Followers of This Way probably know that Charly van den Braak, the founder of this company is also an ambassador for Sigma. Since she has been shooting with the Sigma 60-600mm she is completely in love and she wrote a blog about it which we don't want to keep from you. Remco Stunnenberg of Sigma Benelux interviewed Charly about the lens so we highly recommend this story.
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People who know my work know that I like to shoot with a telephoto lens. For years I photographed with a Fujifilm camera which gave me some extra millimeters compared to a full-frame camera due to the crop factor. Last year I made the move to Sony and just at that Sigma came around the corner. They told me about the Sigma 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports lens where I just had to check if the weight wasn't too much to carry around continuously.
In the Netherlands I have used the 60-600 for several months now and from the first moment I fell in love with this lens. I actually almost always shoot from a tripod so I mainly look for a composition in quiet surroundings at my leisure. In the past year I have given myself the challenge to photograph more from the quiet and to realize what I see around me. What is happening in terms of lines, colors and how can I improve my composition. Maybe you recognize the feeling that on a morning or evening with perfect conditions you get overenthusiastic about all the beauty around you. You want to catch the best light and not miss a moment. Once home you think 'Ah no! Now if only I had turned my camera slightly to the left for a better composition.' Yep, that's me. That calmness can already be disturbed with me by having to change a lens but since I have been shooting with this lens I am a lot more relaxed.
Sharp at the edges
The long range means I can see within seconds if I need more or less millimeters and I don't have to change lenses. Ok, exception there when I really want to create a wide angle image but as I said; I love a telephoto lens. Because I now shoot with a fullframe camera I also have a little more difference in depth of field compared to the earlier crop camera. But I immediately noticed that when my subject is farther away and thus I need the full 600mm the photo is still very sharp even at the edges! Chapeau for Sigma.
The real deal!
In the Netherlands I had time to use the lens at leisure but it was time for the real thing! No rest but chaos, fast, fast, fast! I packed my suitcase and camera bag to explore Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan for a photo trip and immediately took the opportunity to get to know the lens even better here. I was already prepared for the fact that there are many birds of prey and wildlife in Kazakhstan and that like in many other countries among the mountains, the light is constantly changing. That sounds like the ideal setting to see how fast, sharp and manageable the lens is.
In love up to my ears
The first morning at Altyn Emel National Park was already a morning full of surprises. After a beautiful sunrise, we drove at our leisure back to the accommodation for a good breakfast. I had the camera next to me in the back seat of the car and sat a bit after enjoying the beauty I had just seen and looked at the crystals I had found in nature. A second later the driver hit the brakes "KULAN!". I grabbed my camera with the Sigma 60-600mm, opened the window and tried to find the easel through the viewer. And BENG! Due to the movement of the beautiful animal, the autofocus detected it so quickly that I had time to take pictures without much effort. Wow. Only 10 seconds it took from stopping to photographing. The Kulan quietly walked away and I looked at the photos somewhat worried because this was happening so fast I was probably wrong. But nothing could be further from the truth, a razor-sharp photo of the Kulan in the Kazakh landscape. Impressive or lucky? In any case, I was in love up to my ears, with the donkey or the lens?
3.2.1.... GO!
We were driving on the edge of a giant thunderstorm. We could hear the rumbling in the distance and you could see the clouds rolling through the sky. Every second the storm seemed to get considerably closer but we were still at a nice distance to still be able to photograph. I have little experience photographing this kind of weather so I decided to enjoy the moment. Just to be safe I took my camera outside without a tripod because you never know. I made sure the image stabilization was on and played around with the lens. Unfortunately I already felt the first raindrops falling and it seemed safer to go back to the car. Not only for my own safety, also that of the lens. Unfortunately, the rainstorm was faster we did not keep it dry. At the same time this was also the moment to take a nice picture anyway so 3, 2, 1 and GO! I quickly turned around and took a picture. We jumped in the car and drove on, away from this storm. There again, the lens managed to capture a piece of my heart. The raindrops slipped off lens effortlessly due to the special oil-repellent coating on it, and the fast autofocus and image stabilization resulted in a razor-sharp image!
What a dream
As I type this text I am listening to a beautiful instrumental song, one of those songs where you think back to beautiful moments all over again, in this case the moment we drove out of this thunderstorm and the sky slowly cleared. In the distance we saw a large group of wild horses but too far for a good photo. We put on our hiking boots and got ready to hike to a gorge. The light shone briefly through the clouds and from behind the mountains another group of wild horses suddenly came running. Happy that the sun was shining again, happy with their freedom and happy to run as fast as they can through the fields of Kazakhstan. I only had to do one thing and that was point my camera at this moment and click! The right settings were already in place and I photographed a whole series of photos, all of which were sharp. Fortunately, this moment did not last very long either because this is the first moment when I thought "oef, now it is quite a heavy lens, so without a tripod". Yet in all the months of shooting this is the only moment in which the weight was an issue.
Top Class
In my photography career, I have had many telephoto lenses in my hands but this one exceeds all my expectations. The pictures are sharp, full of detail, fast autofocus and not to forget the short minimum focusing distance of 45cm which allows you to take close up pictures. Nice for intimate landscapes and even some macro images. All in all, a real all-round lens. The weight is not even a downside when you consider all that the lens can do. I have fallen in love with it and if you see me photographing outside I almost dare say with certainty that this lens is on the camera!
