Sigma Intros Massive 60-600mm Lens: Hands-On First Look Review

Sigma just unveiled the massive 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports ultra-telephoto zoom lens for mirrorless camera systems, which should be a great tool for capturing everything from landscapes to wildlife and bird photos. Our colleagues at Imaging Resource, OP’s sibling website, have already got their hands on this whopping, 10x lens and posted a first look review.

“Wildlife, nature, and outdoor sports photographers should all take notice, as Sigma has added yet another extremely versatile telephoto zoom to its arsenal of mirrorless lenses,” writes William Brawley, Imaging Resource‘s managing editor.

“The new Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports for Sony E-mount and L-mount full-frame mirrorless cameras is unique amongst Sigma’s existing telephoto zooms for mirrorless cameras — and indeed the full-frame mirrorless market as a whole — being the world’s only 10x optical zoom lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras.”

We’ve included a few of Brawley’s test images captured with the new Sigma 60-600mm lens on a Sony A7 IV camera in this story. Click on them to see the full resolution photos on IR’s website.

Known colloquially as the “Bigma,” the mammoth new 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports lens offers “6 stops of Optical Stabilization at the telephoto end and 7 stops at the standard end,” according to a Sigma press announcement.

“The newly designed HLA (High-response Linear Actuator) focusing motor delivers unprecedented fast and precise autofocusing, and dual action zoom allows for both the precision of the zoom ring and the swift, intuitive response of the push-pull action on the front end of the barrel.”

Shot with a pre-production version of the Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports on the Sony A7 IV at 556mm, F6.3, 1/2500, ISO 1600. Click on the image to see a full resolution version.

The Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports is slated to go on sale in mid-February 2023 for $1999. Here’s a rundown of some of the key features of this new super telephoto zoom lens.

• All-in-one 10x telephoto zoom lens for full-frame mirrorless
• Updated optical design with 27 elements in 19 groups (incl. 2 FLD and 3 SLD elements)
• Optical Image Stabilization with 6 stops at 600mm; 7 stops at 60mm
• Newly-designed HLA linear motor-based autofocusing system
• Dual action zooming mechanism (zoom ring + push-pull zoom)
• Weather-sealed construction
• Multi-material construction helps reduce size and weight while remaining highly durable
• Weight: 2,495g (5.5 lbs.)
• Length: 279.2mm (11 in.) at 60mm
• Built-in Arca-Swiss-compatible tripod foot
• Screw-on lens hood
• Sony E-mount, L-mount versions
• $1999 MSRP

Shot with a pre-production version of the Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports on the Sony A7 IV at 600mm, F6.3, 1/500, ISO 2500. Click on the image to see a full resolution version.

While the Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports Brawley tested is a pre-production sample with beta firmware, he was impressed with what he has seen so far from this lens.

“This is a pre-production sample, so I’m not going to make a final judgment on image quality just yet,” he writes. “However, what I’m seeing so far is very impressive. I spent much of my time photographing small birds and other tiny critters, as that was pretty much all I found while exploring the outdoors with this lens. Most of my time shooting I found myself at the longer focal lengths, especially at 600mm F6.3, and the results look great. The image quality so far looks fantastic, with excellent sharpness, great contrast and minimal CA, both at the center and out toward the edges.”

Shot with a pre-production version of the Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports on the Sony A7 IV at 535mm, F6.3, 1/500, ISO 500. Click on the image to see a full resolution version.

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