Sigma 500mm F4.5 APO A-mount lens review by Dustin1982
 Dustin1982#47096 date: Jun-3-2025 | |
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| sharpness: 5 color: 4 build: 5 distortion: 5 flare control: 5 overall: 4.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I own this lens |
| compared to: | Minolta 75-300mm F4.5-5.6 Minolta 80-210mm F2.8 APO Sigma 400mm F5.6 APO |
| price paid: | €374 |
| positive: | This lens is very well built, feels very sturdy. Current (2025) price is low. They come with a bespoke travelling case. Sharp lens even at F4.5. CA is controlled. |
| negative: | It is sturdy and well built but also very heavy, either you are strong and handhold this or you have a strong tripod. The price is low, but usually because the outside paint/coating has gotten sticky and it is a hot mess to clean up. |
| comment: | I have used this lens a lot for a couple weeks now. I'm very impressed. I had bought its smaller brother about a year ago and that lens is nowhere near the quality of this glass. This prime is sharp and fast with good colour and contrast. It does tend to produce images with a bit of a yellowish cast on them, but that is easily removed in post. Autofocus on Sony A37 and Sony A850 works well enough, but it is a bit noisy. My example has serial nr 2000317 and is very sharp. I found a few offerings online but a lot of them had fungus. I don't mind a sticky outside coating as mine had, you can solve that easily enough, but fungus would be a nightmare to clean on this. The carrying case is also a nice bonus. I tried it with a 2x converter, it still produces usable images, but @ 1000mm F9 or even 1500mm on APS-C, light/movement conditions need to be optimal/perfect. |
; 16MPrating summary
- total reviews: 9
- sharpness: 4.78
- color: 4.33
- build: 4.44
- distortion: 5.00
- flare control: 4.78
- overall: 4.67