New Telephoto lens

[Reece perram]

Hi All,
In the market for a new telephoto lens for use with a Canon 90D
looking at either the Sigma 150-300MM 'C', the Tamron 150-600mm G2 or at an absolute push due to the price the Canon 100-400mm EF. I'll be using it for spotting at Syd and sporting events also. Does anyone have other recommendations on top of this? At the moment I'm leaning towards the Sigma due to the sharpness towards the 400mm mark and the price being pretty decent for a telephoto.
Thanks
Reece

[Sean L]

Originally Posted by Reece perram

Hi All,
In the market for a new telephoto lens for use with a Canon 90D
looking at either the Sigma 150-300MM 'C', the Tamron 150-600mm G2 or at an absolute push due to the price the Canon 100-400mm EF. I'll be using it for spotting at Syd and sporting events also. Does anyone have other recommendations on top of this? At the moment I'm leaning towards the Sigma due to the sharpness towards the 400mm mark and the price being pretty decent for a telephoto.
Thanks
Reece

[Assuming you meant Sigma 150-600mm "C"]
Sharpness:
Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L is the sharpest of the 3, being sharp corner to corner and in the center of the frame (wide open). Stop down to F8 for a slight almost unnoticeable increase in sharpness.
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM "C" is relatively soft wide open from 150-500mm. I wouldn't use the lens wide open at 500-600mm. Stop down to F8 for an increase in sharpness to ok levels but the corners are still a bit fuzzy with chromatic aberration, especially towards the telephoto focal lengths.
Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 is sharper than the Sigma (wide open and at F8) at 150-500mm, however becomes just as bad as the Sigma at 500-600mm. Using the lens wide open at 150-500mm is fine if you're not fussy about image quality in the corners.

Image Stabilisation:
Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L has the best of the 3 lenses however keep in mind, it is harder to keep an image stable at 600mm than 400mm.
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM "C" has the worst of the 3 stabilisation systems. it does provide some support but is still pretty jerky most of the time.
Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2's stabilisation is miles better than the Sigma's and isn't that far behind the Canon's, with an occasional jerk here and there.

Build quality and weather sealing:
Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L is built like a rock, it feels solid and can take a beating. Rain will be no problem for it (but I still advise against taking it out in the rain)
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM "C" has some weather sealing, however I wouldn't trust it out in wet conditions. It is heavy however for it's size and focal length, its an average weight. The build quality is just ok.
Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 has more weather sealing than the Sigma but I would only trust it in a light drizzle. Build quality is relatively solid and it feels like it can take a knock or two. It weighs just a bit more than the Sigma.

Auto Focus:
Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L has faster focusing than the 3 other lenses at the wide angle (100mm) however becomes much slower at 400mm for more accurate focusing.
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM "C" focuses relatively well at 150mm and slower at 600mm.
Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 focuses faster than the Sigma at 150mm but slower than the Sigma at 600mm.

Summary:
Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L: buy if you don't mind the price and want the best image quality, build quality and weather sealing.
Sigma 150-600mm DG OS HSM "C" is best bang for your buck
Tamron 150-600mm Di VC USD G2 is the better 150-600mm.

NOTE: you are pairing these lenses with a 90D which has an extremely harsh 32mp aps-c sensor. Each individual pixel on the sensor will be very small, therefore stretching these lenses' image quality to the limit. I have seen images from a 90D paired with the Canon 100-400mm IS USM Mkii L and the image quality holds up well despite the difficult playing field. The Sigma and Tamron however will suffer considerably.