Vintage Lens Review | Sigma 400mm F5.6 A-mount
A concise review after use with mirrorless cameras (sample images provided)
READ ME: This review series will keep to a brief, to the point, bullet point format to give the low-down on these vintage lenses. I like *most* of them quite a bit, and would recomened most people to pick up a copy of any of these for themselves. This review series is NOT about the professional specs of the lens, but more so the character and my experience with them.
If you have any questions feel free to leave a comment or direct message me on IG @elijahrha or @foxfotoco , I’ll happily respond to anyone on either!
Impressions: My least favorite vintage lens. It does, however, SOMETIMES, rarely, but occasiaonly, nail a perfect shot. Check out the shot of the coyote below as proof. You will miss most of your shots, even the ones you think you nailed. Something almost always goes wrong with this lens, but when it doesn’t, it’s pretty great.
Size/Weight: Not too heavy, but long, and the lens hood slides out constantly.
Favorite Usage: Wildlife
Issues: Beyond difficult to manual focus, pretty bad purple/pink chromatic aberration on edges in harsh light
Notable Features: It’s a really cool green/grey color. Sometimes it works as intended. I don’t currenrly have a working adapter for it, and I probably won’t spend the money to get one. I also won’t get rid of it. Odd.
Usable Aperture Range: It is almost essential to stop down to around F8 to get even somewhat reliable focusing
Bodies Used On: Sony A6000, Sony A7iii
Source: Ebay
My Price: $99
Average Price: $140
Sample Images
Technical Note: All images of the lens are shot with a Canon R6 on the Canon RF 24–105mm F4 L series lens (at 50mm + 105mm) with a Tiffen Black Pro Mist 1/8th screw on filter. Camera body in images is a Canon R5 with Smallrig utility cage. When possible, lenses were shot with their aperture set to F5.6 for commonality.
Gallery Images
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