Lens Reviews / Sigma Lenses i Not yet tested

100-400mm	$802 average price

Updates
09/29/2017: Field Test & Gallery Images added

Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary Field Test

Telephoto zoom lens delivers impressive performance and value

by Jeremy Gray | Posted 09/29/2017

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/320s, ISO 500. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

When it comes to high-powered zoom lenses, Sigma's 150-600mm Contemporary lens has proven to be very popular among photographers looking for a telephoto zoom lens that doesn't break the bank. Though smaller and more affordable than the 150-600mm Sport version, that lens still may be a little heavy or more than they can afford. For photographers looking for a telephoto zoom lens that is compact and lightweight, a 70-300mm has often been a good choice, but you do give up a fair bit of reach. Sigma's new 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary telephoto zoom lens hopes to split the difference and offer a powerful zoom lens that remains as easy on the arms as it is on the wallet.

• Full-frame telephoto zoom lens
• Push/Pull and twist zoom mechanisms
• 100-400mm on full frame, 150-600mm equivalent on Nikon DX and 160-640mm equivalent on Canon APS-C
• Rounded aperture diaphragm with f/5 to f/22 range
• 21 elements in 15 groups, including 4 SLD elements
• Close focus distance of 63 inches (160 centimeters) for a maximum magnification ratio of 0.26x (1:3.8)
• Lightweight and compact design
• New Optical Stabilization (OS) mechanism
• Hypersonic Focus Motor with new autofocus algorithm
• Compatible with Sigma's USB dock and MC-11 mount converter
• US$800 price

Sigma 100-400mm Build Quality and Handling

Construction and Feel

The Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens takes on the same general look and feel as Sigma's other recent lenses, albeit without quite the same level of ruggedness and weather sealing as some of their more expensive offerings. With that said, the lens does feel robust despite its lightweight design and offers dust and splash-proofing around the mount.

In total, the 100-400mm is 7.2 inches long and 3.4 inches in diameter (182.3 millimeters x 86.4 millimeters), and it weighs 40.9 ounces (1,160 grams). The lens hood is just under three inches long and extending the lens to 400mm does make it about two and a half inches longer, so that's something to consider, but generally speaking, it's pretty compact given its focal length range. Plus, it's a full-frame lens, so its design is an even more impressive accomplishment.

Looking at the rings on the Sigma 100-400mm lens, you'll find a large zoom ring toward the end of the barrel and a focus ring nearer the camera body. The zoom ring feels very nice and requires only a roughly 90° rotation to go from minimum to maximum zoom, which is great when needing to zoom in quickly. The zoom ring has a ridged rubberized surface that offers ample grip. Interestingly, the lens is also designed for push/pull zooming, which is a breeze thanks to the special lens hood that has an indentation around its base to help grip while you push and pull the zoom. Having both a "normal" twist zoom as well as the option for push/pull zoom is pretty unique and rather handy.

The focus ring offers a ridged surface but is plastic rather than rubber, which is fine for a ring that likely won't see a ton of use as most users will probably stick to autofocus. The rotation has a good amount of resistance, and the lens has a windowed focus scale with many distance markings. The lens does have the option for full-time manual override for focus, which is also a nice feature.

Overall

Overall, the Sigma 100-400mm Contemporary lens feels very nice in the hand. It's compact and lightweight despite its impressive zoom range. It's a breeze to use for extended periods of time and is a great option for photographers who want zoom versatility but don't want something large and heavy. The lens exhibits build quality beyond its price tag, too.

Optical Quality

Optical Construction

As is par for the course when discussing a telephoto zoom lens, the Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 includes a complex optical formula. The lens includes 21 elements spread across 15 groups, including 4 Special Low Dispersion (SLD) elements, which are designed to minimize chromatic aberrations. As we'll see in a couple of sections, the SLD elements do their job quite nicely.

Sharpness

While I exclusively used the Sigma 100-400mm on my crop sensor Nikon D500 camera in the field, I did capture some test images on a full-frame Nikon D800E to see how it performed, particularly across the entire frame.

290mm (435mm equiv.), f/6.0, 1/640s, ISO 360. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

290mm (435mm equiv.), f/6.0, 1/640s, ISO 360. 100% crop from the original JPEG file of the above image. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

When shooting at 100mm, the lens was a bit disappointing. It is not super sharp when shooting wide open, not even in the middle of the frame, and its corner performance wide open is not very impressive either.

Captured on Nikon D800E camera at 100mm, f/5.0, 1/10s, ISO 100. Sharpness test image. 100% center crop from a RAW file processed with Adobe Camera Raw default settings. Click for full-size JPEG image. Click here for the RAW file.

Captured on Nikon D800E camera at 100mm, f/5.0, 1/8s, ISO 100. Sharpness test image. 100% bottom right corner crop from a RAW file processed with Adobe Camera Raw default settings. Click for full-size JPEG image. Click here for the RAW file.

When you stop the lens down, performance does improve, but it is still not very impressive in the corners. With that said, you likely aren't purchasing a 100-400mm zoom lens to use it at 100mm, so how does the lens handle the critical 400mm focal length?

Captured on Nikon D800E camera at 400mm, f/6.3, 0.4s, ISO 100. Sharpness test image. 100% center crop from a RAW file processed with Adobe Camera Raw default settings. Click for full-size JPEG image. Click here for the RAW file.

As we can see, when shooting wide open, the Sigma 100-400mm lens does quite well on the full-frame Nikon D800E. There is a good amount of detail present, and its performance is good for a telephoto zoom lens as compact and affordable as the Sigma 100-400mm Contemporary.

Captured on Nikon D800E camera at 400mm, f/6.3, 0.4s, ISO 100. Sharpness test image. 100% bottom right corner crop from a RAW file processed with Adobe Camera Raw default settings. Click for full-size JPEG image. Click here for the RAW file.

At 400mm and at f/6.3 (wide open), the lens does okay in the corners. It's not superb and certainly not at the same level as the excellent Canon 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II zoom (which costs well over twice as much, I might add), but it is very comparable to Nikon's 200-500mm f/5.6E lens.

By stopping the lens down just to f/8, you are close to optimal performance with the Sigma 100-400mm, but at this point you're pushing what is already a fairly slow lens even slower. Speaking of making the lens slower, it is compatible with Sigma's teleconverters, although I did not have access to them.

These test images are not perfect substitutes for lab images, but they are quite illustrative of what the lens can do at its two extreme focal lengths. In my opinion, how the lens does with real world subjects is more important. Can the Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens deliver images I'd be proud to share with people or print and hang on the wall?

Yes.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 560. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 560. 100% crop from the original JPEG image above. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

As you can see, the lens is capable of delivering plenty of detail. Considering its price and versatility, I was impressed and pleasantly surprised by what the Sigma 100-400mm can do given the right conditions (more on that later).

Chromatic Aberration

There is some chromatic aberration present despite the quartet of SLD elements, but it's not bad. There is some blue/orange chromatic aberration, as you can see in the images below. It gets worse when looking at the corners of the frame and is not completely removed by stopping down. In real world situations, chromatic aberration is not a big issue. It'll be present only in particularly challenging scenarios and is rarely a big problem.

Captured on Nikon D800E camera at 400mm, f/6.3, 0.4s, ISO 100. Sharpness test image. 100% bottom right corner crop from a RAW file processed with Adobe Camera Raw default settings. Click for full-size JPEG image. Click here for the RAW file.

Vignetting

While there is some vignetting when using the lens wide open, even on the crop-sensor D500, it's very manageable and won't pose many issues during real-world shooting. You can see some samples below, and it's clear that the falloff decreases by stopping the lens down even just a single stop at both focal length extremes. So if that's an important consideration for a specific image, stop down one or two stops.

100mm (150mm equiv.), f/5.0, 1/320s, ISO 100. Vignette test image. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 400. Vignette test image. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

Bokeh and Maximum Aperture

While the Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 is not particularly fast with regards to its maximum apertures throughout its focal length range, it can still produce pleasing bokeh given the right situation.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 2500. When working from a close distance, especially at 400mm, you can get nice bokeh from the Sigma 100-400mm lens. The f/6.3 aperture at 400mm won't offer nearly the same kind of subject separation you get from a faster lens, all else equal, but it is still capable of creating a nice telephoto look to your images with blurred backgrounds. And you have to pay a hefty premium for faster lenses at this kind of focal length. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

I would like to briefly discuss the lens' maximum aperture throughout its focal length range. The lens goes from f/5.0 to f/5.3 right around 120mm. The maximum aperture goes to f/5.6 around the 150mm mark. Near 220mm, the lens becomes a maximum f/6.0 optic and finally, it reaches f/6.3 at 350mm.

In the field with the Sigma 100-400mm

Autofocus

The HSM-equipped (hypersonic motor) Sigma 100-400mm zoom lens delivers pretty impressive autofocus performance when paired with the Nikon D500. Granted, the D500 is one of the best focusing cameras I've used, so it's a very good camera to pair with the lens. It is fast across its entire focal length range, although it is noticeably slower when shooting a very close subject at 400mm. Given its price point, I was very impressed by the Sigma 100-400mm lens.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 800. The inset image is a 100% crop from the original JPEG file. The Sigma 100-400mm proved to have reliably accurate autofocus performance, even at 400mm and when shooting from close distances. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

With that said, its maximum aperture can be a bit limiting when shooting in low light, which is when wildlife photography is typically the best, so that's something to keep in mind if you intend to use the lens for that purpose. Another aspect of the lens worth considering is that it will struggle a bit more than a faster lens, all else equal, with shooting sports at night.

Close Focus

The Sigma 100-400mm has a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.8 (0.26x) thanks to its close focus distance of 63 inches (160 centimeters). On the DX Nikon D500, it performs fairly well as a pseudo-macro lens and focuses plenty close for basically all wildlife scenarios.

100mm (150mm equiv.), f/11, 1/160s, ISO 450. Close focus distance at 100mm (150mm equivalent). Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/11, 1/640s, ISO 2000. Close focus distance at 400mm (600mm equivalent). Particularly on an APS-C camera, the close focus distance is very good with the Sigma 100-400mm lens. It can act a lot like a macro lens and provides a very good working distance for many purposes. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

Real-world images

Below is a selection of real-world images I've captured using the Sigma 100-400mm Contemporary lens. See the captions for additional information about how the lens performed.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 1400. This image has been cropped. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 3600. Although I had to crop in quite a bit on this shot, the close working distance of the lens helped. Also, the autofocus did quite well with this challenging situation. This image has been modified. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 400. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 400. 100% crop of the original JPEG image above. While not perfectly sharp, this 100% crop shows that the Sigma 100-400mm does pretty well at resolving fine details even at 400mm. For its price point, its performance is impressive. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

220mm (330mm equiv.), f/6.0, 1/500s, ISO 110. Even in pretty bright conditions, at f/6.0 there will not be many cases where you shoot at base ISO with this lens. At 400mm, the fastest aperture is f/6.3, which can be quite limiting in terms of ISO and shutter speed. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/500s, ISO 9000. The mouse was in the shade and although it was nearly the middle of the day, the f/6.3 aperture is quite limiting. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

240mm (360mm equiv.), f/6.0, 1/640s, ISO 3600. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 320. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

 

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 900. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/640s, ISO 900. 100% crop of the original JPEG image above. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

Sigma 100-400mm f/5-6.3 Contemporary Field Test Summary

This affordable zoom delivers solid performance across the board

What I like:

• Versatile focal length range
• Good build quality
• Push/pull zoom works very well
• Really solid value
• Compact and lightweight design
• Good optical quality

400mm (600mm equiv.), f/6.3, 1/800s, ISO 220. This image has been modified. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

What I dislike:

• A bit slow in terms of maximum aperture
• Autofocus speeds can be sluggish in low light
• No tripod collar or lens case

The Sigma 100-400mm f/5.0-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary lens is not only a fantastic value with its US$800 price point, but it proved versatile and effective in the field, offering good image quality across its zoom range, particularly at its longer focal lengths. The lens is compact and lightweight and despite some compromises, it's a great cost-effective option for photographers looking for more shooting opportunities at longer focal lengths.

210mm (315mm equiv.), f/5.6, 1/800s, ISO 180. This image has been modified. Click for full-size image. Click here for the RAW file.

• • •

 

(From Sigma lens literature) An ultra-telephoto lens with an optical stabilizer (OS) system has several advantages. The OS allows the photographer to take photographs in unstable circumstances. The narrow angle of view makes it possible to dramatically compress perspective and flexible handling of the background. The photographer can thereby make the subject appear to jump out of the image, with the area in focus impressively sharp and clear. Nevertheless, ultra-telephoto lenses have traditionally had some disadvantages as well. As the nickname "bazooka" implies, they have tended to be big, heavy, and therefore burdensome to carry around. With the goal of creating an ultra-telephoto lens that is far more accessible, SIGMA incorporated all of its latest technologies into SIGMA 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary. With its outstanding combination of optical performance and compactness, this is an ultra-telephoto lens that is a joy to carry and use. While keeping the robust functionality and exceptional image quality of an ultra-telephoto zoom lens intact, SIGMA has achieved amazingly compact packaging enclosing 400mm optics. Introducing the new and greatly enhanced "light bazooka" ultra-telephoto zoom lens.

SIGMA 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary offers the compact size, lightweight, and high cost performance of a 70-300mm lens while delivering 400mm telephoto performance. This approach results in a tempting new ultra-telephoto choice for photographers. Offering a combination of stunning image quality and outstanding functionality, this lens satisfies the needs of pros and amateurs alike.

Key features

1. Top performance with the specification and functionality of a more expensive unit
Since its release, the SIGMA 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM | Contemporary has won photographers over with its strong fundamental performance and exceptional image quality. The new lens retains all of this performance in a compact 400mm ultra-telephoto zoom package with a filter size of just 67mm and weight of just 1,160g. Yet it also comes with the full range of features and functions expected of an ultra-telephoto zoom: optical stabilizer (OS), hypersonic motor (HSM) with updated algorithm for fast autofocus, focus limiter, and more. In addition, this uncompromising specification becomes customizable with the available SIGMA USB Dock accessory.

2. Compact packaging with uncompromising image quality
In designing this lens, SIGMA strived to push both compactness and image quality to the limit. Four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass lens elements and an optimized power distribution help minimize optical aberrations. Moreover, by taking special care to minimize transverse chromatic aberration, which cannot be corrected via aperture control, SIGMA has ensured outstanding image quality throughout the zoom range.

3. Push/pull zoom mechanism incorporated
For quick control of the angle of view, the zoom ring incorporates a push/pull mechanism in addition to the regular twist mechanism. The exclusive lens hood has also been designed to accommodate push/pull zooming and overall lens maneuverability. By making it possible to adjust the angle of view instantly, this lens gives photographers an even better chance of getting that crucial shot.

4. Telephoto plus macro functionality
With a minimum shooting distance of 160cm and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3.8, this lens can shoot either from a distance or up close.

5. Other features

• Dust- and splash-proof mount
  Since the area of the lens most vulnerable to dust and other foreign bodies is the mount, rubber sealing helps provide peace of mind.
• All-new optical stabilizer (OS) unit with exclusive algorithm
  Featuring a newly developed gyroscopic sensor and a new and exclusive algorithm, the all-new OS unit provides a powerful stabilization effect. An acceleration sensor detects camera shake in any direction-horizontal, vertical, or diagonal. This technology allows the OS to stabilize the image very effectively, regardless of whether the camera is being held in horizontal or vertical orientation.
• Nikon electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism included
  The Nikon mount version of this lens includes an electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism that allows it to receive the appropriate signals from the camera body. This feature ensures precision diaphragm control and stable Auto Exposure (AE) performance during continuous shooting. Note: Functionality may be limited on some camera bodies.
• Rounded diaphragm
• Designed to minimize flare and ghosting
• Compatible with the newly developed tele converters
• Fast AF with full-time manual focus
  Note: The operation of full-time MF may vary based on mount type
• Compatible with Mount Converter MC-11
• Available SIGMA USB DOCK
  Makes customization and flexible adjustment possible
• Available Mount Conversion Service
  Allows use with another camera body
• High-precision, durable brass bayonet mount
• Evaluation with SIGMA's own MTF measuring system "A1"
• Made in Japan
  With outstanding craftsmanship
• The lens barrel is engraved with the year of release