Sigma's L series

I hope this is the right forum for this question. Sorry for the long lead in.

I'm a Canon guy and have been saving up for my first piece of L glass. I've rented the 70-200 f2.8L IS a couple of times and was amazed at the results. Problem is, L glass is very expensive. So I've been playing with the idea of looking at other brands of glass and came across a thread reviewing Sigma's version of the 70-200 2.8. It sounded pretty intriguing. Except for not being IS, the Sigma lens appears pretty comparable. I also understand that there may be a couple of Sigma lenses that offer their version of IS (OS?), but I don't know off hand which ones. Finally, here's my question(s): What markings or letter/number codes identify Sigma's "professional" series of lenses from their consumer versions and are these "pro" lenses noticeably better than their "other" lenses?

Smitty

Sigma's EX range are the higher quality lenses, with HSM autofocus motors.

There's currently only one OS lens, the 80-400 and it's not really comparable to the Canon IS system. Yet.

ishootcats wrote in post #2199097
I hope this is the right forum for this question. Sorry for the long lead in.

I'm a Canon guy and have been saving up for my first piece of L glass. I've rented the 70-200 f2.8L IS a couple of times and was amazed at the results. Problem is, L glass is very expensive. So I've been playing with the idea of looking at other brands of glass and came across a thread reviewing Sigma's version of the 70-200 2.8. It sounded pretty intriguing. Except for not being IS, the Sigma lens appears pretty comparable. I also understand that there may be a couple of Sigma lenses that offer their version of IS (OS?), but I don't know off hand which ones. Finally, here's my question(s): What markings or letter/number codes identify Sigma's "professional" series of lenses from their consumer versions and are these "pro" lenses noticeably better than their "other" lenses?

Smitty

Sigma's website is pretty good
They explain all the terms - DG,DC,HSM,APO,EX,OS etc
Pretty sure 80-400 is the only current OS lens.
It's less rigid with Sigma. 24-70 is an EX (pro) lens , but does not have HSM (Sigmas fast silent focusing) Other non EX lenses have HSM.

Yes, the 80-400 OS is the only third-party lens out there with any kind of shake reduction. And I don't expect that to change in the near or distant future. If Sigma had any plans that way, they'd have come out with at least one morer by now.

Jon wrote in post #2200290
Yes, the 80-400 OS is the only third-party lens out there with any kind of shake reduction. And I don't expect that to change in the near or distant future. If Sigma had any plans that way, they'd have come out with at least one morer by now.

Didn't they just announce a 18-200 with OS?

So they did. It's about bloody time - been around 3 years since the 80-400. I see they still haven't managed to marry HSM and OS though. The 80-400's reputed to be slow focussing compared to either Canon's 100-400 or the Bigma.