adapter to mount on a Sony FE mount mirrorless camera. The lens is available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. The Nikon version of the lens includes Nikon's electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism.
Though the zoom can be locked at any of the marked positions, the locking mechanism engages fully only at the 60 mm position. At all other positions, it disengages with a firm pull of the pushpull system or a firm rotation of the zoom ring. This is quite useful if you have locked the lens at one position and need to quickly zoom in or out.
The 60-600 mm zoom range makes it rather difficult to rotate the zoom ring between the two extreme positions. However, Sigma has constructed the lens in such a way that it can be zoomed by rotation or by that push-pull method. The zoom and focus rings have textured rubber exteriors. The front portion of the lens is also finished in rubber, which ensures sufficient grip even for the push-pull mechanism. The push-pull and rotational actions are smooth, yet welldamped.
Though the lens was extremely heavy to hand hold, it allowed me to precisely capture birds in air, the only drawback being that I had to lower the lens immediately after a panning shot because of muscle fatigue. The Arca-Swiss type foot made it possible to securely mount the lens on the tripod without any slack. The zoom ring was difficult to rotate all the way while hand-holding, but the pushpull zoom proved to be a saviour in these situations. Traditional wisdom advises against choosing an optical zoom beyond 3x for want of sharpness, but clearly, optical technology has come a long way. This 60-600 mm lens offers excellent edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range.
Design and Build Quality
The Sigma 60-600 mm lens is a heavy, but hand-holdable lens, though it can be quite strenuous to hold it for more than a few seconds at a time. Being a Sports series lens, it has a rugged construction. The lens has a zoom lock that prevents accidental rotation when the lens is pointed downwards and transported. Sigma has incorporated an Arca Swiss compatible tripod mount by default, which is very convenient to attach without a separate quick-release plate.It has 1/4 and 3/8-inch screw holes, allowing the lens to be attached to a quick release plate. The foot is replaceable similar to the 15-600 mm Sports model. The tripod collar offers click stops at every 90 degree position. The zoom ring has markings at 60, 70, 80, 100, 120, 150, 200, 250,300,400 and 600 mm positions.
The lens has four switches. On top is the focus selector, which allows you to set AF (Autofocus), MO (Manual Override) or MF (Manual Focus). The second switch lets you set the focus range. The options are Full, 6 m to infinity and Up to 6 m. Next is the OS mode switch with options of OS 1, 2 and Off. Mode 1 activates optical stabiliser along both vertical and horizontal axes, while Option 2 stabilises the lens only in the vertical axis, helping you to achieve better panning effects. The Custom button at the bottom allows you to create and set custom profiles for OS, AF and focus distance with the help of a Sigma USB Dock. The lens has a focus distance scale that displays a scale marked in both feet and metres.
The lens measures 120.4 mm in diameter and 268.9 mm in length when zoomed out. At 600 mm, it extends a further 95 mm approximately. It weighs 2700 g.
Key Features
The Sigma 60-600 mm f/4.5-6.3 Sports is constructed with 25 elements in 19 groups including one SLD (Super-Low Dispersion) and two FLO (F-LowDispersion) elements. The FLO elements offer performance equivalent to superior fluorite glass. The lens features a ninebladed diaphragm, producing a round aperture. Aperture ranges from f/5 to 22 at 60 mm and f/6.3 to 32 at 600 mm. The lens focusses from 60 cm to infinity at 60 mm and 260 cm to infinity at 600 mm. It produces a maximum magnification of 1:3.3 at 200 mm.The 60-600 mm features intelligent Optical Stabilisation (OS), which, the company claims, offers up to four stops of shutter speed advantage. The inclusion of special elements reduces chromatic aberration and delivers edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range. An HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) ensures highspeed and quiet autofocus.
The lens is compatible with Sigma USB Dock. It is also compatible with the MC-11 mount conversion adapter to mount on a Sony FE mount mirrorless camera. The lens is available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. The Nikon version of the lens includes Nikon's electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism.
Ergonomics
As mentioned earlier, the 60-600 mm Sports lens is heavy to hand hold for more than a few seconds. Yet, if you consider the lOx zoom and professional-level construction, this is a small compromise.Though the zoom can be locked at any of the marked positions, the locking mechanism engages fully only at the 60 mm position. At all other positions, it disengages with a firm pull of the pushpull system or a firm rotation of the zoom ring. This is quite useful if you have locked the lens at one position and need to quickly zoom in or out.
The 60-600 mm zoom range makes it rather difficult to rotate the zoom ring between the two extreme positions. However, Sigma has constructed the lens in such a way that it can be zoomed by rotation or by that push-pull method. The zoom and focus rings have textured rubber exteriors. The front portion of the lens is also finished in rubber, which ensures sufficient grip even for the push-pull mechanism. The push-pull and rotational actions are smooth, yet welldamped.
Performance
The Sigma 60-600 mm lens effectively replaces two lenses, but does not essentially reduce the weight. It can be considered an extension to the 150-600 mm Sports lens with identical apertures in the common zoom range. We tested the lens with a Canon EOS 6D, a six-year old model. Autofocus was quiet, fast and precise. The stabilisation worked as intended. The lens produced slight darkening of corners, but this could be easily corrected in post-processing with Photoshop. Flare and chromatic aberration were under control. Slight purple fringing at extreme illuminations was easy to clean up in post-processing. We did not observe any distortion in the images.Though the lens was extremely heavy to hand hold, it allowed me to precisely capture birds in air, the only drawback being that I had to lower the lens immediately after a panning shot because of muscle fatigue. The Arca-Swiss type foot made it possible to securely mount the lens on the tripod without any slack. The zoom ring was difficult to rotate all the way while hand-holding, but the pushpull zoom proved to be a saviour in these situations. Traditional wisdom advises against choosing an optical zoom beyond 3x for want of sharpness, but clearly, optical technology has come a long way. This 60-600 mm lens offers excellent edge-to-edge sharpness throughout the zoom range.
Value for Money
Sigma has smartly priced the 60-600 mm Sports lens at Rs.197,000 (MRP), the same as the 150-600 mm Sports. This is good value for money if you consider the weather sealed body and the versatility of this lens.DUST AND SPLASH-PROOF DESIGN
The 60-600 mm lens is made dust and splash proof with the help of special sealing applied at the mount connection. focus ring, zoom ring and cover connection. The front and rear elements are given a water and oil repellent coating.KEY SPECIFICATIONS
- Lens construction: 25 elements in 19 groups
- Angle of view: 39.62-4.12
- Number of diaphragm blades: 9
- Aperture range: f/5-22 (Wide), f/6.3-32 (Tele)
- Minimum focussing distance: 60 to 260 cm
- Filter size: 105 mm
- Maximum magnification: 1:33 (at 200 mm)
- Dimensions: (Diameter x Length) 120.4 mm (0) x 268.9 mm
- Weight: 2,700 g
- Correspondingmounts:Sigma,Nikon,Canon.
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