Sigma Announces Three Telephoto Lenses Ahead of Photokina

Kicking off its own Photokina release party, Sigma has a whole host of announcements, including three new telephoto lenses and a new teleconverter. The optics manufacturer is showing off these "hyper-zoom" telephoto lenses at their booth in Cologne for the duration of the trade show.

First up are the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports and 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary—the two longest-reaching members of Sigma's new Global Vision line of glass. Both lenses offer dust-proof and splash-proof seals, and each offers a zoom lock switch accompanied by a manual-focus override switch. Additionally, each lens has an accelerometer inside, guiding the in-lens stabilization.

Each of these two monstrous lenses is different in its own way. For starters, the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Sports is the larger of the two, measuring in at 4.8 x 11.4 inches. However, it offers 24 elements in 16 groups, and weighs in at a beefy 6 pounds, 4.9 ounces. It also has a close focusing distance of a hair over 102 inches—not bad for a 600mm lens.

Next is the 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM Contemporary. This lens is a bit more compact than the Sports, as it only measures 4.1 x 10.2 inches. There's a bit of a tradeoff here, as it shaves four elements from its design and retains only 14 groups. However, this will be a little less unwieldy for users looking for a long telephoto lens. Both the Sports and Contemporary will be available in Sigma, Canon, and Nikon mounts.

Rounding out the list is the 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM. A little more restrained than the other two zooms, this glass trades in some of its zoom for some macro abilities—which can be augmented by a separate lens (AML72-01) for $55. Keep in mind, though, that the minimum focus distance is 15 inches. This glass in particular will be accessible to users with Pentax, Sigma, Sony, Canon, and Nikon mounts—though the Sony and Pentax variants won't have optical stabilization in the lens due to in-body stabilization.

Lastly, Sigma is also bringing two new teleconverters to the table. Compatible with the new Global Vision models mentioned above, the TC-1401 offers magnification by 1.4 times, while the TC-2001 offers 2x magnification. Teleconverters often come with the natural worry about image quality, but each teleconverter comes with special low-dispersion elements to combat aberrations—though the maximum aperture will of course still suffer.

The 18-300mm F/3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM will be available in October 2014 for $579, but pricing and availability hasn't been announced for the two hyper-telephoto lenses. The TC-1401 and TC-2001 teleconverters are set to hit shelves at $349 and $399 respectively. To follow all of Reviewed.com's coverage of Photokina next week, be sure to stay tuned to our special Photokina landing page.