Three New SIGMA Full Frame Lenses – 35mm F1.2, 45mm F2.8 & 14-24mm F2.8

News

by Olaf von VossJuly 11^th, 2019

Today, SIGMA has officially added three new lenses to their already impressive lineup of full-frame primes and zooms: The A (as in ART) line of lenses now sports a new prime lens, the SIGMA 35mm F1.2 DG DN and a new zoom lens, the SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN. Under their C (as in contemporary) line, SIGMA released the new 45mm F2.8 DG DN prime.

UPDATE: There’s also a new line of cine primes under development, the so-called SIGMA Classic Art Primes will be officially announced at IBC 2019. Check out the last paragraph for more information!

These three new lenses by SIGMA come in two flavors: Sony E-mount and L-mount for playing nicely with cameras of the freshly formed L-Mount Alliance (SIGMA, Panasonic and Leica).

SIGMA 35mm F1.2 DG DN (ART)

This lens is a top-end performer in terms of light sensitivity and that’s why it’s basically a huge piece of glass. As it seems, SIGMA has created a no-compromise lens here and in order to give you that fast F1.2 aperture in tandem with autofocus capabilities (!) plus high-end image quality the resulting lens is.. big.

The lens comes with an aperture ring on the lens itself which can be set to automatic, or, more importantly for indie filmmakers, to manual mode. And to answer your question: Yes, the aperture ring can be de-clicked for smoothly adjusting the iris (11-blade rounded diaphragm) while filming. Same goes for the focus ring: In AF mode a large HSM (HyperSonicMotor) will quickly adjust focus for you while you can pull focus manually by switching to fly-by-wire mode.

Within all these lenses names you’ll note DG (Digital) and DN (Digital Neo). DG is used by SIGMA to indicate that the lens is designed to perform best on cameras with full-frame sensors while DN branded lenses are optimized for mirrorless cameras (i.e. short flange focal lengths).

Three SLD glass elements and three aspherical lenses including a double-sided aspherical lens are optimally arranged in a lens construction of 17 elements in 12 groups. By taking advantage of the specialized short flange focal length design, this 35mm lens not only is optimized for mirrorless cameras, it also takes advantage of the correction function inside the camera to correct distortion and peripheral illumination. In summary, the 35mm F1.2 can resolve over 50 million pixels.

The AFL button on the lens itself which can be assigned with various functions is a nice addition to the feature set of the 35mm F1.2. Furthermore, the lens features a dust- and splash-proof structure, along with a water- and oil-repellent coating on the front element. It also comes with a locking hood.

Swapping mounts between the Sony E-mount version and the L-mount version is possible but you have to send in you lens to an authorized SIGMA facility in order to do that.

Specifications of the SIGMA 35mm F1.2 DG DN (ART) – calculated for L-mount:

• Lens Construction: 17 elements in 12 groups
• Angle of view (35mm): 63.4°
• Number of diaphragm blades: 11 (rounded diaphragm)
• Minimum aperture: F16
• Minimum focusing distance: 30cm / 11.8″
• Maximum magnification ratio: 1:5.1
• Filter size: 82mm
• Dimensions (diameter × length): 87,8mm × 136,2mm / 3.5″ × 5.4″
• Weight: 1,090g / 38.4oz

SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN (ART)

This is the second lens of the newly developed DG DN series and it seems to be a beautiful lens for some starry nights astrophotography. Why? Well, because the super-wide 14-24mm range of this zoom is perfect for vast landscapes, the reasonable fast F2.8 aperture is a good match for the milky way above that vast landscape you’ve just framed up and the included rear filter holder will conveniently accommodate the filter needed for that perfect starry night shot. That’s why.

This lens is also part of the A (ART) line and it also comes with the aforementioned DG and DN branding.

One FLD glass and five SLD glass elements are arranged to suppress chromatic aberration and other nasty stuff. Three aspherical lenses, including a large-diameter aspherical lens at the front, are used to minimize coma flare. The multi-layer coating is combined with a newly developed NPC (Nano Porous Coating) in order for the lens to be less susceptible to strong incident light.

Filter holder of the SIGMA 14-24 lens

Just like the SIGMA 35mm F1.2, this new zoom lens offers an assignable AFL button on the side so you can customize this lens to match your workflow.

Autofocus is handled by a stepper motor, which is also available for face/eye detection during video shooting, depending on your camera of choice.

The housing also shares the same rugged design as the 35mm F1.2 ART lens.

Specifications of the SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG DN (ART) – calculated for L-mount:

• Lens Construction: 18 elements in 13 groups
• Angle of view (35mm): 114.2° – 84.1°
• Number of diaphragm blades: 11 (rounded diaphragm)
• Minimum aperture: F22
• Minimum focusing distance: 28cm / 11.0″
• Maximum magnification ratio: 1:7.3
• Filter: rear filter holder
• Dimensions (diameter × length): 85mm × 131mm / 3.3″ × 5.2″
• Weight: 795g / 28oz

SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN (Contemporary)

To make this a threefold of new lenses, we need one more: The SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN is not part of the ART family. It bears the C (Contemporary) logo on its side to indicate a versatile and performing, yet compact and lightweight lens. And just like the other two, it covers a full-frame sensor without any problems.

Because this lens is intended for everyday use, it is a really lightweight piece of glass. It’s compact and won’t get into your way while shooting. It sports a dedicated iris ring (which can’t be de-clicked, though) and a stepper motor for handling AF operation.
Minimum focus distance is just 24cm (9.4″) so this lens could become a very versatile lens, indeed! According to SIGMA the 45mm F2.8 renders smooth, classic looking, bokeh when used with a wide-open iris but it will produce tack sharp, more modern-looking imagery when stopped down a little. Again, versatility seems to be key with this lens.

Specifications of the SIGMA 45mm F2.8 DG DN (Contemporary) – calculated for L-mount:

• Lens Construction: 8 elements in 7 groups
• Angle of view (35mm): 51.3°
• Number of diaphragm blades: 7 (rounded diaphragm)
• Minimum aperture: F22
• Minimum focusing distance: 24cm / 9.4″
• Maximum magnification ratio: 1:4
• Filter size: 55mm
• Dimensions (diameter × length): 64mm × 46,2mm / 2.5″ × 1.8″
• Weight: 215g / 7.5oz

Silver version of the 45mm SIGMA Contemporary

New SIGMA Classic Art Primes

As a sneak peek, SIGMA also introduced a whole new line of cine primes today. The so-called Classic Art Primes come as an additional option along their already available Cinema Primes (see our extensive review here). This new line of primes bear the label Classic so you might guess where this is heading: SIGMA removed the coating of the front element in order to create a more silky/dreamy vintage look to these primes without compromising on performance.

SIGMA 40mm Classic Art Prime on the new SIGMA pf camera.

SIGMA will officially announce them at IBC later this year. It will be a whole set just like the existing Cinema Primes. And, as you already might have noticed, these new primes are a bit slower than the Cinema Primes. T1.5 becomes T2.5 (20mm – 85mm) and T2 becomes T3.2 (14mm & 135mm).

If you think the SIGMA Cinema Primes are too sharp and produce a kind of clinical look, maybe this new set is worth a shot. We’ll keep a close eye on the further development, for sure. I think, just like with the ARRI Signature Primes, there’s a trend away from ultra sharp lenses towards lenses with a distinct character. Let’s wait and see how these new primes will perform (and handle flares etc).

Links: Website

What do you think of this new trio of full-frame lenses? Are you a SIGMA shooter already? What are your favorite lenses? Share your experiences in the comments below!