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Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8...!!!

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
Pity it's a DC lens but impressive nonetheless. Sigma are really motoring with these new lenses. My 35mm f1.4 art lens is sensational on a D800E.
 

vieri

Well-known member
Great news from Sigma! Finally APS-C users have a tool that is (on paper at least) not only equal, but BETTER than any FF lens available offering the same FOV. While we'll have to wait and see how the lens performs, it is an incredible engineering achievement on one end, and a very welcome creative tool in the bag on the other end...

Following the new announcement, I posted an article on my blog with my reflections on the lens and what it means to APS-C and full-frame users.

See THE ARTICLE HERE.

Hope you'll find it interesting, best

Vieri
 

Jorgen Udvang

Subscriber Member
Pity it's a DC lens but impressive nonetheless.
Hmmm... f/1.8 is possible because it's a DC lens. A lens for the 35mm format with this focal range and aperture would have been larger and heavier than any of us would have cared to carry. The low weight, 810g, is impressive. As far as I remember, the Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 for the smaller 4/3 format is almost 1kg.
 

vieri

Well-known member
Hmmm... f/1.8 is possible because it's a DC lens. A lens for the 35mm format with this focal range and aperture would have been larger and heavier than any of us would have cared to carry. The low weight, 810g, is impressive. As far as I remember, the Zuiko 14-35mm f/2.0 for the smaller 4/3 format is almost 1kg.
It is, and it doesn't offer neither the same light gathering ability, nor the same depth-of-field control. Checking out lens data on Sigma's website it seems a VERY high performance lens. Let's wait and see for the real world samples... :D
 

Quentin_Bargate

Well-known member
I'm happy with - in fact far prefer - primes. Provided Sigma keep delivering class leading performance with full-frame primes in their Art series, I will keep buying them.
 

vieri

Well-known member
I'm happy with - in fact far prefer - primes. Provided Sigma keep delivering class leading performance with full-frame primes in their Art series, I will keep buying them.
Agreed. I'd take a prime over a zoom any day, if there is one available. :D Thing is, taking Sigma as an example, according to the lens' MFT at least: they just don't have any better offer than this zoom in the same range as far as primes go, except of course the 35mm f1.4 "A" (which, however, is a FF lens).

I think they might be doing what Nikon did with the 14-24: that lens is better than any prime in the 14-24 range, excluding the 24 f1.4 which is in a different class (f1.4).

Probably manufacturers think that there isn't enough market to invest R&D in ultra-wide primes when they can provide "good enough" quality for the majority of users with zooms, compacting R&D costs and maximizing profits. The WA and U-WA primes market seems to be (and probably will keep being) monopoly of third-party manufacturer (Zeiss first, Sigma, of course Voigtlander & Leica in M mount but we are talking SLR here, etc).
 

vieri

Well-known member
Here's the pudding, wherein the proof is supposed to be. I have no experience with the camera used, a Canon 600D, but the results seem very nice, although not ultrasharp out of the camera at f/1.8 (see the crops of the child portraits at the bottom).

Gear for Image :: Sigma ART 18-35mm f1.8 DC Preview
Jorgen, I saw these images, and they look quite impressive except for a bit of softness aide-open in the corners; as you say, the problem is the camera used. I'd love to see some Sigma samples taken with the SD1, or Nikon samples taken with the D7100... these would be much more interesting and indicative of the real quality of this lens :rolleyes:

However, so far so good, as they say :D
 
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