Sigma 300-600mm f4 Review: Best With High Megapixels

If you’re the type that loves to go birding, then you’ve probably got a small stable of lenses that you want to choose from. With that, the Sigma 300-600mm f4 DG OS Sports is most likely an option that you’d want to consider, but also know that it’s very pricey. This is a lens that we think the purist photographer will really love. And with Sony’s cameras, it’s bound to really please any birder. On top of that, this is the single best birding lens for the L mount alliance.

The Big Picture: Sigma 300-600mm f4 DG OS Sports Review Conclusions

The Sigma 300-600mm f4 DG OS Sports is capable of delivering some really beautiful image quality. But I also feel like you need a higher megapixel camera to really make that happen. It’s a bit behind both Sony and Tamron when it comes to autofocus and general usability. But if you’re looking for the ultimate purism when it comes to image quality, then you’re not going to get any better than this.

• Focus throw is a bit too long and that makes tracking birds as they’re flying more difficult if you’re handheld. I almost want a push/pull function like older zoom lenses used to have. I feel like I’d be a lot more stable.
• However, it’s nice that this is an internal zoom as it has to be due to being so huge.
• Quite heavy, so make sure shag you’re working out
• Good autofocus but Tamron and Sony have both given me better performance. Something about the smarts of the camera goes down when using this lens.
• Nice image quality; but also very standard at this point. It’s sharper than a Tamron and the Sony G. But that comes with a trade off
• I like the amount of controls this lens gives me
• Very good image stabilization
• There’s an autofocus beep function
• Weather sealed
• Pricey at $6,599

We’re giving the Sigma 300-600mm f4 DG OS Sports lens 4 out of five stars. If you’re an L-mount user, it’s probably the single best birding lens that you can get your hands on.

Experience

I’ve got loads of friends, both photographers and not, who would think that I was crazy to want to bring this big, hulking wendigo of a lens around to go shoot. Let alone that I’d want to wake up at 5:30AM to get to Jamaica Wildlife Bay Refuge to do it. Currently in the NY summer, this is one of the best places to test a lens like this. It’s characterized by trails, salt marshes, muddy roads, etc. If it were the autumn or spring, I’d probably be coming here still. However, there are even better places to do bird photography, too. And for any photographer that chooses it, I think that they’ll be very happy with the Sigma 300-600mm F4 Sports lens.

Make no mistake, I’m very grateful to the past self who decided that being depressed and obese wasn’t for me. So I got into shape originally using intermittent fasting, yoga, and indoor cycling. Granted, I’ve always been strong. But to carry this lens around for a prolonged period of time without a tripod or a monopod requires some more strength. These days, I’ve added rock climbing to my workout regimen, and I’ve done studies on how to really stand straight so that your spine supports your torso. There’s also knowledge of how your core does some of the work and not just your hips, shoulders, lower back, etc.

All this to say that if you plan on taking this Bigma out to go shoot, make sure that you’re in shape or that you’ve done some appropriate amounts of stretching. And while this is a big, heavy lens, I have to admit that I’ve used heavier. What’s more, my back wasn’t hurting after walking around with this lens for nearly four hours handheld. But I can only hold while shooting for so long while tracking birds diving into a marsh to catch fish and then fly back to their nest.

For the most part, the Sony a9 III on loan to us from Lensrentals did most of the heavy lifting when it comes to the actual use of the lens. If anything, I enabled a specific lens optical stabilization and used the focus limiter a bit. Very much so, this is a set-it-and-forget-it type of experience. That being said, if the Sigma 300-600mm f4 Sports DG DN were a kitchen appliance, it would be the Showtime Rotisserie that we all saw infomercials for. If you’re not familiar with this, well, get ready for quite a dive down YouTube rabbit holes.

This lens isn’t just big and heavy just because they can do so – it’s got weather resistance built into it. Plus, Sigma tends to value image quality over autofocus lens performance. However, in this case, our hulking wendigo of a lens is pretty effective at hunting down and capturing its flying prey with the a9 III in tow. This is bound to vary on older cameras or those without the cosmic autofocus omnipotence that the a9 III is. I found this to be the case in scenarios where the scene is underexposed and overexposed. 2 stops of difference is really all that tends to matter with birding – and this lens didn’t have a lot of problems finding and locking onto birds with the camera set to AF-C and using tracking with the middle area. If they were further out and really small, then it would begin to give up the hunt because it knew that it wouldn’t win. This is also the case when there is a lot of grass, leaves or anything else.

I’ve gotten higher keeper rates from Tamron and Sony lenses. In particular, I fondly remember how wonderful the Sony 400-800mm made the birding experience — the same goes for the Sony 200-600mm lens.

This Sigma lens absolutely is not the same experience when it comes to autofocus. At the same time, it’s noticeably sharper than the Sony. But perhaps where it matters is the most is that the Sigma 300-600mm has a longer focus throw, which sometimes makes keeping moving subjects in focus more difficult than I’d want it to be. If anything, I’d prefer a push-pull style of zoom instead, like what old Canon lenses used to do.

Lastly, at times I felt like the reach just wasn’t enough, and I often wanted more megapixels. I truly should’ve used this lens with the Sony a1 II instead. But the benefit with the a9 III is the global shutter and being able to be completely stupid about shutter speeds. That makes a massive difference when it comes to birding and action sports.

Something that I haven’t talked about enough here is how simple having a constant aperture can make the shooting experience. Of course, I could set the camera to ISO 1600 or above and just have the A9 III adjust its shutter speeds as needs be. But I didn’t need to. However, I ensured to shoot with the aperture stopped down at times and really loved the results the lens gave me.

Still though, sometimes I wish I were closer.

Image Quality

This lens is insanely sharp – and that’s really what we expect from Sigma. Can it shoot beautiful images? Oh sure! From a personal preference take, I’ve always liked Tamron’s lenses just a bit more because I’ve felt like there’s more character. It’s easier to get things like lens flare and sometimes even a bit of bokeh swirl. Sigma’s lens is right in line with Sony’s in that it appeals much more to those of us who are purists.

Admittedly, I’d probably be that way too if I never went legally blind and I wasn’t deathly afraid of generative AI coming for my job.

Let me put it this way: Sigma, I’m sure, did everything to get rid of vignetting from this lens. But when I edit the images that I’m working with, I find myself adding it back into the photos because it helps to emphasize the bird so much more.

I’m sure people who buy this lens will use a lower-megapixel camera with it. But honestly, you’re doing it an injustice. This lens is designed for you to shoot, crop the image, and enjoy all the little insane details that it can bring out in your subject. And if you’re all about that, I think that you’re going to love this lens.

Let’s be honest here, there’s no point in talking about things like bokeh here. Yet at the same time, I think that the most beautiful bokeh I’ve ever seen has come from the Fujifilm 500mm lens, which Sigma probably designed for the company.

The following images were not edited.

The following images were edited by me.

Sigma 300-600mm f4 DG Sports Tech Specs

The following information is provided by Lensrentals:

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