Sigma announced three new lenses for A.mount. Including a nice 35mm f/1.4 lens!
The Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens
Sony itself did announce two new A-mount lenses “only”. But other companies are announcing many new A.mount lenses! Yesterday we had four new Schneider lenses. And now Sigma announced three new lenses! Here is the official description:
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.
Source: dpreview.
HoHo
9 months ago |NICE!!!
Cam
9 months ago |I really hope that 35mm is good. The Sony 35mm 1.4 I feel is a bit lacking.
MdB
9 months ago |To me the 35mm is a HUGE deal! Sony G 35mm is expensive and not worth the money, sure it’s ok, but with very little alternative options this has really put me off going FF with Sony.
jon
9 months ago |rx1 better!
kysham
9 months ago |That magical 35mm focal length! in F1.4! Can’t wait to see real world results….
wallace
9 months ago |has anyone know the price for these tasty lens?
Dave Cox
9 months ago |Based on their current line-up I’d expect the 35mm to be $600, the 17-70 to be $800 and the 120-300 to be $3k (all US dollars).
Maximus
9 months ago |no way the 35mm beeing a 600$ lens. It will sell for the same or higher price than the 85mm 1,4, that would be 850$
Dave Cox
9 months ago |I agree that the 85/1.4 is expensive but the 50/1.4 (also HSM) is $449 !!
Frank
9 months ago |Indeed, the 35mm might not be “expensive” based on the 50mm price. I’ve been looking at the Sony 35mm f1.8 but will see what the Sigma comes out at now.
Bummer
9 months ago |Looking forward to see if the Sigma 35 F1.4 can pull some creamy bokeh while maintaining sharpness on focused subject wide open.
Junius
9 months ago |I’ve used every brand of lens under the Sun. I always come back to Sigma. So underrated.
Dave Cox
9 months ago |+1
The 50/1.4 is stellar!
eromance
9 months ago |+2 for 50/1.4
Stewe
9 months ago |-3
35/1.4 must be tested before you could judge.
Timmy Fox
9 months ago |Looking forward to see what the 35mm can do, I’ve been eyeing the SAL 35 1.8, but at a good price and performance, this one might just be make it to my purchasing list.
Pablo
9 months ago |Sigma lenses are great. Marvelous at least… The color and sharpness of my 30/2.8 is way better than that of my SEL 50/1.8. If only Sigma would release something fast and stabilized for the E-mount, too ;/
hugo
9 months ago |Looking forward the price of the new 35 f/1.4. Looking at the previous 50/1.4 and 85/1.4 it should not be quite reasonable. If it is as good as these two previous lenses, this one too will certainly sell pretty well !
Mno
9 months ago |I wonder if the OS will be included in A mount…
Sky_walker
9 months ago |Sigma doesn’t make idiots from people like Tamron does with it’s VR. Yea, Sony will get the OS. Luckily.
Archer66
9 months ago |Are you sure ? Latest Sigma lenses do not have OS on Sony mount.
Alec Berry
8 months ago |The Sigma 180mm/2.8 macro has OSS for Sony.
rumos
9 months ago |no, unfortunately that’s no longer the case, not with every lens at least. there is a 17-70 without OS for alpha mount.
George Evans
9 months ago |I’m wondering how good the 120-300 f2.8 will be. Will it match the IQ of the Sony 70-300G which is a few years old now? If it’s good I could sell both my Sony 70-300G and Sigma 70-200 f2.8 which is excellent and get the new fast lens.
Amateur Sony Shooter
9 months ago |It’s an incredible lens, easily sharper than Sony 70-200G at 200mm, totally useable wide open at 300mm. I have Canon version, even with 1.4xTC added, at 420mm wide open F4, image is still sharp enough to be useable. Stop don to F5.6 it’s tack sharp.
Mick
8 months ago |I don’t see anywhere on the site where they mention releasing the lenses in Sony A-mount. Can anyone find a link to this?
giomaniac
9 months ago |35mm 1.4…Nasty…Lov it!!
Gunnar
9 months ago |120-300 f2.8 looks very sexy! i find the Sigmas to be quite a mixed bag, some are awesome and some are just not that great.. so lets see some tests and hopefully Sigma decides not to cripple the Alpha lenses anymore by removing the OS!!
Chad Matthew
9 months ago |For those wondering about the 100-300 2.8, the Canon and Nikon versions have been around for a while so there are lots of reviews online. I hope they update the Sigma 300 2.8 with ssm and their own OS.
Chad Matthew
9 months ago |and weather sealing!
Aalpha100
9 months ago |Andrea: any chance Sony will make the A99 AF 102 points work with these lenses? Sigma has many times been a problem with Sony.
Frank
9 months ago |Nah, Sigma allegedly reverse engineer their A mount lenses, so I wouldn’t have thought Sony are going to help them.
Chad Matthew
9 months ago |***meant to write HSM
a1exko
9 months ago |Sigma 35/1.4 is something I would like to test or look for the images. Sony should release their own Zeiss 35/1.4 long time ago, however, they prefer to miss the market.
Toland
9 months ago |Just to make sure, the 35mm is not autofocus, right?
Chad Matthew
9 months ago |The HSM part of the model name means it has the hyper sonic auto focus motor, so no, it is autofocusing.
Sky_walker
9 months ago |It does have AF. Moreover: It uses an equivalent to SSM.
Frank
9 months ago |HSM on the Sigma 50mm is nice, not as nice as the 16-50mm SSM, but close enough.
LEdgars
9 months ago |My experience about Sigma lenses is not so good. When get good copy, then it’s fantastic, but there were so much troubles and exchanges…
MdB
9 months ago |Part of this announcement is their A1 testing, which is supposed to bring much much better quality control… yet to be seen of course!
Frank
9 months ago |It’s why I bought the A77, AF adjustment is a must have.
albion
9 months ago |want to know the price of 35/1.4……
TomiZG
9 months ago |Big, big like. The 35 G is ridiculously expensive, the korean MF unusable to me. Being used to the fantastic 50 HSM I think we have a winner!!!
waldomarek
9 months ago |don’t know where to post this, but zeiss announces 3 new lenses for e-mount (and x-mount?) in the future, the 2.8/12, 1.8/32 and 2.8/50 macro:
http://blogs.zeiss.com/photo/en/?p=2864
Phyoshin
9 months ago |BETTER NEWS HERE……
http://blogs.zeiss.com/photo/en/?p=2864
Carl
9 months ago |Shame they won’t cover full frame.
BJ
9 months ago |Funny how Zeiss pretty much kicked m4/3 in the nuts.
Andy
9 months ago |Very interested in the 35/1.4 – I’ve had my share of problems with sigma in the past but that’s all water under the bridge after getting my 70mm macro… If it’s even close to that kind of quality then they can shut up and take my money!
A900 Tog
9 months ago |This is great news and while I love my Sony G 35mm 1.4 for it’s artistic rendering at close ranges it is really lacking as an all round 35 (corner sharpness e.t.c) and this is my no. 1 mainstay focal length. The HSM is a big draw and while i’ve been put off Sigma for pro use in the past due to quality control and build issues, if Sony and Zeiss don’t hurry the f**k up and release a top notch 35 1.4 weathersealed SSM I may have to take a long hard look at this lens..:kudos to Sigma!!
Magnus
9 months ago |Finally, a 35mm worth the name! Give me now!
Varn
9 months ago |Looks like this 35mm f1.4 will be a great lens, will get this while waiting for Sony Zeiss 35mm f1.4
Marek
8 months ago |Has got everybody here artistic sickness? It seems Sigma’s new marketing buzz work Artistic works well.
CTPhotographX.com
8 months ago |I know right… This must be the lens for… “Fine Art Wedding Photographers”…?
Mick
8 months ago |A fast 120-300 with HSM and OS in sony mount is desperately needed! Sigma please release this!
FMJ
8 months ago |35mm F1.4 & 85mm F1.4 + A99.
thats all i need!
Bring it on Sigma!
my understanding is that 50mm is always easy/cheap to make, so expect the 35mm to be more than $500, i would assume $700+
Tomislav
8 months ago |Exactly. I’d cover 90% of my weddings with these 2 fixed lenses.
shaokeephotography
8 months ago |hello everybody, i come seeking wisdom from all the faithful SAR patrons. i hope it’s okay to ask the following questions here. would really appreciate some thoughts from you.
this news about the sigma 35mm seems interesting, judging by the excitement it has brought to the people here. i have never used a 35mm before and i wonder if it could really be a useful tool to have (and use, of course). so far, i have the sigma 50mm and it is amazing. it’s one of the two lenses that i have currently; another is a tokina UWA. i have found that for weddings, out of 1000 photos i take at the end of the day, about 700 would be from the 50mm. the 50mm is a blast to use!
soooo, the question here is, would the 35mm be an extremely useful addition? maybe i’m just looking for justifications for getting a new lens
but i would really love to hear some feedback from SAR readers. i use the a77 by the way. and i’m not really seeing myself going full-frame in the near future (i think).
one last question. i have plans on getting the zeiss 135mm, mid 2013. i know it’s (freakin!) expensive, but i’ll starve myself to get it! i’m not bloody rich or anything, will really have to save up for that. will that be a good decision? or have you heard of any rumor/news about a revision of that lens coming soon?
thank you for reading. have a nice day everyone!
Ping
8 months ago |Hi Shao,
No one on SAR is rich, you can judge by the number of complains for the price of equipments…
I think the Sigma 35 1.4 will be an useful addition to your arsenal if you primarily do weddings. I am a fan of wide-angles too, my walk-around lens is a 28mm (42 on APS-C) However, for your applications, I think the Zeiss 85 or 135 1.4 should be your priorities compared to this 35. I think this lens would retail for about $500-700 considering FF coverage. So it is not inexpensive.
derbarrett
8 months ago |Hello,
I too shoot weddings (I mainly use the a77 and my wife uses the a850) and I think that you will find the 35mm focal length very useful on your a77. As you probably know because of the 1.5x crop factor the Sigma 50mm pretty much acts like a 75mm lens on your a77 which means it’s pretty close to the telephoto range. The 35mm on the other hand for all practical purposes acts as 50mm lens on your a77, which falls more in the normal range. Because of this I find the 35mm focal length much more useful in tight quarters ( ie: bride/groom getting ready in a hotel/people dancing during the reception) because it allows you to get a little wider. In addition it will likely give you sharper images with more resolution than your UWA lens. This is one reason why I am so excited about my possible upgrade to the a99… quite often I feel closed in (ie: can’t get wide enough) with my a77.
derbarrett
8 months ago |PS….. In my opinion the perfect sony wedding kit would be:
Crop Sensor:
16-50mm f2.8
35mm f1.4
135mm f1.8
70-200mm f2.8
Full Frame:
16-35mm f2.8
50mm f1.4
135mm f1.8
70-200mm 2.8
shaokeephotography
8 months ago |hello derbarret,
yes, i too agree with you that the 50mm paired with a77 does feel tight quite often. always have to take many steps back when some people ask for a group shot. and it is often challenging to photograph the the bride putting on make-up in small rooms.
i really appreciate your input. now thanks to you and Ping, i have found clearer reasons for getting the 35mm
however, i have a feeling i’ll be getting the 135mm first, before getting a 35. i really want and need that extra reach (135 on 1.5x crop factor, sweet!) for capturing candid moments. and the DoF for the post-wedding photoshoot, oh my, the possibilities
one question: are you aware of any future revision plan for the current zeiss 135mm?
that is a very nice list for wedding kits. i don’t see how much different my camera+lenses can be from your kits one day. enjoy you upgrade to a99!
p/s: i’m not sure how much sharper sigma’s 35 f/1.4 will be compared to the tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 i’m using right now. this UWA is super sharp! or, i’m just easily satisfied hehe. thanks again for your time!
shaokeephotography
8 months ago |hi Ping,
thank your very much for your feedback. yes, i have been thinking along the same line you mentioned, about prioritising the 85 or 135 first. good to have someone who would think the same too. i would really love to have that extra reach for capturing those candid moments and i believe the 135mm would be of more use than getting a 35mm. however, i do see that the 35mm would have its place too during assignments.
thank you again for your feedback!
derbarrett
8 months ago |I agree with you and would also get the 135mm 1.8 first (as a matter of fact I’m looking to get this lens within the next couple of months as well)from what I hear this is one of the best lenses out there… period!
PaddyC
8 months ago |Really excited about that 35 1.4. I own and love the 50 1.4 so I will buy the 35 right away. The new lens body is a huge improvement over the previous designs (aesthetically speaking).
I would expect the 35 to cost more than the 85.
derbarrett
8 months ago |Hello,
I too shoot weddings (I mainly use the a77 and my wife uses the a850) and I think that you will find the 35mm focal length very useful on your a77. As you probably know because of the 1.5x crop factor the Sigma 50mm pretty much acts like a 75mm lens on your a77 which means it’s pretty close to the telephoto range. The 35mm on the other hand for all practical purposes acts as 50mm lens on your a77, which falls more in the normal range. Because of this I find the 35mm focal length much more useful in tight quarters ( ie: bride/groom getting ready in a hotel/people dancing during the reception) because it allows you to get a little wider. In addition it will likely give you sharper images with more resolution than your UWA lens. This is one reason why I am so excited about my possible upgrade to the a99… quite often I feel closed in (ie: can’t get wide enough) with my a77.
Mick
8 months ago |When shooting with my NEX-VG20, the Sigma lenses offer about the only practical alternative to the 18-200 3.5-6.3 OSS kit lens. First off the combination of 2 NEX-VG20s each with a LA-EA2 adapter and a 17-50 OS HSM 2.8 and a 70-200 OS HSM 2.8 offer a great advantage in low light because you keep a constant f3.5 across the whole zoom range. Secondly this combination (like the kit lens) is optically stabilized which helps immensely with handheld camerawork. Thirdly, the focus is faster and more accurate with the LA-EA2 than the kit lens because of the phase detection autofocus and the HSM on the Sigma (on a shot of my sister walking toward me in the park, the camera held focus on her the entire shot and kept correcting–probably better than a focus puller could). Lastly, the mandatory f3.5 aperture gives you very good bokeh effects where the light is regulated by shutter speed in auto mode. If Sigma would come out with the 120-300 OS HSM in Sony mount, we would have the ultimate lens to use in the back of a church during a wedding ceremony. This would be such good news, because there are no f2.8 lenses with that range which are optically stabilized, and affordable. This would make a huge difference.
poke
8 months ago |Really interested in the 35 and 120-300. I have a 70-400G but it is very soft when wide open. I can only use lens at 8 or 11 for sharpness. Therefore, when it comes to sports it better be dring the day. I am thinking about selling my G for the 120-300. How is the new focus system effected with this lens? You know, the numerous assist points.
Purduedm
8 months ago |I, also, do not see any information indicating that the 120-300 2.8 will be available in A mount. I really hope that it is. I hope to use it with the new A99 for indoor sports and night football. I wish that Sigma had a weather sealed and OS 24-70 for full frame. If you have a link that confirms the A mount that would be awesome.
Mick
8 months ago |You know when Sigma announced the current 120-300 OS HSM (not the new sports model) they said that the current lens would be available in Sigma, Canon, Nikon and SONY mounts. B and H even had a page where it said “coming soon” or something to that effect. Then out of the blue, Sigma drops the Sony alpha mount and told customers they have no plans to release it in that mount at this time. Now I’m not going to speculate on what happened. Here are the facts, Sony makes a 300mm f2.8 SSM alpha lens WITHOUT image stabilization that costs around $7,000. You can find the Sigma 120-300 in Nikon and Canon mount for around 2,300-2,550 if you look hard enough (DigitalRev comes to mind). If this 120-300 OS HSM lens could be released in Sony mount it would open up so many more possibilities to NEX-VG10,20,30, FS100, FS700 users–because right now there is no lens in that focal range that has HSM and OS and is fast at f2.8 (effective f3.5 with LA-EA2). Sigma, please release this lens in Sony Alpha mount!
PaddyC
8 months ago |I can’t find any info on the release date for these.
Noel
8 months ago |I like the new model it looks so professional. Though I really don’t like on the style is the big A C S letters on it.
ljubo
8 months ago |And the price for Sigma 35mm F1.4 would be ???