Over the past few years, Sigma has mostly focused on standard focal lengths between 20mm and 135mm, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t kept an eye on more extreme options. In fact, three new patents have appeared for lenses with focal lengths ranging from 400 mm to 700 mm.
These three patents apply to lenses 400mm f/5 OS, 500mm f/5.6 OS, 700mm f/8 OS. While Sigma is primarily focused on more conventional focal lengths, the company has experience with longer focal lengths, both fixed and zoom, including lenses such as 500mm f/4 DG OS HSM Sports and 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sportsalong with more extreme options such as the 300–800mm f/5.6 EX DG HSM, affectionately known as “Sigmonster”, and the 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG, the only lens to offer this combination of precision 500mm focal length and f/2.8 aperture.
That said, just because a lens is patented doesn’t mean it will actually hit the market. However, the last few years have seen an increase in popularity of relatively narrow aperture super-telephoto lenses, as they allow photographers to explore focal lengths without previously inaccessible due to high prices, while the improved ISO and autofocus performance of modern cameras retains those focal lengths. Aperture is not as much of an issue as it was years ago.
