Leica CL Fun With The Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3:
A while back, I reviewed the Sigma 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary Lens in L mount (you can find the review here), and had a great time with the lens. I found it made an excellent companion to my SL2. I feel like we need more lenses like this, especially in the Leica world. These focal lengths are rare for Leica shooters, and now that we have the L mount system, I don’t see why there shouldn’t be more lenses like this developed for L mount. Anyway, since I had the Leica CL lying around here from using it for my Sigma APS-C lens reviews, I thought why don’t I just try it with the zoom? Grant it, I didn’t get to do as much exploring as I wanted with this combo because at the time, the corona viruses cases in my region were very high but I did manage to go out a few times around my neighborhood to see how this combo would work for me. Here are my results.
So, let’s start off with the overall feel and ergonomics. Yes, this is a big lens for the CL, and I know not everyone will use a zoom like this on the camera. But as I said before, I had both the camera, and the lens in my hands at the time. I thought this might actually make a great combo. With the cropped sensor of the CL, this lens will give you a 600mm equivalent. I thought this was just going to be fun.
↑ I used 100 ISO here with the lens set at 139mm, and f6.3.
↑ This was taken with 100 ISO, and the lens set at 400mm, and f6.3.
The 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary Lens has a modest maximum aperture range but because of that, the zoom isn’t as large, and it weighs just 1135 g, which is not that bad considering we’re talking about a 150-600mm equivalent lens. Still, it’s big on a body as tiny as the CL but at the same time, I feel it’s also going to give the CL user a unique experience because of the focal length range. Just imagine all the opportunities you can have with a lens like this mounted on a CL.
↑ This was taken at 640 ISO with the Sigma 100-400mm set at f11, and 118mm.
↑ Here’s a shot of a seagull with the lens set at 400mm, f8, and the camera set at 320 ISO.
Furthermore, the overall balance of the combo is actually pretty nice, which surprised me. It was front heavy, which is to be expected but the camera didn’t feel unwieldy. I’ve experienced much worse from other similar combos that don’t always give me the same range as well. This combo still had a nice feel to it. The CL has Leica build quality, and the Sigma certainly isn’t cheaply made, so together, the combo felt very solid in the hands. With the mount of the CL being overbuilt, it never felt like the zoom was too much weight for the CL. What also helped make this an even better experience ergonomically was that the CL I was using had the Leica CL Handgrip.
↑ I shot this with the CL set at 400 ISO, and the lens set at 297mm f8.
↑ This was taken with the CL set at 400 ISO. The Sigma 100-400mm lens was set at 105mm, and f5.
So, let’s get on to the images. Let me start off by saying that I rarely use anything this long in terms of focal length, and I have to admit, for the environment that I was in (NYC), I struggled to find use for the 600mm focal length haha. But I’m sure others who are either more used to shooting long focal lengths or are in areas of photography where this is well suited will love a combo like this. I actually saw a massive hawk here in Brooklyn a couple of months ago. Too bad he didn’t come out when I had the CL and this lens ;). Anyway, all the shots that I took were right in my neighborhood as I mentioned earlier. I wanted to get more variety in terms of photos but at the time that I was shooting this lens, the corona virus cases were very high, and I wasn’t really going out much. This article was actually suppose to be posted a while back but I was busy with migrating this site to a new host, and doing some much needed upgrades. (I want to thank my good friend Fredrik for the help!). But the good news is I live in an area of New York City where it’s more suburb-like, so I had more space to try out the longer range of the zoom.
↑ Here’s a shot of the NYC. I used 500 ISO, and the 400mm focal length with an aperture of f6.3.
↑ I used 1250 ISO here with the focal length of 105mm. f8 was used.
While this isn’t a review (you can read my review of it though), I will say that optically, the 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary Lens performed great with the CL. I had nice, sharp, and crisp images. Overall, I came back with results that I was very happy with. I’ve always been a fan of the sensor in the CL, and it certainly did not disappoint me here. Autofocus was also very quick, and since the CL does not have image stabilization, the one in the lens was a godsend.
↑ This was taken with 800 ISO. The focal length used was 256mm, and the aperture was f6.3.
↑ I used 500 ISO, and f6.3 with the focal length set at 265mm.
There was one day that I took out this lens and camera combo, and it was one of the windiest days that I’ve experienced this season so far. It was quite difficult to hold this combo, especially when I was using the longer ranges of the zoom where even the slightest movement translated into a shaky view in the viewfinder. The image stabilization was extremely helpful, and helped me get tack sharp images even at 600mm equivalent. There was one time where I only had time to go out later in the day. To top it off, it was just very hazy and cloudy. I wanted to shoot at a lower ISO for better quality, and again, having the image stabilization helped quite a bit. I was able to get away with slower shutter speeds.
↑ This last photo was taken at 640 ISO. I used the 299mm focal length with the aperture set at f6.3.
Overall, I had a lot of fun with this set up. Sure, Leica does have the APO-Vario-Elmar-T 55-135mm f3.5-4.5 ASPH, which is a phenomenal lens for the CL (I also reviewed this lens here) but it’s considerably more expensive, and if you need something that can extend to a 600mm equivalent, the Leica’s 80-200mm equivalent range simply won’t cut it. Also, the Sigma 100-400mm retails for just $949 which is roughly half the price of the Leica one. Plus, you have image stabilization with the Sigma, which helps immensely with a lens of this focal length range. I also feel that because of its range, the 100-400mm f5-6.3 DG DN OS Contemporary Lens really opens up new opportunities for CL users. Bottom line is it’s a lot of fun to use this lens on the CL, and at the end of the day, you’ll get some great images as well.
