Comparison Sigma APO DG Macro 70-300 vs Canon EF-S 55-250 IS

I tested 2 budget lenses, Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro and Canon EFS 55-250 IS, against each other for awhile. I just have a time to post the result of my testing.

For the beginners, they may looking for the budget telephoto lens for Canon DSLR in the market and 2 famous lens that people always discuss about are Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro and Canon EFS 55-250 IS so I arranged my test in order to see how well they are.

The first section of my testing is image sharpness in comparison to two lenses. I tested my 2 lens at following focal length: 70 mm, 100 mm, 135 mm and 200 mm. There is no result at 250 mm because I lost my files. I used Canon EOS 400D mounted on my Tripod, Mantrotto 055XPROB with Ball head 486RC2 and I also used mirror lock up with a shutter release cable in order to get the sharpest images that each lens can produce.

For the last test, I tested Image Stabilizer (IS) of Canon EFS 55-250 IS. So you can see how good of IS of Canon EFS 55-250 IS is.

Ps, please click each image in order to enlarge each photo. All photos were saved for website at 70%. Therefore, the result is good for comparison between 2 lens.

First test, Image Quality, let’s get started at 70 mm of SIGMA 70-300 APO DG Macro. I have labels (A, B, C) at different locations (See the photo below).

70 mm of Canon EFS 55-250 IS is below

You can see that at 70 mm Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives you wider perspective than Sigma 70-300. Therefore, the test at 70 mm is not 100% apple to apple but I think it should be good enough for comparison.

Location A at 70 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location B at 70 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location C at 70 mm comparison (See an image below)

At 70 mm, Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives better image quality than Sigma 70-300.

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Let's see the next test. At 100 mm, the perspective of both lenses is not different. F stop of Sigma 70-300 starts at F 4 but F stop of Canon EFS 55-250 IS start at F 5 (See photo below).

Location A at 100 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location B at 100 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location C at 100 mm comparison (See an image below)

At 100 mm, Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives better image quality at the edge than Sigma 70-300.

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At 135 mm, the perspective of both lenses is not different. F stop of Sigma 70-300 starts at F 4.5 but F stop of Canon EFS 55-250 IS starts at F 5 (See photo below).

Location A at 135 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location B at 135 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location C at 135 mm comparison (See an image below)

At 135 mm, Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives better image quality at the edge than Sigma 70-300.

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At 200 mm, the perspective of both lenses is not different. F stop of Sigma 70-300 starts at F 5 but F stop of Canon EFS 55-250 IS start at F 5.6.

Location A at 200 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location A at 200 mm comparison (See an image below)

Location C at 200 mm comparison (See an image below)

At 200 mm, Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives better image quality than Sigma 70-300.

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Second test, Image Stabilizer of Canon EFS 55-250 IS.

I use hand held to test the Image Stabilizer (IS). I used the focal length of 250 mm, F 20, shutter speed 1/50 sec which is equivalent to 4 stops compensation. This shows me that the IS of Canon EFS 55-250 IS is working excellent.


My friend used this lens for life photography and the Image Stabilizer (IS) worked very good. The shutter speed at 1/30 sec gives him the nice and acceptable sharp image.


Conclusion:

According to my testing, the Canon EFS 55-250 IS gives slightly better image quality than Sigma 70-300. Moreover, Image Stabilizer (IS) of Canon EFS 55-250 IS works very good.

Any comments are welcome.
DSM