Sigma 120 400mm F4 5 5 6 DG APO OS HSM Review | 54 Data compared

The Imaging Resource review characterizes the Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM APO as a solid, budget-friendly telephoto lens featuring excellent chromatic aberration control, effective optical stabilization, and quiet autofocus. While performance is strong at shorter focal lengths, the lens exhibits decreased sharpness at 400mm and suffers from significant weight and handling issues, including a forward-placed zoom ring and limited zoom lock functionality.

The ePHOTOzine review of the Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM finds the lens to be a solid, value-focused super-telephoto option offering robust build quality and a highly effective Optical Stabilisation (OS) system for sharp, handheld shooting. The lens features a fast and quiet Hypersonic Motor (HSM) with manual focus override, making it suitable for wildlife and sports, despite not carrying Sigma's premium "EX" designation. Key disadvantages noted include a heavy 1640g weight, a tendency for the matte finish to mark, and a loose zoom mechanism that suffers from "zoom creep". Furthermore, autofocus can hunt in low light at the 400mm setting, and the image sharpness degrades at maximum zoom unless stopped down, with a susceptibility to flare without the hood.

The Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM lens, as reviewed on The Digital Picture, is a budget-friendly, high-utility telephoto option featuring an effective four-stop Optical Stabilizer and a fast, quiet Hyper Sonic Motor. It offers strong center sharpness across much of its range, three SLD glass elements for reduced aberration, and a useful 1:4.2 maximum magnification. YouTube · However, the lens suffers from significant edge softness when shooting wide open, necessitating a stop down to f/8 or f/11 for better results, with noticeably reduced contrast at 400mm. Its heavy, 3.6 lb build can cause fatigue, while practical limitations include zoom creep, a 120mm-only lock, and AF hunting in low light.

The Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 APO HSM is a sturdy, well-built telephoto zoom lens that offers landscape photographers a highly versatile focal range at a budget-friendly price of around $1,000 CAN. In field tests using a full-frame Canon EOS-1ds Mark III, the lens delivered impressive sharpness that easily matched the Canon 70-200mm f/4L (at 120mm and 200mm) and the Canon 300mm f/4L prime lens (at 300mm), especially when shooting at its sharpness "sweet spot" between f/5.6 and f/11. Its build quality features smooth focus and rotating zoom mechanisms, and its internal design creates significantly less dust-attracting airflow compared to the push-pull design of the Canon 100-400mm. Additionally, it renders images with a noticeably warmer colour cast and demonstrates better edge sharpness with less chromatic aberration (colour fringing) than its Canon zoom competitor at the wider end of the focal range. Despite its strong performance, the lens does have notable drawbacks, particularly at its maximum focal length and wide apertures. Image sharpness and the ability to achieve precise focus fall off at 400mm compared to the Canon 100-400mm, though professional results are...

The Photo Review review of the Sigma APO 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 DG OS HSM lens highlights it as a versatile, affordable telephoto option for wildlife and sports, featuring effective Optical Stabilizer (OS) technology for handheld shooting. The lens provides quick autofocus via the Hyper-Sonic Motor (HSM) and utilizes Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass to maintain good center sharpness across most of its focal range. However, the 1,750-gram weight presents handling challenges, and performance drops in both contrast and edge-to-edge sharpness when extended to 400mm at wide apertures. Additionally, the matte barrel finish is prone to collecting dust, and optimal sharpness requires stopping down to f/8 or f/11 at the telephoto end.

The Sigma 120-400mm F4.5-5.6 DG APO OS HSM mounted on a Nikon D800E scores a DXOMARK rating of 21, indicating decent performance for a telephoto zoom lens released in 2008. Dynamically, the lens performs best at its wider end of f=120mm with an aperture of f/4.5. It displays an impressive sharpness score of 14 P-Mpix, and delivers highly effective management of optical distortions, registering a distortion level of only 0.2% alongside a well-controlled vignetting score of -1.1 EV. Furthermore, its control over chromatic aberration is exceptionally strong, measuring at a minimal 7 µm. Despite these strengths, the review highlights several performance bottlenecks under real-world testing conditions. On the negative side, the lens suffers from a low light transmission rate of 5.9 TStop, limiting its efficiency in dim environments, and exhibits soft image quality towards the edges of the frame when shot wide open. To mitigate this edge softening and reach peak resolution across the frame, photographers are forced to stop down the lens, ideally reaching its sweet spot between f/8 and f/11. Additionally, user reviews point out that the lens...

The Sigma 120-400mm f/4.5-5.6 APO DG OS HSM is recognized as a capable, value-oriented telephoto zoom offering solid construction with a robust matte finish and smooth zoom, complemented by an effective Optical Stabilizer (OS) and quick, quiet Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) tracking. While it delivers good color correction and sharpness at wider focal lengths, users report a notable drop in contrast at 400mm, alongside significant weight and a variable aperture that can lead to autofocus hunting in low light. Review the full BirdForum analysis at BirdForum.