Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM Review

This is my review of the new sigma replacement to the existing sigma 17-70 DC Macro HSM, I had the pleasure of using the previous model (the non HSM version) on a recent trip to hawaii and so my comparisons will mostly draw from that lens and my assumptions are based on the fact that technically the Existing HSM and non-HSM versions differ only by the HSM motor and optically they are the same.

This lens is a versatile product that appeals as a walkaround, Sigma have definitely gone to work and putting in the OS feature without hurting the cost that much shows that creating a good all-round product is possible at a great price.

The lens feels solid and the zoom ring has loosened since first purchase and now feels more fluid than it did when initially unboxed, in saying that it is still a stiff zoom and minor adjustments take more force than im used to with other lenses, hopefully with time it will wear in and this will be less of an issue. It’s not a significant issue and it isn’t hampering my ability to zoom but is just noticeable over my L series lenses (as should be expected). The focus ring is fantastic and I can honestly say I’ve never had a focus ring that felt so loose without any slackness, manual focusing with this lens is amasing and is easier, faster and more accurate because of that.

All in all this is a great package for its target market and I cannot recommend it highly enough for anyone looking for a lens that ticks all the boxes in their list of requirements.

Deciphiring the acronyms in this lens in order;
DC – Digital Camera only, it refers to crop bodies such as the canon 1.6x crop sensors, by taking the smaller image circle into account the lens can be made cheaper and lighter as less glass is required in each element. This has the downfall of the lens not being compatible with full frame (35mm) camera bodies, it will fit with the mount but there will be sever vignetting where the glass has been reduced for the smaller sensors.

Macro – relates to close focusing abilities of the lens

OS – Optical Stabilisation with a claimed four stops stabilisation which tolerates for camera shake caused by movement of the camera usually associated with handheld shots and hand shake.

HSM – Hyper Sonic Motor gives the lens a fast and quiet operation which is significantly noticeable on both fronts over the non HSM model.

SLD – Special Low Dispersion Glass are higher quality glass elements

So the new lens has a revised lens construction which has made it longer and heavier it has lost 2cm off its minimum focusing distance and max magnification in the process.

Image Quality Comparison

My only lenses on hand were my canon 17-40 f4 L and 70-200 2.8 IS L as such they will obviously be the winners in the comparisons but give a bar off which to judge(more than anything to demonstrate focus sharpness with Sigmas past issues around Quality Control).

All shots for basic comparison here were with a canon 40d taken on a manfrotto tripod at approximately 2 meters(17mm shots) and 3 meters (70mm) from a brick wall and attempting to be as level as possible but also due to shoddy workmanship i can see in the reviews that i wasnt level even using bubble levels and the grid on my live view. Settings were hard set with center meter evaluation and center autofocus, white balance fixed to cloudy and iso to 100. Shots triggered with a remote cable release. Post processing was limited to colour levels and contrast, no sharpening has been applied on any photo to remove sharpening bias.

17-70@70mm 100% crop @f8

Comparing the images shows that colour reproduction and sharpness aren’t as good as the L series lenses compared against but at the same time I’m impressed at how close it is for a lens costing under half that of the 17-40 and a quarter of the price of the 70-200.

Macro shot 70mm 100% crop @f4

This was taken of a Australian 10c Coin and then a 100% crop taken.

For a walkaround you have to be impressed and Sigma have definitely stepped up their quality control as that has always been a big issue with Sigma lenses historically.

Tech Specs in full

Lens Construction:
New lens listed first, values split with a double slash (//) if there is only one value it means there is no difference between the new and old lens.

17 Elements in 13 Groups // 15 Elements in 12 Groups

Angle of View 72.4 – 20.2 degrees
Number of Diaphragm Blades 7 Blades (rounded diaphragm)
Minimum Aperture F22
Minimum Focusing Distance 22cm / 8.7 in. // 20cm/7.9 in.
Maximum Magnification 1:2.7 //1:2.3
Filter Size Diameter 72mm
Dimensions
Diameter 79mm X Length 88.9mm // 79mm X Length 82.5mm
3.1 in. X 3.5 in. //3.1 in. X 3.2 in.
Weight 535g/18.9 oz. // 455g/17.3 oz

old 17-70 http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3315&navigator=6
new 17-70 http://www.sigmaphoto.com/lenses/lenses_all_details.asp?id=3364&navigator=6

Variable Fstops lengths
As a basic test i just put aperture priority on and forced it down and from 17mm@f2.8 i zoomed out and took a shot whenever the aperture changed and then revised the exif later. Here are the ranges that the aperture changed.
17mm@f2.8 -> 21mm@f3.2 -> 28mm@f3.5 -> 50mm@f4

Conclusion

For those who skip the big reviews and want a simple review of a product, this info is for you.

Pros
Great range – 17-70 is built as an equivalent of a 28-112 on 35mm and when comparing to a lens such as canons 24-105, gives you a close comparison of range with a slightly faster lens at the shorter lengths in a much tighter package.

lightweight with great features – the DC makes it shorter and lighter with 4 stop OS and HSM in a small and versatile unit.

Cons

not constant 2.8 – the IS will help but both creative control and the extra stops can help in certain occasions and this may sway people to look at alternatives.

build quality -this is definitely not a body designed for severe conditions; dust, moisture and sharp impacts would all be outside this lenses design and abilities. If you are after pro series ruggedness, look elsewhere.

Overall Conclusion

This lens improves upon the old lens in glass quality on two fronts, both the image quality provided and the lens no longer being f2.8-4.5 but instead being slightly faster at f2.8-4 is a good improvement even in its minor nature.
The macro functionality isn’t as close as the original but is still a welcome feature, the HSM provides both fast and quiet focusing. In testing it is still a budget lens and as such should not be compared to lenses worth twice its price but at the same time does make that line between this lens and those so small that you have to really want their additional features to justify doubling the cost of your walkaround. Under low light conditions it can be prone to “hunt” but the camera is a very good walkaround and for me will fit the bill nicely. Wide open the image quality is good but not up to par with professional products, once stopped down to f8 it was hard to distinguish the sharpness between this lens and pro products.

1. 

   JC says:

   January 17, 2010 at 6:22 pm

   Thanks for the review. I just happened to see a review of the Canon 15-85mm today, and searching for a quality alternative (not the Canon 17-85mm) by chance I found the thread from OCAU. Just in time to make a decision and probably opt for the Sigma. The review of the canon from “the digital picture” site was quite extensive, and does show that the Canon 15-85 is an excellent lens for this range, but given budget considerations, this looks like the buy.
   It’d be nice to see both Center and Corner crops for the images. Thanks!
2. 

   Paul McGlone says:

   January 17, 2010 at 6:58 pm

   Thanks for doing this Cam. Reviews on this new lens are in short supply at the moment. I am thinking of buying this lens for my Pentax K10d. The lens looks pretty good re sharpness which is reassuring as some people who have bought this lens have not had as good results though they wondered if this was down to Sigma QC issues. Still left wondering if there are variations in quality in the initial batch. I would have preferred shots with no PP as regards colour levels and contrast so we could see what the lens can deliver out of the box. I would be grateful if you could provide some standard shots eg a landscape, portrait, macro to put it through its paces without any PP. Paul
3. 

   Cam says:

   January 17, 2010 at 10:17 pm

   thanks guys, if you tell me exactly what you want in reference to edge sharpness im happy to oblige and add to the article. eg. if you want all four corners from 17mm@f8 or something like that just let me know. I’ll also put those images up without any PP at all to see colour reproduction and I will work on a second article with real world examples of image quality but that will take time as I need a weekend free to do a sunrise when I can handle getting up that early!

   in relation to edge sharpness i have to say there is a noticable loss of sharpness at the edges but im looking on a 24inch screen at 200% so you are really pixel peeping to see it, it’s not that noticable in a full image.
4. 

   mike earussi says:

   January 17, 2010 at 11:32 pm

   Angle of View 72.4 – 20.2 degrees //79.7 – 22.9 degrees

   Where did you get this information as it would mean that they are completely different in focal length.
5. 

   Cam says:

   January 18, 2010 at 8:36 am

   apologies for that, not sure what sigma page I was looking at when I took that statistic down but it clearly wasn’t the 17-70. Article has been altered to reflect this.
6. 

   JC says:

   January 18, 2010 at 5:08 pm

   I think I am going to go ahead and buy this lens.
   To be more specific about the crops, I was thinking at 17mm center and one corner wide open and one at f/8, perhaps. As Paul noted, It’d be nice to see some landscape shots, etc in there.
   I really enjoyed your review, though, and probably will not be disappointed with this lens.
7. 

   ravon says:

   January 19, 2010 at 1:50 am

   It would have been interesting to compare crops of the new 17-70 and 17-40L on 25mm and 40mm at f/5.6
   To compare color reproduction, why not perform manual white balance setup with a grey or white card for each lens?
8. 

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9. 

   Jack Chauvel says:

   January 30, 2010 at 12:11 am

   Nice review thank you very much.

   As someone who wants to look at macro photography this is definitely on the radar, if it can be combined with being a walk around lens it is also a bonus.

   Did you pick yours up directly through CR Kennedy?

   Thank’s once again.
10. 

    Stef vdH says:

    February 1, 2010 at 5:20 am

    Thank you for the review.

    I was just wondering if it was possible to swich off the IS.
    When you don’t need it it’s always better to swich it off because it affects the sharpness.

    Is it possible to inform us that possibility?

    Thank you very much
11. 

    Cam says:

    February 1, 2010 at 6:25 pm

    Yes, you can turn off OS by its dedicated switch. It does not have a “tripod mode” or as on some lenses: mode 1 and mode 2 IS. But I have zero need for panning OS and I invested in a decent tripod so I just turn it off when using that to conserve battery life of the camera.
12. 

    John says:

    February 8, 2010 at 10:40 am

    That was a very informative reciew,Ty

    Have been looking for revieuws for the non os version and didnot even knew this was out !
13. 

    Mr. Review says:

    April 8, 2010 at 2:40 am

    Great review.

    I have actually bought this lens myself, and loves it.
    I have gathered some reviews, including this one of course, here:
    http://www.reviewroot.com/index.php?subject=Sigma_17-70mm_F2.8-4_DC_Macro_OS_HSM&page=show
14. 

    Eugene says:

    April 26, 2010 at 3:26 am

    Hi,

    I am glad that i came across your website reviewing about this sigma 17-70mm OS. Was contemplating between this and 15-85mm IS canon. If you have a review comparing this 2 lens, i can tell you confidently that it will be a great hit among amateur/intermediate photographer who are looking for a good walkaround lens!

    Regards
    Eugene Yeo
15. 

    Beng says:

    June 4, 2010 at 1:10 pm

    As I own the same early version SIGMA 17-70mm DC Macro (non HSM/non OS) how much an improvement do you find with this OS/HSM model? Does the longer macro focusing trade off worth upgrading considering new HSM (is it internal focus? ) and OS( gain of a ~2 f/stops)? I would like your comment, Thanks
16. 

    Iain Anderson says:

    June 16, 2010 at 9:31 pm

    I recently bought a Sigma 17-70 OS for my Canon 550D. Unfortunately, it was a dud copy, noticeably less sharp than my kit lens and with a blurry area on one side of the frame too. It went back to the shop. There are good reviews out there, but if you do buy this, make sure the store has a good return policy.

    Incidentally, it was hard to find one in stock in Australia and the distributor isn’t expecting more until late July. Hopefully they’ve noticed some problems with an early batch and have stepped up quality control for the next one?