While Sigma is mostly famous for their series of fast and big “Art” lenses they also offer a lineup of more compact and more affordable “Contemporary” lenses. At the time of writing this review, the widest prime entry of that series is this Sigma 17mm 4.0 DG DN Contemporary. Let’s have a closer look and also see how it compares to the Viltrox AF 14mm 4.0 FE Air.
Many of the new manufacturers from China decided to start with all manual lenses and often of moderate specifications. With this Songraw 50mm 1.2 Moonlit the story is different: a complex autofocus 50mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/1.2, only Sony and Sigma released a lens with these specifications for the E-mount yet. But can a lens as ambitious as this from an unknown manufacturer actually be any good? Let’s find out in this review.
Sony managed to significantly reduce the weight of their 70-200mm 2.8 zoom with its second iteration, leaving less room for an f/4.0 version below that. With the weight difference between the f/2.8 and this f/4.0 lens being a mere 250g, Sony had to find another way to make this Sony FE 70-200mm 4.0 G Macro OSS II more attractive and they tried to do that by adding a 1:2 macro feature. But was that enough? Let’s find out in this review.
Continue reading Review: Sony FE 70-200mm 4.0 G Macro OSS II
Since its release in 2019 I have been using the Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN as my main lens for any kind of reportage work. It took until 2025 for another manufacturer to challenge Sigma by releasing a 35mm 1.2 lens with autofocus of their own. Actually, there were two at almost the same time: Nikon with their Nikon Z 35mm 1.2 S and Viltrox with this Viltrox AF 35mm 1.2 FE LAB. As the Nikon lens sells for 3 grand it is out of reach for most people. This Viltrox lens is way more attractively priced, so let’s find out if it is time to retire my Sigma 35mm 1.2 Art DG DN after 6 years of usage.
Update 12/25: now also available for Nikon Z-mount
The Sigma 105mm 1.4 DG HSM Art was one of Sigma’s last flagship lenses designed for DSLRs and one of the few that hasn’t seen a successor designed for mirrorless cameras yet. If you read my review, you know it is an impressive lens, but I still had some reservations calling it the “Bokeh Master”. Now I get the feeling someone at Sigma read my comment and decided to take it as a challenge by designing this Sigma 135mm 1.4 DG Art – the actual “Bokeh Master”. To me, this is one of Sigma’s masterpieces, so let’s have a closer look!
Update 01/26: more samples added, AF section updated
Continue reading Review: Sigma 135mm 1.4 Art DG – The actual Bokeh Master