The engine's answer
Best lens for wildlife, under €1,800
Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN Sports
89% match
Six hundred millimetres without the first-party tax
Why it wins here
The Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN Sports takes this question at €1,500 — €300 under the €1,800 ceiling — with a 89% match against 65 current lenses. For wildlife the engine leans on AF speed and stabilisation: it scores 78/100 and 82/100, where the pool averages 74/100 and 34/100. At 2100 g it is heavier than the average lens here (633 g). No prime-or-zoom preference was required, so the whole pool of 65 was in play.
The dimensions where it beats the rest of the field by the most, for this question specifically.
- Use
- Budget
What's good
- Sports-line sealing at a Contemporary-ish price
- Zoom-torque switch and solid OS
What to watch
- 2.1 kg — train the forearms
- AF a half-step behind the Sony 200-600
What came close — and what each gave up
- Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 II89%An 800-equivalent you can hand-holdThe Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 II (89% match) costs €200 more (€1,700 against €1,500). Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
- Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR87%A 450-equivalent that fits a day bagThe Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR (87% match) trails on AF speed — 76/100 against 78/100. Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
- Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR87%The most zoom ever squeezed into 725 gramsThe Nikon Z 28-400mm f/4-8 VR (87% match) trails on AF speed — 74/100 against 78/100. Check price: B&H Photo Adorama MPB (used) eBay (used)
Questions this answer raises
- Is the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN Sports within a €1,800 budget?
- Yes. At €1,500 it leaves €300 of the ceiling unspent; the Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 II costs €1,700 and the Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR costs €830.
- How good is the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN Sports for wildlife?
- On the use question it scores 78%, 56 points above the average of the 65 lenses ranked. Its strongest numbers for this use are AF speed (78/100) and stabilisation (82/100).
- What comes closest to the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG DN Sports for wildlife?
- The Panasonic Leica 100-400mm f/4-6.3 II at 89%, then the Fujifilm XF 70-300mm f/4-5.6 R LM OIS WR at 87%. The section above names the measure each one lost on.
Change an assumption
This page answers one photographer's question. Yours is not that question — adjust the subject, the format or the budget and watch the whole field re-rank.
Answer for your own shooting