A close eye on the new A-mount Sigma lenses (via Photoclubalpha).
David Kilpatrick from Photoclubalpha (Click here) wrote an interesting article about Sigma. The three new A-mount lenses bring many innovations and David is talking about every detail. Particularly the 35mm f/1.4 is getting a lot of attentions. Sigma said it will beat the image quality of the Nikon 35mm f/1.4 lens.
Reminder, these are the thre new Sigma lenses (no preorder and price available yet):
17-70mm F2.8-4 DC OS MACRO– This new Contemporary lens is designed for cameras with an APS-c sensor and covers a range equivalent to 25.5 to 105mm on a 35mm camera. An upgrade to its predecessor, which was released in December 2009, this general purpose lens offers a new design and a more compact build.
35mm F1.4 DG HSM– This Art lens provides photographers with a state-of-the-art alternative to the more conventional 50mm. This lens’ axial chromatic aberration is minimized, which renders a cool and smooth out-of-focus image. At low apertures, it can perform like a wide-angle lens; when opened up to F1.4, it will provide background bokeh and make the subject pop like a mid-range telephoto lens.
120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM – With redesigned mechanics and performance, this Sports lens is an update from its predecessor released in February 2011. This high-performance lens eases difficult shooting conditions by offering a maximum focal length of 300mm and a wide-open aperture of F2.8. This lens, like the other Sports category lenses to come, is dust and moisture resistant, and allows users to adjust the focus speed and the focus limiter via a button on the lens.
Links to some A-mount Sigma lenses:
Sigma 10mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 8-16mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 17-50mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 28mm at BHphoto.
Sigma 50-150mm at BHphoto.
Sigma 50-500mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 50mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 105mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 12-24mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 24-70mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 70-200mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
Sigma 70-300mm at Amazon and BHphoto.
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Yong
9 months ago |1
The Lotus Eater
9 months ago |Dong.
Frank
9 months ago |Cock
emopunk
9 months ago |You’re clearly retarded.
Greg
9 months ago |The fact that (statistically speaking) it’s more likely to get a Sigma out of the factory that will NOT focus accurately than to get one that works is pretty sad. Even when returned for refurb, the fact that the idiots are too incompetent or lazy to fix it speaks volumes. Or maybe it’s cheaper to just ship it back out and see if the next sucker who buys it won’t test it for FF or BF.
How many stories have we all read of people buying FOUR lenses to find one that works? With Sigma, yes…with Minolta/Sony…never.
They may have fixed the weak focus gearing of the past, but that still doesn’t mean the lenses actually focus correctly. I for one will never buy another Sigma product.
MdB
9 months ago |Did you actually read the article or just have a rant because you don’t like Sigma? They have addressed the possibility of front / back focus issues better than anyone else with this new tech. On top of that ALL lenses front or back focus at least a little bit, it is about tolerances and is caused just as much by the camera as it is the lens. If it weren’t the case nobody would have micro focus adjust as all their OWN lenses would be perfect right?
Greg
9 months ago |Nope, just ranting.
Nothing they could say would convince me otherwise.
And no, microadjust won’t solve everything. When the lens FF wide and BF tele, there’s NO WAY to microadjust that out.
Yes, it’s due to tolerances…which means their tolerances are WAY TOO SLOPPY. And they don’t seem to give a rat’s ass, because they ship them that way. My friend and I both bought 50-150mm 2.8′s, and BOTH were unusable.
And no, I’ve NEVER had a Sony/Minolta lens do that…and I have plenty.
Would the problem be solvable on a prime? Likely. But it’s the principle of the matter.
Frank
9 months ago |Hmm you’ve never had a Sony lens FF/BF….yeah…ok…
Greg
9 months ago |Never had a Sony/Minolta lens with such a bad focus shift from wide to tele that it was unusable..no.
bas076
9 months ago |Yes, exactly like this.
MdB
9 months ago |Uhm actually they can for different focal lengths, just not a feature of current body firmwares, but IS being implemented in these new Sigmas… if you read the article. Most of my Sony and Minolta lenses has a bit of F or B focus issues.
Greg
9 months ago |You’re right…Sigma has finally acknowledged that they can’t make a lens properly, so they’ve decided to add a feature to allow us to tune their lens for them. Great…where do I sign up?
Maybe you find that a worthwhile and acceptable practice, but it’s not in my book. How automated is that program? Do I have to manually determine acceptable focus? How small are the correction steps? Do I have to set it at 10 steps? 20? Or just at each end and assume the shift is proportional and linear?
And who’s to say that it won’t drift? If they can’t build the tolerances tight enough in the first place, I won’t necessarily trust the correction to “stick”, or be accurate when backlash is factored in.
Conceptually, the capability of PDAF to be perfectly calibrated to each lens/body combination, at every focal length, is an excellent and achievable Nirvana…but only when it’s supported by the camera makers. Install lens, rack zoom out and back, and voila…focus is perfectly calibrated.
Until then, Sigma’s “solution” is a band-aid on a self-inflicted shotgun wound.
MdB
9 months ago |@ Greg – I think it is a very elegant solution to a very common problem with DSLR cameras. There are plenty of Sigma users that don’t have any issues and plenty of Sony / Minolta users that do. And considering camera manufacturers are still refusing to put micro adjust on all their models and not just the ‘pro’ models this is a welcome addition for all users. This will be enough for me to buy Sigma over OEM lenses.
Greg
9 months ago |You’re right that USB upgradeability is a good thing. But doing it in lieu of adequate manufacturing and quality control isn’t acceptable in my book.
And I’m not sure what Internet you’re reading, but I’ve NEVER heard of a Minolta lens with massive focus shift, and I’ve read of PLENTY of people trying multiple Sigma lenses to find one that works.
The mere fact that they recheck a lens at their factory, deem it “acceptable”, ship it to me hoping I’ll agree, and then make ME pay to ship it back to them when I find it massively out-of-tolerance is indicative of a shitty business model that I don’t care to support.
You’re right that all camera bodies should have micro adjust, though. As noted above, it should be trivial to map CDAF data to PDAF data in-body to perfectly tune each lens/body combination.
Had Sony done it on the A99, I may have overlooked their leaving the flash out.
MdB
9 months ago |Greg you are definitely correct, that is a shitty business model, but it is often not those that have any idea of manufacturing processes or tolerances that decide how a business operates in regards to returns etc. I have worked with lots of large companies and these things do become mismanaged and a problem like that is exacerbated – ie they may only make a few ‘out of tolerance’ lenses, but keep trying to pass them on to unsuspecting buyers is going to mean you have 10 buyers bitching about Sigma over the internet because of one bad copy of a lens! Very poor business decision!
On the other hand, Sigma do make some fantastic products and a big part of this new push is their supposed advancements in quality control (not mentioned in this article however) called their A1 system. It is a pretty big deal for a big company to acknowledge their QA isn’t up to snuff and make a big push to improve it – That is a company I would spend money with.
Greg
9 months ago |Well said. And if nothing else, it’ll possibly induce Sony to up the ante on their focus “tuneability”.
bas076
9 months ago |Agreed.
Frank
9 months ago |You can’t be buying many Sony lenses if you’ve never had one FF/BF…
bas076
9 months ago |I have or had in the past personally: Sony 16-80Z, 70-300G, 50/1.4, 100/2.8 macro & Minolta 28-135/4-4.5, 16/2.8, 28/2, 35/2, 85/1.4G, 100/2, 100/2.8 macro, 200/2.8G HS, 400/4.5G, 70% second hand from eBay and no one with any BF/FF. And how many I tried that not mine…
Boooe
9 months ago |Have you used Sigma lenses on Sigma bodies? No? Then why are you complaining?
Big three just don’t want Sigma lenses to work properly, they want you to buy their own lenses.
Twaddler Belafonte
9 months ago |All the Sigma and Tamron lenses I’ve owned have been flawless. I guess I’ve been lucky, but not everyone has nightmare experiences with them.
MdB
9 months ago |Wow that is pretty significant! Really looking forward to this 35mm and the option for users to adjust calibration of the lenses to suit their camera (back / front focus adjust) as well as their shooting style (speed vs accuracy and adjustable limiters) is really amazing! They will definitely be getting some more of my money! Hope they refresh the 20mm, 24mm and 50mm with these features. And having better testing abilities is great! Some of their curren lenses are very decent but these new features are really going to tip Sigma into a whole different market, if IQ is up to it then these sound better than OEM lens options.
Lastly by being user upgradable as mount specs change is a huge deal for Sigma that have suffered pretty badly from this in the past.
Frank
9 months ago |Indeed, the Sigma 35mm f1.4 looks very interesting. I like my 50mm f1.4 the HSM and bokeh is very nice.
Roman
9 months ago |35mm F1.4 DG HSM is tempting me. I hope that Sigma’s problems with focusing on A77 are gone away…
Sky_walker
9 months ago |What do you mean?
Only problems I’m aware of apply only to old sigma lenses. And still: not all of them. Just some of them got issues.
Greg
9 months ago |Did you read this entire thread yet?
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Not yet, but from what I see – David wasn’t talking about anything specific to A77 or SLTs. More like generic issues with Sigma lenses that happen regardless of body.
Greg
9 months ago |Good point. I hadn’t heard of anything specific to the A77 either. (The only problem I have with A77 compatibility is with my Metz flash modules, but that’s to be expected.)
Frank
9 months ago |Sigma HSM lenses needed to go back to Sigma unless they have the A65/77 compatible sticker on the box. It’s a year ago now.
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/news/notice-to-sony-alpha77-and-alpha65-owners-using-sigmas-sony-fitting-lenses
Sky_walker
9 months ago |But this was a year ago and doesn’t have anything to deal with any of the lenses released ever since. Even newly produced lenses from older models didn’t have any issue.
I still don’t see why the concern about this lens and A77.
Frank
9 months ago |It’s the only thing I could think of.
Roman
9 months ago |And from this list I have got 3 lenses:
17-70mm F2.8-4 DC MACRO OS HSM
APO 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM A
50mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
So I hope all problems are already solved. I haven’t read anything yet that sugest/proves that.
Isn’t it natural to be scared?
MdB
9 months ago |The idea being, if you bothered to read the article is that IF there was an issue, or say there is an issue with the A99 or A1 or whatever comes out in the future – you will be able to update the lens yourself using a mount adapter and USB cable. You will also be able to program the AF for things like BF / FF issues, even at different focal lengths, be able to program AF behaviour to prioritize speed or accuracy and do things like focus limiting ranges on longer focal length lenses (a bit like what is built in to A99 focal range limiter – but specific for each lens, not the camera).
Roman
9 months ago |Yes I agree it sounds very good.
Yong
9 months ago |btw, preorder of a99 started in hk.
22900 hkd : A99 body + extra batt + hand strap + 32GB SD card.
voyager42
9 months ago |a99 + Vertical grip, strap and SD card for HKD 22900! That’s USD 2953.11 at todays rate… Amazon has a99 body and grip for $3176… HK deal is pretty good!!!
Yong
9 months ago |There is no VG at this price. But there are diff package. With VG is 24980 hkd.
FMJ
9 months ago |didn’t they announce the USB dock for adjustment on your own computer?
plus, i once read a thread from Canon forum, asking sigma owners to voice out if their sigma lens actually have problem, the % was very low….
i am on my 3rd sigma lens, all trouble free, will buy the 35mm F1.4 for sure.
btw, will it work with the 102 PDAF?
Andy
9 months ago |Really excited by the 35/1.4 – far more than I am by anything Sony’s announced this year… The hub’s a nice touch – even if lenses share an id (which stops you having different afma values in-body) you should be able to work around it.
If the results and price are consistent with the 50/1.4 and 85/1.4, it’s going to sell like hotcakes!
shamb
9 months ago |All my problems with Sigma lenses have been due to variable FF/BF: The lens has a different microadjustments at the long and wide end.
I think its due to slip in the gearing (i.e. mechanical). You can see this by going into auto, then seeing if you can gently move it manually out of focus without forcing the drive motor – you can at one or both ends of travel because of the slip), so not sure s/w would ever fix this. Shame, because the same lens will be perfect in manual focus.
Hoping they fix the gearing in this revision as well as ease of s/w updates.
Pablo
9 months ago |OMG. I HAT THE NEW BLUE LARGE LAYOUT OF THE DPREVIEW FORUMS (puke)
Steve
9 months ago |I had a Sigma lens I used on one of my old Nikon film cameras, I purchased it because it was cheap, and it was okay. I’ve stayed away from Sigma for use on my Sony a700 and a850 digital bodies because of all of the stories posted about compatibility.
How true the stories or how many lens I can’t say, I just assumed to be better off staying with Sony or Sony/Zeiss.
Recently, reading about the lens compatibility issues with the new technologies shipping with the a99 I to understand that today’s blending of hardware optics and electronics (firmware) things are now different and tomorrow’s lens will be even more tightly bound to the camera and compatibility will be a question will all lenses no matter who makes them and when.
I’ve been waiting for Sony to replace its current 35mm full-frame, hopefully with a Zeiss version for years; maybe it’s time to give that dream up and take some pictures using this Sigma when it ships an A-Mount version.
I sometimes wonder if this change in lenses and the integration with the camera body/sensor is not somehow part of the reason Sony has been so painfully slow releasing the tons of new lens needed to compete head to head with Canon and Nikon.
Just speculation on my part
Luffy
9 months ago |Sounds nice but I wonder how it compares to the Sony 35mm 1.8 with OSS… after both have been released.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Why again would you compare high end 3rd party A mount lens with Sony’s f/1.8 E mount one?
Hardly can be any more random.
Frank
9 months ago |But this is SAR, expect the unexpected.
MdB
9 months ago |One is a large f1.4 lens for Full Frame DSLRs the other is a small APS-C lens for mirrorless cameras. Not sure who would be tossing up between the two?
Luffy
9 months ago |oh, right. I mixed it up. Sorry guys XD I should read more carefully.
Frank
9 months ago |Of course you could mount it on a NEX and compare them though.
whistler
9 months ago |Is there any price anounced for the 120-300mm f2,8? This is THE lens I was missing and the one I will be saving for.
spaceman
9 months ago |I wonder how big the APS-C designed 17-70/2.8-4 is?? Probably only slightly longer and thicker than the Fuji 18-55.
If it can be squeezed a tiny bit for NEX, I would definitely welcome it as competition for the upcoming NEX G-lens.
Aalpha100
9 months ago |A99 support, guess not..
Mick
9 months ago |I have yet to see any official announcement of these lenses being released in Sony mount. Does anyone have an official link?
Zachery
9 months ago |It’s not saying much to say it will beat the Nikon 35/1.4. That lens is the worst of all Nikon’s fast prime collection. It’s a very disappointing lens.
Futile
9 months ago |Not as bad as the Sony 35mm G though. SO this will be welcome.
mastroalex
9 months ago |It’s a shame the new USB connection can’t be used by older lenses. I’ve got Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX and I would have bought their 85mm as well, but I can’t as both lenses share the same lens ID 128. Micro adjusting one lens would apply the same correction on the other. I wonder why Sigma made so many lenses with the same lens ID. Best regards.
zEDRICK
9 months ago |I for one really hope that Sigma is able to shake up the lens business with outstanding, affordable and very reliable lenses. The OEMs have been sitting pretty, eating large profits out of lenses and growing arrogant in their neglect. Some real competition will be great!
Benk
9 months ago |Well, AF gears of OEM lenses doesn’t get stripped from AF motors in cameras…
If Sigma need to sell more lenses, they need to raise their quality level.
MdB
9 months ago |I agree. I like how everyone on SAR is always whining about a lack of A-Mount lenses, then a company who attempting to buck a trend whereby their lenses are considered second rate to actually improve the quality and experience of their lenses to a level matching or bettering the OEM options and all I hear is whining about how they aren’t going to buy them because some guy on the Internet one time had problems with their lenses.
In my opinion this is huge news for Alpha shooters.
Mick
9 months ago |I like my Sigma 70-200 OS HSM better than my Zeiss e-mount 24mm. It has better bokeh, works with phase detection autofocus and it has image stabilization. The Zeiss relies on slow contrast autofocus and lacks image stabilization. I really, really hope the 120-300 OS is in Sony mount at a reasonable price.
Seeky
9 months ago |I understand what you mean, but comparing a fast wide angle prime with a fast tele zoom is really silly. Oh, and comparing an e-mount APS-C CDAF lens to an PDAF FF lens is not smart either. They have a very different field of use.
Mick
9 months ago |I’m comparing them because everyone is gushing over the Zeiss e-mount lens and no one is mentioning anything about its lack of image stabilization (or the lack of image stabilization on future Zeiss e-mount lenses which have higher focal lengths and where shaking is emphasized more–what is up with that? 50mm no stabilization–and $1,000 to boot). So look, the argument is sound, because you have one manufacturer who SONY is supporting (Zeiss) and they are creating e-mount lenses without any image stabilization and they are overpriced. Then you have another manufacturer (Sigma) who can only release some lenses in Sony alpha mount, but they have image stabilization and the price is reasonable. Go look for a Sony 300mm and you will find one which doesn’t start at the 120 end, doesn’t have image stabilization, and costs more than twice what the Sigma does ($7,000 street). There is something wrong there. PDAF is so much faster in video mode that it makes CDAF seem like a waste of time. Sure, the new phase detection pixels might bring an end to this nonsense, but right now if you want a fast prime with autofocus, your choice is the 24mm or the 50mm and they only use CDAF. You only get f3.5 with the Sigma 70-200 LA-EA2 but this is the only way (right now) to get fast autofocus. So there are a lot of factors, and I don’t appreciate your disrespectful tone sir, of saying my comparisons are not smart, but what can I expect from a forum like this?
GH
9 months ago |Mick, OSS by nature generally hurts optical quality. It’s a trade off Zeiss wasn’t willing to make.
Mick
9 months ago |GH, yes I’ve heard that on this forum before. It just surprises me from a practical standpoint, when you’ve got that feature on every Sony E-mount lens except the 16 and 30. It is troublesome and indicative of a marketing stategy, that Sony gives in body image stabilization (IBIS) in the A99, but not in any of the NEX cameras. Honestly, the lack of OSS on the 24mm Zeiss is not that big of a deal, because it is wide enough that you don’t see the shaking that much during video (although I have seen it a little in my own videos if I’m not careful). I’m sure the problem is a bit worse with the 30mm macro. Some people say, “you should be using a tripod.” The practical reality is that the vast majority of users probably are not. The practical reality is that image stabilization makes a difference despite the quibbles that Zeiss makes over image quality compromises. After all, a shaky handheld video is an image compromise. So when Zeiss states that they are omitting the feature in order to avoid compromising the image, it’s like someone urinating on your shoes and telling you it’s raining.
voyager42
9 months ago |I bought a Sigma 70-200 f/2.8 HSM (pre OS model) for my a77 and it worked beautifully. I also loved the design in that the zoom was internal… no lens extension, no lens creep!
Great design!!!…
What I have never understood is how Sony can put a “lock” on their SAL 18250 which only extends about 3 inches but NO “lock” on their 70400G which extends about 8 inches.
Always amused me that you pay $2000 for a lens and to prevent lens creep you have to buy a $5 rubber band!!!… what’s up with that?
I really hope the 70400G II when it comes out has a lens “lock” like the Sigma 50-500!!!
NEXfive
9 months ago |Boooh, nothing but Alpha-News here instead of NEX news like at least this silver SEL-P1650 kit lens: http://store.sony.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?productId=8198552921666489351
Mick
9 months ago |Another thing about these Sigma lenses is they are the only ones out there with a significant aperture 2.8, autofocus and image stabilization. The best Sony has is an E-mount 55-210 and they are 4.5-6.3. Who needs that? Sony is compromising the functionality of their lenses by trying to make everything compact. If Sigma would release the 120-300 OS HSM in Sony mount it would be huge for the NEX lineup.
emopunk
9 months ago |Does anybody have an idea of when the 35mm f1.4 is going to be actually released? If it’s almost as good as they say, Sigma is going to sell A LOT of them. Bonus, on alpha they get IBIS
CTPhotographX.com
9 months ago |Why does Sigma change the zoom direction from lens to lens? Some zooms the tele is far left, like Alpha and Nikon. Then some zooms the tele is far right like Canon. Check out their wide angle zoom lineup. They change from lens to lens. It’s just stupid having an inconsistent lens lineup.
These new “Alpha” Sigma Zooms are zooming in the direction of a Canon. They will zoom opposite direction from any Alpha zoom you own.
But the 12-24 zooms like an Alpha, with tele far left. I HATE inconsistencies in equipment from same manufacturers. Are the designers high?
Don
9 months ago |The 70-200 2.8s from Sigma are decent. Even Pentaxforums acknowledged that compared with the house brand and Tamron, the Siggy’s fairly sharp.
That 120-300mm’s on my want list for so long, I don’t care whether it’s in K or alpha mount, I just need something of that caliber so I can do concert photography in some of the fixed positions I’ve been stuck in.
Alexander
9 months ago |The strange and rather bad thing is Sony doesn’t have a cheaper alternative to 1.4/35. Used Minolta 2/35 sells at 700$ at e-bay while new Canon and Nikon 2.0/35 cost about 360-380 dollars. I do not speak on IQ of the competitors. The price! Sony 1.4/50 costs 450 and is affordable while 1.4/35 costs three times more. The niche is empty.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Cheaper alternative is 35 f/1.8 SAM which runs for 150$.