There is also no reason why artistic images cannot be captured with this lens, and considering it was recently released, it certainly could be considered "contemporary" for a while. While that lens was not especially old, somewhat surprising is that it took Sigma so long to introduce this utra-popular lens model under the Global Vision series badge ("Sports", in this case). From Sigma lens literature) This telephoto zoom lens has a large maximum aperture of f/2.8 which remains constant throughout the zoom range and it is optimized for digital SLR cameras. Two pieces of SLD (the special low dispersion) glass in the front lens group and another two in the rear group offer excellent correction of chromatic aberration. High optical performance is demonstrated throughout the entire zoom range. While primarily designed as a general purpose bright tele-zoom for full-frame models, you could equally use the Sigma 70-200/2.8 OS on a cropped-frame body where it gives you an equivalent 105-300mm coverage plus future-proofing should you upgrade to a full-frame body at a later date. Complement this lens with any 24-70/85mm standard zoom and you can seamlessly cover a 8.3x zoom-range from fairly wide-angle to a decent tele with only two lenses.

70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM – Sigma UK

The pincushion distortion gradually increases until becoming moderately strong at 135mm and very slightly stronger by 200mm. I love this lens, and use it mostly for "people" shots (weddings, headshots, and sports). The bokeh is pretty smooth, the focus speed is *just* slightly slower than the Canon version (but still very fast & accurate), and the colors are very true-to-scene. Diving right in, this lens turns in superb full frame corner-to-corner performance wide open at 70mm.

As of this writing in late November, 2006, we've tested only two other lenses having the same focal length range as this one, only one of which shared its f/2.8 maximum aperture. We can thus make only limited comparisons between this model and others on the market, but hope to flesh out our test data in this focal length range more in the future.

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS review | Cameralabs Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 OS review | Cameralabs

About 3/4 of the 200mm results were sharp at 1/30 second and about 2/3 of the 1/20 second test images were sharp. The subject framing always remains nicely centered for a good quality overall manual focusing experience. Unless one is primarily using manual focusing, a lens' autofocus accuracy is very important for realizing the image quality a lens is capable of producing, especially with the relatively shallow depth of field this lens can produce at 200mm and f/2.8. Stop down to f/4 and these mid focal lengths become very sharp while showing slight peripheral improvement at f/5.6. Size (diam. x length): 86 x 198 mm (3.4×7.8 in.) compared to 87 x 206 mm (3.4 x 8.1 in.) for the Nikon. The lens-hood adds a considerable amount especially once you mount the additional APS-C extender that makes the hood more effective on bodies with APS-C or DX sensors. Mount everything on a DSLR and you’re almost at a total length of 390mm. The lens does not change length during zooming or focusing. [0]The flagship large-aperture telephoto zoom lens that meets the most stringent needs of professional photographers At 200mm, the center of the frame is slightly soft at f/2.8, but this lens is very sharp across the frame at 200mm f/4 with the extreme corners being a slight exception (illustrated below).