# Review: Sigma 500mm f/4 DG OS USM S by DXOMark



## Canon Rumors Guy (Jun 2, 2017)

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DXOMark has completed their review of the Sigma 500mm f/4 DG OS USM S supertelephoto lens. Like most of the new Sigma lenses over the last three years, this one performs quite well when compared to the Canon version.</p>
<p><strong>From DXOMark</strong></p>
<blockquote><p>Head-to-head against the Canon EF 500 f/4L IS II USM, the Sigma 500mm f/4’s image quality compares very favorably. The Canon lens is fractionally sharper on the 5DS R, but the Sigma offers a modest improvement in resolution on the 1D X Mark II and 5D Mark IV. To be fair, there’s very little to separate them in real-world terms on any of these DSLRs, however, making the Sigma 500mm f/4 a great value option. <a href="https://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Sigma-500mm-f-4-DG-OS-USM-S-Canon-lens-review-Super-sharp-shooter">Read the full review</a></p></blockquote>
<p>We’re not sure how many of these Sigma is going to sell, as it will be quite difficult to sell a $6000 lens for a Canon system that isn’t a Canon product. If you own one, sound off in the forums about it’s real world performance.</p>
<span id="pty_trigger"></span>
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## unfocused (Jun 2, 2017)

Canon Rumors said:


> We’re not sure how many of these Sigma is going to sell, as it will be quite difficult to sell a $6000 lens for a Canon system that isn’t a Canon product.



Yes, I think that if one is contemplating a lens like this, most buyers will likely pay the extra for a Canon, because there is always some element of risk involved with a third-party lens. 

Two things I am curious about:

1) How quick and reliable is the autofocus? It may be optically equal to the Canon, but if it focuses slowly or fails to lock focus, that would negate any cost advantage it might have.

2) Where will the street price settle? At $6,000 it may be too expensive, but would it be more attractive at $5,000? I don't know.


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## Keith_Reeder (Jun 2, 2017)

unfocused said:


> 1) How quick and reliable is the autofocus?



I have high hopes. My 120-300mm f/2.8 is superb, and it's simply not within the realm of possibility - given the target market for 500mm f/4s - that Siggy would get it wrong.


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## edoorn (Jun 2, 2017)

too bad they didn't test it with converters. From digital picture review, the tool used to compare lenses shows the Canon 500 is doing better here than Sigma with their converter.


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## amorse (Jun 2, 2017)

Canon Rumors said:


> <p>We’re not sure how many of these Sigma is going to sell, as it will be quite difficult to sell a $6000 lens for a Canon system that isn’t a Canon product. If you own one, sound off in the forums about it’s real world performance.</p>
> <span id="pty_trigger"></span>[/html]



I don't know, as someone who really struggles to consider spending near five figures on a lens, the super telephoto primes are effectively out of reach for me, financially. Placing this at $6,000 would certainly have me reconsidering that position if the image quality and autofocus performance stacks up, although it would still be a big reach for me...

I can't help but wonder how many other enthusiast photographers are out there who would consider spending $6,000, but not $9,000 on reach beyond 400mm with very good image quality.


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## Ryananthony (Jun 2, 2017)

amorse said:


> Canon Rumors said:
> 
> 
> > <p>We’re not sure how many of these Sigma is going to sell, as it will be quite difficult to sell a $6000 lens for a Canon system that isn’t a Canon product. If you own one, sound off in the forums about it’s real world performance.</p>
> ...



I'm in Canada and the sigma 500/4 is 7800 before tax. Just yesterday I found someone on the local Craigslist selling a Canon 500/4 ii for 8500 CAD. I would rather spend 8500 on a used copy of canons 500/4 then a sigma new.


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## Bob Howland (Jun 2, 2017)

I own a Sigma 150-600 f/5-6.3 Sport lens and seriously considered buying the 200-400 Canon L lens. Sigma should have introduced a 200-500 f/4 lens (or f/2.8-4) with a matched 1.4X multiplier instead of the 500 prime lens. They already make a 120-300 f/2.8 and 300-800 f/5.6 but never bothered to fill the gap between these with something useful. Their 200-500 f/2.8 is a joke.​


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## Ozarker (Jun 2, 2017)

If I were in the market for a super telephoto lens I would have to go the Canon route. It is a lot more money, but just the assurance of outstanding quality, service / repair and future compatibility with the camera bodies would be a big reason for me. It would be a once in a lifetime purchase for me. I'd want no regrets 10 years down the road.


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## Busted Knuckles (Jun 2, 2017)

6k is still more than I can cough up for a lens. Quick tally says I have 16k ish into bodies and lenses perhaps a tich more and it spans 16 to 600 mm. I wish I had the Sigma 150-600 as it a bit sharper on the long end than the tammy - 6k for just 500 would be basically 40% of my total investment for 1 focal length.

I am pretty enthusiastic photo dude - not nearly that enthusiastic


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## aceflibble (Jun 2, 2017)

Y'all are forgetting that the Canon isn't the only competition and isn't the only mount this lens is made with.

The Sony α9 basically guarantees this is going to be a huge success. Being mirrorless, all concerns about AF accuracy—which has been the one moderate fault of Sigma to date—are gone. At that point, this is the Canon 500mm but cheaper and not garish-white. Sony themselves produce no similar lens, which right now is basically the only fault of the α9. That body and this lens together give you something which equals-or-beats a 1D X mkII or D5 + first party 500m prime at a lower price. The only drawback right now is that this lens isn't currently in stock anywhere with the Sony E-mount, but if someone doesn't want to wait for that to happen, they can buy the Canon or Nikon version and immediately send it to Sigma to have the mount swapped. (Yes, swapping the mount is actually currently faster than waiting for the Sony mount to be shipped. No, I don't understand why, either.)

Then there's Nikon. Nikon's 500mm prime is basically the same as the mkI of the Canon 500mm. It's fine, but it's not up to par with the Canon mkII nor this Sigma. So, Sigma are giving Nikon users a noticeable upgrade, with more effective IS, sharper optics, less flare, and lighter weight, and again, at a lower price.

As someone who currently still uses Canon for wildlife (mostly as hobby but occasionally professionally), no, I won't be ditching the Canon lens and picking this up any time soon. However, if Canon don't hurry up with the next 7D revision (and make it a good one with no AA filter), that Sony α9 sure is going to become more and more tempting, and if I _do_ pick that up I'll be getting the Sigma 500mm for it, for sure; I can sell the Canon 500mm for more than the Sigma will cost to buy new and pocket the difference without losing any performance. That's a no-brainer.


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## Ryananthony (Jun 2, 2017)

aceflibble said:


> Y'all are forgetting that the Canon isn't the only competition and isn't the only mount this lens is made with.
> 
> The Sony α9 basically guarantees this is going to be a huge success. Being mirrorless, all concerns about AF accuracy—which has been the one moderate fault of Sigma to date—are gone. At that point, this is the Canon 500mm but cheaper and not garish-white. Sony themselves produce no similar lens, which right now is basically the only fault of the α9. That body and this lens together give you something which equals-or-beats a 1D X mkII or D5 + first party 500m prime at a lower price. The only drawback right now is that this lens isn't currently in stock anywhere with the Sony E-mount, but if someone doesn't want to wait for that to happen, they can buy the Canon or Nikon version and immediately send it to Sigma to have the mount swapped. (Yes, swapping the mount is actually currently faster than waiting for the Sony mount to be shipped. No, I don't understand why, either.)
> 
> ...



According to Sigma they only make the 500/4 in Canon, Sigma and Nikon mounts. I don't think there are any full frame Art, Contemporary or Sports lenses made for E-mount.


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## aceflibble (Jun 3, 2017)

Ryananthony said:


> According to Sigma they only make the 500/4 in Canon, Sigma and Nikon mounts. I don't think there are any full frame Art, Contemporary or Sports lenses made for E-mount.


As I said, it's not set to be produced and stocked yet. But the mount conversion is being offered to Sigma-sponsored pros, and any standard mount adapter will also work. (Sigma make their own, though I can't say whether it works any better or worse than other Canon/Nikon-to-E-mount adapters.)

I personally know a lot of people at Sigma. Given they've yet to misinform me about any of their products to date, including well before public announcement, I've no reason to believe they would misinform me now when they tell me an E-mount version is in the works and the mount conversion service is offered to those in the know. (And, again, regular mount adapters also work, of course.)


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## gruhl28 (Jun 3, 2017)

Can someone explain to me how the Canon can be sharper on the 5DS R, but the Sigma is sharper on the 1D X Mark II and 5D Mark IV? Is that really possible? Or does it just suggest that DXOMark isn't getting consistent results in their testing?


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## deorum (Jun 3, 2017)

gruhl28 said:


> Can someone explain to me how the Canon can be sharper on the 5DS R, but the Sigma is sharper on the 1D X Mark II and 5D Mark IV? Is that really possible? Or does it just suggest that DXOMark isn't getting consistent results in their testing?



id favor the second answer = no consistency between tests.
It has been done in the past, it wont be the first time. 
sure there can be a super-fancy scientifical explanation, but for me it will sound more like an excuse.

Im open to listen to of course, and then judge.


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## AlanF (Jun 3, 2017)

deorum said:


> gruhl28 said:
> 
> 
> > Can someone explain to me how the Canon can be sharper on the 5DS R, but the Sigma is sharper on the 1D X Mark II and 5D Mark IV? Is that really possible? Or does it just suggest that DXOMark isn't getting consistent results in their testing?
> ...



There are serious inconsistencies in their tests. 

On the 5DIV they have the Canon with far fewer perceptive megapixels (whatever they are) than the Sigma. But, if you go to measurements-sharpness-profiles, you find that the Canon has higher acutance in the centre and comparable elsewhere. 

On the 5DSR, the Canon is slightly sharper by both criteria. Frankly, it's bonkers. 

I no longer take DxOmark seriously, but I like and use DxO Optics Pro for its superb noise reduction.


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## Keith_Reeder (Jun 3, 2017)

aceflibble said:


> Y'all are forgetting that the Canon isn't the only competition and isn't the only mount this lens is made with.



We're not forgetting anything. 

We are however, _remembering_ that it's a Canon forum.


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## Keith_Reeder (Jun 3, 2017)

aceflibble said:


> which right now is basically the only fault of the α9.



_Only_ fault?

:


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## Hector1970 (Jun 3, 2017)

Does no one own it here. I know some one who has one but isn't a great photographer. He likes it but has little to compare it too. He's happy with the focus accuracy but do any do BIF.


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## PHOTOPROROCKIES (Jun 3, 2017)

CanonFanBoy said:


> If I were in the market for a super telephoto lens I would have to go the Canon route. It is a lot more money, but just the assurance of outstanding quality, service / repair and future compatibility with the camera bodies would be a big reason for me. It would be a once in a lifetime purchase for me. I'd want no regrets 10 years down the road.



One thing to remember about these big beautiful and expensive lenses. You take a risk buying one and expecting it to last forever, there are people who have version 1 of the 600mm f4 and those lenses can no longer be repaired. If it breaks you're stuck with a pretty expensive paper weight.


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## danski0224 (Jun 4, 2017)

PHOTOPROROCKIES said:


> One thing to remember about these big beautiful and expensive lenses. You take a risk buying one and expecting it to last forever, there are people who have version 1 of the 600mm f4 and those lenses can no longer be repaired. If it breaks you're stuck with a pretty expensive paper weight.



Yeah, that sucks.

Canon stopped servicing the USM (no IS) Big Whites long ago, and for all intensive purposes, no spare parts exist... short of cannibalizing another lens that has something else that is broken.

With the exception of the 200 f/2 and the 800 f/5.6 IS lenses, the IS VI Big Whites are on a short list to be declared obsolete at some point in the not too distant future. The 200 and 800 haven't been updated yet.

Buying new ones every 10 years or so to remain "current" isn't an option for me. If/when what I have breaks, and is no longer repairable, I doubt I'll buy another one. At least the VI IS lenses will focus without power, but I don't know what happens when an IS module craps out. Obviously the IS won't work, but does it fail in a neutral position? 

And I don't see third party manufacturers like Sigma or Tamron being any different.


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## YuengLinger (Jun 4, 2017)

Canon may cost more up front, but it might come out even in the long run when resale is factored in.

Kind of like buying a Honda. 8)


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## TWI by Dustin Abbott (Jun 4, 2017)

YuengLinger said:


> Canon may cost more up front, but it might come out even in the long run when resale is factored in.
> 
> Kind of like buying a Honda. 8)



That's a very valid point. I'm not sure that the third parties (other than Zeiss, perhaps) have gotten anywhere close to Canon in terms of holding value.


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## [email protected] (Jun 5, 2017)

On the a9 possibility: if they have a native mount solution, then you can get 20fps, and that sounds pretty cool. If it is through an adapter, the AF slows and you can only shoot 10 fps. 

That said, I think I'd have this lens over the Canon simply for price with roughly equal quality. I will wait on thinking about a9s and the like, though, until they work out a few things, including giving me the ability to use my glass with zippy AF and fps. 

-tig
PS: I'm a believer that mirrorless versus mirrored cameras don't matter much at all. It's all about performance, and I don't care what mechanism is inside. Mirrorless makes sense to me for the future, but I'm not going to switch until it is at least as good in the viewfinder and equivalent in other key performance measures, such as AF and frames per second. To my mind that means the a9 is probably the camera just before this inflection point is reached.


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## LSeries (Jun 5, 2017)

danski0224 said:


> And I don't see third party manufacturers like Sigma or Tamron being any different.



At least Sigma offers a 5 year warranty. I had to get my 70-200 f/4L IS USM repaired after 2 years of light use. The warranty was 1 year. Canon lags behind in build quality compared to Sigma's Sports series.


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## Busted Knuckles (Jun 9, 2017)

[email protected] said:


> On the a9 possibility: if they have a native mount solution, then you can get 20fps, and that sounds pretty cool. If it is through an adapter, the AF slows and you can only shoot 10 fps.
> 
> That said, I think I'd have this lens over the Canon simply for price with roughly equal quality. I will wait on thinking about a9s and the like, though, until they work out a few things, including giving me the ability to use my glass with zippy AF and fps.
> 
> ...



Couple of thoughts, 
1) With no view finder black out, you have a chance at focus pulling in manual focus - small but a chance, I have shot w/ the a6500 that has -0- black out, focusing would be tough (as it was "back in the day" before autofocus)
2) The costs of a $12,000 ish lens that gets obsoleted in 10 years is only $1,200/year - pretty much outside the range of this enthusiast. 
3) Though it is a Canon Forum, if the A-9 or its 2 years from now follow up, gets traction, then an E-mount on Sigma Art series make for a very interesting debate. I know Canon has a zillion lenses but how many are redundant consumer (still very good) versions vs. top of the heap. I don't expect anyone to have an 85 1.8 AND and 85 1.4 for example. This begs the interoperability convergence - Sony body w/ Sigma glass or will Sigma make a really top of the line body and be native? 

Sony is going to get better, as will Sigma, as well Canon. As some 99+% of images are now viewed on a browser an awful of this incremental improvement is lost on an awful lot of the viewing public. 8 bit viewing w/ 14 (or 16) bit capture. If one is going to chase the hyper image quality turn it into a 8' poster use a larger format image capture. (pls recall I have done 200+ frame 5Dsr imaged stitched pano)

What I think is really cool, is that in the not so distant future, one could be truly vexed in a Brand X vs. Canon system of image capture and not have any compromise. Lastly, the hyper IQ imaging market is not expanding nearly as fast as the cell phone vid/still market, if it is expanding at all.


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