Last Updated on 11/14/2019 by Mark Beckenbach
If you love wildlife photography and the results from Sigma lenses, these three telephoto lenses will please you.
Sigma’s lenses have come on in leaps and bounds in the last few years; they now produce some of the very best lenses on the market. Sigma is known for its prime lenses, but Sigma’s zoom lenses are equally as great. If you’re a wildlife photographer or you enjoy birding, and you haven’t looked at Sigma’s telephoto options, this roundup will clue you in on what they have to offer. After the break, we will take a quick look at three Sigma lenses ideal for all types of wildlife photography.
There are Sigma lenses suitable for wildlife photography that will fit just about any budget. They all produce sharp images with gorgeous colors and beautifully compressed backgrounds that will make your subject matter pop out of the frame. If you want to use Sigma lenses to capture wildlife images, these are the three worth a closer look.
Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 Contemporary
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Excellent image quality
- Tripod collar is large enough to also allow you to carry the lens in your hand
- Lightweight to maneuver even while on the go
- Effective image stabilization; though please keep in mind it still won’t necessarily stop fast motion
- Surprisingly fast to focus even with moving objects
Cons
- F6.3 on the long end means you won’t be using this lens a lot at night unless you’re ready to go nuclear in the ISO realm
- The lens is a little on the large size
- A little on the heavy side of things
- Switches get knocked off of your settings easily, and a way to lock the switches would be really appreciated
Buy now Canon EF ($899): Adorama
Buy now Nikon F ($899): Adorama
Pro Tip: When you’re in the field capturing images like the above one, your lenses are going to get really dirty, really quickly. There’s not a lot you can do about it, but one thing you can do is be prepared to clean your glass. We don’t always think about wiping our lenses down when we are in the moment, but if you want to create dirt-free images and keep your expensive lenses in excellent working order, cleaning is something you’ll have to do. Fortunately, you don’t have to spend a fortune to get a good cleaning kit. We highly recommend you keep a small cleaning kit like this one on your person all the time so that you can clean as you go.
Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM IS
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Fast maximum aperture of f2.8
- Excellent build quality with ribbed zoom and focusing rings.
- Minimal pin cushioning and vignetting, easily correctable in Photoshop or Lightroom
- Sigma USB Dock and Sigma Optimization Pro software allows users to update the firmware as well as customize lens autofocus performance
- HSM design provides for speed and relatively quiet autofocus
Cons
- No drop-in filter, requiring the purchase of relatively large front-end filters.
- While hand-hold-able, the weight may be too much for some photographers.
- Lack of exposure or focus lock button on barrel (not a deal-breaker but it would have been nice)
Buy now Canon EF ($3,099): Adorama
Buy now Nikon F ($3,099): Adorama
Pro Tip: Bird photography is something that I like to practice, and I just love it when I’m able to capture moments like the one above. I can tell you, though, that it takes a lot of patience and a lot of practice to be able to get images like this; there is so much more to the genre than you might think. Fortunately, there are guides like this one that will help teach you all you need to know. With this tutorial, you’ll be able to learn the ins and outs of bird photography. You’ll quickly build the skills to operate a camera and a long lens as well as gain an understanding of basic bird behavior. Learn to capture more than boring photos and dive into categories like bird portraiture, flying birds, flocks of birds, and detailed close-ups for your best bird photos yet.
Sigma 500mm F4 DG OS HSM Sport
Here are the pros and cons from our full review:
Pros
- Weather-resistant design
- Quiet to focus
- Sharp image quality
- Gorgeous, absolutely spectacular bokeh
- Pretty close focusing
- Lightweight, sort of
Cons
- Can be slow to focus sometimes and inaccurate
- Lots of different settings with image stabilization, focus limiter, etc. But it makes sense if you’re doing this professionally.
- Requires a very strong tripod
Buy now Canon EF ($5,999): Adorama
Buy now Nikon F ($5,999): Adorama