Sigma APO 170-500mm 734101

The Sigma APO 170-500mm gives you 500mm of reach, which is the 81st percentile for versatility. But the f/5-6.3 aperture is in the 5th percentile, the build quality is in the 3rd percentile, and customers rate it 2.5/5. The stabilization is decent, but that's about the only other thing going for it.

The optical score sits at the 61st percentile, which is solidly middle of the pack. The 3 SLD elements and one aspherical element do some work here, and the multi-layer coating helps with flare and ghosting. But the aperture is the real bottleneck. At f/5-6.3, you're not getting much light through this thing, and that's a 5th percentile result. Shooting at 500mm means you're at f/6.3, which forces high ISOs or slow shutter speeds unless you're in bright daylight.

Stabilization is a bright spot at the 79th percentile. That's genuinely helpful when you're hand-holding a 500mm lens, though it won't save you from motion blur on fast wildlife. Autofocus lands at the 54th percentile, which is about average. It'll get the job done for slow-moving subjects, but don't expect it to track a bird in flight with any confidence. The minimum aperture of f/32 is there if you need deep depth of field, but at these focal lengths, diffraction will eat your sharpness long before you get there.

Stacked against the Tamron Di III 18-300mm f/3.5-6.3, the Sigma gives you more reach at 500mm versus 300mm, but the Tamron is a modern design with better build quality and a wider zoom range. The Sony E 18-135mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS is a completely different animal, shorter reach but far more practical for everyday shooting. The Canon RF 28-70mm f/2.8 IS STM is in another league for aperture and optical quality, though it tops out at 70mm. The Sigma's only real advantage is raw focal length, and even that comes with a slow aperture and mediocre autofocus. The Nikon NIKKOR 20059 and Panasonic Leica DG Vario-Elmarit H-ES12035 both offer better overall balance for most shooters.

There's no current price listed for this lens, which makes value tricky to pin down. What we can say is that the performance profile doesn't inspire confidence. The aperture is slow, the build is questionable, and the customer rating is low. If you find this used for a very low price, the 500mm reach might tempt you. But even then, you're buying into a lens that ranks in the bottom 10% for build quality and bokeh. The stabilization and reach are the only things keeping this from being a complete pass.

The Sigma APO 170-500mm 734101 is a telephoto zoom that stretches from 170mm all the way out to 500mm on full-frame Canon EF bodies. That reach is the headline here, and it lands in the 81st percentile for versatility in our database. But the rest of the numbers tell a rougher story. The f/5-6.3 max aperture sits in the 5th percentile for aperture, which means this lens is slow, and the 2.5/5 customer rating from 9 reviews puts it near the bottom for social proof.

At 1345g, it's not a featherweight, and there's no weather sealing to speak of. The build quality lands in the 3rd percentile, which is one of the worst we've seen. You do get optical stabilization, which helps at 500mm, but the overall package feels like a budget super-telephoto from another era. It's optimized for digital SLRs, has one aspherical element and three SLD glass elements, and the multi-layer coating is supposed to cut flare. Whether that translates to real-world sharpness is another question.

Skip this if you shoot in anything but bright daylight. The f/5-6.3 aperture is in the 5th percentile, which means indoor or low-light shooting is basically off the table. Skip it if you need rugged gear, the build quality is in the 3rd percentile with no weather sealing. Skip it if you care about background blur, the bokeh is near the bottom at the 3rd percentile. And skip it if you want a lens with a proven track record, the 2.5/5 rating from 9 reviews doesn't inspire confidence.

The Sigma APO 170-500mm 734101 is a lens that promises a lot of reach and delivers it, but at a cost. The 500mm focal length is the only thing that stands out, landing in the 81st percentile for versatility. Everything else is average at best and dismal at worst. The f/5-6.3 aperture, 3rd percentile build quality, and 2.5/5 customer rating make this a hard sell. If you absolutely need 500mm on a Canon EF body and find this for a bargain price, it might scratch an itch. Otherwise, you're better off saving for something more modern.