[Winder]

Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens coming in October | Photo Rumors

Sigma could have a real winner with this one.

[Paul the Sunman]

They seem to be on a roll.

[JimmyDranox]

I wish I see Pentax do the same.

[VoiceOfReason]

That would be an extremely useful focal length for the type of shooting I do at conventions.

[DSims]

Oh good, another Sigma lens that looks better on marketing paper than photo paper.

I'm being harsh, of course. Sigma is much, much better than they were 5 or 6 years ago.


But they're actually lowering our standards, in a way, because their appeal to people's sense of "value," and their playing the triumphant underdog means buyers throw away some of the greatest optical virtues in the process. For example, their new "flagship" 50/1.4 "OTUS beater" doesn't really beat the OTUS at all, except for having Auto Focus. So the company's character - of bragging about being better than they actually deliver - has never changed. Furthermore, I fear that they're appealing to the base, popular element - favoring sharpness above all.

The odds of this lens producing images as nice as the Sony Zeiss 24/2 are slim. And the Fuji 23/1.4 is awfully good too (albeit only APS-C) - Sigma lenses just don't make images quite that pretty. It may not even clearly beat the Canon, Nikon, or Pentax offerings - its images will still be identifiable as coming from a Sigma, I suspect. Yet it's likely to be blindly touted as "the winner!"

But one thing's for sure - it will beat their previous 24mm offering!


I don't like high prices. But when I'm paying real money I want to get something really good.

[Giklab]

Well someone's grumpy today... Go and look around at reviews, or better yet, at user opinions. You may be surprised.

[pinholecam]

I agree mostly with DSims.
There has been a push towards spec sheet lenses to the detriment of other qualities that are important/useful to photography.
Things like size/weight, lack of the constant necessity of f1.4 for short focal lengths, flare control, distortion.

I have the FA*24/2 and I already seldom use it over a K24/2.8 despite the * status, f2 and AF.
Reason being that its larger/heavier and adds up to the size/weight of the camera bag very fast.
I also tend to shoot landscapes with 24mm and don't need the speed.


Of course there will be users who will welcome this lens, but I don't think it should be the 'absolute' answer to what makes a godd 24mm lens.

[JimmyDranox]

I just saw a comparison - with photos - between Sigma 50/1.4 Art and Zeiss Otuss. Otuss is better than Sigma until f 2.8. But for 90%+ of mortals, Sigma 900$ AF lens is an Otuss 4000$ MF lens killer.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Image Quality

And Sigma 50/1,4 Art is better than any other 50mm lens present on this site.

By afraid, there is no Pentax lens in those comparisons.

[carrrlangas]

I agree mostly with DSims.
There has been a push towards spec sheet lenses to the detriment of other qualities that are important/useful to photography.
Things like size/weight, lack of the constant necessity of f1.4 for short focal lengths, flare control, distortion.

I have the FA*24/2 and I already seldom use it over a K24/2.8 despite the * status, f2 and AF.
Reason being that its larger/heavier and adds up to the size/weight of the camera bag very fast.
I also tend to shoot landscapes with 24mm and don't need the speed.


Of course there will be users who will welcome this lens, but I don't think it should be the 'absolute' answer to what makes a godd 24mm lens.

Same happens to me.. I'd love to have a fast 35 or 50 equivalent. But I know I wouldnt use them because of size and weight... I seldom use 16-50 anymore.. Even in the mountain. It ius great but the size weight advantage of the limiteds...

Fuji X system seems tempting with fast wide primes. But I dont see them as future proof as the limiteds..

[DSims]

I just saw a comparison - with photos - between Sigma 50/1.4 Art and Zeiss Otuss. Otuss is better than Sigma until f 2.8. But for 90%+ of mortals, Sigma 900$ AF lens is an Otuss 4000$ MF lens killer.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens Image Quality

And Sigma 50/1,4 Art is better than any other 50mm lens present on this site.

By afraid, there is no Pentax lens in those comparisons.

Thanks for the link. At first I thought "it's just another chart test," but then I noticed they actually tested at f/1.6 too - I'm very impressed! Almost no one does this - although everyone should! Now all they need is to add f/1.8 and f/2.2 as well - but it's a good start!


The DPR/DxO tests Lens review data: Digital Photography Review reveal that the OTUS does something interesting at f/2.8 and f/4 - while they let their edge performance (all of this is just sharpness we're talking about here) drop a little, their center and near center performance soars to the highest point here - clearly a deliberate design, I think. You can even see this in the link you provided - it's just that you may not have noticed at first, probably because (like me) you wouldn't think the OTUS could actually get any sharper in the center than it already was!

So the Sigma doesn't really win anywhere, except in AF and price. Distortion is almost negligible on both, but it's a little better on the Sigma - as long as pincushion's no more bothersome than barrel (I have no idea which is worse). But most significantly, the Sigma has a tendency towards distracting backgrounds - something Zeiss and the OTUS is characteristically free from.

[RonHendriks1966]

Again a huge lens. Maybe Pentax could make a Ltd prime 28mm/f2.8 wich would be a darling.

[DSims]

Again a huge lens. Maybe Pentax could make a Ltd prime 28mm/f2.8 wich would be a darling.

How do they turn the FA28 into a Ltd?

I'm OK since I already have an FA*24, but I'd rather see them either re-release it, or create a new 24 somewhere between f/1.8 and f/2.2. I think the reason I use the FA*24 more than the FA31 is that it's significantly wider while still being almost as fast. So for me the speed is important.


But I agree with pinholecam that 24/2.4 or 24/2.8 is still very useful.

[carrrlangas]

Again a huge lens. Maybe Pentax could make a Ltd prime 28mm/f2.8 wich would be a darling.

Well, you are not on to them for making big fast lenses, right? I prefer lighter and smallerf but its good to have options.

[JimmyDranox]

Frankly, I was looking to that comparison, with Otuss, not by some interest, but only by curiosity. More interesting for me, are the comparisons with other 50mm lenses, including Canon EF 50mm/1.2 L USM, and other highly rated lenses (at least, until now). They are all far under Sigma 50 Art. So, I hope that some day, this lens will be available for Pentax. Or, maybe Pentax will change their philosophy for lenses, and will begin to make something like that.

I forget to tell that I was very interested in the comparison with my actual Sigma 50mm/1.4 EX DG HSM, which is sharper than any 50mm from Pentax, AFAIK. Of course, everybody has different opinions, and preferences.

[DSims]

More interesting for me, are the comparisons with other 50mm lenses, including Canon EF 50mm/1.2 L USM, and other highly rated lenses (at least, until now). They are all far under Sigma 50 Art.

I forget to tell that I was very interested in the comparison with my actual Sigma 50mm/1.4 EX DG HSM, which is sharper than any 50mm from Pentax, AFAIK. Of course, everybody has different opinions, and preferences.

Good point. I was also noticing this, while looking through the link you provided. The Sigma does impressively exceed what was previously available - at least in sharpness from a chart. So it deserves credit here.


Note that the Pentax DA*55/1.4 was the best 50ish lens (according to Imaging Resource, I believe) before the Sigma Art and OTUS arrived this year.

Both the OTUS and Pentax give better and more realistic looking test scenes to me - let alone what they can do in the real world. The DA*55 is a fine lens that's right under our noses, and I'd still pick it over the new Sigma - as well as the old one.