Conclusion

Sigma have gradually been bringing their best DSLR lenses over to Sony's E-mount mirrorless system, and now it's the turn of the still very unique 4-year-old 60-60mm 10x telephoto zoom.

With a new, faster auto-focus system, much more effective image stabilisation, better close focusing and extra external more controls on-board, it's clear that this is not just a straight conversion of the 2018 DSLR lens with a new mount.

Although it's slightly smaller and lighter in its new mirrorless incarnation, this is still a very heavy lens that you won't want to hand-hold for too long, being best suited to life on a tripod/monopod or other available support.

The main pay-off for all that weight is the incredibly versatile 10x focal range, which offers a much wider angle of view than both the comparable Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports and Sony FE 200-600mm F5.6-6.3 G OSS lenses.

It's tack-sharp at both the centre and edges of the frame when stopped down by one-stop at all the focal lengths, with performance only really dropping off at the maximum 600mm focal length. Obvious vignetting at wide-open apertures throughout the range and some mild distortion at either extreme is the only other real optical issue of note, although this can be easily corrected in post-production.

Auto-focusing proved to be very quick, accurate and reliable on the Sony A7R IV camera that we tested the lens with, whilst the built-in optical image stabilisation system that's worth up to a maximum of 7 stops proved to be a real boon on such a far-reaching lens. The ability to zoom in and out by using the conventional focus ring or by grabbing the end of the lens and pushing or pulling was also a nice feature to have.

There are a couple of quite important caveats with this lens to be aware of, namely that it isn't compatible at all with teleconverters on the Sony system, and it can't be used at the fastest burst rates on cameras like the Alpha 1. Both of those might be good reasons why you would choose the Sony FE 200-600mm instead of the Sigma alternatives.

Otherwise, the 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports is another high-quality addition to the ever-expanding Sigma range of premium lenses for Sony cameras, and one that offers something markedly different to the other super-telephoto contenders. If you can live with the extra weight, bulk and cost, the ability to zoom anywhere from 60 to 600mm with a single lens is really compelling and hard to ignore once you've tried it for yourself.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	4
Image quality	5
Value for money	4