In 2017 this Sigma 14mm 1.8 DG Art was a unique offering, being the fastest 14mm lens as well as the widest f/1.8 lens. In the meantime many lenses with similar specifications have been released for mirrorless cameras, so is there still a reason to consider the original? Let’s find out in this review.
We summarize our experience with all the native E-mount and a few legacy lenses in the 85-200mm bracket for the Sony A7/A9/A1 series to give you a compact and independent resource for choosing the best portrait lens for your needs.
We also have a general guide to FE-lenses, 9-18mm ultra wide angle lenses, guide to 20-28mm wide angle lenses, 35mm lenses, 50mm lenses and macro lenses.
Unlike most other review sites we have no association with any lens manufacturer apart from occasionally loaning a lens for a review. No fancy trips and meals.
Before any short introduction we tell you how long we have used a lens and if we have borrowed it from a manufacturer. But in most cases we have bought the lenses new from retail stores or on the used market.
If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment or contact us on social media and we will do our best to answer it.
If you purchase the lens through one of the affiliate-links in this article we get a small compensation with no additional cost to you.
Last update: May 2026, Meike 85mm 1.4 FF STM added, Viltrox AF 85mm 1.4 Pro added, Viltrox AF 85mm 2.0 Evo added, Sigma 135mm 1.4 DG Art added, Laowa 200mm 2.0 AF C-Dreamer added, Sigma 200mm 2.0 DG OS Sports added, Zeiss Otus 100mm 1.4 added, many additional changes
Continue reading Guide to the best Portrait Lenses – Sony A7/A9/A1 series
We summarize our experience with all the native E-mount and a few manual legacy lenses in the 20-28mm bracket to give you a compact and independent resource for choosing the right wide-angle lens for your Sony A7/A9/A1 camera. In this summary we also included some adapted lenses we think are worth mentioning. We didn’t include any zoom lenses, you can find those in our general guide to FE lenses as well as the guide to 9-18mm ultra wide angle lenses.
You may also want to check out our guides to 35mm lenses, 50mm lenses and 85-200mm portrait lenses.
Some of these lenses are manual focus only (MF) whereas others feature auto focus (AF). There is also a noticeable amount of lenses listed here that do not feature electronic contacts to communicate with the camera (no Exif).
We have no association with any manufacturer apart from occasionally loaning a lens for a review. Before any short introduction we tell you how long we have used a lens and if we have borrowed it from a manufacturer. But in most cases we have bought the lenses on the market. If you want to support our independent reviews please consider using one of the affiliate links. It doesn’t cost you anything and helps us a lot.
If we have left any question unanswered please leave a comment or contact us on social media and we will do our best to answer it.
Last update: May 2026, Meike 24mm 1.4 MIX added, 7Artisans 24mm 1.8 AF added, Sigma 24mm 2.0 DG DN C updated, Sony FE 24mm 1.4 GM updated, layout updated
Continue reading Guide to 20-28mm wide-angle lenses for Sony A7/A9/A1 series
In 2019 Samyang relesased this Samyang 35mm 1.2 XP. At that time, I honestly didn’t care much about it, because Sigma also released their Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN mirrorless design, which actually offered AF, making it a more sensible choice. This Samyang 35mm 1.2 XP is one of only two fullframe 35mm 1.2 lenses for EF-mount (or any (D)SLR mount actually) though, reason enough to have a closer look at it.
Over the past years we saw huge improvements in optical performance of 35mm format lenses – a trend started by the Zeiss Otus and Sigma Art lineups – and the latest Sony GM and Nikon Z designs offer an optical performance unheard of only a few years before. Still, there are some lenses that never saw a successor and this Canon EF 50mm 1.0L USM is one such lens. Released in 1989 this is still the fastest fullframe autofocus lens ever made. But what compromises were needed to make a lens like this, leading to no one ever daring to try this again for at least 36 years? Let’s find out in this review.
The lens is mainly being tested on a 24mp Nikon Zf.
Continue reading Review: Canon EF 50mm 1.0 L USM – Still the world’s fastest AF lens