Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art Series Lens for Nikon Mount is Finally Shipping
Nikon users with a thing for exceptional third party lenses rejoice, because pre-orders for the super-sharp Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens are finally shipping.
Nikon users with a thing for exceptional third party lenses rejoice, because pre-orders for the super-sharp Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens are finally shipping.
We have our own Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens on the way for full review, but until then it's interesting to see what some of the big names in gear review are saying about this optical beast and how it compares to the Otus it was meant to compete with.
Today, one of the biggest of those reviewers, DxOMark, released the results of its tests -- and news is good if you're planning to pick one of these beauties up.
The first reviews have been clear: the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art series lens delivers quality on par with the exceptional $4,000 ZEISS 55mm f/1.4 Otus. That's no small feat, but just how impressive that fact was revolved entirely around what the company decided to price the lens. Well the answer is finally official, and it's going to blow some minds.
You'll be able to get Otus-quality PLUS autofocus for, get this, only $950!
I normally dismiss ultra-fast aperture lenses because they tend to be overly large, overly expensive, and overly excessive. I rarely want to have the shallowest depth of field possible, and an f/1.2 lens is only two-thirds of a stop brighter than a reasonably priced f/1.4 lens. But what if I can have my cake and eat it too?
Sigma may be best known for its photographic lenses, but the company's video-specific Cine lenses are very well regarded in the industry. So much so, in fact, that the Giant Screen Cinema Association (GSCA) has selected Sigma Cine lenses as its new standardized test lens.
Last week was a big one for some of the biggest names in the camera industry including Fujifilm, Sigma, and Panasonic. Tons of announcements hit thanks to the CP+ camera exhibition in Japan that we needed a whole episode to talk about them all!
When it comes to general-purpose standard zooms, Sony has you covered. With some classic choices like 24-70mm f/2.8 G Master II and 24-105mm f/4 G or the unique Sony FE 20-70mm f/4, there is something for everyone. However, Sony decided to go even further and add the brand new FE 24-50mm f/2.8 G to its growing collection. The idea is to have a more affordable and compact lens alternative to the expensive 24-70mm GM while still having a fast f/2.8 aperture, albeit with a reduced zoom range. I got my hands on one to try, and here is what I found.
It has been a great year for the L-Mount Alliance. The alliance welcomed new members Samyang and Astrodesign in July, and Blackmagic Design joined in September.
7artisans announced a new 14mm T2.9 cinema lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras. It is the widest of the four primes in 7artisans' "Spectrum" series of cine lenses.
Sigma has not released a new camera since 2021 and doesn't currently have an APS-C camera, otherwise known as a crop sensor, in its lineup. In fact, it hasn't made one since the sd Quattro in 2016. That should change, and I believe it's about to.
While attending the CP+ 2023 show in Yokohama earlier this year, I visited with Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma Corporation, and one of the most savvy executives in the entire photo industry.
Photographer Matthias Conrad focuses on landscape, architectural, and commercial photography, although an ongoing series, Botanical Studies, bucks the trend a bit and delivers beautiful minimalist black-and-white photographs of a diverse range of flora.
It might come as a surprise to many readers, seeing my byline on an industry-interview article here on PetaPixel, not to mention one from the CP+ 2023 show in Yokohama, Japan. It’s now been no less than three months since that, but I’m only just now getting this and several other articles posted.
There just aren't a lot of ultra-wide full-frame prime lenses to choose from. There are plenty of zoom lenses to choose from, however, compact dedicated ultra-wides are in short supply. Cue Sigma to save the day with its brand new Contemporary series 17mm lens. But is this the hero we were looking for?
Sigma has announced three new compact prime lenses and the upcoming availability of three existing lenses for the Nikon Z-Mount.
When Sony and Sigma released lenses with nearly identical specifications (or at least nearly identical target customers), photographic gear scheduling marked a rare alignment. Photographically speaking, the concurrent launch of these two similar lenses is the equivalent of a full solar eclipse—incredibly rare and also amazing to see.
Sigma is launching support for Nikon Z-mount cameras with three prime lenses that are already available in five other mounts.
Sony’s new Sony 50mm f/1.4 GM is a compact, fast, and high-resolution lens in Sony’s upper-echelon G Master lineup, and it joins Sony’s already flush 50mm focal length lineup.
Lenses are big business: while we have seen the value of camera shipments nose-dive year-on-year, lens value has slowly increased and is now equal to about a third of the camera market. It's for this reason that third-party manufacturers have increased their stake in this market and particularly at the low-cost end where Chinese manufacturers proliferate. Who are these companies and what does their appearance presage in terms of the camera market as a whole?
Sigma’s 50mm f/1.4 DG DN Art takes its place as the latest lens in Sigma’s venerable high-end lens line and is a welcome addition thanks to excellent performance and a low cost of entry.
Sigma is making its fp and fp L cameras more appealing for filmmakers thanks to the addition of a new color mode, the ability to use 4TB external SSDs, Open Gate with Anamorphic desqueeze, Atomos Cloud support, and more
Combining hyperrealism photography with fragments of mundane and ordinary places, photographer Connor Daly has created unique images that blend the real and the imagined.
The Sigma 28-70mm f/2.8 DG DN is a compacted take on the popular "desert island" 24-70mm f/2.8 lens that makes a slight concession in focal range at the wide end in order to make itself smaller, lighter, and cheaper: just $900.
After my testing of the new Sony compact primes, I was able to spend some time with the competing set of primes from Sigma that were arguably the reason Sony created its lenses in the first place. Both sets are fun, compact, and extremely portable optics... but which should you buy?
In response to Sigma's push into compact mirrorless prime lenses, Sony has launched a new trio of compact prime G-lenses. The 24mm f/2.8 G, 40mm f/2.5 G, and 50mm f/2.5 G together are smaller and lighter than an average 24-70mm f/2.8.
Sony has announced three compact and fast prime lenses -- 24mm f/2.8 G, 40mm f/2.5 G, and 50mm f/2.5 G -- designed to balance high-quality with small size. These lenses look to be clearly designed in response to Sigma's recent push in this direction with its I-Series lenses.
Nikon has been aggressively marketing the internal diameter of the Z mount as being 17% larger than the Nikon F mount, and the larger mount allows more flexibility in the optical design of the Z lenses like their newest 58mm f/0.95 lens.
Earlier this month, Sigma announced three new lenses for Sony E and Panasonic/Leica L Mount cameras: The Sigma 35mm f/2, 65mm f/2, and 24mm f/3.5. These lenses, while bearing the “Contemporary” badge, are part of a new “I series” category.
Back in mid-2017, I was tasked with reviewing Sigma's first 24-70mm lens, the 24-70mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM IF Art lens, and I was extremely disappointed. You can read my whole review here, but in summary, I found it to be sadly inconsistent with its sharpness. Most notably, I found that edge sharpness was really quite bad.
For those not from a certain area of Pennsylvania, you likely have never heard of Martin Tower or knew that it was imploded in a spectacular way earlier this year. But for those in the Lehigh Valley, the third-largest metropolitan area in PA, Martin Tower served as a symbol of many meanings, from the fall of one of the greatest steel companies in the world to a landmark whose relief stood out in stark contrast to the surrounding landscape.
Photographer Julia Trotti made this 7-minute video that shows how your choice of focal length affects your results in portrait photography.
The new L-Mount alliance between Leica, Panasonic, and Sigma is heating up even more. Sigma has announced that it will be releasing 11 of its highly-regarded Art prime lenses for the L-Mount and a new lens adapter.
PetaPixel recently published an open letter from photographer Usman Dawood entitled: "Dear Camera Companies: Please Make a Fast Lens Between 50mm and 85m." Today, I am asking for the pretty much the opposite: slower, lighter prime lenses.
For some time now, my favourite portrait lens has been the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 art. This lens, as many of you may know, is simply incredible when it comes to performance. Even the price of this lens isn’t unreasonable when you compare it to some alternatives currently available.
Sigma is continuing to extend its Art series with the new 85mm f/1.4. The long-awaited lens received lots of attention when it was first announced at Photokina 2016.
Recent announcements from Sigma have made a lot of portrait and landscape photographers very happy. The question is, can the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art and the Sigma 12-24mm f/4 DG HSM Art replace the current favorites from Canon and Nikon?
Earlier this week, reports that the old Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM lens had been discontinued sparked a lot of speculation that Sigma was preparing to release an Art version of the popular focal length. Now, one report is confirming this speculation.
I have yet to be let down by Sigma's highly respected Art series of lenses. Sigma is now set to release the widest f/1.4 lens on the market, with the upcoming 20mm f1.4 DG HSM Art lens to be released in the latter part of the month.
Sigma is courting the wide-angle photographer in all of us with this new lens, and we were given a rare pre-production model to get a feel for what is now the fastest 20mm lens on the market.
Sigma recently announced another groundbreaking lens in their acclaimed Global Vision line of Art series lenses, the 24-35mm f/2. This is the world’s first full frame zoom lens with an f/2 aperture. You heard that right. Prime lens speed, with the ability to change the focal length of the lens. Wow.
Sigma’s latest addition to its burgeoning fleet of Art lenses is just as dazzling as the first two incarnations. Riding the coattails of the beloved 35mm f/1.4 and 50mm f/1.4 primes comes yet another fixed lens success––24mm of wide-angle glory. This is the widest Art lens you’ll see in Sigma’s prime series, aimed at satisfying street photographers, landscape shooters, wedding soldiers, event documenters, and DSLR videographers.