Sigma 729955 100-400 mm F5-6.3 DG OS C Nikon Fitting HSM Lens - Black

Product Information

In comparison to the Nikon the new Sigma produces a softer FF/FX-corner but otherwise looks very similar.

Nikon’s original AF 80-400mm was the company’s first lens to feature VR (Vibration Reduction). That’s been updated in the new AF-S version, but it’s still only worth about 3-stops and is less effective than in the cheaper Tamron 100-400mm. It does have a switchable dual-mode autofocus system, enabling you to give priority to autofocus or manual override. With a lot to love, and only a few relatively obscure complaints, you can’t go wrong investing in the Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary. Still, there are alternatives out there, so we should compare them. The spherical aberration color halo shows little size change as the lens is defocused, and stopping down one to two stops generally removes this aberration.An extension tube mounted behind this lens should provide a modest decrease and increase, respectively. Placing the sun in the corner of a long focal length frame and stopping down the aperture is a recipe for sure flaring effects, but this lens does not show strong amounts from a relative standpoint. The rotational direction of the zoom ring is the same as in Nikon lenses. The electromagnetic diaphragm control makes aperture adjustment impossible with some older Nikon DSLRs, however. These are some of the most obscure aspects of image quality, and they are either easily corrected by a lens profile, (in the case of chromatic aberration) …or impossible, in the case of coma & astigmatism. There are some subtle quirks that this lens has to deal with in terms of how the vignetting and its built-in correction profile adversely affects the tone and color of heavily-processed images, however, so I’ll talk about that in the Cons section. Vignetting & Distortion Sigma 100-400mm DN, Nikon Z7 | 400mm, 1/640 sec, f/6.3, ISO 64 (No vignetting correction applied)

The lens has no tripod collar, and there is no way to attach one. That means you have to dangle the full weight of the lens from the camera body when you use a tripod. [-] Axial CA remains somewhat persistent when stopping down, with the color misalignment effect increasing with defocusing.Covering the tripod ring attachment area, shown exposed in the mount image above, is the included Sigma PT-31 Protective Cover. There are also a set of in-camera aberration corrections available with current and recent Canon and Nikon bodies, curbing peripheral illumination, distortion and lateral chromatic aberration. Again this lens performs well across its zoom-range in this long distance test. If you want to see all the details, read on. Or fast-forward to the next chapter on rendering of point-light sources at night-shots. OPTICAL CONSTRUCTION: 22 elements in 16 groups, one “F” Low Dispersion, four Special Low Dispersion elements

OS, Optical Stabilization, is an extremely valuable feature in any lens and an especially valuable feature in a telephoto lens.Above: Nikon 80-400/4.5-5.6G VR at 200mm, f5.6; 100% crop from center, APS-C/DX-corner, FF/FX-corner As I said in the beginning of this review, most photographers highly value a telephoto zoom lens with long focal lengths, a significant percentage of these photographers are looking for a lightweight, low cost option, and no one wants to give up great image quality or deal with a lens that does not perform well. The pair of short-throw 3-position switches require care to avoid mispositioning when the middle position is the goal (commonly used Mode I OS, for example). Note that images from most cameras require some level of sharpening, but too-high sharpness settings are destructive to image details and hide the deficiencies of a lens.