The quality is very similar at f/11, f/16 and f/22.Īll three lenses deal with chromatic aberration really well, and I couldn’t find any visible traces anywhere. Either way, we’re talking about small differences that are not easy to detect at first glance. Instead, I concentrated on the examples that show you the most important differences between the three lenses.Īt 150mm, the Sigma is a bit sharper at f/5 and f/5.6, then it is the Tamron that has a small advantage at f/8. To avoid bloating the article too much, I didn’t include every single aperture and focal length in my side by side shots. f22 is soft, except at 500mm where it is acceptable.f/11 maintains a good level across the entire zoom range, f16 is very decent at 500mm.At 150mm, it is a bit softer at f/5, but it improves from f5.6 already.From 200-500mm, sharpness is at its peak at the fastest apertures and f/8.Tamron 150-500mm Key Takeaways about sharpness: f22 is softer up to 400mm, but acceptable at 500 and 600mm.from 400 to 600mm, the best results are at f/8.from 150 to 300mm, peak performance is found at f/5.6.Sigma 150-600mm Key Takeaways about sharpness: f/22 delivers softer images due to diffraction, but the quality is acceptable at 600mm.f/11 and f/16 deliver decent quality across the entire zoom range.At 500mm and 600mm, peak sharpness is at f/8, but f6.3 and f/11 are very close.optimal sharpness is found at f5.6, f6.3 and f/8 from 200 to 600mm.Sony FE 200-600mm Key Takeaways about sharpness: The workaround is to rotate the zoom ring a little until it works again, or even zoom all the way out to 150mm.Īll the sharpness tests were performed with the A7R III.īefore analysing the images side by side, here is a summary of the performance for each lens with the most important points to remember. The switch is a bit capricious at time (at least on my copy), and changing positions can be a tedious operation because the switch refuses to move. The T setting offers a high degree of resistance, so it’s very unlikely you’ll move the ring by mistake. The Sigma lens has a dedicated torque switch on the side to lock the zoom ring at 150mm, or choose two different levels of resistance: Tight or Smooth. To make it work, you need to hold the lens with your hand touching another part of its surface, which is not always comfortable. In other words, it could have done with a stronger mechanism. The execution is a bit disappointing unfortunately, because if you hold the lens with your hand on the zoom ring, which is the most natural position, you end up moving the ring up and down all the time while taking pictures. Tamron’s designers also added something very clever that they call Flex Zoom Lock mechanism: the zoom ring can be clutched forward to be locked in any position. When not in use, you can lock the zoom at 150mm with the dedicated switch. The arc of rotation is short at just 75˚, which means you can go from 150mm to 500mm and vice versa with a relatively small twist. That of the Tamron has more resistance which I don’t dislike to be honest, because there isn’t a lot of friction, and the ring has a better chance of staying in place when you set it. The Sony has the smoothest zoom ring but there is no option of locking it at any position. From left to right: Sony 200-600mm, Sigma 150-600mm and Tamron 150-500mmĪll three lenses are weather sealed and feel very well built. It remains shorter, albeit not by much, when extended to 500mm. The Tamron is the smallest and lightest of the three, and you come to really appreciate its more compact dimensions. When extended to 600mm however, it becomes a few centimetres longer than the Sony lens. The Sigma closely follows the Sony when it comes to weight and diameter, but it is 5cm shorter when retracted. It is also the only one with an internal zoom mechanism, which means that it doesn’t extend when zooming in. The Sony is the longest, largest and heaviest of the three. Let’s tackle dimensions and weight first.
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