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p.1 #9 · p.1 #9 · Canon 70-200mm 2.8 II - vs - Sigma 120-300mm 2.8 Sport | |
I currently own both.
IQ wise, they are close.
The edge goes to the canon (as expected, since it's so good it actually beats some primes), but it is so close that I would say that it's almost irrelevant.
As Ian said, the weight difference is noticeable.
Does it matter?
Well, it all depends on the individual. Only you can tell.
It depends on your physique. And, of course, if you are willing to deal with bigger weight.
It can be tiresome after awhile, but that's not a problem for me. Because, for me, it's worth it. But this is my personal opinion, of course. OMMV. I'm 37 and I go to the gym.
When I get older, I might have a different opinion.
With this in mind, my advice is the same as Ian's: rent one if you can and evaluate for yourself if you are willing to deal with the weight or not. It's a very personal thing.
You mentioned you want to shoot at 400mm.
With that purpose in mind and between the two, I would choose the sigma.
I own a 1.4x tc and a 2.0x tc and for 400mm, I would go with the sigma + 1.4tc.
For several reasons, the most important being that you have a full stop advantage over the other choice.
I should mention two things: sigma's OS and HSM are good, or very good.
But canon's 70-200 2.8IS II IS and USM are the best in the business.
The Sigma focuses fast, but while the canon focuses faster, the biggest differentiation lies in tracking. The canon is amazing. The sigma struggles a little more under very demanding situations (as in a subject moving fast in your direction). I have my personal theory about this: I believe it is because sigma reverse engineers canon's AF algorithms. The HSM unit is fast in itself (one shot AF is very fast and accurate), but the lens seems to talk in a different language than the camera, so there has to be a translation between the two as they "talk" to each other in AI-Servo, so sometimes you notice what seems to be a slight hesitation and not actually slow AF per se. In AI-Servo there is a lot of constant calculations going on, so you notice it there but not in one shot mode. A canon body and canon lens speak the same language, so there is no need for translation. Sorry about the bad analogy, hope you understand what I meant.
The addition of a 1.4x TC makes this a little worse.
Keep in mind that this issue (or to better put it, the severity of the issue) is dependent on the subjects behavior. As an example, lately I have been shooting a lot of karate events and between the two lenses, I notice no difference in terms of keepers. (For reference, I should mention that I use a 5DMIII, as I can't vouch for the same results with lesser AF systems).
But under other circumstances (subject moving fast towards you like a car or, even worse, a motorcycle) the difference will be there.
However, you can customize the lens in nearly most conceivable ways with the dock, including most AF parameters, so you can mitigate this issue somewhat (increasing tracking speed).
Also, as Ian as pointed out, you can put a 2.0x tc on the sigma and get a very respectable 600mm f5.6, which is something that should be considered. Comparing this with the canon choice, it's 200mm more for the same aperture. That's a lot!
Just don't expect any miracles in AI-Servo.
I have a friend who uses my previous non-S version with a 2.0x tc to shoot surf and he gets good results, both in terms of IQ and keepers.
Hope this helps.
Any specific questions, just shoot away.
P.S.
While some people will tell you to get the specific focal length you want (400mm) and that is a perfectly good point, I agree with your reasoning: you remove the TC and you get the 2.8 aperture.
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