Sigma Corporation Honored in Professional Photographer's Hot One Awards

RONKONKOMA, NY--(Marketwire - April 1, 2009) - Sigma Corporation of America (www.sigmaphoto.com), a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider for some of the world's most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, has been awarded the prestigious Professional Photographer's Hot One Award, in recognition of its superior quality telephoto zoom lens, the Sigma APO 200-500mm F2.8 / 400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG.

The magazine's editors said the competition's judges picked the Sigma APO 200-500mm, in "record time," while citing the telephoto lens' "status as the only 500mm zoom with a constant f/2.8 maximum aperture." They also noted its motorized zoom and autofocus, and its compatibility with 35mm, full-frame DSLRs and APS-C type digital cameras.

"We're extremely honored to be included in these prestigious awards," said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, general manager of Sigma Corporation of America. "Professional Photographer serves as the ultimate, go-to guide for countless photographers looking for insight and reviews on newly released products, and we're thrilled that Sigma's continued commitment to quality products that help perfect the way photographers work has been recognized."

The tenth anniversary Professional Photographer's Hot One Awards, which honors the year's best photography products, drew the largest number of submissions ever for 2009, according to Jeff Kent, Hot One Awards editor at Professional Photographer magazine.

"Every year, we talk about the Hot One Awards getting bigger and better. That trend continued this year, but in a more pronounced fashion," said Kent. "The Awards took a huge step up in size, logging more than 350 entries by 180 companies. The 56 categories were more competitive than we've ever seen before. Winning an award in this year's competition was no small feat. The 2009 Hot One winners truly represent the best and brightest in today's professional photography market."

Designed to create outstanding image expression with various types of photography, the Sigma APO 200-500mm F2.8 / 400-1000mm F5.6 EX DG, the world's first lens to offer an f/2.8 aperture at 500mm focal length, utilizes both SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass and three ELD (Extraordinary Low Dispersion) glass elements to provide excellent correction capabilities for all types of aberrations. Additional features for this lens include super multi-layer coating, which reduces flare and ghosting, and provides high image quality from the extremely large aperture. The lens hood, designed exclusively for this lens, blocks out extraneous light that can interfere with photo quality.

The Sigma APO 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG incorporates an integrated Li-ion battery BP-21, used to power the zooming and AF operation, and provides the photographer with a convenient, built-in LCD panel, allowing focusing distances and focal lengths to easily be viewed. This lens is available in Sigma, Canon, and Nikon mounts, and is priced at $34,000 MSRP.

About Sigma Corporation of America

For more than 50 years, Sigma Corporation's expertise and innovation has driven the company's core philosophy of "knowledge, plus experience, plus imagination," with an emphasis on producing high-quality, high-performance photographic technology at moderate prices. This family-owned organization is the largest, independent SLR lens manufacturer in the world, producing more than 40 lenses that are compatible with most manufacturers, including Canon, Minolta, Sony, Nikon, Olympus and Pentax. Sigma Corporation also produces digital SLR cameras and high-definition digital compact cameras. The company is headquartered in Japan, with offices strategically located throughout Europe and North America. For more information, please visit www.sigmaphoto.com.

Contact Information: Christine Moossmann Sigma Corporation 631-585-1144 www.sigmaphoto.com Marisa Carullo Matter Communications for Sigma Corporation 978-499-9250 x 320 www.matternow.com