Camera
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS | Sports gallery and initial impressions
Sigma 70-200mm DG DN OS | Sports initial impressions
Sigma’s latest release, the 70-200mm F2.8 DG DN OS | Sports, provides a new constant-aperture telephoto zoom for users of Sony, Panasonic, Leica and Sigma full-frame mirrorless cameras. The lens itself isn’t much of a surprise, what with the existing ‘pre-announcements’ that have been floating around the web for a while now, but we’ve been able to get our hands on a copy to shoot some samples, to get an idea of how it stacks up against the existing first- and third-party competition.
Key specifications:
- Focal length: 70-200mm (105–300mm with APS-C crop)
- Aperture range: F2.8 – F22
- Stabilization: Yes
- Filter thread: 77mm
- Close focus: 0.65m (25.6″) at 70mm; 1m (39.4″) at 200mm
- Maximum magnification: 0.19x (at 70mm)
- Diaphragm blades: 11
- Hood: Included
- Weight: E-mount 1335g (2.94 lb); L-mount 1345g (2.96 lb)
- Optical construction: 20 elements in 15 groups (6 FLD, 2 SLD, 3 aspherical)
The lens comes with a recommended price of $1499, which represents a fair discount from most camera maker’s own options, and Sigma says it will be available on December 7, 2023.
Handling and build
At nearly one-and-a-half kilos (∼three pounds), the Sigma 70-200mm DG DN OS is no lightweight, but it does feel lighter than you might expect given its dimensions and capability. It also balances well on the a7R V that we’ve had it mounted to.
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| It’s no lightweight, but it’s not really a heavyweight, either. |
Build quality is just about faultless. The exterior is a mix of textured high-quality polycarbonate and metal, and the ribbed zoom, focus and aperture rings are easy to find by feel. The aperture ring is particularly well-executed. It allows for both clicked- and clickless operation, and it can be locked in either ‘A’ (which, depending on your shooting mode, passes aperture control off to a command dial or the camera’s autoexposure algorithm), or it can be locked out of A, meaning you can use the ring to freely select your exposure, but you won’t accidentally override the ring with an overly enthusiastic adjustment.
There are switches aplenty, including a C1-C2 switch for selecting between two sets of optical stabilizer or focus limiter settings (though this is an L-mount-only feature requiring Sigma’s UD-11 USB dock). There is also a three-setting focus limiter (Full, 3m–infinity, minimum distance–3m), an autofocus selector and the aforementioned aperture click and lock controls. Finally, there are three programmable pushbuttons on the barrel between the zoom and focus rings; one on the top of the lens, one on the bottom and one on the left as you are looking down the barrel towards your subject. But keep in mind that though there are three buttons, you can only program a single function for them (at least, that’s the case on our Sony a7R V).
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| An Arca-Swiss cutout on the tripod foot is always a nice touch. |
For the tripod enthusiasts among you, the (included) tripod foot comes with an Arca-Swiss dovetail cutout and the tripod collar has nice, pronounced detents at each 90-degree rotation. And for the video shooters among you, you’ll be happy to know that zooming the lens doesn’t meaningfully change the overall weight distribution, so you can zoom away even while shooting on a balanced gimbal.
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| This overlap (full zoom ring shown on left side, hood overlap shown at right) proved to be irksome for me, but your mileage may vary. |
If there’s one concern we have with the handling of the Sigma 70-200mm DG DN OS, it’s with the included lens hood. The build of the hood itself is fantastic, constructed out of carbon-fiber reinforced plastic and it secures to the lens with a textured thumb screw. The problem is that, when it’s mounted in the shooting position, it covers 3–4mm of the front edge of the zoom ring. That may not sound like a lot, and to be sure, there’s still plenty of ring to grab onto, but nonetheless, my hand kept running into the hood as I was going to adjust the zoom setting. This may be something that clears up with prolonged usage and muscle memory, however.
Image quality and autofocus impressions
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A good 70-200mm F2.8 lens can be a worthy companion for a wide variety of photographic pursuits.
Sony a7R V | Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 @ 200mm | ISO 100 | 1/500 sec | F8 |
While we need to reserve final judgment of the lens’ optical characteristics until we’ve had time to do more formal testing, our initial impressions are largely positive. While the lens is certainly sharp enough at F2.8 on the 61MP sensor of the a7R V, particularly for portraits, you will find that stopping down to F4 and F5.6 will get you greater clarity for landscapes and the like. Vignetting is present but is pretty subtle even at F2.8.
We found the bokeh (characteristics of out-of-focus regions of the image) to be pretty smooth and rarely distracting, even with busier backgrounds and more moderate apertures. However, if you’re not a fan of the cat-eye effect of out-of-focus highlights, you’d best steer clear – the effect can be very pronounced at wider apertures. Shooting into the sun can induce a slight loss of contrast, but we didn’t find it to be extreme, and chromatic aberrations are very well controlled indeed. We’ll be looking more closely at sunstars and flare when the sun emerges for more than a few moments at a time here in the Seattle region.
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A fast 70-200mm lens isn’t just for outdoor use, either.
Sony a7R V | Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 @ 173mm | ISO 800 | 1/200 sec | F2.8 |
Autofocus speeds are quick, and though they’re not as close to instantaneous as some other options on the market, we don’t think you’ll have trouble tracking most any moving subject. We’ll need more sporting opportunities to know for sure. The manual focus ring is wonderfully damped, and focus breathing is well-controlled across the zoom range, so this is shaping up to be a solid option for video shooters interested in this focal range.
Sample gallery
Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.
Takeaways
Overall, the Sigma 70-200mm DG DN OS | Sports is a welcome addition to the constant-aperture telezoom market. It’s not the absolute sharpest option on the market, nor is it the lightest, but between its excellent build quality, impressive aberration control and relatively reasonable price, we think photographers will find a lot to like here.
Is the Sigma 70-200mm DG DN OS going to find a place in your camera bag? What do you make of Sigma’s latest telezoom release? Let us know in the comments.
Camera
Pentax K-1 and K-1 II firmware updates include astrophotography features (depending on where you live)
Yesterday, Ricoh quietly released firmware 2.50 for its Pentax K-1 and K-1 II DSLRs. However, the features you can expect to gain from this update may depend on your geography.
Ricoh’s English-language firmware pages for the K-1 and K-1 II state that firmware 2.50 delivers “Improved stability for general performance.”
However, astute Pentax users noted that Ricoh’s Japanese-language firmware pages (translation) indicate that the update also includes a limited feature called “Astronomical Photo Assist,” a collection of three new features designed for astrophotography: Star AF, remote control focus fine adjustment, and astronomical image processing.
Star AF is intended to automate focusing on stars when using autofocus lenses. Rather than manually focusing on a bright star and changing your composition, it promises to let you compose your shot and let the camera focus.
Remote control fine adjustment allows users to adjust focus without touching the lens and requires Pentax’s optional O-RC1 remote. Astronomical image processing will enable users to make in-camera adjustments to astrophotography images, including shading correction, fogging correction, background darkness, star brightness, celestial clarity, and fringe correction.
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| Astronomical image processing on the K-1 and K-1 II will enable users to make in-camera adjustments to astrophotography images, including shading correction, fogging correction, background darkness, star brightness, celestial clarity, and fringe correction. |
According to Ricoh, Astronomical Photo Assist is a premium feature that must be purchased and costs ￥11,000 for an activation key (about $70 at current exchange rates).
Although these astrophotography features appear to be Japan-only for now, a Ricoh representative tells us, “Ricoh Imaging Americas confirmed that the premium firmware features for the PENTAX K-1 and PENTAX K-1 Mark II will eventually be available to US customers.”
Firmware update 2.50 for both the K-1 and K-1 II is available for download from Ricoh’s website.
As part of our twenty fifth anniversary, we’re looking back at some of the most significant cameras launched and reviewed during that period. Today’s pick was launched seven years ago today* and yet we’re only quite recently stepping out of its shadow.
The Nikon D850 is likely to be remembered as the high watermark of DSLR technology. We may yet still see impressive developments from Ricoh in the future (we’d love to see a significantly upgraded Pentax K-1 III), but the D850 was perhaps the green flash as the sun set on the DSLR as the dominant technology in the market.
Click here to read our Nikon D850 review
Why do we think it was such a big deal? Because it got just about everything right. Its 45MP sensor brought dual conversion gain to high pixel count sensors, meaning excellent dynamic range at base ISO and lower noise at high ISOs. Its autofocus system was one of the best we’ve ever seen on a DSLR: easy to use and highly dependable, with a good level of coverage. And then there was a body and user interface honed by years of iterative refinement, that made it easy to get the most out of the camera.
None of this is meant as a slight towards the other late-period DSLRs but the likes of Canon’s EOS 5DS and 5DSR didn’t present quite such a complete package of AF tracking, daylight DR and low-light quality as the Nikon did. With its ability to shoot at up to 9fps (if you used the optional battery grip), the D850 started to chip away at the idea that high megapixel cameras were specialized landscape and studio tools that would struggle with movement or less-than-perfect lighting. And that’s without even considering its 4K video capabilities.
In the seven years since the D850 was launched, mirrorless cameras have eclipsed most areas in which DSLRs once held the advantage. For example, the Z8 can shoot faster, autofocus more with more accuracy and precision, across a wider area of the frame and do so while shooting at much faster rates.
But, even though it outshines the D850 in most regards, the Z8 is still based around what we believe is a (significant) evolution of the same sensor, and its reputation still looms large enough for Nikon to explicitly market the Z8 as its “true successor.”
Nikon D850 sample gallery
*Actually seven years ago yesterday: we had to delay this article for a day to focus on the publishing the Z6III studio scene: the latest cameras taking precedence over our anniversary content.
| Photo: Richard Butler |
We’ve just received a production Nikon Z6III and took it into our studio immediately to get a sense for how the sensor really performs.
Dynamic range tests have already been conducted, but these only give a limited insight into the image quality as a whole. As expected, our Exposure Latitude test – which mimics the effect of reducing exposure to capture a bright sunrise or sunset, then making use of the deep shadows – shows a difference if you use the very deepest shadows, just as the numerical DR tests imply.
Likewise, our ISO Invariance test shows there’s more of a benefit to be had from applying more amplification by raising the ISO setting to overcome the read noise, than there was in the Z6 II. This means there’s a bigger improvement when you move up to the higher gain step of the dual conversion gain sensor but, as with the Z6 II, little more to be gained beyond that.
These are pushing at the extreme of the sensor’s performance though. For most everyday photography, you don’t use the deepest shadows of the Raw files, so differences in read noise between sensors don’t play much of a role. In most of the tones of an image, sensor size plays a huge role, along with any (pretty rare) differences in light capturing efficiency.
As expected, the standard exposures look identical to those of the Z6 II. There are similar (or better) levels of detail at low ISO, in both JPEG and Raw. At higher ISO, the Z6III still looks essentially the same as the Z6II. Its fractionally higher level of read noise finally comes back to have an impact at very, very high ISO settings.
Overall, then, there is a read noise price to be paid for the camera’s faster sensor, in a way that slightly blunts the ultimate flexibility of the Raw files at low ISO and that results in fractionally more noise at ultra-high ISOs. But we suspect most people will more than happily pay this small price in return for a big boost in performance.
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