This is the allnew sigma 70-200 f2.8 and A lot of people were waiting a long time For this lens this was released in November of 2023 and I think that the reason it's so Long anticipated is because the Sony Version of this lens is $3,000 or almost $3,000 now I'm not the biggest Connoisseur of telephoto zoom lenses you Guys probably already know that but After using this lens for just a week or So I've grown to appreciate it and if I Shot full frame I would definitely pick Up one of these things so let's jump Into it in typical Sigma fashion it Comes in a large white box inside is a Little box with a strap a user manual And warranty info and a zippered padded Case inside is the lens which comes with Plastic front and rear lens caps and a Lens Hood the lens is solidly built it Feels premium Sigma has a way of Manufacturing that makes quality seem Apparent as soon as you hold it in my Opinion these lenses along with their Art series feel better than most Sony GM Lenses this one is pretty big though at About 8 1/2 in in length the weight is Nearly 3 lb and this is a 3 lb lens even Though it is made out of lightweight Magnesium sigma's thermally stable Plastic and carbon reinforced plastic Starting at the rear there is a metal Mount electronic connections and a
Weather sealing gasket the entire lens Is dust and splash resistant with Numerous gaskets throughout 023 here for The 20 23 release minimum focusing Distance of 2.13 Ft made in Japan and Then you get to this bracket which can Be easily rotated with this knob here But I can't seem to figure out how to Remove it apart from removing these Screws it is ARCA Swiss though so that's Good it seems like it would save at Least half a pound of weight if you Could remove this easily but I don't Think Sigma wants you to lens specs up On top Sigma logo here and a lock switch To lock the aperture ring into or out of Auto there are five more switches here To control autofocus a focus range Limiter three Optical stabilization Settings custom buttons and finally Click on or off for the aperture ring The aperture ring is solid nice and Clicky and it feels good to rotate in Front of that is a manual focus ring Which is also very smooth but electronic So it rotates infinitely in either Direction up next there are not one not Two but three custom buttons that I Guess are programmable for various Functions and then at last you get to The zoom ring this Zoom ring is all way At the front of the lens which you may Or may not prefer and it rotates the Opposite direction of typical lenses so
Clockwise zooms out all of the zooming Is done internally so the lens does not Change its length and I have to say the Zoom ring is buttery smooth with very Good dampening and a nice little whoosh Sound if you move it Quickly around the front large front Lens element but nothing else no writing Or specs here it's nice and clean and With the lens Hood which adds about a Good 2 in to the overall length this Looks like a formidable professional Lens it's a bit large compared to the Small a7c camera body that I have Attached to it so as it sits now there Are three modern competitors in this Space you have the Sony G Master which Is about $2,800 us so not budget Oriented you have the Tamron 70 to 180 Version G2 which is improved in build And also has added image stabilization Which is very important I haven't tested That lens yet though and then you have This Sigma so let's see what this thing Is capable of all these shots are done On my Sony a7c this is you know at this Point a budget 8 bit full-frame camera All of these shots are straight out of Camera no editing no post-processing no Filters no picture profiles let's see What it's capable of Ready Set [Music] Go Oh to
[Music] [Music] Me [Music] And well there's not much to say about This lens in terms of Optics it is Brilliant very sharp in the center of The frame very sharp in the corners wide Wide open every single sample photo that You just saw was shot at f2.8 and as far As I can tell there are no weak spots in The focal range I've read that this lens Is a little bit softer at 200 mm Compared to the rest of the range but in My testing you would be hard pressed to Notice any difference all of my shots at 200 mm look sharp certainly to a level Of adequately sharp flaring is Exceptionally well controlled although I Didn't take the lens hood off at all so I'm sure that helped the thing about This lens is that if you shoot into the You normally would get a lot of lost Contrast but here you just don't it's Rare to see this type of performance as Far as chromatic aberration it's almost Non-existent it's very well controlled It's not an issue and Barrel Distortion As well as pin cushion distortions are Also well checked as long as you keep The in camera Corrections on which I did The colors are vibrant and contrasty With no picture profiles or fancy Editing these are all just straight out
Of my camera and a budget camera at that Now there are a couple of things that I Wanted to mention first is the OS or Optical stabilization which is Impressively good if you try to use this Lens without it at 200 mm this is what It looks like and once you switch it on Here is what that looks like Sigma says This provides 7.5 stops of stabilization At the wide end but at the telephoto end This drops to a more realistic 5 and 1/2 Stops this is definitely beyond what an Ibis can do and without this stab Ization it really would not be the same Lens secondly Focus breathing is a Nonissue with this lens so for video Work for Focus pools if you are shooting Wedding videos this lens will not Disappoint you don't need a fancy Sony Camera body with Focus breathing Compensation this lens is designed to Have almost no Focus Breathing by itself Without any fancy Hardware or software Third thing autofocus performance on This lens it's fast it's silent it's Accurate near silent it makes a little Bit bit of noise but you can't really Tell now I'm not going to sit here and Tell you that it is better than the Sony G Masters autofocus performance because If you are pushing it it won't be if You're pushing it in the sense of you're Using it on a Sony A1 you're shooting 30 Frames per second at a subject that's
Running towards you definitely pay Double for the Sony version of this lens But if you're using this like 90% of Other photographers and videographers Out there who are going to be using this Lens for portraits nature shots wedding Travel then the autofocus performance is More than sufficient and will not leave You wanting more for a telephoto lens This is one of the best autofocusing Systems that I've tested and the last Thing that I want to mention is the Ergonomics because when I was reading About this lens a lot of people were Complaining about the zoom ring being All the way out on the front about it Rotating the wrong direction and after Using it I personally kind of like it I Think it's almost easier to be smooth Because you separate your hands in a way That creates more more stability than a Narrower two-handed grip and the Rotation to me felt natural with my left Hand moving the zoom counterclockwise it Felt better than the typical clockwise Rotation although I do understand that This can get confusing if you are Swapping lenses and have to constantly Adjust which direction to go for your Desired result but at the end of the day I don't think that anyone buying this Lens is going to be disappointed it's $1,500 us which is about half the price Of the GM but still a few hundred more
Than that Tamron 70 to 180 and that Tamron is at least per the specs smaller And lighter than this Sigma so if you Want the absolute smallest setup the Tamron is the way to go if you want Flawless high-speed tracking autofocus Performance the Sony is the way to go And also if you plan on using telecon Converters that Sony is also a good Choice for that but I think for a Majority of people this Sigma hits that Sweet spot of optical near perfect Performance for a very competitive dare I say reason reasonable price so I like This lens if you guys have watched my Recent video I posted a couple of days Ago I really want to have a lens similar To this designed specifically for apsc Sensors because if they could shrink This down and still give us that same Coverage of 70 to 200 mm equivalent f2.8 In a smaller more budget friendly Package I would absolutely go out and Buy that thing for my apsc cameras as it Sits right now my only negative about This lens really is the size and the Weight it's big it is a little bit on The heavier side as well but that comes With the territory of having a fast 70 To 200 mm all of those lenses are pretty Big even the smaller Tamron is still Pretty significant in size but let me Know what you guys think down in the Comments section below out of those
Three lenses that I mentioned which one Is your favorite which one would you Pick up or which one do you own curious To read those comments uh thank you guys So much for watching special thank you To Sigma for sending out this lens for Review stay tuned for more have a nice Day bye-bye