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Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM 

| C review 

August 2013 | By Andy Westlake 

1. Introduction 

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The Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM is a premium fast 'normal' zoom for APS-C 

SLRs, which is designed as an upgrade for photographers who have outgrown the 'kit' 

zooms typically supplied with camera bodies. It was announced at Photokina 2012, as the 

first lens in Sigma's new 'Contemporary' category of compact general-purpose zooms for 

everyday photography. It's a successor to a near identically-named lens from December 

2009, the Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM, but is smaller and lighter, uses revised 

optics, and has a new cosmetic design. Prior to this Sigma made the unstabilised 17-70mm 

f/2.8-4.5 DC, a lens which was very highly regarded in its time. 

The latest 17-70mm offers some pretty clear advantages over the average 18-55mm F3.5- 

5.6 kit lens. It provides extra zoom range, being both slightly wider and usefully longer in the 

telephoto range. Its F2.8-4 maximum aperture range means it gathers more light - twice as 

much at the long end, and 2/3 stop at wideangle. This offers advantages for both low light 

shooting, and getting blurred backgrounds when shooting subjects like portraits. It also 

offers unusually close focusing to just 22cm (hence the word 'Macro' in the lens name). 

The lens use Sigma's 'Hypersonic Motor' for quiet autofocus, and is available to fit Canon, 

Nikon, Pentax, Sigma and Sony cameras. The Canon, Nikon and Sigma versions all feature 

built-in optical image stabilisation, to allow shooting at slower shutter speeds than usual 

without image degradation from camera shake. The Pentax and Sony versions don't have 

OS, and rely on the camera's built-in stabilisation systems instead. (Note that the lens won't 

autofocus on old Pentax DSLRs that don't have the requisite electrical contacts to power the 

focus motor.) 

The 17-70mm doesn't have many direct equivalents from the camera manufacturers - the 

closest is the Pentax smc DA 17-70mm F4.0 AL (IF) SDM - and offers an interesting middle 

ground between upgrading to an extended range zoom such in the 16-85mm class, or a fast 

zoom like a 17-50mm F2.8. It's also pretty reasonably priced. So is it the ideal compromise 

choice, or just too good to be true? Read on to find out. 

Pages 

Introduction Design and... Test results 

Headline features 

Approx. 26-110mm equivalent focal length range; F2.8-4 maximum aperture 

Available for Canon, Nikon, Pentax, Sigma and Sony mounts (APS-C/DX format DSLRs 

only) 

In-lens Optical Stabilization system (excluding Pentax and Sony versions) 

Test results 

C onclusion &...

Hypersonic Motor (HSM) focusing 

0.22m closest focus (0.36x magnification) 

Angle of view 

The pictures below illustrate the focal length range from wide to telephoto (on Canon APS-C, 

1.6x). 

Latest reviews 

17mm (27mm equivalent) 

70mm (112mm equivalent) 

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM specifications 

Price • $499 (US) 

• £349 (UK) 

• €470 (EU) 

Date introduced September 2012 

Maximum format size APS-C/DX 

Focal length 17-70mm 

35mm equivalent focal length 

Diagonal Angle of view (APS-C) 79º - 23º 

Maximum aperture F2.8-4 

Minimum aperture F22 

• 26-105mm (1.5x APS-C / DX) 

• 27-112mm (1.6x Canon APS-C) 

Lens Construction • 16 elements / 14 groups 

• 2 FLD ("F" Low Dispersion) glass elements 

• 1 SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass element 

• 3 aspherical elements 

Number of diaphragm blades 7, rounded 

Minimum focus 0.22m 

Maximum magnification 0.36x 

AF motor type Micro-type Hypersonic Motor 

Focus method Internal 

Image stabilization • Canon, Nikon and Sigma mount versions only 

• 4 stops claimed benefit 

Filter thread • 72mm 

• Does not rotate on focus 

Supplied accessories* • Front and rear caps 

• Petal-type Hood 

Weight 465 g (16.6 oz) 

Dimensions 79 mm diameter x 82 mm length 

(3.1 x 3.2 in) 

Lens Mount Canon, Nikon, Pentax (KAF3), Sigma, Sony 

* Supplied accessories may differ in each country or area 

This lens review uses DxOMark data thanks to a partnership between 

dpreview.com and DxO Labs (read more about DxOMark and our 

partnership with DxO Labs). DxOMark is the trusted industry standard 

for independent image quality measurements and ratings. DxOMark has 

established this reputation with its rigorous hardware testing, industry-grade laboratory 

tools, and database of thousands of camera, lens and mobile test results. Full test results for 

this lens can be found at www.dxomark.com. 

If you're new to digital photography you may wish to read the Digital Photography Glossary 

before diving into this article (it may help you understand some of the terms used). 

Conclusion / Recommendation / Ratings are based on the opinion of the 

reviewer, you should read the ENTIRE review before coming to your own 

conclusions. 

Images which can be viewed at a larger size have a small magnifying 

glass icon in the bottom right corner of the image, clicking on the image 

will display a larger (typically VGA) image in a new window. 

To navigate the review simply use the next / previous page buttons, to 

jump to a particular section either pick the section from the drop down or 

select it from the navigation bar at the top. 

DPReview calibrate their monitors using Color Vision OptiCal at the (fairly 

well accepted) PC normal gamma 2.2, this means that on our monitors 

we can make out the difference between all of the (computer generated) 

grayscale blocks below. We recommend to make the most of this review 

you should be able to see the difference (at least) between X,Y and Z 

and ideally A,B and C. 

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This article is Copyright 2013 and may NOT in part or in whole be reproduced in any 

electronic or printed medium without prior permission from the author.




Challenges 


2. Design and Operation 

Design 

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The 17-70mm uses Sigma's latest cosmetic design and finishing, introduced alongside its 

rearrangement of its new lenses into 'Contemporary', 'Art' and 'Sports' categories. The 

changes aren't in fact huge - the lens name has moved from the zoom ring to the barrel, and 

lettering that used to be gold is now white - but the resultant entirely monochrome look is 

somewhat more understated and elegant than before. It's rounded off by the silver 'C' (for 

'Contemporary') badge, that's inlaid into the barrel. 

In terms of construction though, the 17-70mm is much like other recent Sigma lenses at this 

price level, which means a lightweight but solid-feeling black plastic barrel, and relatively 

smoothly-operating zoom and focus rings. It uses a 'double trombone' design to extend to its 

longest setting, with impressively little play of the barrel when set to 70mm. As we'd expect 

of a lens at this price, the mount is metal. 

Two large, positive switches on the side of the barrel control the autofocus and image 

stabilization mechanisms. The AF switch is distinctly the larger of the two, making it easier to 

distinguish by touch alone while shooting. It also has a white inlay that's visible when the 

lens is set to AF, which provides a quick visual check for the focus mode in poor light when 

the lettering can be hard to see. 

Compared to Canon EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 IS STM 

Pages 


Test results 

C onclusion &... 

Here's the Sigma alongside a fairly typical SLR kit zoom, Canon's latest EF-S 18-55mm f/3.5- 

5.6 IS STM. This view shows how impressively Sigma has managed to minimise the size of 

the 17-70mm; despite its longer zoom range and faster aperture, it's really not very much

igger. The real difference, though, lies in the weight - the Sigma is over twice as heavy. 

On the camera 




Aug 12, 2013 

These views reiterate the 17-70mm's size, or rather, lack of it. On the EOS 700D shown left, 

it's perfectly well balanced and doesn't feel bulky at all. Even on the diminutive EOS 100D it's 

not hugely out of proportion. The zoom ring is placed towards the centre of the of the barrel 

where it falls naturally to hand, and the AF and OS switches operate with satisfyingly positive 

clicks. 

About the only operational criticism lies with the manual focus ring; it's slightly 'loose' in feel, 

and coupled with its short travel, this can make critical manual focusing slightly tricky. Then 

again, we suspect the majority of users will use autofocus almost all of the time, so this 

won't matter much. The ring also rotates during autofocus, but that's true of many lenses at 

this price level. 

Dependence of effective focal length on focus distance 

This lens's angle of view widens substantially on focusing from infinity to 0.22m, particularly 

at the telephoto end. This isn't unusual with internal focusing zooms, and in normal use isn't 

really noticeable. Its biggest impact is for close-up work, where the effective focal length is 

closer to 50mm than 70mm. This means it feels like a rather 'short' macro lens, with a wider 

field of view than you'd get with a 60mm macro prime. 


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Quick Review 

Aug 2, 2013 

Autofocus 

The 17-70mm uses Sigma's Hypersonic Motor for autofocus, and when shooting with the 

optical viewfinder our Canon mount sample was pretty quiet in use, and impressively fast 

and decisive. As always, though, it must be noted that focus speed and accuracy is 

dependent upon a number of variables, including the camera body used, subject contrast, 

and light levels. 

Switch from the optical viewfinder to live view, though, and the story changes. Focusing 

slows right down (although the exact speed is highly dependent on the camera used), and if 

you refocus during recording the clicking of the AF motor will be audible on your soundtrack 

as the camera fine-tunes focus. To be fair most SLR lenses behave much the same, as 

they're just not optimised for video work (the honourable exceptions being Canon's STM 

models). 


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Lens body elements 

The lens comes in Canon, Nikon, 

Pentax, Sigma and Sony versions; our 

review sample was in the Canon EF 

mount. 

This view shows the somewhat 

unusual 'double trombone' mechanism 

which is used for moving the rear 

element on zooming. 

The filter thread is 72mm, which means 

rather more expensive filters compared 

to the typical kit zoom. It does not 

rotate on autofocusing, though. 

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The bayonet-mount hood is provided 

as standard, and clicks positively into 

place on the front of the lens. It's made 

from thick plastic, and features ribbed 

moldings on the inside to minimize 

reflections of stray light into the lens. 

Sigma has even added a ribbed grip to 

make it easier to remove. 

A white dot on the outside of the hood 

aids alignment for mounting, and the 

hood reverses neatly for storage.

The zoom ring has a 21mm wide rubber 

grip, and rotates 60 degrees anticlockwise 

from wide to telephoto (the 

same way as Canon lenses, but 

opposite to Nikon, Pentax and Sony's). 

In typical Sigma fashion the action is 

smooth and even. 

The front element extends 40mm on 

zooming and feels impressively solid 

when fully extended, with just a little 

lateral play. 

The focus ring is 15mm wide grip, 

although the ridged grip makes up just 

4mm of that. It rotates 50 degrees 

clockwise from infinity to 0.22m, 

matching Canon and Sony lenses but 

opposite to those from Pentax and 

Nikon. The focusing action is smooth, 

but a little loose; the ring also rotates 

during autofocus. 

A basic distance scale is marked in feet 

and meters. The imperial markings are 

in mid-grey on a dark grey background, 

which isn't especially legible. 

Two chunky, positive switches on the 

side of the lens barrel set the focus 

and image stabilization modes. When 

the focus switch is set to AF a white 

inlay is visible behind it; this provides a 

quick, positive visual confirmation of its 

position. 

You can't adjust focus manually when 

the lens is set to AF (or at least, you 

shouldn't try). 

A slightly curious scale on the outer 

sleeve of the 'double trombone' zoom 

mechanism shows the image 

magnification when the lens is set to its 

minimum focus distance of 0.35m. The 

numbers correspond to each of the 

focal lengths marked on the zoom ring, 

except for 17mm. 

As on other recent Sigma lenses, a 

deeply-ridged grip covers most of the 

underside of the barrel, and provides 

positive traction for changing lenses. 

It's a small touch and easily 

overlooked, but genuinely worthwhile. 

An inset silver-coloured 'C' on the lens 

barrel denotes that this lens is part of 

Sigma's 'Contemporary' range. 

Sigma USB dock compatibility 

The 17-70mm is compatible with Sigma's unique USB dock, which allows you to plug the lens 

into your computer and apply detailed adjustments to its autofocus calibration. You can also 

update the firmware, which in principle provides a greater degree of 'future proofing' and 

reassurance that the lens will continue to work properly with future camera models.

The USB dock fits onto the lens mount, 

and plugs into your computer. Lens 

settings can be changed using Sigma 

Optimisation Pro software, 

downloadable from the company's 

website. 

The main option available for the 17- 

70mm is AF microadjustment, allowing 

correction of any systematic misfocusing 

you may experience. You can also 

update the lens's firmware. 

The AF microadjustment options are more detailed than you'll find on any camera body, 

allowing you to define separate corrections for four different focal lengths at each of four 

focus distances. So if (for example) you find your copy of the lens tends to set focus slightly 

in front of distant subjects and slightly behind closer ones, but only at the telephoto end, 

then no problem: you can fix that. However it may well take quite a lot of time and 

experimentation to get it right. 

The 17-70mm will also be eligible for Sigma's Mount Conversion Service, which means that 

you'll be able to pay to have your lens converted to a different mount should you choose to 

change camera brand. We're not sure whether this will offer a useful saving compared to 

simply selling your lens and buying another in the new mount, but the option's there if you 

want it. 

Reported aperture vs focal length 

Here we show the maximum and minimum apertures reported by the camera at the marked 

focal lengths. 

Focal length 17mm 24mm 28mm 35mm 50mm 70mm 

Max aperture F2.8 F3.2 F3.5 F3.5 F4.0 F4.0 

Min aperture F22 F22 F22 F22 F22 F22 

The 17-70mm is unusually fast for a small normal zoom. Compared to a typical 18-55mm kit 

zoom it's 0.7 stop faster at wideangle, and a whole stop faster at telephoto. This extra lightgathering 

ability is genuinely useful. 

Sensibly, Sigma has limited the minimum aperture to F22 throughout (at least on our Canon 

mount sample) rather than allow smaller apertures at longer focal lengths, which would 

show excessive image quality degradation due to diffraction. 

2. Design and Operation 

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Challenges 


3. Test results 

Studio Tests 

The Sigma 17-70mm performs generally pretty well in studio tests. It's weakest at 

wideangle, with somewhat soft edges and corners that never fully sharpen up on stopping 

down. But aside from that it's an admirably consistent performer, with good cross-frame 

sharpness and reasonably low levels of chromatic aberration, distortion and vignetting. 

Sharpness 

Sharpness results are generally pretty good. The lens is 

weakest at 17mm, where the edges and corners are rather 

soft, and don't sharpen up at any aperture. But at longer focal 

lengths it's very well-behaved, with decent sharpness wide 

open, and excellent results at its optimum apertures around 

F5.6-F8. 

Chromatic 

Aberration 

Chromatic aberration is kept reasonably low. It's worst at 

wideangle, where there's pretty strong green/magenta 

fringing towards the edge and corner of the frame. It 

decreases on zooming in, and is very low around 35-50mm, 

before red/cyan fringing becomes visible at 70mm. 

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Vignetting 

Vignetting is overall rather low, given the lens's maximum 

aperture and compact size. It's strongest at wideangle, with 1 

stop light falloff in the corners wide open, dropping down to 

0.6 stop at F4. But in practical use this counts as nothing to 

worry about. 

Distortion 

Distortion is kept pretty well under control. There's clear barrel 

distortion at wideangle, but it's no worse than a typical 18- 

55mm, and much better than most lenses with extended zoom 

ranges. This disappears at 24mm, before turning to moderate 

pincushion distortion from 35-70mm. 

Macro Focus 

Macro - 60 x 40 mm coverage 

Measured magnification: 0.37x 

Distortion: Moderate barrel 

Minimum focus distance*: 21.0cm 

Working distance**: 4.3cm 

Focal length: 70mm 

Pages 

* Minimum focus is defined as the distance from the camera's sensor to the 

subject 

** Working distance is measured from the front of the lens to the subject 

As the 'Macro' label suggests, the Sigma 17-70mm offers good close focusing specs, on paper 

at least. But the reality is a little more complicated, as the working distance from the front of 

lens to the subject is extremely short. Coupled with the relatively large diameter front of the 

lens, this causes all sorts of problems with lighting and disturbing your subject. The internal 

focus design means that the angle of view widens quite dramatically at minimum focus too, 

to an effective focal length that's much closer to 50mm, so the lens doesn't 'feel' like a 

moderate telephoto any more at all. 


Here we're looking at what we'd consider to be about the closest practical focusing distance, 

where the shadowing by the front of the lens generally isn't too severe, and the camera can 

still confirm autofocus in live view. At this point the focus distance is 0.21m, slightly shorter 

than Sigma's specified 0.22m, and the working distance just a shade over 4cm. You can get 

even closer in manual focus. 

With the lens set to F4 the image is pretty soft across the beard, but central sharpness 

improves dramatically at F5.6. However the corners are still soft in this flat test chart shot, 

and only properly sharpen up at F16. There's also quite strong barrel distortion, and strong 

blue/yellow fringing towards the corners from lateral chromatic aberration. In context, 18- 

55mm kit zooms generally offer similar coverage, but with lower distortion and a more 

practical working distance. 

Full Frame Coverage 

The Canon, Nikon and Sony mount versions of this lens will mount on full-frame DSLRs, and 

on Nikon cameras DX crop mode will be automatically selected (the camera will therefore 

Test results 

C onclusion &...

shoot at reduced resolution). The lens's image circle doesn't cover the 35mm full frame 

format at any focal length, giving severe vignetting regardless of focal length, aperture, or 

focus distance. So this really isn't a lens you can sensibly share across SLRs of different 

formats. 




Aug 12, 2013 


Test 

Aug 9, 2013 

Pentax Q7 

Aug 8, 2013 

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17mm 28mm 70mm 

Optical Stabilization 

The 17-70mm features Sigma's own 'Optical Stabilization' system, and the company claims 

that it allows hand-holding at shutter speeds up to four stop slower than usual without 

seeing the blurring effects of camera shake. The mechanism is silent when operational, with 

only the stabilization of the viewfinder image betraying the fact that it's running. 

To determine the effectiveness of the OS system we subjected the 17-70mm to our studio 

image stabilization test, using the wideangle and telephoto settings. The subject distance for 

these tests was approximately 3m at 18mm, and 4m at 70mm; the test camera was the 

Canon EOS 700D. 

We take 10 shots at each shutter speed and visually rate them for sharpness. Shots 

considered 'sharp' have no visible blur at the pixel level, and are therefore suitable for 

viewing or printing at the largest sizes, whereas files with 'mild blur' are only slightly soft, 

and perfectly usable for all but the most critical applications. 

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17mm OS OFF 

17mm OS ON 

70mm OS OFF 

70mm OS ON 

The 17-70mm fares respectably well in these tests, although it doesn't quite match the best 

optical stabilisation we've seen. At wideangle it offers a solid three stops of stabilisation, 

allowing hand-holding at shutter speeds as low as 1/4 sec, rather than 1/30 sec with OS off. 

At 70mm things are a bit more complicated; we're able to get a decent proportion of sharp 

shots at shutter speeds 4 stops slower with OS turned on (1/10 vs 1/160 sec ), but the 

system is never close to 100% effective, so it pays to take multiple shots in marginal 

conditions. 

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Real world examples 

The examples below should give you an idea of how well the Sigma's OS system behaves in 

everyday shooting; in both cases the image would be hopelessly blurred without 

stabilization. But instead we've been able to take advantage of the ability to hand-hold at 

slower shutter speeds to get shots that would otherwise be difficult. 

In the first example, the camera was shot in live view, held high up to shoot over the top of a 

crowd of people to capture the floodlit dome of St Paul's just after sunset. This is a 

notoriously unstable shooting position, but even so, of multiple shots at shutter speeds 

around 1/15 sec, half came out perfectly sharp. In the second example, the use of a shutter 

speed about three stops lower that could otherwise be handheld has allowed the use of ISO 

1600 rather than 12800, and the image still retains a decent amount of detail even in the 

camera's JPEG.

37mm, Canon EOS 100D 

45mm, Canon EOS 100D 

1/15 sec, F5.6, ISO 400 1/6 sec, F4, ISO 1600 

100% crop 100% crop 


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● Sigma 884101 17-70 2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM for C anon (Black) 

$443.95 

$443.95 

$428.90 

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Comments 

By wylun (5 days ago) 

Total comments: 67 

0 upvotes 

i had the 17-70os and the new Contemporary version... i felt 

like the 17-70os was alot nicer.. 

either way i returned it and got a 28mm F1.8 and a macro 

attachment 

By ebosch (1 week ago) 

0 upvotes 

Sigma's been doing nothing but wonders lately. 

By yabokkie (1 week ago) 

0 upvotes 

yes, with some other lenses. 

By Madaboutpix (1 week ago) 

0 upvotes 

If the laboratory test results are even remotely 

representative of what you could expect in the field, the




Challenges 



Specific image quality issues 

As always, our studio tests are backed up by taking hundreds of photographs with the lens 

across a range of subjects, and examining them in detail. This allows us to confirm our studio 

observations, and identify any other issues which don't show up in the tests. The Sigma 17- 

70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM turned out to be a generally reliable performer, with decent 

optics and effective AF and OS systems. We used it on the Canon EOS 100D and EOS 700D. 

Wideangle image quality 

The 17-70mm is an excellent performer across most of its zoom range, but it's relatively weak 

at wideangle, due to a combination of softness off-centre, colour fringing from lateral 

chromatic aberration, and quite strong barrel distortion. This means that if you spend most of 

your time shooting at wideangle, it may not be the best choice. 

Colour fringing can be readily corrected if you shoot RAW, and if recent Nikon SLRs will 

remove it in JPEG processing too. Softness towards the edges is less easy to deal with, but 

some software can make the images look better by progressively increasing the sharpening 

as you move off-centre. This is shown below, comparing JPEGs from the Canon EOS 700D, to 

RAW files processed using DxO Optics Pro 8.3 with corrections for CA and lens softness. 

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Out-of-camera JPEG RAW + DxO Optics Pro 8.3 

Canon EOS 700D, 17mm F8, 1/160sec ISO 100 

Pages 

100% crops, bottom centre 


Test results 


100% crops, left edge of frame 

Here you can see strong green/magenta fringing in the JPEGs, and the crops are also 

distinctly soft. DxO Optics Pro has done a very good job of removing the CA, and its lens 

softness correction has pulled out plenty of detail too. But this does come at the cost of 

some fairly strong sharpening artefacts. 

Distortion

The 17-70mm also shows quite obvious barrel distortion at wideangle, but to be fair it's not 

really any worse than other lenses of similar range, and as usual is only likely to be 

noticeable in shots with straight lines towards the edges of the frame. Again it can be 

corrected easily enough in post-processing, if you're prepared to take the time. This is shown 

in the example below; roll your cursor over the labels to compare corrected and uncorrected 

versions. See how the pier straightens out, making the image look much more natural. 




Aug 12, 2013 


Test 

Aug 9, 2013 

Pentax Q7 

Aug 8, 2013 

70% 

Flare 

17mm, barrel distortion uncorrected 

17mm, corrected using DxO Optics Pro 

The 17-70mm generally deals pretty well with flare, and isn't excessively fazed by strong 

light sources (usually the sun) in or just outside the frame. In the first example below, with 

the sun at the edge of the frame, contrast is maintained pretty well, and flare patterns aren't 

excessive even at F22 (there's also a rather pretty 14-ray sun star). 

The second example shows what happens when pointing the lens directly into the light at 

the telephoto end, so the sun is just outside the frame (above and dead centre), shining 

directly onto the front element. There's a slight loss of contrast at the top of the frame, and if 

you look carefully, some coloured patterns at the bottom. But overall the lens has handled a 

difficult situation pretty well. 

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 


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17mm, F22, sun at edge of frame 

Background blur ('bokeh') 

70mm, F5.6, sun just outside frame 

One genuinely desirable, but difficult to measure aspect of a lens's performance is the ability 

to deliver smoothly blurred out-of-focus regions when trying to isolate a subject from the 

background, generally when using a long focal length and large aperture. This lens can allow 

you to achieve quite substantially blurred backgrounds, especially at longer focal lengths and 

large apertures. 

The 17-70mm does particularly well here, especially towards the long end of the zoom where 

background blur is most pronounced. It won't match a 17-50mm F2.8 zoom for the degree of 

blurring, of course, but it'll do rather better than an 18-55mm F3.5-5.6. Most importantly the 

blurred backgrounds are generally smooth and attractive, so don't distract from the main 

subject. 

Distant Bokeh 

Close-up Bokeh 

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70mm F4, Canon EOS 100D 

70mm F5.6, Canon EOS 100D

Background detail, lower right 

Background detail, lower left 

Macro 

The 17-70mm's 'Macro' tag reflects its pretty impressive 0.36x maximum magnification. But in 

practice things aren't so straightforward; this comes at an extremely close working distance, 

with just over 4cm (less than 2") between the front of the lens and the subject. This means 

that for close-up work you'll often find yourself getting right on top of your subject, with the 

large diameter front element frequently casting a visible shadow within the image area. At 

such close focus distances the lens feels rather 'wide' too (as the the lens's angle of view 

increases as you focus closer), which results in slightly 'busier' backgrounds than you'd get 

from a 60mm macro prime, for example. 

This example gives an idea of the results you can get out of the 17-70mm, in controlled 

indoor shooting using a tripod. As usual there's a trade-off between stopping down for 

sufficient depth of field, and avoiding excessive diffraction softening; in general we found 

that shooting at around F11 to F16 gave best results. But you can also see just how close to 

the subject the lens ends up when shooting at minimum focus. 

Canon EOS 100D, 0.8sec F16 ISO 200 

Shooting set-up 

There's another catch for macro work, too. Like almost all image stabilization systems, 

Sigma's OS becomes progressively less effective the closer you focus. This means you still 

need to keep shutter speeds up quite high to get properly-sharp images, and therefore will 

often need to use high ISOs (at least if you're not using a tripod). With the high ISO 

capabilities of modern DSLRs you can still get pretty decent results this way. 

Flash shadowing 

One problem we might expect to see, given the lens's large front diameter, is shadowing of 

the built-in flash at wideangle. But with all the recent Canon SLRs we tried, this only became 

visible at very short focus distances (less than 0.4m), which would be unlikely to cause any 

problem in normal use. However it's certainly possible the effect could be much worse with 

DSLRs that don't lift their flash units so high above the lens axis. 


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Challenges 


5. C onclusion & samples 

Conclusion - Pros 

Useful combination of zoom range and relatively fast aperture 

Very good image quality across most of the range 

Compact size 

Reasonably fast and near-silent autofocus 

Effective image stabilisation 

Conclusion - Cons 

Somewhat weak image quality at wideangle (soft corners and chromatic aberration) 

Macro shooting a little impractical (very short working distance) 

Overall conclusion 

The Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM is designed as an upgrade to the 18-55mm kit 

lenses supplied with most SLRs, and offers an interesting middle ground between fast zooms 

of the 17-50mm F2.8 type, and extended-range zooms in the 16-85mm class. In effect you 

get a bit of both - a usefully-extended range compared to those typical kit zooms, and a 

faster maximum aperture for better low light capability and a bit more creative control over 

depth of field. 

In practice, the 17-70mm turns out to be an excellent choice if you've grown out of a kit zoom 

and want something a bit better. It offers generally better optics, a broader zoom range, and 

of course that faster aperture. But this all comes in a package that's surprisingly compact, 

and doesn't take up too much extra space in your camera bag. It's not as light as a kit zoom, 

but not excessively heavy either. 

The lens's focusing and image stabilisation systems work well too. Autofocus is pretty fast, 

and near-silent when shooting stills; we've seen no obvious problems with accuracy either. 

Likewise the OS system is silent in operation, and works generally very well; we generally 

got about three stops worth of stabilisation out of it (although as usual, it's best to take a 

few replicate shots when relying on OS for sharpness). 

The 17-70mm's main weakness is its image quality at wideangle; here it suffers from 

somewhat soft edges which don't sharpen up on stopping down, coupled with quite strong 

chromatic aberration. The latter can easily be fixed in post-processing if you shoot RAW, but 

note that only Nikon SLRs will correct it in their JPEG output. Softer edges are more difficult to 

deal with, so if you spend a lot of time shooting detailed landscapes at wideangle, this may 

not be the best choice of lens. 

The 'Macro' in the lens name points to its impressive-on-paper close focusing, but we found 

this to be a bit less useful than you might hope. The numbers certainly look good - 22cm 

minimum focus, 0.37x magnification - but in practice this equates to a very short working 

distance between the lens and the subject. This means you'll often find yourself blocking out 

your own light, or casting a visible shadow on your subject. As it happens, those lowly 18- 

55mm kit zooms offer similar magnification with more practical working distances. So despite 

the 'Macro' label, we wouldn't necessarily recommend this lens if close-ups are a specific 

priority. 

The Final Word 

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Sigma's faster-than-average 17-70mm lenses have long had a pretty good reputation as kit 

zoom upgrades, and the latest iteration continues in this tradition. Its combination of 

extended focal length range and faster aperture offers useful extra compositional flexibility 

compared to an 18-55mm F3.5-5.6, and the optics are overall better too. It's not perfect, and 

in particular may not be the best option if you shoot a lot at wideangle or close-up. But it's 

very good indeed, and a great choice for SLR owners looking to expand their horizons 

beyond the kit zoom. 


Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM | C 

Category: Normal Lens 

Poor 

Excellent 

Test results 


Optical Quality 

Build Quality 

Autofocus 

Image Stabilization 

Ergonomics and Handling 

Value 

Photographers looking for a high quality,

Good for 

general purpose zoom for everyday 

shooting. 

Not so good for 

Wideangle or close-up shots 

Overall score 

80% 

Sigma's latest 'C' badged 17-70mm F2.8- 

4 is an excellent upgrade option for SLR 

shooters who've outgrown their kit 

zooms, and are looking for better image 

quality and more creative flexibility. It 

offers a fine balance of zoom range and 

maximum aperture, while still being 

highly portable. Autofocus and image 

stabilisation both work well, but image 

quality at wideangle isn't the best. 




Aug 12, 2013 


Test 

Aug 9, 2013 

Pentax Q7 

Aug 8, 2013 

70% 

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Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM | C on DxOMark 

Samples Gallery 

There are 36 images in the samples gallery. Please do not reproduce any of these images on 

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We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for 

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please don't abuse it. 

Unless otherwise noted images taken with no particular settings at full resolution. Because 

our review images are now hosted on the 'galleries' section of dpreview.com, you can enjoy 

all of the new galleries functionality when browsing these samples. 

Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4 


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80% 


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