Is the Sigma 60

Jul 13, 2023

Do you all remember the when Sigma released the "Bigma" in 2001? The Bigma, or Sigma 50-500mm f/4-6.3 EX DG HSM, dominated the amateur and semi-professional market. 22 years later, in a time of mirrorless cameras and high-end optics, the next Bigma is here. Welcome to the new Sigma 60-600mm for Sony E. Is it worth your money? Read on to find out.

With mirrorless cameras increasingly growing in popularity, new lenses are steadily being developed to match their DSLR predecessors. This is an exciting time for photography. As technology presses forth, we reap the benefits of better features, optics, and tools suited for our needs. With a market ready for more focal length, it was only a matter of time until the grand-pappy of them all, the iconic Bigma, stepped forth in all its glory to claim the mirrorless throne. Well, it has finally happened. Sigma has released the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E.

Let's go over the specs and features, and then, I will share with you my experience in the field with the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports.

The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E lens, with a slew of features in one handhold-able package. Let's break down what this all means for you.

If you photograph on a full frame mirrorless, you get the reach of 60-600mm. You can also use this on an APS-C camera, however, for an impressive 90-900mm equivalent focal length range. Whether you want to create a wide environmental portrait or zoom in on the action, you can do it all with this one lens. The focusing motor is a new design called the High-response Linear Actuator. The design significantly increases the focus speed and precision while reducing motor noise. This is great news for wildlife photographers. Even more good news is a brand new optical stabilization algorithm called OS2. This allows for image stabilization improvements of 7 stops at the wide end and 6 stops at the telephoto end. We like a lens we can handhold for freedom to capture all that action.

Speaking of handholding, the weight of the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens is 88 oz / 2.5 kg. That is 5.5 lbs in a zoom lens that can handle any focal length between 60mm and 600mm. Most 600mm prime lenses are just shy of 7 lbs, and while you do get aperture benefits, you are stuck at 600mm. As a wildlife photographer, the freedom of a zoom is crucial. I have frequently gotten photographs that I would have missed had I needed to swap lenses or even reach for a second body with a wider lens. Action happens fast, and handholding a zoom lens is a chef's kiss in the field. Plus, with a minimum focusing distance of 13.8' / 4.2 m, you really can be up all up in the action.

Aside from the more obvious improvements, there is a lot going on inside the lens to appreciate. The upgraded glass inside is pretty cool. There are now three Special Low Dispersion (SLD) elements and two F Low Dispersion (FLD) elements. To minimize glare and ghosting, the glass has Super Spectra Coating and Air Sphere Coating. All of this is wrapped in a multi-material build structure that is dust- and water-resistant.

So, on paper, the lens sounds great. Want to see how it performed in the field? Well, before the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports was even announced, I had a secret assignment to test and review it for you all. I took the lens on one of my wild camping trips through blizzards and across three states. I used this lens to photograph everything from landscapes to wildlife, and if you know me, you might be able to guess one of the subjects. Yes, I took it to see the iconic wild horses of the American Southwest.

Let's start at the beginning. In my personal kit, I use my very old Sigma 50-500mm f/4.5-6.3 APO DG OS HSM Lens for Canon EOS with the Sigma MC-11 Mount Converter/Lens Adapter on my Sony a7R IV. Excluding when I am testing gear, almost every single wildlife photograph in my portfolio was taken with the Sigma 50-500mm. This often surprises people when they comment on my photos to ask what gear I use. While my lens has seen better days, it has held up to a lifetime of adventure. So, when approaching testing the Sigma 60-600mm, this is my baseline on what I use, also having tested many Sony E mount telephotos back to back.

The Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens feels comfortable to use as a telephoto zoom user. It is similar in weight to my 4.34 lbs Sigma 50-500mm with the required 0.705 lbs adapter to use it on a Sony E mount body. The balance felt good to me. Most importantly, with the small footprint of a retracting zoom, you don't need an extra bag. The lens and camera body easily fit into all of my camera backpacks' standard center compartments.

With even more bang for your buck, the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports does come with a nice padded zippered case should you want a separate bag for it along with a hood cover with Velcro closure and a tripod strap. It also includes a tripod foot which I found to be a bit small. This is because, as mentioned, I like to handhold my lens. In comparison, my original Sigma 50-500mm has a much longer tripod foot that is so perfect for handholding that it even has grippy indents in it for your fingers. This might not matter to you if you photograph on a monopod or tripod. There are also optional tripod feet to add on, such as the Sigma TS-101 Tripod Mount. I just really enjoy the old design tripod feet.

The big differences were the added 100mm of reach, the faster autofocus, and the upgraded optical stabilization, all of which are a trifecta of improvement for wildlife photography: more reach, faster speed, and better handholding/low-light capabilities.

Those three improvements are what I put to the test by photographing birds in flight, deer in a whiteout blizzard, low-light landscape details, and my beloved wild horses. With every hair on the mane rendered in fine detail, every wing frozen mid-flight, and the soft light of sunrises over the snowy landscape captured perfectly, the quality of this lens impressed me.

One aspect to note is that, as you all realize as photographers, many viewers look at a photograph and admire the subject. However, I am sure you all can see the conditions I was in by the subject's environment. In photographing during a complete blizzard, both I and the gear were completely covered in snow. This is where that water resistance and special lens coatings came into play. When out there in the thick of it, the lens didn't fog or retain water from the melting snow. After winter sessions, I dried off any leftover water droplets lovingly, as one does with our precious gear and placed it back into the backpack, and it was ready for its next adventure.

With all of these improvements and a huge focal range, this is easily a lens that I would add to my kit and can recommend for you all too. It is just a huge step forward and never let me down, no matter what I was photographing in any weather or light. If you want to check out more details on the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Lens for Sony E or add it to your cart, check here.

Kate is an award winning travel and nature photographer, educator and writer. She was classically trained on black and white photography in the dark room while she earned her BFA in Fine Art and Design. When she is not working on assignment, Kate teaches photography workshops to share her love and knowledge of wild life and wild places.

Ummm, no. At almost SIX pounds you can keep it.

I will gladly keep it!

What 600mm f6.3 is much lighter? Six pounds actually seems pretty light for a 600mm f6.3 zoom.

I think that while the lens isn't my 1st choice, it's a pretty decent choice.

The Sigma is 2.71KG and the Sony 200-600 (my 1st choice) is only 2.115KG. 600 grams can buy you a flash or camera body (Sony A7 IV is 659 grams).

The Sony seems like a winner if you won't miss the 60-200 range. Most won't because they shoot at the long end, but if you did shoot short... That magic 600 grams is a fair bit less than a lens covering that range (Sony 70-200 F4 is 840g) and you don't need to carry a 2nd body.

So all in all this lens would save you >1.4KG... Pretty hard to call it heavy now.

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Kate,

I have the lens that Sigma made just before this, the 60-600mm f6.3 that is not specifically made for mirrorless cameras. It is less than a year old and came in the Canon EF mount. I am curious to know what differences there are between my 10 month old lens and this brand new lens, besides the mount.

My experiences with my version of the 60-600mm are quite similar to yours. I love that it is light and small enough to handhold. Compared to my previous lenses, the Canon 400f2.8 and the "Sigmonster" 300-800mm f5.6, this is half the weight. What a godsend to be able to have the freedom and speed of use that handholding affords yet have up to 600mm focal length!

I use the full range of this zoom. As a wildlife specialist, I am surprised at how often I shoot between 60mm and 100mm. This part of the range is something that my Canon 100-400mm did not offer, so it allows me to get many useful images that the Canon did not. It was obvious that the range from 400-600mm would be much needed, but the fact that the short part of the bonus focal range is so useful was a bit of a surprise.

Thanks for the review - it means something to me because you actually spent the time to put the lens through its paces over the duration of a lengthy continental tour in a myriad of different conditions.

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Thank you Tom for your thoughtful inquiry and kind words! I don't have experience with Sigma's Canon EF mount 60-600mm so I cant speak directly to the user experience comparison of both. I will say though that on paper if you are using a Sony body with the Canon EF mount version you would be using an adapter. This adds a slight bit of weight and length and may affect things like sharpness and autofocus. That being said I use the old 50-500mm with the MC-11 adaptor and I feel that it keeps up with the sharpness and speed of the true E mount lenses pretty well.

I try my best in my reviews to use the gear in the field in all types of situations, testing it as best I can so that you all can see how it would do as your "daily driver" so to speak. :)

I shoot sports indoor and outdoor. There always seems to be a lot of landscape and animal photos in these sort of lens reviews... How about reviewing it with some sports?

That's a great point about someone doing a sports-centric review. But the person to do such a review should primarily be a sports photographer in the first place. To me, a review is meaningless if the reviewer isn't shooting what they usually shoot. That's why I appreciate Kate's reviews so much, because she shoots the same things she normally shoots with the new equipment, hence she has a very well developed basis for comparison.

Thank you Andrew for your critique. I understand where you are coming from. There are so many different genres in photography that even saying, "I am a photographer" to anyone can mean so many different niches. I am a nature and travel photographer so I use my expertise to test the gear on landscapes, wildlife and outdoor adventure. I use the gear that I test in all types of weather and light, as well as on different colors and textures, moving subjects, etc. I hope that even though it isn't your genre that it at least gives you an idea of the core values that the lens has as it applies to autofocus, low light capabilities, user experience and features.

You are a great photographer and I am not sure how much of what we see is your skill over the capabilities of the lens. A good photographer can make any camera and lens great.

Oh my goodness Sridhar. Thank you so much, you gave me a big smile and brightened my day!

Is it worth my money ? I have to buy it, use it and find it whether it's worth my money..!Why do, almost all reviews, sound kind of marketing gimmicks ?

Shanmuga, I am very sorry if my review came across to you as marketing. I don't make a commission if you choose to buy anything that I review. I have nothing to gain and truly just speak on if I enjoy the gear or not. Even on "sponsored" content, I make nothing from if viewers buy anything and I will speak honestly on what I do or don't like about something. I put a lot of work into testing the gear in lots of different scenarios, many of us photographers are visual learners and the best way to see how a lens does it to see it! So I include a bunch of photo samples that I created with the gear as well as wrote about my experience using it. You can click the photographs to view them larger and decide if the lens is of interest for you.

It must be my prescription but I’m not seeing sharp images from this lens and very shallow DOF -pixelpeeper

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How could you tell if the images are sharp or not when you are only viewing severely downsized jpegs for posted to the internet?

You do realize all of the changes that these image files are inadvertently subjected to when they go from the author's device to the Fstoppers servers to your device ..... aren't you?

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If you click the images you can view them larger than nested in the article, however they are still jpgs and still smaller than if viewed 100% for serious pixel peeping. To give a bit of reference I have tested multiple new gen super telephoto zoom lenses from various manufacturers. These new gen lenses are awesome. I "zoomed" in on one of the horse photos and clipped it for you in case that helps you see the detail a bit closer.

Of note, keep in mind for the wildlife I am most often photographing wide open and at 600mm on full frame for the aesthetics of a purposefully shallow dof and use of compression.

This is the photo I clipped that piece of:

https://cdn.fstoppers.com/styles/xlarge/s3/media/2023/02/16/c4d7ddfd1995.....