Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM Lens

Yesterday I received the penultimate acquisition in my migration from Canon to Sigma lenses. As I've stated, a main reason for the change is the fact that Sigma makes some lenses designed for crop sensor cameras that Canon simply doesn't. This makes the Sigma lenses smaller, lighter and less costly than the Canon counterparts designed to cover full frame sensors.

The focal lengths of the Sigma lenses also make more sense for use with my bodies. The 30mm lens is an example as it acts like a 48mm lens. Accordingly, I've sold my wonderful Canon EF 70-200mm f/2.8L IS II USM lens and replaced it with the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens at half the price. This Sigma lens has the field of view of an 80-240mm lens on a 35mm camera, a much more useful range than a range which doesn't start until 112mm.

Image quality is comparable. In fact, when paired with the Canon EOS 7D, the Sigma zoom scores higher at DxOMark.com than the Canon flagship zoom. When combined with a good 1.4X teleconverter, the Sigma zoom becomes a 70-210mm f/4 image stabilized zoom with an effective field of view of 112-336mm.

All this leaves just one more lens to complete what will be my four lens Sigma EX DC kit. That lens should arrive early next week. While I haven't yet tested the zoom with my Canon 500D closeup filter/lens, it's possible that I will also be able to sell my Canon 60mm macro lens in favor of that method of getting up close.

Here are some samples, all shot wide open to test image sharpness. All were processed with Canon's DPP software. The only adjustment to the default settings was to increase sharpness from 3 to 4 as is usually advisable with 7D files.

Canon 7D, Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS at 50mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec., ISO 100

Canon 7D, Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS at 150mm, f/2.8, 1/2000 sec., ISO 100

Yes, I know the shot at 150mm is not quite correctly oriented. But to correct it would also result in some cropping and I want to show the field of view at each end of the zoom. The following shot, similarly tilted, was made with the addition of my Canon Extender EF 1.4X II.

Canon 7D, Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 EX DC OS at 210mm, f/4, 1/1000 sec., ISO 100