SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art – World’s Fastest Full-Frame Zoom Lens Announced

Lens News

by Jakub HanJune 3^rd, 2024

The new SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art full-frame lens features an internal focusing and zoom mechanism, weather-sealing, HLA autofocus system, 82mm front filter thread, 30cm minimum focusing distance, and de-clickable aperture ring. Weighing 960g (33.9oz), the lens will start shipping in late June 2024 for $1,349 for both Sony E-mount and Leica L-mount.

Today’s announcement marks another boundary pushed further as the new SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art is the fastest aperture full-frame zoom lens ever made.

The chase for a fast zoom lens

Throughout the history and development of consumer/professional photography lenses, most manufacturers settled on the f/2.8 aperture to be the fastest reasonable value for constant-aperture zoom lenses. This value results in modestly sized and priced lenses that most customers will be OK with. Anything below f/2.8 mostly becomes prime lens territory.

There have been a few attempts to push this barrier further. For example, we have seen some old SLR photography lenses from Angenieux that feature f/2.6 aperture (28-70mm). Another example from the new mirrorless age would be the Canon RF 28-70mm f/2 L USM lens.

Then there is, of course, SIGMA, which also went below f/2.8 in their DSLR zoom lens product portfolio a few times already. Back in 2013, the Japanese company launched the “legendary” affordable Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art. This was followed in 2016 by the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art. These two lenses, however, were designed for APS-C (Super35) sensors and do not fully cover full-frame sensors. Interestingly, though, the 18-35mm covers a bit more than APS-C as I have often used it on my BMPCC 4K with Speedbooster XL (resulting crop 1.3x) without vignetting (between around 21mm and 35mm).

Last but not least, in 2015, SIGMA released a fast full-frame zoom lens with the 24-35mm f/2 DG HSM Art lens. The zoom range is not breathtaking, but it definitely counts. Fast forward to 2024 – today, SIGMA pushes the boundaries and announces a new modern mirrorless zoom lens with an f/1.8 constant aperture. Let’s take a look at the new SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art lens.

SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art lens – “bokeh over range”

As the company claims, the new SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art was developed as a full-frame successor to the 18-35mm f/1.8 (full-frame equivalent of roughly 27-52mm), which I mentioned above. It has an 11-bladed round diaphragm that provides aperture values between f/1.8 and f/16.

Regarding optical structure, the lens comprises 3 aspherical elements and 5 SLD glass elements – in total, 18 elements in 15 groups. SIGMA claims the lens suppresses aberrations (with focus on axial chromatic aberration) and provides similar characteristics as SIGMA f/1.4 DG DN prime lenses.

In order to keep flare and ghosting to a minimum, the lens uses SIGMA’s Nano Porous Coating and Super Multi-Layer Coating. This also helps produce clearer images in scenes with backlighting, according to SIGMA.

The minimum focusing distance is 30cm (11.8”) throughout the whole zoom range. The maximum magnification ratio of 1:4 is achieved at the 45mm focal length.

Suitable for video work

SIGMA claims that on top of photography, the lens is well suited for video work as well. First of all, the zoom and focusing are fully internal, which generally brings two advantages:

• the lens will not dramatically change balance when focal length changes, so you do not need to rebalance it on a gimbal
• it helps the lens to be dust- and splash-resistant

The optical design of the lens minimizes focus breathing, according to SIGMA. Finally, there is a physical aperture ring that can be locked and that also features a click/de-click switch.

The focusing ring is electronic (fly-by-wire), but for a better manual focusing experience, the lens offers linear operation with an adjustable rotation angle between 90° and 720°. This is, however, only available with compatible L-mount cameras.

Autofocus & physical specs

When it comes to autofocus, the lens features an HLA (High-response Linear Actuator) autofocus system. Aside from being fast, the motor should also be silent, as SIGMA claims. This further helps in video shooting scenarios.

Looking at the physical specs, the SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art weighs 960g (33.9oz), the length is 151.4mm (6”), and its diameter is 87.8mm (3.5”). Sure, it is not the most compact lens, but given its specs, it is not too heavy either. For perspective, the RF 28-70mm f/2 from Canon weighs almost 500g more. The front filter thread size is 82mm. Last but not least, there are two user-assignable AFL buttons on the lens barrel.

Price and availability

The SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art lens will be available for Leica L-mount and Sony E-mount in the second half of June 2024. The price has been set at $1,349. Each lens will come with both lens caps, a lens hood (LH878-06), and a carrying case.

Do you use SIGMA lenses for your productions? What do you think about the new SIGMA 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN lens? Would you like to see more fast zoom lenses? Let us know in the comments section underneath the article.