Hands on with Sigma's four new lenses Sigma announced a whopping four new lenses just prior to CP+ 2017, in Yokohama, Japan. As soon as the show opened to the press, we headed straight to the Sigma booth for some hands on time.
Three of the lenses announced are part of Sigma's high-end 'Art' series including the 24-70mm F2. 8 you see above, as well as a 135mm F1. 8 and a 14mm F1. 8.
Sigma also announced a 100-400mm F5-6. 3 DG OS HSM lens which is part of the company's more modestly-priced 'Contemporary' series.
Click through the gallery for hands on photos of each lens and some initial impressions of build quality, size and weight.
Sigma 24-70mm F2. 8 DG OS HSM Art
The Sigma 24-70mm F2. 8 is surprisingly lightweight (for an Art-series lens) and reasonably compact. Here it is shown with the focal length set to 24mm. Build quality seems excellent and the 24-70mm F2. 8 is weather and dust-sealed, with rubber gaskets visible on the mount. It is constructed from metal and 'thermally stable composite', which we can only assume is even better than metal, because it sounds fancier.
Sigma 24-70mm F2. 8 DG OS HSM Art
The lenses extends a couple of inches when zoomed in to 70mm. Here you can see some of the switches on the lens barrel including the manual/AF toggle as well as a switch to engage and disengage the image stabilization.
Sigma 24-70mm F2. 8 DG OS HSM Art
The 24-70 F2. 8 Art has a minimum focus distance of 0. 37 meters (1. 2 feet). It also feature a 9-blade circular aperture. Optical construction includes three SLD and four aspherical elements.
Sigma 135mm F1. 8 DG HSM
Sigma also announced a new telephoto prime lens. Like the 85mm F1. 4, the 135mm F1. 8 DG HSM is a big lens, and pretty heavy too - weighing in at 1130g/40. 2oz.
Sigma 135mm F1. 8 DG HSM
The 135mm F1. 8 offers a minimum focus distance of 0. 875 meters (2. 9 feet). It uses a hypersonic motor to focus, which Sigma says should result in fast and 'exceptionally stable' AF. And a acceleration sensor 'detects the orientation of the lens' so the AF system can respond to 'varying loads on the focusing group due to gravity. ' In laymen's terms, this means that autofocus should be just as fast, and just as accurate in both portrait and landscape orientations.
Sigma 135mm F1. 8 DG HSM
Mounted on a Canon 5D Mark III you can get a sense of the physical size of the 135mm F1. 8. Again, it features a dust and splash-proof construction. Of all the new Sigma lenses we handled, this one has the heftiest feel to it. It also features a 9-blade rounded aperture.
Sigma14mm F1. 8 DG HSM
Moving to the wide end of the lineup, the new 14mm F1. 8 has a few of us on staff (especially those of us who like shooting in very low light) extremely excited. Fast, high quality wide-angle lenses for full-frame are pretty rare, and we suspect the 14mm F1. 8 will appeal to more than just low light shooters.
Sigma14mm F1. 8 DG HSM
As you might expect, the 14mm F2. 8 has a bulbous front element with a built-in lens hood. There's no filter thread, which is pretty standard for wide, fast primes. Optical construction is comprised of 16 elements, of which three are FLD (low dispersion) and four are SLD (super-low-dispersion).
Sigma14mm F1. 8 DG HSM
Mounted on a Canon 5D Mark III, this image gives you an idea of how big this prime lens is. Like the other two new 'Art' lenses it features a 9-blade circular aperture, however it does not appear to be dust and weather sealed. It features a minimum focus distance of 0. 27m (~10 inches) and uses a ring-type ultrasonic (HSM) focus motor.
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6. 3 DG OS HSM lens
Last but not least is Sigma's new variable-aperture telezoom, the 100-400mm F5-6. 4 DG OS HSM. Although reasonably long, it is impressively light considering the focal range. The lens weighs 1160g and measures 182mm in length. It features a dust and splash proof construction as well as optical image stabilization. The lens is shown here zoomed out to 100mm.
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6. 3 DG OS HSM lens
When zoomed all the way in the lens barrel does extend considerably, which is common for lenses of this class. The lens can be zoomed in and out by either twisting the zoom ring or physically pulling the front of the lens outward and inward.
Sigma 100-400mm F5-6. 3 DG OS HSM lens
The 100-400mm has a minimum focal distance of 1. 8 meters and features a maximum magnification ratio of 1:3. 8. It is built around a total of 21 elements arranged into 15 groups. It features four SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements and focuses via hypersonic motor.
Pricing an availability on all these lenses is forthcoming.
. dpreview.com2017-2-23 16:46
