Hi I'm Gordon from camera labs and this Is my review of the sigma 500 mm f5.6 Djdn a light and compact super telephoto Prime lens aimed at sports wildlife and Aviation photographers announced in March 2024 and initially available in Sony E and Leica El mounts it costs Around $3,000 or £2,800 Price-wise this pitches it roughly Between a variety of super telephoto Zooms and super high-end prime lenses While beating them all on portability Size and weight of key benefits here With the sigma 500 5.6 being Surprisingly small and light in person Measuring just 235 mil long 108 mil in Diameter and weighing just under 1.4 kg That's actually shorter and only a tad Heavier than Canon's legendary EF 45.6 despite reaching 100 mm further It's seriously Compact and lightweight For a lens of this focal length and Aperture and it's something that I found Could comfortably handhold and walk Around with all day I even managed to Use it on my fisol tt15 mini tripod in Comparison Sigma own 150 to 600 and 60 To 600 zooms may be a much more Affordable way to reach 500 mil and Beyond costing around $1,500 and $2,000 Respectively but both are dimmer at 500 Mil and crucially a lot heavier at 2.1 And just under 2 1/2 kg respectively Meanwhile Sony's popular fe2 to 600 is
Another more affordable way to reach 500 Mil and Beyond at around $2,000 but Again it's a more substantial Proposition longer at 318 mil heavier at 2.1 kg and again dimmer at 500 mil by Now you'll be understanding the USP of The sigma 500 prime it may be more Expensive than a zoom lens and obviously Lacks their flexibility but counters it With a slightly brighter aperture Shorter physical length and considerably Lighter weight not to mention with the Promise of better Optical quality Suffice it say it's also a lot lighter And more affordable than the truly High-end f2.8 and F4 super Telly primes Out there thereby delivering an Aspirational package without breaking Your back and while three grand can't Exactly be described as cheap it is Around a quarter of the price of those Mega lenses okay now that's enough Background let's take a tour around the Lens designed manufactured and assembled At sigma's sole Factory in Japan the Build quality is excellent the lens is Made from what Sigma describes as a Thermally stable composite material Which actually shares similar expansion Properties to aluminium the mount Control rings and switches are all dust And splash resistant and includes a Rubber grommet at the mount as you'd Hope the lens is supplied with a tripod
Collar and as always bonus points to Sigma for carving an Aras Swiss stet Tail in the foot allowing it to slide Right into compatible clamps other Companies please note and follow suit This foot can also be removed to save a Bit of weight but I left it on to double As a handle or be it quite a tight one For those with larger hands the collar Remains integrated though allowing the Barrel to rotate inside with useful Notches and feedback at 90° intervals Closest to the mount on the right here Are four switches the first for auto and Manual focus below this is the focus Limiter switch with three options the Full range 10 m to Infinity for distance Subjects or 3.2 to 10 m for the closer Ones next comes the optical Stabilization switch with two modes the First for General use and the second one Optimized for panning most bodies with Ibys can work alongside this Optical Stabilization with the lens typically Taking care of the X and Y AIS leaving The others to the camera below this is The custom switch with two Banks like Other Sigma lenses with the same Capability this allows you to fine-tune The stabilization and the focus limiter Options via the optional USB dock this Is however only available for El Versions of the lens so Sony owners will Have to make do with the defaults but
They're fine positioned roughly Midway Along the barrel is a wide and very Smooth free spinning manual focusing Ring followed by a manual apture ring That's closer towards the front of the Lens at first it looks a little bit odd To have this apertur ring so far from The mount but it does make a lot of Sense as this is where you're going to Be supporting the lens when shooting the Aperture runs between f5.6 and F32 with A lockable a position for body based Control the aperture ring can also be Clicked or de clicked by a switch on the Opposite side finally towards the end of The barrel a three Focus hold buttons Normally also customizable on most Bodies unsurprisingly for this focal Length and aperture the front of the Barrel expands to accommodate these Substantial first element with an Equally substantial 95 mm filter thread At the end Sigma supplies a clip-on Plastic lens cap and a substantial Cylindrical lens Hood which is held in Place by a thumb screw note the rubber Tip around the end of the hood which Allows you to stand the lens up on a Flat surface with less risk of it Slipping over the depth of the hood also Keeps the precious front element Protected from more uneven surfaces and The hood itself itself can be reversed Over the barrel for transportation Sigma
Also includes a padded case for the lens With swappable foam bases depending Whether you carry the lens with the hood Reversed over the barrels or removed Altogether like most cases for big Lenses though you will have to remove Your camera body if you want to zip it Closed Sigma supplied the Mount version For my review and I used the Panasonic Lumix s52 X to test it the optical Results though should apply to the E-mount version for the Sony owners out There now one of the quirks of Lumix Bodies is they sometimes slow down their Photo autofocus when connected to an External HDMI recorder which in turn Makes it quite hard to demonstrate in a Review like this so anecdotally I found That the focus speed was Swift in use Limited pretty much by the subject Recognition and the tracking of the body That you mounted on I can however show You the effect of the optical Stabilization in practice here I'm Trying to frame a tree at the end of my Garden first without stabilization Before switching it on Via the lens Barrel and returning to a view that After a couple of seconds of settling Down becomes much steadier next here's a More challenging situation where I'm Actually holding the camera and lens High above my head to have a clear view Of the bird through the branches it's a
Pretty uncomfortable position with Inevitable wobbles but the optical Stabilization still let me grab some Sharp Images and now I've relocated to a Different position where I could lean Against a wall it's still handheld but Clearly much steadier thanks to an extra Point of contact if you intend to pan The lens I'd strongly recommend OS mode 2 otherwise the image can jump a bit as You reach the extremes next for coverage And for comparison I'll start with a View of bright and Pier from my earlier Review of the Sigma 50 mil 1.4 dgn art Lens so this shot represents standard Cod coverage and now here's what you're Going to get from the 500 5.6 from the Same position pretty tight huh I also Scaled this image down to match the Details on the 50 mil version and found That I could fit in a fraction under 10 Of them across the frame of that shorter Lens so that confirms the magnification Difference most obviously 500 mil is an Ideal length for bird photography and Distance sports but I also enjoy the Unique perspective super telephotos can Deliver on Urban views the compression Can be quite dramatic and I've got more Examples to show you at the end of this Video it's also a decent length for Solar and Luna photography now sadly the Moon was elusive during my test period But I did manage to grab some views of
The Sun at sunset this could also make It ideal for Eclipse photography and I've got separate videos which will show You how to photograph both solar and Lunar eclipses if you're interested if You want greater reach the El Mount Version of the lens is compatible with Sigma's 1.4 and two times teleconverters But sadly the Sony version of the lens Won't work with TCS at least not with Autofocus anyway this could be a reason For Sony owners to choose the Sony lens Instead which also tend to work better With their bodies built-in stabilization And they also support the fastest burst Speeds sadly like all third party lenses Sony bodies will limit their maximum Burst speed or you could Mount the lens On a camera with an apsc sensor or Exploit a cropped mode to deliver an Effective focal length of 750 mil now While crop modes will reduce the Resolution of still f photos many modern Cameras offer cropped video modes which Can maintain 4K quality to illustrate The extra Reach In Action his still Photo of the Sun in full-frame photo Mode and now for a short video clip Filmed in 4k apsc mode for a 50% boost In magnification and this video was also Handheld this technique is also ideal For getting a boost on Wildlife subjects So here's that pigeon again with Fullframe photo coverage before
Switching to a 4K video video version Filmed in an apsc cropped mode as Mentioned earlier I was leaning against A wall here but this was still handheld At 750 mil equivalent I'll show you some More videos later but first let's check Out the photo quality of the 500 5.6 on Another portion of bright and pier and Since the view is already so tight There's no need to angle it as I do with Wider lenses so now let's zoom into the Middle of the image for a closer look With the aperture wide open to 5.6 where There's loads of fine detail and nothing Really to complain about in my tests I Saw no benefit to closing the aperture Any further for sharpness in the middle Of the frame so now let's head into the Far corner and it tells pretty much the Same story The sharpness is maintained Right into the extremes with the Aperture wide open and again there's no Benefit to stopping it down in my test At least for sharpness this represents Excellent performance from the sigma 500 And confirms its Optical superiority Over cheaper zooms the quality is also Maintained at close distances although The fairly modest minimum focusing Distance of just 3.2 M does somewhat Limit the potential magnification Compared to rival zooms but regardless Here's an example taken near to the Minimum focusing distance allowing me to
Almost fill the frame with this bird Let's now have a look at some more bird Photos taken with the lens mounted on The S5 2x body generally using zoned or Full area autofocus with animal and Human subject recognition as the birds Pass in front of various buildings You'll see the potential for separation At f5.6 sure it's not going to be as Great as on an F4 or 2.8 super Telly Prime but again this lens is Considerably lighter and cheaper than Those kind of lenses and if you're Coming from the other direction it may Be more expensive and lack the Flexibility of a zoom lens but I greatly Appreciated its considerably lighter Weight when moving around especially as It remained a handh holdable prospect in Many situations my results from the 500 Were all also a little sharper and with Slightly shallower depth of field Effects than the best zooms out there The Lumix S5 2x autofocus and tracking Though was not as reliable or consistent As the Sony bodies I've tested so El Mount bird photographers may want to try This combination before they buy and now For my verdict during which I'll show You some more sample photos and video Clips that I made with this lens the Sigma 500 mil 5.6 dgn is a very welcome Super Tel ferto lens for those who Prefer to use prime over zooms it
Delivers a step up in sharpness and Brightness over the big zoom lenses with A considerable saving in weight making It tempting to anyone shooting distance Subjects who greatly values portability At just under 1.4 kg it's so much easier To carry around than zooms which include This focal length and unlike those Models I found it possible to shoot all Day mostly handheld without the need for A tripod or monopod and while it lacks The ultimate separation of the F4 and 2.8 super tele primes it is considerably Lighter and cheaper than any of those Kind of lenses but there's still no Getting away from the fact that it is Pricier than the big zooms while also Lacking their flexibility Sigma Zone 60 To 600 and 150 to 600 both extend beyond 500 mil giving them greater Compositional flexibility while also Costing 2/3 and half the price Respectively likewise Sony's 200 to 600 Reaches further has greater flexibility And cost 2/3 the price of the sigma Prime but all of these zooms are larger And we over 2 kg or in the case of the 60 to 600 closer to 2 and 1/2 kg making Them much less portable when testing Those lenses I did love their Flexibility and affordability but I Hated carrying any of them around for Long now what you're willing to carry Around is a very personal thing but
Those Hefty zooms rooted me to mostly Fixed locations and tripod or at least Monopod use in contrast the sigma 500 Felt much more like a handheld lens the Irony being it may be less flexible as a Prime but you're more able to move Freely with It ultimately it's a mature Market now with lots of choice and I'm Delighted Sigma has targeted the middle Ground here a little like Canon's old 45.6 and Nikon's more recent 66.3 all of these offer a taste of a Bright super telephoto Prime without the Cost and weight of those you see lugged Around Pro sporting venues once again if Your budget is tighter just go for a Zoom but if the 500 length fits your Subject and you greatly value Portability I'd say it's worth spending The extra on this one it's highly Recommended and that's it for this Review let me know what you think in the Comments and which supertel photo lens Is best for your style of shooting and If you found my review useful and you'd Like me to make more of them please do Consider giving it a like and my channel Follow it really helps thanks for Watching and I'll see you next time Bye-bye
