The lens foot can replace the original lens’s supplied foot, making it possible to directly attach the lens to the Arca Swiss platforms and screw knob clamps. Astigmatism is seen as points of light spreading into a line, either sagittal (radiating from the center of the image) or meridional (tangential, perpendicular to sagittal). Rated for up to 4-stops of compensation, Sigma's OS (Optical Stabilization) adds greatly to this lens' usability versatility. As hinted to, images captured with APS-C format cameras do not show shading nearly as readily and the barely-recognizable close-to-1-stop of shading in 200mm corners is essentially the only consideration in this regard.

Sigma 70-200mm f2.8 DG OS HSM SPORTS from CameraWorld

There is a similar performance at 105mm with improved center resolution at f2.8 and less astigmatism in the FX-corner. But unfortunately the haloing effect of residual spherical aberration has increased considerably. The lens is able to focus as close as 3.9 feet (1.2-meter). It's good enough for 1:4.8 life-size magnification when zoomed all the way in and focused as close as possible. It's as good as its closest competition can manage, though it doesn't match the 1:3 focus offered by the Tamron 70-210mm f/4 Di VC USD.

Performance at large distances

There is also no reason why artistic images cannot be captured with this lens, and considering it was recently released, it certainly could be considered "contemporary" for a while. Still, these are one of the most useful classes of lenses available and they are well worth the investment and effort to use. If you're not making money this is the lens to get unless you have to have IS. I've got large steady hands so I could shoot down to 1/50-60 with this lens ( I'm a excellent pistol and rifle marksman former USMC ). So bottom line don't be afraid to get this lens, you wont be sorry. The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Sports Lens is available in Canon EF (reviewed), Nikon F and Sigma SA mounts. One of the great advantages of optical stabilization in a telephoto lens is the stabilized viewfinder making composition easier.

Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Sports review

While that lens was not especially old, somewhat surprising is that it took Sigma so long to introduce this utra-popular lens model under the Global Vision series badge ("Sports", in this case). I'm less fond of this lens' extra weight over its competition, the front-positioned zoom ring is not optimal and my experienced conventional phase-detection AF accuracy has not been as stellar as it could be. The lenses in this series continue to impress and gain popularity – just don't limit the lens' use to its letter designation.Those using this lens on mirrorless interchangeable lens cameras (MILCs) and those autofocusing using DSLRs' sensor-based AF systems should experience stellar AF accuracy. Coma is absent in the center of the frame, gets worse toward the edges/corners and generally appears as a comet-like or a triangular tail of light which can be oriented either away from the center of the frame (external coma), or toward the center of the frame (internal coma).

Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Review | PCMag Sigma APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Review | PCMag

Sharpness is measured at the centre and corners of the frame and throughout the aperture range. Centre sharpness at 70mm is excellent, and respectable at all other focal lengths. Corner sharpness is again high at 70mm, but at 100mm and beyond, corner sharpness takes a significant downturn at larger apertures, and you'll need to stop down to f/11 for best results. The longer the focal length, the more obvious the improvement seen at f/4 becomes and the more that improvement is needed over the f/2.8 performance. But, also expect a similar amount of assistance from OS as it is still similarly and significantly compensating for shake. Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners!

Supplied Accessories

My strong preference, especially for a 70-200mm f/2.8-class lens, is to have the zoom ring behind the focus ring.

Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Sports Review | PCMag Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Sports Review | PCMag

Stop down to f/8 or f/11 and the results are improved – not amazing, but improved enough to be useful when getting closer is not an option. For those with Nikon-based kits, comparing the Sigma 70-200 Sports to the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8E AF-S FL VR Lens makes the most sense.The Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM is the company’s latest 70-200mm and its first with an image stabilizer . It covers a 2.9x zoom-range and was announced February 2011. Sigma offers this lens with Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma mounts and it is cheaper than any other stabilized 70-200/2.8 zoom. Photographing mountains is an especially good use of this lens' focal lengths and it is so easy to take great telephoto landscape images that it feels (slightly) like cheating. There's about 1 percent pincushion distortion at 140mm, and the lens shows its sharpest results at f/2.8—3,003 lines using the center-weighted metric with edges that fall just shy of 2,700 lines. The lens gets better as the aperture is narrowed: 3,490 lines at f/4, 3,629 lines at f/5.6, 3,673 lines at f/8, and 3,569 lines at f/11.