SHUTTER JOURNEY SINGAPORE

Following our Part 1 & Part 2 Reviews of this excellent lens, the editorial team was contemplating to
whether we should do up a Part 3 review. Then fated as it is, an avid reader & follower of this site feedbacked
that my experimentation of posting unedited raw reviews direct from users doesn’t work on the Part 2 review.
Taking careful considerations that links from this site were frequently shared on other photography sites like dpreview, hardwarezone, photography-on-the-net etc, I had decided to re-edit the article almost immediately upon receiving
the feedback from Shawn Quek. Thank you Shawn for the head up!

To reward Shawn for providing us valuable feedback, I decided to invite Shawn to be the reviewer for the Part 3 review.
We met at East Coast Park, Singapore on last Sunday morning and after explaining to Shawn on the functions/modes/buttons on the new Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S), I handed over the lens to him. Let’s hear what Shawn has to say about this optical art piece.

Picture: The NEW Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S) fitted on Shawn’s Canon 1D MarkIII

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Shawn Quek’s view on the NEW 2013 Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S)
Text by Shawn Quek, Edited by Allan Lee

Picture: Shawn “feeling” the weight of this Sigma Monster Lens.

The Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S) is a remarkable lens to behold. As the third generation of the 120-300mm lens and part of the new ‘Sports’ line of Sigma, this lens feels like a polished and refined article. Constant bright f2.8 aperture, prime-like image quality, great ergonomics, this lens should be a winner as it stands out from the competition!

Picture: Getting to know the Lens better.

For a super telephoto lens, cosmetically it looks and feels great to the touch – it has a nice matte black exterior made from the new TSC material (Thermally Stable Composite) with touches of engineering plastics and rubber parts. Personally I prefer the new version which uses the TSC for the lens barrel over the older ‘EX’ finish. The lens body feels solid, the tripod mount is well-spaced and sturdy, and the zoom/focus rings are very tactile & responsive. The newly designed lens hood is similar those of the Canon L telephotos, a step-up from the previous bayonet mount type.

Photo credits: Shawn Quek, SQ Photography

Photo credits: Shawn Quek, SQ Photography

30th April 2013 – following the feedback by one of our reader Shawn Quek, I would like to clarify that the below article (Part 2) is posted with the intention & experimentation of posting a raw review from an end user direct without editing
as a trial. I would like to assure ALL readers that this is an “One Off” trial. Meantime, the article had been glanced over
again and with some text changed & further edited. I am trying not to change the “feel” of the article too much to retain the original views as submitted by the reviewer (Wilfred Chua).

This Blog, right from day 1, we had avoided the “typically technical” reviews done by other sites and that positioned us
differently from the start. Targeting at readers who wish to have a real feel of the equipment reviewed with real world photos was our primary aim. I hope the above clarifies. 🙂

Once again, thank you for your feedback Shawn.

Allan LEE
Editor
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Edited 30th April 2013 08.30am

The Editor took the NEW 2013 Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S) for a run  a couple of days ago to try out this “monster” of a lens at wildlife and came back with astounding results. Posted as a Part 1 for the simple reason that since the new 120-300mm F2.8 is released as a “S” Line Lens which stands for Sports, Part 2 should be based on sports events and that will make lots of sense.

A quick chat with one of our sub-editor, Edward Tian, we decided to let another person test out this lens in a sports environment. Wilfred Chua was selected and the best part, his son is playing a rugby match the next day right after we passed him the New 2013 Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S).

Let’s take a look at Wilfred’s photos from the new super telephoto from Sigma as well see what Wilfred has to say about this monster.

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(Edited 30th April 2013 08.30am)

Review by Wilfred:

When I was issued the new 2013 Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S)  lens, my first impression is that
the lens is nicely-packed and well-presented. It adds to the experience of opening up a box of a brand
new lens. However, I will prefer (the supplied lens pouch) to have an additional side
pocket – and maybe some space allowance for a DSLR. (to fit a Camera with lens mounted)
That will be much more useful for the user carrying the lens along with other smaller items while out on
a shoot.

I like the feel of this lens. Made using Sigma’s new TSC, this lens is conditioned for all-weather use.
The Matt black finish on the lens barrel looks “mean” as compare to the earlier versions – think “EX DG”
series lenses. By far, this is one of the best improvement externally.

Apart from cosmetics, this lens operates quietly and focus fast (HSM). This is important especially when
shooting sports events. Focusing is spot-on as expected from a Sports lens and the speed is comparable to
lenses of the same focal range by other brands. Not much of a surprise, the pictures are sharp and
contrasty. The other thing that I would like to highlight to everyone is the Optical Stabilization (OS)
function; extremely useful when used for hand-held shooting, or when this lens is used for portraitures.

Although the lens weighs about 2.6kg, I was still able to do hand-held shooting for short intervals or when
there is a need to take the camera off the tripod to capture certain angle within a flash of a second.
The added edge is, the option of having varying focal lengths rather than a prime lens for sports, especially rugby games
where angles & distance of the players are changing constantly. With a focal range of 120mm to 300mm, I can
adjust accordingly to the situation easily.

Sharpness at the closest focusing distance at around 2.5m is a little compromised. But who shoot at closest focusing distance anyway? This is a super-telephoto lens right? 🙂

I am unable to comment much about the focusing servo as I was using a 5D mk2 and 40D. These 2 camera’s
FPS is not that impressive to start with. Interestingly, the Editor told me that it will be interesting to
see what results we might get from using slower bodies since he used his Canon EOS 7D for the Part 1 review.

The day for the review came and the weather wasn’t kind, it drizzled on the first day that I was shooting
with this lens. The sky was gloomy & badly over-cast. I was forced to bump up my ISO on the 40D and you
can imagine how those photos might look like. Since this is a review unit from Sigma, I avoided shooting under
the rain although this lens is weather-sealed. To protect the lens, I ended up shooting by taking shelter under
an umbrella. Thus, I came home with only a couple of good photos.

Among the perfected perfections, the only set-back has to be the lens collar. It has a sharp edge and
maybe Sigma should re-look into redesigning it to prevent cuts to the photographer. And the space
allowance between the lens and the collar can be better improved – especially for users with bigger hands.
If Sigma can incorporated a few Focus Stops/Lock buttons on the lens barrel will be a plus – (think
Sony’s SAL70-200mm F2.8G SSM). Lastly, I hope Sigma can improve on the finishing of the lens collar.
But that being a cosmetic complaint, everything else is just perfect.

My overall conclusion, the NEW 2013 Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S) is an excellent lens with
a reasonable asking price. Apart from the professionals who will find this lens purposeful, this is also
a hobbyist’s ticket to the arena of F2.8 Super Telephoto Zoom Zone.

Thank you for the opportunity to let me test this lens.

Wilfred Chua
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Thank you Wilfred for sharing your photos, shot by the 2013 NEW Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S)!
The photos captured the zeal and energy of the rugby game and I totally enjoyed looking at them!
Glad you had a good time with this lens and thanks for the feedback which I will escalate this higher to the right
people at Sigma. Thank you once again!

Photo: (Top) Wilfred Chua at the games. Photo Credit Siow Kin Hwee, (Below) Wilfred in action with the New
Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM (S). Photo Credit Jessica Chua.

For more information on this lens, please visit here.

For other articles & reviews of Sigma Lenses, please visit here.

Special Thanks to Sigma Marketing (Singapore) for the lens!
We Love it!

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IMPORTANT NOTE:
** Sigma had re-organized their whole lens line into 3 category.
They are “C” Lens, “A” Lens & “S” Lens.

C Lens = Contemporary Lens Line

Featuring the very latest technology, and combining optical performance with compactness, Sigma’s high-performance Contemporary line covers a wide range of needs. Lenses in this category are Standard zoom lenses, telephoto zoom lenses, high-magnification zoom lenses.

A Lens = Art Lens Line

Designed with a focus on sophisticated optical performance and abundant expressive power, Sigma’s Art line delivers high-level artistic expression. Lenses in this category are Large-aperture prime lenses, wide-angle lenses, ultra-wide-angle lenses, macro lenses, fisheye lenses.

S Lens – Sports Lens Line

While offering sophisticated optical performance and expressiveness, Sigma Sports line lenses deliver high action-capture performance, enabling photographers to get exactly the shots they want. Lenses in this category are Telephoto lenses, telephoto zoom lenses, super telephoto lenses, super telephoto zoom lenses.

Sigma Marketing Singapore Pte Ltd. is a subsidiary of Sigma Japan Corporation.

For more information, please visit http://www.sigma-global.com