Sigma 2470mm F28 Dg Os Hsm Art Lens Vs Canon 2470mm

Photographers waited for a long time for Sigma to redesign its aging 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX DG HSM and bring it up to the standards of its modern Global Vision lens series. The 24-70mm F2.viii DG OS HSM Fine art ($1,299) is hither, just unfortunately it falls brusque of other lenses in the Art series. It delivers performance that'due south better in some ways than the competing Tamron SP 24-70mm f/two.8 Di VC USD G2, and in other ways falls short. If yous don't need pro-level functioning, both the Sigma and Tamron are worth a wait—y'all can pick the lens that all-time suits your needs. But if yous're a professional, you're improve off spending the money on a name brand 24-70mm f/2.viii.

Design

Sigma's 24-70mm ($1,299.00 at Amazon) is a squat zoom lens housed in a black butt, a mix of metal (at the base) and polycarbonate. It measures 4.two past three.v inches (HD) at its shortest position, weighs 2.2 pounds, and supports 82mm front filters. It does extend when zooming, with the telescoping inner barrel boasting polycarbonate construction. A reversible lens hood, front and rear caps, and a soft carrying case are included.

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Fit and finish are like to the Tamron 24-70mm ($ane,299.00 at Amazon) , which is about the same size (4.4 past three.5 inches) and weight (2 pounds). Both lenses are protected from dust and splashes, and both feature a fluorine coat on the forepart element. The coating, which is showing up on more than and more lenses, repels grease, dust, and wet, then it's easier to keep the lens clean, and to clean it when it does get dirty.

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You can go the 24-70mm f/2.8 in Catechism EF, Nikon F, or Sigma SA mounts. The Nikon version features electromagnetic aperture control, so its compatibility is restricted to newer SLR bodies, as is Nikon's own pro-grade zoom, the AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ED VR. We received the Canon version for review.

The zoom ring sits just behind the forepart chemical element and is quite wide, and covered in textured rubber so information technology's comfortable to grip and plow. It'southward marked at 24, 28, 35, fifty, and 70mm. The manual focus band is much narrower, and is positioned simply behind the zoom band. I found it a bit troublesome to feel out and turn—I would take liked for information technology to be a little chip wider, or to take a scrap more separation from the zoom ring.

There are two switches on the butt, positioned on its left side, toward the lens mountain. One turns the stabilization system on or off, the other changes the focus mode. Options are full-time autofocus (AF), full-fourth dimension manual focus (MF), and autofocus with manual override (MO). There aren't whatsoever options to change the way the stabilization system works—it'due south either on or off—so you'll want to think to turn it off when panning with moving subjects. CIPA rates the IS system to be effective to 4 stops, not quite every bit good as the five-finish organization employed by the Tamron 24-70mm.

The 24-70mm focuses to 15 inches, giving it an effective ane:4.3 magnification ratio when focused as close equally possible and set to 70mm. That's non quite macro—we generally consider i:3 a cut-off for zoom lenses—merely y'all'll be able to get up close and personal with subjects. The Tamron alternative also focuses to 15 inches, but due to differences in blueprint nets a slightly less large ane:5 maximum magnification ratio.

Image Quality

I tested the Sigma 24-70mm with the 50MP Canon EOS 5DS R. A standard sharpness chart, analyzed using Imatest, shows that the lens delivers adequate, merely not exceptional, performance at 24mm. At f/2.8 information technology records two,799 lines on boilerplate, better than the 2,750 lines we want to run into at a minimum—but merely barely. The average score is really skilful through well-nigh of the frame, hovering around iii,100 lines, but blurry edges (i,558 lines) bring it downward.

At f/4 edge operation improves (2,450 lines), merely there'due south a drop in central resolution, so the boilerplate is still a downward-to-earth two,852 lines. Real improvement is visible at f/5.six, with the average climbing to 3,147 lines, and edges that lag just behind the average in resolution. Results remain strong at f/8 (3,282 lines) and f/11 (3,149 lines), earlier dropping at f/16 (2,760 lines) and f/22 (two,022 lines).

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I tested the Tamron 24-70mm on the aforementioned 5DS R body, so I'grand able to make a direct comparing in resolution scores. The Tamron delivers better resolution at 24mm, iii,263 lines at f/2.8, with strong performance through much of the frame and edges that are better than the Sigma (2,302 lines). Information technology also offers better peak resolution at 24mm; at f/5.6 information technology shows 3,892 lines.

At 35mm f/2.8 the Sigma is better than at its widest angle, showing 2,969 lines on average, and edges that fall behind, showing just 2,000 lines. We come across an improvement at the periphery of the frame at f/4 (two,439 lines), only the boilerplate score notwithstanding hovers effectually 3,000 lines. Image quality is meliorate at f/5.6 (3,157 lines average, ii,858 lines edges), and the lens delivers resolution that'southward nearly even from center to edge at f/viii, with an boilerplate iii,434-line score.

Prototype quality holds up well at f/xi (three,286 lines), just drops off at f/16 (2,953 lines) and f/22 (2,258 lines). At 35mm the Tamron delivers sharper photos—iii,169 lines at f/ii.eight, with edges that match the Sigma. The Tamron's peak resolution at 35mm is at f/5.6, 3,940 lines, improve than what the Sigma does at its best.

It's at 50mm where the Sigma overtakes its rival in prototype quality. At 50mm f/2.8 the Fine art lens notches 3,043 lines, with edges that are merely a bit soft (2,352 lines). At that place's a slight comeback all around at f/4 (3,247 lines average, ii,616 lines edges) and f/5.6 (3,278 lines boilerplate, 2,855 lines edges). At f/8, periphery virtually matches the boilerplate score, iii,356 lines, and results are solid at f/xi (iii,180 lines). Resolution drops at f/16 (2,834 lines) and f/22 (2,189 lines). Compare this with the Tamron, which shows 2,610 lines at f/two.8, thanks in part to very blurry edges (1,003 lines). The Tamron is sharper at f/five.vi (3,666 lines) and f/viii (3,789 lines).

At 70mm the Sigma continues to deliver solid, but non exceptional, results. At f/two.eight the boilerplate is lower than what we've seen before, 2,635 lines, due to some softness as you lot move abroad from the heart (two,442 lines) and approach the outer parts of the frame (one,812 lines). But information technology does meliorate than the Tamron at 70mm f/two.8; it shows 2,333 lines on boilerplate, with its center (2,839 lines) lagging behind that of the Sigma (3,191 lines). Of the two, the Sigma is a better performer when zoomed all the way in and shot at f/2.8.

As you finish downwardly the 24-70mm Art at its maximum zoom, paradigm quality gets better. At f/4 the average score jumps to three,009 lines, meliorate than the Tamron (2,863 lines). The Sigma plateaus at f/5.6 (iii,026 lines) and f/viii (2,910 lines). It'south not until you stop downwards to f/viii that the Tamron shows an advantage over the Sigma at 70mm—it scores three,172 lines there, with edges that hit around three,000 lines.

No matter what f-stop you lot use at 70mm with the Sigma lens, edge performance is weak. At its best it hovers around 2,100 lines. And, as with other focal lengths, there's a drop in the overall image quality at the smallest apertures—avert shooting information technology at f/sixteen (2,453 lines) and f/22 (2,035 lines).

You lot shouldn't look at edge functioning as a huge differentiating cistron, especially at wider apertures where shallow depth of field will hide some flaws, bold you're not framing your bailiwick at the border of the frame. And we don't just look at resolution when testing lenses.

Distortion is also a factor. The 24-70mm shows some at its extremes, near ii.9 percent barrel distortion at 24mm and ane.5 pincushion distortion at 70mm. Only information technology's not a large issue every bit you lot use the centre area of the zoom range. Results are in line with the Tamron 24-70mm, and, as with any lens, y'all tin remove modest distortion using software tools. Adobe Lightroom includes a profile for one-click baloney correction.

In that location'due south also a noticeable vignette when shooting the Sigma 24-70mm at wide apertures. (The Lightroom profile removes this too.) There'due south virtually a 4-stop (-4EV) drib in brightness from center to corner at f/2.8 throughout the zoom range. It's cutting to about -two.5EV at f/4, and a more reasonable -1.5EV at f/5.six. At narrower settings than that, it'due south not noticeable. If you shoot with a Canon lens on a Canon SLR or a Nikon lens on a Nikon SLR, you take the selection of compensating for both the vignette and distortion when shooting JPGs automatically, but that'south something you lot lose past opting for a 3rd-party solution.

Finally at that place's chromatic aberration, ofttimes visible in the grade of purple color fringing in loftier-contrast areas toward the periphery of the frame. We saw information technology in the Tamron 24-70mm, and we see it here. It's most evident at 24mm, at each tested f-stop, just very close examination shows that it's also a very slight issue at 35mm and at 70mm. Again, this is an effect that's easily handled by software—Lightroom clears it up with a simple checkbox when processing photos—only it's something you accept to think virtually when going through images.

Conclusions

The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG Bone HSM Art is, similar the competing model from Tamron, an endeavour to deliver a wide aperture standard zoom for full-frame SLRs at a reasonable price and with image stabilization. That's beyond ambitious. The Sigma take on the lens isn't every bit abrupt as the Tamron at wider angles, merely does deliver images that are acceptably crisp throughout its zoom range, fifty-fifty on a high-resolution camera. The Tamron delivers soft results when shot wide open at 70mm, which is a bit limiting, especially for portraiture.

If yous're a hobbyist lensman and don't heed spending some fourth dimension in Lightroom or similar software to remove some imperfections in images—chromatic aberration, vignetting, and distortion—the Sigma 24-70mm is an affordable alternative to lenses like the Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8E ($i,299.00 at Amazon) and the Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8L 2 USM ($1,299.00 at Amazon) . But pros should stick with the pricier, first-political party options. They'll pay for themselves with time.

Photographers shopping in this price range volition need to weigh the benefits of the Sigma versus the Tamron 24-70mm G2, which sells for about $100 less. If you like to shoot at f/2.eight and desire decent results over the entirety of the range, I'd lean toward the Sigma. But if you find yourself using the broad end of the zoom range more oftentimes, the Tamron's stronger resolution is highly-seasoned. We've given both lenses the same rating, as they brand quite a few compromises to evangelize a straight f/2.8 aperture and epitome stabilization for significantly less than $ii,000.

Sigma 24-70mm F2.eight DG OS HSM Art

The Bottom Line

The Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM Fine art is a budget accept on the 24-70mm pattern, just falls curt of the marks nosotros look for in a pro lens.

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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/reviews/sigma-24-70mm-f28-dg-os-hsm-art

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