Introduction

Ease of Use

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Weighing in at 885 grams and measuring nearly 11cm in length, the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM is quite a big lens given its focal length, and signficantly heavier than the equivalent Canon EF 24-105mm F/4 lens. As seen in the photos below, it complements a full-frame camera like the Canon EOS 5D Mark III very well, although it looks a little out of place on a smaller APS-C camera like the Canon EOS 650D.

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark III

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens alongside a Canon EOS 5D Mark III

Build quality is excellent given the comparatively affordable price tag. The lens has a plastic shell with a mixture of metallic parts and a new compound material, TSC (Thermally Stable Composite), used inside. It also incorporates a brass bayonet mount that's supposed to be more durable. The optical elements are made of high-grade glass.

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens in-hand

Front of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

In terms of features, the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM offers all the basics that you need from a standard zoom lens. This very usefully includes built-in Vibration Reduction, activated by the OS switch on the lens barrel, which offers around 3 stops of compensation..

Front of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

Focusing is usefully internal and manual focusing is possible when set via the Focus switch on the lens barrel. Full-time manual focus override is also available at any time simply by rotating the focus ring.

A clear distance scale in both feet and meters runs from the closest focusing distance of 0.45m / 1.48ft to infinity.

Front of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

Rear of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

Front of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

Rear of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM ships with a good quality soft case and also a plastic petal-shaped lens hood (LH876-02). It accepts 82mm filters.

Front of the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens, with the supplied lens hood fitted

Focal Range

At the 35mm focal length the angle of view is 84.1 degrees.

 Field of view at 24mm

At the 35mm focal length the angle of view is 23.3 degrees.

Field of view at 105mm

Focusing

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens has quite a narrow focus ring, although it is ridged for easier grip.. There are no stops at both ends of the range, making it easier to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 82mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus.

When it comes to auto-focusing, the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM zoom is a quick performer, taking about 0.15 seconds to lock onto the subject when mounted on the Canon EOS 5D Mark III that we tested it with.

We didn't experience much "hunting", either in good or bad light, with the lens accurately focusing almost all of the time. It's also a very quiet performer, thanks to the built-in HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor), which makes this lens well-suited to video recording.

Chromatic Aberrations

Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are something of a problem for the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM, especially at the edges of the frame.

Light Fall-off

With the lens set to its maximum aperture of F/4, there is significant light fall-off in the corners at both ends of the zoom range. Stopping-down to F/8 virtually eliminates this. There's also noticeable barrel distortion at the 24mm focal length, but only slight pincushioning at 105mm.

Light fall-off at 24mm

Light fall-off at 105mm

Macro

The Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM isn't claimed to be a macro lens, but it delivers quite good performance nonetheless if you zoom to 105mm. It has a minimum focusing distance of 45cm/17.7in and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:4.6. The following example demonstrates how close you can get to your subject, in this case a Compact Flash memory card.

Close-up performance

Bokeh

Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM lens, Sigma employed an iris diaphragm with nine rounded blades, which has resulted in nice bokeh in our view. We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we've included several 100% crops for your perusal.

Sharpness

In order to show you how sharp this lens is, we are providing 100% crops on the following pages.