Sigma Says the Possibilities for New Lenses Are ‘Limitless’

Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki chatted with Lensvid at IBC 2026, discussing Sigma’s rapidly expanding lens lineup, its latest innovations, and, most interestingly, how Sigma feels about the future of optical design.

While Yamaki and Lensvid chatted quite a bit about Sigma Aizu Primes, including that the promised 18mm T1.3 is expected to arrive in 2027, Yamaki-san was quick to dispel any notion that the Aizu Prime family may ever include a zoom lens.

“These are all obviously prime lenses,” Lensvid says, referring to the Aizu Prime lineup. “Have you thought about making lenses for the same category, which are zoom lenses?”

“We don’t believe it belongs in the same category,” Yamaki responded. “But last year, we also launched the Cine AF zoom lenses. These lenses are very popular.”

As Lensvid notes, Sigma has been releasing many lenses lately. The company was incredibly prolific last year, launching not only the Sigma BF camera, but nearly 10 photo lenses and as many Aizu Prime cinema lenses. The company launched about as many photo lenses as the year before, too.

“Do you think that it’s possible to continue releasing at this rate of like, 10 new lenses every year?” Lensvid asked.

“Of course,” Yamaki confidently replied.

“I believe that the ideas for lenses is unlimited — limitless,” Yamaki continued.

Sigma’s CEO added that with new and improved technology and better materials, it’s not only possible to create all-new lenses but also to improve existing ones, leaving the pool of potential new optics very deep indeed.

“You have a lot more options to go, I think,” Yamaki said.

Another interesting question related to artificial intelligence and how Sigma may use it to design lenses.

Yamaki was clear: using AI to design lenses is, at least for now, a waste of time and resources.

“We don’t use AI yet [to develop lens designs] because the technology, or knowledge, required to make a high-quality lens are not yet available on the internet,” Yamaki said. “All technology and knowledge are proprietary to us.”

Basically, it’s not possible to train an AI that would actually be useful, unless perhaps Sigma wanted to do it internally. Which, for now, it doesn’t. There is an extremely important human element to not only optical manufacturing but also the core design workflow.

As Sony Alpha Rumors notes, there are a lot of interesting parts of the discussion, which is seen in full above, including discussions on the new Sigma 20-60mm f/2.8-4 DG Contemporary and how Sigma utilizes assistive robotics to keep its manufacturing costs down.

Sigma has had yet another fantastic year in 2026, releasing many incredible lenses. There’s little doubt 2027 will be another success for the company.

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Image creditsSigma