This is the latest of many versions of this lens and at £ 600 in the UK it’s part of Sigma’s EX “pro” series. The DG means it’s optimised for digital SLR’s (but can be used with film bodies) and the HSM is Sigma’s answer to Nikon’s AFS and Canon’s USM high speed focusing. At 1260g it’s quite heavy and is finished in a very slightly speckled matt black with a smart gold ring near the front of the lens. I’d have to say the black ribbing on the focus and zoom rings isn’t to my taste - it’s not the sort of thing you usually even notice on a lens but it was the first thing I noticed when I picked this lens up. The rings have a highly ribbed rubberised covering which although fine to hold and use is just a bit more noticeable than average. The lens feels substantial and well made although it doesn’t have the smooth silky feel you might expect at this sort of price. The zoom ring is fairly stiff - possibly it will loosen off with use. A large removable tripod mount is fitted just to the rear of the zoom ring and Sigma supply a soft case and an excellent petal shaped lens hood in the box. In testing optical performance was found to be very good at full aperture and excellent even one stop down. By f 5.6 all results were superb.

Update with the Canon EOS 5D

I’m glad to say the zoom ring has loosened off a little over the last couple of months, and this lens’s performance continues to impress with the Canon EOS 20D, so I was really looking forward to trying it on the Canon EOS 5D. First impressions were that vignetting was slightly less of a problem with this lens than with others I’ve tested with the 5D, but still much more obvious than with the same lens and the 20D. Otherwise images are just as sharp.

Canon EOS 5D Test Images