Sigma has me hooked. They are pumping out extremely high quality lenses that are just as good and in some cases better than equivalent lenses from their first party competition. The kicker being that they are often much less expensive. For a long time third party lenses were dismissed by professional photographers as being of poorer construction, resolution and compatibility. This is no longer the case. Sigma restructured their lens line in September 2012 and sincethen have created some of the most exciting new lensesat price points below USD$1,000.00. I was able to check out 3 of their lenses in depth and 3 others I had some brief time to test. My review will be heavy on info and pictures for the 35mm, 50mm and 85mm Art lenses. I also got to briefly test out the 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, the 105mm f/2.8 and the 150mm f/2.8. All photos were taken with the Canon 5D Mark III.
By Alex Depew
First though, in order to bring some clarity, let me explain some of the many acronyms Sigma uses in their lens designations.
This lens won me over immediately. It then won me over again when I got home to look at the pics. This 35mm F/1.4 lens from Sigma is tack sharp, feels very solid, has almost no distortion and is very quick to autofocus. This is will be the lens that will mostly live on my camera, once I buy it that is. I cannot recommend this lens enough.
There is so little purple fringing in the images that you would have to zoom to 100% to see it. And even then it is barely there.
The 9 blades of the diaphragm leads to a beautiful, buttery bokeh, a highly sought after trait in a lens.
While the lens definitely displays some vignettingwhen opened up, I found it to be quite pleasing and not ay different from another 35mm that was this fast.
This lens is incredibly sharp. I could not have been happier with the resolution of the images that this lens put out.
This lens has great colors that really pop. And the contrast before any processing is excellent.
Conclusion
This is a great walking around lens that could easily become your go to lens if you are a fan of the 35mm framing. This lens is a beast and has jumped to the top of my photography wish list. I would definitely recommend renting one to make sure you are as enthusiastic as I am about it, but I am not alone in singing this lens’ praises and for many good reasons.
Another excellent lens from Sigma, the 50mm f/1.4 Art lens is also tack sharp and has many of the same strengths as the 35mm lens above. However, this is definitely a big lens for a 50mm. It is very solid, and the build quality is excellent. It also has the same minimalist look of the 35mm Art lens, which I very much liked. This lens performed beautifully. It has creamy bokeh, very nice contrast, great color rendition and outshines the competition in terms of resolution. If you are a lover of the 50mm field of view this may very well be the lens for you.
I very much like the colors this lens produced. It is very faithful and in conjunction with the lens’ nice level of contrast makes editing pictures after a shoot much less time consuming.
Purple fringing is also nearly invisible when using this lens. This is a scene that would prove very challenging for many lenses. The Sigma 50mm f/1.4 shows it it’s strength in the optical construction.
The autofocus works exceptionally well and may even be faster than my Canon 50mm f/1.4.
The lens had a little trouble focusing in dark situations, but it wasn’t terrible.
The bokeh produced by this lens is also very creamy and pleasing due to the 9 blade diaphragm. I love the bokeh produced by this lens.
The picture on the left was shot full open at f/1.4 while the one on the right was at f/2.2. At f/1.4 the fall off is tremendous. You are working with a razor thin depth of field. However, even fully wide open this lens is extremely sharp.
Conclusion
This is an awesome lens that I can easily recommend. While I personally enjoy shooting at 35mm more than 50mm, I would definitely consider adding this lens to my kit down the line. It is very sharp, has great colors and very quick autofocus in bright situations. At this price point this is a lens everyone looking for a 50mm should investigate.
A solid choice for anyone looking for a portrait lens, the 85mm f/1.4 is sharp, with great bokeh and a solid build quality. The only downside is the minimum focusing distance of 33.5 inches. Other than that this lens performed excellently and it is definitely a huge bang for the buck portrait lens.
This is the perfect focal length in my opinion to take pictures of people. The perspective is very pleasing and with this lens it is a joy to see how well it makes the subject pop from the background.
The color rendition and bokeh of this camera are both exceptional.
This lens is also incredibly sharp and has very nice contrast.
The only issue I had with the lens was that I couldn’t get as close to the subject as I would have liked.
This lens definitely shines as a great alternative at the 85mm focal range.
Conclusion
This is a solid lens choice at a great price. Perhaps Sigma will be coming out with an updated version of this lens, but until they do this is a solid choice for an 85mm. I personally loved shooting with this lens and give it very high marks for sharpness and bokeh, which I thought was outstanding.
This lens has the same exceptional build quality and optics found on the other Art lenses. The 24mm is the widest angle lens so far in the Art Lens series. This lens is the latest released Art lens and it is definitely living up to the name its less wide brothers have eared for the Art Lineup. The 24mm is fantastically sharp, just as you would expect. It has quick autofocus, a 9 blade diaphragm and a very close minimum focusing distance of 9.8 inches, which while not a macro is very close.
Sigma’s 105mm f/2.8 Macro lens is very solid, well-built and has excellent optics. The lens is very sharp once stopped down a bit and the macro feature is extremely useful and fun. The stabilization, which is very welcome at the mid-range end of the telephoto spectrum is very solid allowing for handholding down to very slow shutter speeds. This is definitely a great lens that can be used for portraits of just to get that extra bit of distance. This is definitely a winner in its field.
This is a great lens for sports or wildlife photography as well as the occasional portrait. This lens has the 9 blade diaphragm seen in the other lenses which leads to nice creamy bokeh. The 150mm f/2.8 is not as fast as the art series, but at this end of the telephoto it isn’t as necessary. This lens is very sharp even wide open and the optical stabilization helps that remain true even when shooting handheld in dim lighting. This is another great lens in the Sigma line and definitely one to look into for a telephoto lens.
Having never used Sigma lenses before I was utterly impressed with all the lenses I got to try, especially the Art lenses which were all superb. Sigma is taking on the big boys and beating them at their own game and at a price point that is well below theirs. The only thing budget about these lenses is their price. Before I picked up these lenses I read reviews and I have to agree with almost all of them that the 35mm f/1.4 is by far Sigma’s shining star. It is a phenomenal lens and I can’t recommend it enough. Well done Sigma. You have a new follower.
