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Archive 2016 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

RustyBug
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p.2 #1 · p.2 #1 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

+1 @ ^

Buy the chisel, hone the chisel, craft with the chisel.

It is unfortunate when a craftsman will try to produce superior craftsmanship while working with a dull blade ... and blame the blade without bothering to hone it.

That said, I decided not to invest in the Sigma dock during my testing because I decided that for my shooting, the mfd and balance of the 100-400 II suited me better. My copy really didn't have any focus issues, so I wasn't compelled to use the dock to check for IQ. The biggest deterrent (for me) from the Canon was the f/8 combo vs. the 6.3 of the Sigma.

Edited on May 08, 2016 at 08:22 PM · View previous versions

May 08, 2016 at 08:11 PM

pointbob
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p.2 #2 · p.2 #2 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

i still think the camera body (1) and excellent post processing (2) made a huge impact on the images....lens came in 3d in priority over the aforementioned 2.

May 08, 2016 at 08:16 PM

RustyBug
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p.2 #3 · p.2 #3 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

pointbob wrote:
i still think the camera body (1) and excellent post processing (2) made a huge impact on the images....lens came in 3d in priority over the aforementioned 2.

Old school says "glass rules"

Light>Lens>Sensor>Camera Algorithm>PP>Printing

Sure, PP can do a lot of things and it is important to know how to finish an image well, but great light and great glass gets things off to the right start.

Start to finish, it's all part of the puzzle to creating a finished product.

May 08, 2016 at 08:27 PM

dhachey
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p.2 #4 · p.2 #4 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

BirdWhisperer wrote:
I'm all for more scientific testing, as ours was a field review. I don't see this lens as a competitor to the 600 f/4 though; that's like comparing a Kia to a Rolls!

I think the Kia to Rolls comparison is a bit unfair, it's more like a Lexus to Bugatti Veyron <grin> kind of thing. I don't have any comparison shots to offer quite as exotic as Costa Rica (well I do, but not comparable enough to be useful), so let me offer a side by side comparison of some backyard critters from this morning. The left hand image was shot with a Canon 1D X using an EF200-400mm F4L EX at 560mm and ISO 1250 (1/640 and f/5.6), i.e. the Bugatti. The right hand image was shot with a Canon 7D2 using a Sigma 150-600mm "C" lens at 600mm (effective 840mm) and ISO 3200 (1/800 at f/8.0), i.e. the Lexus. Distance was about 10m for both. Images were minimally processed in LR CC using only auto tone adjustment, but no sharpening or noise reduction, and cropped as identically as possible. For a weight savings of 2.3 kg (5,378g vs. 3018g) and cost savings of $14,900 ($17,400 vs. $2,500, my cost), I don't see that much difference image wise! On the other hand, for a once in a life time critical shot, my go to is the 1D X and 200-400 every time. The keeper rate is near 100%, whereas the 7D2 and Sigma 150-600 success is closer to 50%. The speed and performance makes the 1D X and 200-400 a truly professional grade tool. YMMV...

May 09, 2016 at 12:29 PM

05xrunner
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p.2 #5 · p.2 #5 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

wonder if its the body causing some of the hit rate issue?
I had my 1d3 for a while and had it since day one when I bought the sigma last april when it released. I would say I was getting around a 90% keeper rate with that combo after thousands of images. It always seem to nail focus. Now was it a god shot or not not all are but it always nailed focus. I have had my 7D2 for 2weeks now and it seems to be doing good but I have noticed it will miss at times the 1D3 never would have

May 09, 2016 at 01:13 PM

dhachey
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p.2 #6 · p.2 #6 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

05xrunner wrote:
wonder if its the body causing some of the hit rate issue?
I had my 1d3 for a while and had it since day one when I bought the sigma last april when it released. I would say I was getting around a 90% keeper rate with that combo after thousands of images. It always seem to nail focus. Now was it a god shot or not not all are but it always nailed focus. I have had my 7D2 for 2weeks now and it seems to be doing good but I have noticed it will miss at times the 1D3...Show more →

Most likely the body, the 1D X seems to nail things better than any of my other bodies, but the 7d2 is pretty good.

May 09, 2016 at 02:12 PM

Max_Pain
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p.2 #7 · p.2 #7 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

dhachey wrote:
I think the Kia to Rolls comparison is a bit unfair, it's more like a Lexus to Bugatti Veyron <grin> kind of thing. I don't have any comparison shots to offer quite as exotic as Costa Rica (well I do, but not comparable enough to be useful), so let me offer a side by side comparison of some backyard critters from this morning. The left hand image was shot with a Canon 1D X using an EF200-400mm F4L EX at 560mm and ISO 1250 (1/640 and f/5.6), i.e. the Bugatti. The right hand image was shot with a Canon 7D2...Show more →

Wow, that is a great side by side comparison that really screams "if you're not a pro, you can be happy with either one." As someone who is only doing photography as a hobby, I'm more than excited for the Sigma and don't think I could ever, in good conscience, splurge on the 200-400 EXT. Thanks for that comparison.

May 09, 2016 at 02:29 PM

borno
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p.2 #8 · p.2 #8 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

The sigma S is great wide open on a FF body, on a crop body I try to stop down 1/3 to f7.1 at 600mm. I got the dock, but luckily only had to use it to set the custom settings focus is right on. I would still like a 400mm f2.8, but I'd have to sell the bike,or hit the lotto. Here is one wide open with the 1dsii from the weekend.

355R6418 by tom borneman, on Flickr

May 09, 2016 at 04:41 PM

tarpon6
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p.2 #9 · p.2 #9 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

I have an 80D. With a crop body is the sharpness difference between the S and C going to be even less or non-existent?

I just checked the comparison at The Digital Picture and the C is actually sharper than the S with the 7D II at 500 and 600mm. With the full frame 1Ds III the S is obviously sharper at 500 and 600mm.

May 09, 2016 at 05:46 PM

BirdWhisperer
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p.2 #10 · p.2 #10 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

As important as capture sharpness is, the finished product is the ultimate test of a camera-lens combination. In the blog I was forced to use small versions of the processed files. I did include 100% RAW crops for pixel peepers, but I thought you all might like to see larger versions of the processed frames. They are all 1500 pixels wide.


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-82rWJZX/0/O/i-82rWJZX.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-T72sZTS/0/O/i-T72sZTS.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-3qHTTQD/0/O/i-3qHTTQD.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-S3s4kNs/0/O/i-S3s4kNs.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-4r9VZdc/0/O/i-4r9VZdc.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-FB3VJXH/0/O/i-FB3VJXH.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-QwVn2kj/0/O/i-QwVn2kj.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-KWg9fsM/0/O/i-KWg9fsM.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-6Ntfd8x/0/O/i-6Ntfd8x.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-G2sqvq2/0/O/i-G2sqvq2.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-WWNpVcG/0/O/i-WWNpVcG.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-ZsZmFTk/0/O/i-ZsZmFTk.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-8qs8GJh/0/O/i-8qs8GJh.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-Fv29tHT/0/O/i-Fv29tHT.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-rpGG22q/0/O/i-rpGG22q.jpg


	https://photos.smugmug.com/photos/i-XbbDJs3/0/O/i-XbbDJs3.jpg

Edited on May 09, 2016 at 08:38 PM · View previous versions

May 09, 2016 at 07:17 PM

dhachey
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p.2 #11 · p.2 #11 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

Doug, these are all quite nice. I don't feel confident enough to use the C for BIF. AF speed and tracking performance isn't as good as the Canon lenses. What is your experience?

May 09, 2016 at 07:30 PM

dhachey
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p.2 #12 · p.2 #12 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

tarpon6 wrote:
I have an 80D. With a crop body is the sharpness difference between the S and C going to be even less or non-existent?

I just checked the comparison at The Digital Picture and the C is actually sharper than the S with the 7D II at 500 and 600mm. With the full frame 1Ds III the S is obviously sharper at 500 and 600mm.

The difference is probably due to copy variation, but hard to tell for sure since there isn't enough data "out there" on the Internet. I've been trying to lure Roger Cicala out to chime in on the topic, but so far he hasn't taken the bait. He's the only one who has the resources and expertise to do this properly.

May 09, 2016 at 07:36 PM

05xrunner
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p.2 #13 · p.2 #13 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

you must have a bunk copy or do you own the C. My copy AF is VERY fast and the only issue it has with any BIF is the person behind the camera. It can keep up way more then I can. I have found that it had better results so far with my 1D3 then it does with my current 7D2. Not sure if its still getting use to the crop and more shutter speed needed or not with the 7D2

May 09, 2016 at 08:06 PM

BirdWhisperer
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p.2 #14 · p.2 #14 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

dhachey wrote:
Doug, these are all quite nice. I don't feel confident enough to use the C for BIF. AF speed and tracking performance isn't as good as the Canon lenses. What is your experience?

The Contemporary is not my first choice for BIF because I own a pricey, optically superior 600 mm lens with an f/4 maximum aperture. The additional 1 1/3 stops of light is a big advantage when photographing BIF on non-sky backgrounds.

The downside of the 600 f/4 is that it has no zoom, and sometimes I clip BIF if they get too close. So the 150-600 earns a place in my BIF bag by virtue of the fact that it has a huge zoom range.

May 09, 2016 at 08:44 PM

BirdWhisperer
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p.2 #15 · p.2 #15 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

I guess the main point to me is that I look at these processed photos, and the issue of quality of the lens never once crosses my mind. I would take an entire portfolio of images of this quality any day.

May 09, 2016 at 09:58 PM

pKai
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p.2 #16 · p.2 #16 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

All other things being equal, can someone explain to me how any given lens could be sharper on a FF vs a crop sensor. Obviously, I'm not talking about the variability of the sensor itself... Unless I'm misunderstanding some of the comments here some people seem to be saying that the Sport version is sharper on FF than the "C" version and vice-versa with a crop sensor.

This makes no technical sense to me. Any given lens casts an image possessing certain characteristics.... Said image is a given size according to the design of the lens and whether that image is being cast on a larger or smaller sensor should maze ZERO difference besides the obvious FOV difference. IOW, any perceived qualitative difference in any resulting images from this scenario should come from variations in the sensors, not the lens...... No?

May 10, 2016 at 08:04 AM

BirdWhisperer
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p.2 #17 · p.2 #17 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

May 10, 2016 at 09:26 AM

drewmey
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p.2 #18 · p.2 #18 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

pKai wrote:
All other things being equal, can someone explain to me how any given lens could be sharper on a FF vs a crop sensor. Obviously, I'm not talking about the variability of the sensor itself... Unless I'm misunderstanding some of the comments here some people seem to be saying that the Sport version is sharper on FF than the "C" version and vice-versa with a crop sensor.

This makes no technical sense to me. Any given lens casts an image possessing certain characteristics.... Said image is a given size according to the design of the lens and whether that image...Show more →

On the crop camera you are simply only using the center portion of the lenses image circle. So any flaws to the lens (CA, dust, missed focus, etc) might to be "magnified" when compared to the FF (under some circumstances described below).

So I think it depends on the situation a little. If the person shooting FF is getting closer or using a larger focal length than the crop sensor to make up for the 1.6x factor (not "all things equal"), than the FF should be sharper. If they are cropping in post, than the crop likely has a higher pixel density and will appear sharper. If they have equal pixel density, 7d2 vs 5DS, I would expect the cropped 5DS to be pretty much equal. There are just too many variables for me to think this through completely

but wanted to mention the possibility of lens flaws being more apparent on crop sensors.

EDIT: So in situations where you are not focal length limited (600mm on FF vs 375mm on crop), the first situation would be true and people could be describing it as sharper on FF.

May 10, 2016 at 01:46 PM

pKai
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p.2 #19 · p.2 #19 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

I am aware of center VS corners, image circles, magnification, pixel density, etc..... That does not appear to be what some of these ppl are saying........ Comments like this from above is what perplexed me...

"I just checked the comparison at The Digital Picture and the C is actually sharper than the S with the 7D II at 500 and 600mm. With the full frame 1Ds III the S is obviously sharper at 500 and 600mm."

Seems to imply that one version is better on crop vs FF than the other AND VICE VERSA... that last part being important and is what makes no sense to me.

May 10, 2016 at 02:06 PM

tarpon6
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p.2 #20 · p.2 #20 · Sigma 150-600 Contemporary vs Sport Comparison

pKai wrote:
I am aware of center VS corners, image circles, magnification, pixel density, etc..... That does not appear to be what some of these ppl are saying........ Comments like this from above is what perplexed me...

"I just checked the comparison at The Digital Picture and the C is actually sharper than the S with the 7D II at 500 and 600mm. With the full frame 1Ds III the S is obviously sharper at 500 and 600mm."

Seems to imply that one version is better on crop vs FF than the other AND VICE VERSA... that last part being important and is what...Show more →

Go here and take a look. First you will see the Sports lens is sharper at 600mm f/6.3 with the 1Ds III. Switch the camera for both lenses to the 7D2 (make sure to set the focal lenght back to 600mm and f/6.3). You will see the Contemporary lens now wins. http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/ISO-12233-Sample-Crops.aspx?Lens=978&Camera=453&Sample=0&FLI=7&API=0&LensComp=990&CameraComp=453&SampleComp=0&FLIComp=7&APIComp=0 I can't explain it, but it's there..

May 10, 2016 at 02:35 PM

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