Sigma 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sports Review: Way More for Way Less

Professional telephoto lenses made specifically for wildlife and sports tend to be the most expensive money can buy. They push the envelope of lens technology, not to mention size and weight. What if I told you that Sigma made a lens that delivers the same f/4 aperture combined with a more versatile zoom range but is also only $6,000, substantially less money than the competition? It sounds too good to be true.

Yet this is exactly what Sigma has done with its new 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sports. Surely, this lens must have some serious compromises, right?

Sigma 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sports: How it Feels

The Sigma 300-600mm f/4 certainly looks and feels like a serious professional telephoto lens. It sports (no pun intended) an all-white paint job to reduce unnecessary heating of the internal elements and the chassis is fully weather-sealed, has a customizable control rocker, plenty of customizable buttons, and image stabilization.

There is a focus limiter and a tripod collar that can be set for click-stop 90-degree detents or smooth rotation if desired. The carbon fiber hood does a great job of protecting the front of the lens, and there is a 40.5mm drop-in filter option if you need it. I would easily put the build quality of this new Sigma up against any 600mm f/4 telephoto from the likes of Sony, Nikon, or Canon.

A wildlife and sports lens also has to focus quickly, and the 300-600mm has no issues thanks to its powerful HLA linear motors. The subject detection modes on the Sony a7R V that I used had zero issues, but Sony will limit you to a maximum of 15 frames per second in burst mode. There is one major compromise, however, and that is the overall weight of the Sigma 300-600mm lens. At over 140 ounces (3985 grams), the Sigma is substantially heavier than any of the 600mm f/4 lenses from the other major manufacturers. Holding the lens by hand is incredibly taxing, and a monopod is more necessary for this lens than for any of the other brands.

However, let’s not forget that the Sigma 300-600mm is a zoom and therefore acts as multiple lenses in one. Having a zoom lens for photographing animals is extremely useful when a quick composition change is needed or if you find yourself slightly out of position to photograph your target. I think the overall weight is a reasonable compromise given the extra versatility.

Sigma 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sports: How it Shoots

Can the Sigma 300-600mm f/4 compete when it comes to overall image quality? The first thing I tested was the lens’s resistance to flare. Contrast seems well maintained when shooting toward the sun without the hood on, but I did notice some minor ghosting in the opposite corner. Close the aperture down tighter to f/11, for example, and the ghosting gets fairly serious with a large green washed-out area prevalent across the frame. I would make sure to always use the lens hood anytime I have this lens out and about.

Bokeh was quite pleasant, which is important given how often the background will be reduced to a soft blur on this lens. Specular highlights have a touch of soap-bubble effect but are otherwise quite clean. There is a little harshness to the out-of-focus areas, although this is really only noticeable compared to the fixed 600mm lenses that the Sigma competes against. Make no mistake, the prime 600mm lenses have absolutely sublime-looking bokeh, but this is largely thanks to the exorbitant pricing they come with.

What certainly impressed me was the level of detail and sharpness that the Sigma could deliver. Regardless of whether you shoot at f/4 or stopped down, and at any given focal length, the 300-600mm has the resolving power it needs. This makes the entire lens useful because there is no point in its range that you would want to avoid using for any reason. I think most professional wildlife and sports shooters would be impressed with the wide-open performance of the Sigma 300-600mm versus any of the available prime alternatives.

Sigma 300-600mm f/4 DG OS Sport: A Limited Selection of Cameras

The only thing that might give prospective buyers pause is related to which lens mount you buy the lens for. Sony E-mount users will find the lens limited to 15 FPS (frames per second) burst rates, as Sony does with any third-party glass. You can still have full continuous tracking autofocus, regardless, and 15 FPS is enough for most photographers. However, there is also no option available to use the Sigma 300-600mm with E-mount teleconverters, and this might be the biggest downside to owning this lens.

When it comes to L-mount, you can use teleconverters and there is no fps limitation, but I would argue that the Leica and Panasonic cameras that you would use with the Sigma aren’t the most ideal tool for sports and wildlife photography. Cameras such as the Lumix S1R II can certainly be used for some work, but I find that the E-Mount options are far more reliable when it comes to the precise autofocus required for this kind of photography. Suffice it to say, I wish you could get the Sigma 300-600mm for Nikon and Canon mounts, but as of now, this is not an option as neither company allows Sigma to make lenses for its full-frame cameras.

Are There Alternatives?

For similar performance without the same versatility, the Sony 600mm f/4 G Master is an excellent but vastly more expensive alternative. This incredible value is the true beauty of the Sigma 300-600mm lens. You could also look at the slower but more affordable Sony 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3, but you sacrifice the constant and brighter aperture Sigma brings to the table.

There are no real alternatives in L-mount making it pretty much a no-brainer there.

Should You Buy it?

Yes. All the performance with very little compromise for way less money. Any serious wildlife or action photographer should take a hard look at the Sigma 300-600mm before deciding on their next telephoto purchase.