Sigma 100-400mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM sample gallery

In good light the FZ1000 equals these results, so have a think, as there is now a version 2 with a bigger zoom, and Sony have one as well. And it is absolutely silent and runs at 10 FPS in raw, as does an a6000 with adaptor and a MUCH cheaper alternative-manual lenses included as the highlighted focussing indication works well.
Of course IF you need super low-light results AND FF .......

It looks like a very good lens. The images are very detailed with good color and contrast. I think many people would rather sacrifice a 1/2 stop of light and get a much lighter, cheaper lens compared to the lenses like Canon 100-400.

Wow, a Really great Gallery of shots! Well done.

And the real question everybody has: how is going to work with Sony A7RII and A6500?

while some of these photos look decent, for average joe there is nothing like personal experience with a lens out there on the filed! majority of the owners will be using 1.4x extender with this lens and make it turn into mush ;-) no comparison to canon equivalent, although canon is a lot more expensive!

someone has to be very close to birds - for this pictures with full frame and only 400 mm.
I use 600 mm on APS-C (900 mm comparable) to get nice bird pictures (without feeding and camouflage).

When it comes time to review this lens may you please compare it to the Sigma 150-600 contemporary.

Images not looking any better than Nikon's 70-300vr. Much bigger though with 1/4 more reach. The deal killer is not having a tripod collar. Would not be able to use this with a gimbal.

Looks nice. But how's the AF? Is it fast? Does it hunt a lot at 400 mm ? It is consistent between different copies of the same lens?

I think it was a mistake to use the Canon 5D mkIV for this sample gallery. Put very simply, I should imagine a very large proportion of the buyers of this lens will not be using it was a camera like the 5D mkIV, or full-frame. It gives a misleading impression of a lens like this when a gallery is shot with a full-frame cameras. Crop sensor cameras put far more stress on the lens with their higher pixel density.

What's more a large proportion of those using this lens for wildlife, will be using a crop body either because of the effective reach, or because crop sensor bodies are cheaper and this is a lower cost 100-400mm type zoom than those offered by the camera manufacturers.

It would have been far more appropriate to shoot this sample gallery with something like an 80D as it would be more relevant to the prospective purchasers of this lens.

Very nice images!!!
No tripod collar? ... That's absolutely a deal breaker for me.
What a disappointment!!

I received a copy of this lens on April 27. See my gallery of early pics with this lens -

https://www.dpreview.com/galleries/1330847732

I now have this lens for two days and it is my first long tele lens. I have tested the lens during the evenings with handheld shooting on my D750 and I am really pleased with the autofocus speed and accuracy. I have to get used to shooting with a 400mm but sharpness is really very good at 400mm f6.3 and razor sharp at f8. Just standing still without any support and handheld shooting my shots are sharp for sure with 1/250 and very often with 1/180. But somehow I also got some sharp handheld pictures with 1/90 and even 1/60.
Great to have this lens that fits my my regular backpack and allows me to carry easily. As the lens has no tripod mount facility I have put in on my tripod via the regular camera screw in. I did not have the feeling that I was pushing the camera or lens too much, but I read on forums that there might be a risk of breaking stuff. I wonder if someone can give a good advise here.

Fine optics and the price is OK, I guess.
Now, how are we going to deal with the lack of lens collar. This is not a small lens and practically there will be a considerable front-heaviness when mounted on a tripod or a monopod. It got F6.3 aperture, so it is kind of slow and the OS may not be enough for landscape photography or precise LiveView focusing for super-telephoto with teleconverters.

More photo samples from Flickr:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/thomasrubach/albums/72157679992053944

Not only the lens is amazing, the photographer and camera too! Can't remember the last time I was entertained with sample photos, considering these are without PP. The first photo got the focus bang on, the DOF is so thin that it is less sharp on all areas except the bird's head. Third photo also as awesome, exposed for the highlights and composition is just.. ..

A review from CAMERALABS says that "the OS is not very effective at 400mm with shutter speeds around 1/100 sec and 1/50 sec". I suggest that DPREVIEW should have photos taken with that shutter speed range next time. Thanks.

This lens is comparable in size / weight with mft PanaLeica 100-400 but costs $1000 less. Could it be adapted to MFT bodies while preserving autofocus etc... ? We'd be losing auto-correction but distortion is not be too bad to start with, and using the center of the lens would limit vignetting at any aperture and improve perceived sharpness. Is that a crazy idea?

I am unlikely to go with this lens, mainly because I now tend to use M43 system and I leave my Nikon 800 and its lenses home. However, I like the idea of a slower lens that is still superb optically. This lens does not seem to be optically superb (but it seems good), has no tripod collar (even though it may need it more than faster lenses) and it has no tripod collar (again, important with a lens of this length). I have been saying for quite a while, that having slower, smaller lenses that are otherwise on par with their heavier, bulkier and pricier brethren would be very desirable. I do like my svelte Nikon 70-200 f/4 that is in all respect but speed comparable to pricier and heavier 70-200 f/2.8. I wish there were the whole lines of slower, smaller lighter lenses. This Sigma is a somewhat flawed example of what I am looking for.

Just downloaded one of the 400mm raw files (Cardinal) and I am impressed with the sharpness (centre anyway) at f/6.3. I was concerned after seeing a couple of end user samples...now I am relieved.

This is extremely good performance! Shows you don't need to spend four figures for a good telephoto (looking at you Canon 100-400). Sigma rock on!

Now my problem has solution: Sigma 100-400, instead of Nikkor 200-500. Body: D7200. Thanks Sigma !

Nice sample shots and a good selection of subjects. Two things:
1. Did you fine tune the autofocus? In-camera or using the dock? Or both?
2. Could you put it on a crop-sensor 80D or 77D or D7200 so we can see how it behaves with the higher pixel density?

Very nice. At least optically, it seems to be on par with the old canon 100-400L. But then again, so is my old Panasonic 100-300 for m43.The AF quality is what will really make or break this lens though.

Wow... Incredible sharpness for the fact that it is a relatively "cheap" zoom! And the bokeh isn't overly bad either, congrats to Sigma!

Seems like a very good value for the price!

Pictures look sharp and chromatic aberration-free @400mm wide open.
The bokey is pleasing too.
I am impressed...

Seems like a great value. Compact, well-priced and good performer.

The feather detail is surprisingly good even with the high-density sensor of the 5D4. Interesting to see how the lens is going to fare with a crop sensor.

A lens for wildlife photography, and the fastest action captured is a turtle! :-)

For such lenses, tracking fast moving subjects should be the proof of how useful the actual lens is. I know tracking accuracy has to to with the camera too, but the lens itself plays a major role. Hope such pictures will follow when you add more to the gallery.

Made in china or Japan? My Nikon Nano coating lenses are made in China and they beat made in Japan nowadays.

wonder how it would work on a6300 with mc-11 adapter....

4x zoom is 'super-zoom'? Might that be better as 'tele-zoom'?