Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art announced

SDK^ · 25 Feb 2015 at 12:39

One thing I've noticed with the Canon 24L at F1.4 is the amount of vignetting is very substantial - 4 stops according to reviews. Sure this can be fixed when importing RAW's via a lens profile but when quickly checking images on the LCD camera screen, going from F1.4 to F2.8 is like you've set a slower overall exposure (more than just aperture) as the image and colours are so much lighter.

It'll be interesting to see how the Sigma 24 F1.4 handles vignetting.

D.P. · 25 Feb 2015 at 13:41

mrk said:
Those pixel peep samples don't show any sizeable lead over the Sigma that justifies the huge price difference though^ There's slightly sharper/more immediate green fringing on the Nikon images too. I'm not saying the Nikon (or Canon) versions are bad, they certainly are not, but given the price and performance figures on the table, the Sigmas run laps around the other two.

The crop just makes it easy to compare bokeh characteristics. if you wanted to compare sharpness you would ask poxel peep tight crops.

The bokeh quality of the Nikon's vs the sigma is not my opinion. I don't care that much about bokeh, I'm just reporting what bokeh fanatics see in the images.

If you shoot very shallow DoF photos it is something to think about. For me, I will take the sigmas anyday. The ironic thing is if you want good bokeh you can just buy the older Nikon lenses that don't have aspherical elements. The 85mm f/1.4D is widely regarded as having nicer bokeh than the new G version (although the G version is very good). But is much softer wide open with way less contrast. For portrait photographers many don't care about wide open sharpness and actauly prefer softer dreamier photos that has incredibly smooth bokeh.

When I shoot portraits I prefer longer focal lengths that male the bokeh smoother due to perspective. This gives a much bigger subject separation and more of a 3D look.

SDK^ · 3 Mar 2015 at 18:21

SDK^ said:
I'll be first in line for this lens - it looks awesome and the price is amazing. Looking around it's $849 which converts to £550 + VAT, so about £660

So the launch price of this lens is £800 - The UK buying public gets screwed again.

D.P. · 3 Mar 2015 at 18:24

Above&Beyond said:
The bokeh of the Sigma Art lenses like the 50 1.4 doesn't look as good as the older versions. They do look better everywhere else you look though.

And that is because that optimized for sharpness with a more perfectly corrected lens.

Above&Beyond · 3 Mar 2015 at 20:07

D.P. said:
And that is because that optimized for sharpness with a more perfectly corrected lens.

It's better corrected but the bokeh lets it down. You don't always want extreme sharpness and more nervous bokeh, especially with portraits. The Nikon 58G would be my lens of choice even though it is softer it has more pleasing bokeh and would probably be more flattering.

D.P. · 3 Mar 2015 at 20:36

Above&Beyond said:
It's better corrected but the bokeh lets it down. You don't always want extreme sharpness and more nervous bokeh, especially with portraits. The Nikon 58G would be my lens of choice even though it is softer it has more pleasing bokeh and would probably be more flattering.

That is what I was pointing out above.

SDK^ · 14 Apr 2015 at 18:16

Thread bump

So the reviews of this lens are coming in now : http://www.the-digital-picture.com/Reviews/Sigma-24mm-f-1.4-DG-HSM-Art-Lens.aspx and it's looking great.

Wex Photo have it priced at £699 so I've ordered it, it should be in my hands on Friday

SDK^ · 15 Apr 2015 at 14:21

The lens arrived today and I love it

Some sample photos all at F1.4

Energize · 15 Apr 2015 at 15:35

SDK^ said:
So the launch price of this lens is £800 - The UK buying public gets screwed again.

Thank god for grey import websites saving the uk public.

SDK^ · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:24

A few more photos taken today.

Paul11 · 16 Apr 2015 at 12:12

Ordered! here tomorrow

SDK^ · 16 Apr 2015 at 21:09

I'm so loving this lens

mrk · 16 Apr 2015 at 21:10

Didn't realise it was out so soon! Time to read some reviews

SDK^ · 17 Apr 2015 at 14:01

DXO Mark have given it a decent performance score.

http://www.dxomark.com/Reviews/Sigma-24mm-F1.4-DG-HSM-A-Canon-EF-review-Better-by-design

mrk · 17 Apr 2015 at 14:06

The only thing I am not a fan off is the significant amount of light fall off around the edges. To be expected from such a fast wide angle of course but it really is quite obvious.

SDK^ · 17 Apr 2015 at 15:09

Vignetting on the Sigma 24mm Art @ F1.4 is about 2.5 stops.
Vignetting On the Canon 24mm F1.4L II @ F1.4 is 4 stops !!!

Comparison here: http://www.the-digital-picture.com/...=0&APIComp=0&Lens=985&Camera=453&LensComp=480

It's easy enough to remove vignetting in post anyway.

mrk · 17 Apr 2015 at 15:15

Aye it's very easy to remove, just an extra process - Not ideal for big sessions I guess but hey ho, need the new Lightroom for that GPU processing speed :cool:

I'm still on the fence, is there a shot comparison of 24mm 1.4 vs 35mm 1.4?

SDK^ · 17 Apr 2015 at 16:43

Here is an example of the vignetting at F1.4 - photo straight from the camera.

SDK^ · 17 Apr 2015 at 18:59

mrk said:
I'm still on the fence, is there a shot comparison of 24mm 1.4 vs 35mm 1.4?

If you already have the 35 Art then there is little point getting the 24 Art as well.

I got it to replace my 17-40L F4 which is an okay lens but struggles against the latest crop of new lenses.

413x · 17 Apr 2015 at 19:01

I really like my sigma 35mm f1.4 (on crop) now I have gotten around the issue I had. It produces pictures like none of my other lenses. It's hard to explain