I decided to do a quick test between my two 70-200 lenses while I still have both of them. Anyways, my newly acquired, but used, Canon 70-200 f/4 L against my used Sigma 70-200 f/2.8.

Test Info: The camera was put on a tripod and focus was on the "E" in EF which was dead-center in the frame. All shots were at 135mm with the same exposure values between lenses. No processing was done. A tripod, remote release, and MLU were all used as well. Also, these were at ISO 100.

Also, I did the test 3 consecutive times to be a little more accurate than my last test...

Canon, f/4, 100%:


Sigma, f/4, 100%:


Canon, f/9, 100%:


Sigma, f/9, 100%:


Canon, f/16, 100%:


Sigma, f/16, 100%:


And for reference, here are a couple full-frame shots simply re-sized for the web:

Canon, f/4, full:


Sigma, f/4, full:



Obviously, the Canon is slightly better with overall contrast and better at f/4. But to me, this is just another vote for how great Sigma lenses are for the money. I mean, the Sigma has a whole stop of speed over the Canon, very similar sharpness, and only costs a couple hundred bucks more.

Also, the f/4 test crops are slightly larger because I re-did that part several more times to be sure it was right. Those are from the second set of tests when I was a bit closer but cropped the same portion.

- Scott

Cool Scott, thanks for posting.

thanks for doing this. Both seem very sharp, and so close it's not worth caring. Just pick by aperture/weight and go with it. The sigma does seem a bit warmer/yellower to me, but either color could be corrected for depending on what you want.

Originally Posted by jacobsen1

thanks for doing this. Both seem very sharp, and so close it's not worth caring. Just pick by aperture/weight and go with it. The sigma does seem a bit warmer/yellower to me, but either color could be corrected for depending on what you want.

Exactly my thoughts, just proves that both are very capable lens. Whichever one you need should just depend on other factors...

I agree, the differences I see are very easily fixed/changed in photoshop.

The full size pics look so damn similar, its very hard to tell the difference.

(Scott did Kris get this from you yet?)

Originally Posted by thechickencow

I agree, the differences I see are very easily fixed/changed in photoshop.

The full size pics look so damn similar, its very hard to tell the difference.

(Scott did Kris get this from you yet?)

I believe we're still in the discussion phase, but yes, she did email me. Hopefully it'll end up in your hands... its a great lens, just needs someone who will actually use it...