Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd

	Freelance Photographer ‘First, let me say this lens is one of the best 70-300mms I’ve used, a match for the Nikon 70-300mm or the Sony 70-300mm G. The OS lens is not macro or Apo, but is in a class way ahead of the ‘plain’ macro model with Apo that costs £160.’

	Practical Photography ‘Sigma’s latest 70-300mm has entered a very crowded spot of the market, so competition is fierce. However, it is the cheapest full-frame stabilised lens by around £100. Image quality is on a par with the rest, so it’s a tempting option. If you need a lightweight performer with the reassurance of stabilisation system, then this lens offers unbeatable value.’

	Digital Photographer ‘It offers a good telephoto range on a full-frame camera, but on APS-C it equates to 110-470mm. At that kind of magnification, you’re going to be glad of Sigma’s optical stabiliser (OS) technology.’

	Photoworld ‘I have never had sharper pictures from any telephoto in this range, even at the long end it delivers fine detail wide open. The stabilisation is superb, and the optical quality as seen from my Alpha 900 is better than my Sony 70-300mm f4.5-5.6 G SSM, which is also significantly slower in maximum aperture through much of its range.’

	What Digital Camera ‘Sigma’s Optical Stabiliser offers only a single mode but is effective and exceptionally quiet. Overall, Sigma’s lens performed very well and field testing suggests it loses nothing by offering only a single-mode image stabilisation. At some £300 on-the-street, this looks rather a bargain.’

	Digital SLR ‘At first glance, this lens looks very similar to the two other Sigma 70-300mm lenses. There’s a well sized zoom control and the lens barrel sports the same matt finish as the APO lens. But in this particular case, the extra investment gets you Sigma’s Optical Stabiliser to help reduce camera shake. The autofocusing mechanism is more assured than its cheaper stablemates and the zoom control has a classier feel to it. Results are good at the central apertures throughout the zoom range.’

	PhotoPlus ‘The Sigma is compact and lightweight, and its zoom and focus rings are impressively smooth and precise. Sharpness and contrast was among the best of the 70-300mm lenses in the group, delivering images with plenty of punch and bite, and outperformed the Canon EF 70-300mm IS. It’s also nearly £100 less to buy.’

	Digital Camera ‘Build quality looks and feels almost identical for both Sigma lenses in the group, although the zoom ring on the 70-300mm is particularly smooth throughout the whole zoom range. The new lens features the major addition of Sigma’s four-stop Optical Stabiliser, which worked every bit as impressively as on the smaller Sigma 50-200mm OS lens in our tests.’