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Pro Camera Reviews

The New Sigma 100-400mm for Sony FE Makes Us Really Wonder

Chris Gampat
No Comments
08/25/2020
4 Mins read
Sigma-100-400mm-f5-6.3-DG-OS-HSM-First-Impressions (1)

Last Updated on 08/25/2020 by Mark Beckenbach

The new Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM is a lot more affordable than the Sony G Master option.

We’ve been testing the Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM on the Sony a7r IV for a little while now. It’s making us wonder whether it’s worth it over the G Master option. It’s a lot more affordable for sure, but you’re sacrificing a few things. So, we decided to talk about it a bit on the latest episode of Pro Camera Reviews.

Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM: First Impressions

For Sony E-mount wildlife and sports shooters, compact and affordable telephoto zoom lenses have been a rarity. Until recently, the only Full Frame options were the 100-400mm f4.5-5.6 G Master and the 200-600mm f5.6–6.3 G. At $2,499.99 and $1,999.99, respectively, they weren’t exactly affordable for most photographers. The 200-600mm was also quite large, making it less than ideal for photographers who prefer to maintain as small a footprint as possible when working on location. This all changed with the introduction of Sigma’s 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS. It’s much more affordable with an MSRP of just under $1,000. At roughly the same size as most conventional 70-200mm zooms on the market, the Sigma 100-400mm is much easier to travel with as well. We’ve been testing the Sigma 100-400mm out in the wild for the last few days. Join us as we discuss our first impressions with this lens.

In Our Next Episode

What Do All These Full Frame Cameras Mean for Smaller Sensors? For the last few years, camera manufacturers have been focusing on premium, high-end mirrorless cameras like the Sony a7r series, the Nikon z6 and z7, the Panasonic S1 and S1R, and the Canon R series, but now they have all turned their attention to the entry-level market. We have heard rumblings of an entry-level Sony a5, we know about the Canon RP and the new Nikon Z5, and Panasonic just announced they are revealing their new entry-level Full-Frame Lumix S5 on September 2nd. These cameras are exciting, but what will this mean for smaller sensor cameras? Will Micro Four Thirds be run out of town?

Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art First Impressions: For Sony Full Frame shooters, there is no shortage of 85mm lenses available these days. Sony themselves have two 85mm options available, and there are plenty of other third-party options on the market. One of the first third-party E-mount 85mm lenses to hit the market was Sigma’s 85mm f1.4 DG HSM Art. While that lens produced excellent image quality, the performance often left much to be desired. This was due to the fact that that the 85mm f1.4 DG HSM utilized an adapted DSLR lens design rather than being designed for mirrorless form the ground up. With this in mind, Sigma went back to the drawing board and created the 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art as a result. Designed specifically for Full Frame mirrorless cameras, the Sigma 85mm f1.4 DG DN Art is much more compact and lighter in weight. But how does it perform in the real world?

How Waterproof Is Your Camera? Most phones these days are able to go underwater for a little while at a time, but can your camera? We explore the difference between waterproof, water-resistant, weather-resistant, and weather sealed. And we also do a bit of a torture test to show you what’s possible with these cameras!

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Pro Camera Reviews is a new web show by the Reviews Team of the Phoblographer. Join Gear Editor Brett Day, Reviews Editor Paul Ip, and Editor in Chief Chris Gampat as they candidly discuss the products they’re actively reviewing and the gear they’ve just reviewed. Open Q and A from the audience towards the end of the show. Every Sunday at 7pm EST.

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If you’re looking for a fun time while staying safe, we strongly recommend that you tune in for Pro Camera Reviews. It’s a weekly show where the staff tackles a couple of issues in the Photo World. They mostly pertain to cameras and lenses, but sometimes things get a bit more serious. This is partly because we still feel that we need to be educators and leaders in this space. Additionally, we also need to be responsible. Episodes are done on Zoom and are recorded. They’re thenshared on YouTube. We recommend that you subscribe to us on Youtube to keep up.

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.
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