Good news folks! Sigma just released the new 35mm f/1.4 lens! It costs $899 at BHphoto (click to preorder) which is exactly $600 less than the price of the Sony 35mm f/1.4 lens (here at Amazon).
PRESS TEXT:
Ronkonkoma, NY, November 7, 2012 – Sigma Corporation of America, a leading researcher, developer, manufacturer and service provider of some of the world’s most impressive lines of lenses, cameras and flashes, is pleased to announce that the first lens of its new Global Vision lineup, the 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, is now available for the street price of $899.
The 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, is designed for photographers who want to achieve creative, dramatic effects in their photographs. As the first lens released under Sigma’s new Art line, it will feature a new matte finish and overall new design concept, which includes a clearly defined category label on every new lens. This 35mm wide-angle lens with a maximum aperture of 1.4 ensures outstanding performance in low light, and a stunning bokeh background effect to emphasize the subject.
“We’re thrilled to break into this category of lenses with a product from our new Global Vision,” said Mark Amir-Hamzeh, president of Sigma Corporation of America. “We’re confident that our A1 quality control system, coupled with the industry’s first USB dock, will differentiate our lens in the category. Since it’s so versatile – ideal for scenes including landscapes, portraits, close-ups and studio photography – we think that it will be a hit.”
Other features of the new 35mm F1.4 DG HSM include:
One “F” Low Dispersion (FLD) glass lens and four Special Low Dispersion (SLD) glass lenses to ensure exceptional correction of lateral and axial chromatic aberration, the latter of which cannot be corrected in post production
A floating inner focus system to provide extremely high optical performance for close-up photos
Super Multi-Layer Coating to reduce flare and ghosting and provide sharp and high contrast images even in backlit conditions
A HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) that ensures high speed, accurate and quiet AF
Rubber incorporated into the attachment part of the lens hood, and an improved redesign of the lens cap and AF / MF changeover switch have been improved
Thermally Stable Composite (TSC), which has high affinity to metal parts, that are housed internally, increases overall functionality, lifespan, and quality of the lens
A rounded 9 blade diaphragm creates an attractive blur to the out-of-focus areas of the image
A newly developed USB dock, which will be sold separately and exclusively for new product lines, can be paired with new Sigma Optimization Pro software to update the lens firmware and adjust parameters, such as micro focus adjustment
All of Sigma’s manufacturing – right down to molds and parts – is carried out under an integrated production system, based entirely in Japan. Sigma is now one of the very few manufacturers whose products are solely made in Japan. Every 35mm F1.4 DG HSM will be checked using Sigma’s own MTF measuring system, “A1,” as will all new lenses under the Global vision categories. This system uses 46-megapixel Foveon direct image sensors to pick up previously undetectable high-frequency details for quality control inspections.
The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM will be available in Sigma, Sony (D), Nikon (D), Pentax and Canon mounts.
Preorder: BHphoto (Click here).
51 Responses
which sony mount is it?
A-mount of course!
o yeah this is what i like about useless press releases. they really don’t care about important informations. why? they don’t know nothing about photography. they are payed to just sell electroschrott
“..they don’t know nothing..”
The old double neg making you’re point pointless.
… so i think that fits perfectly
I assume this fits a FF sensor?
Yes, it is FF. Good news for FF users. Being A77 user I do not have lust for a 35/1.4.
Biggest appeal would be USB dock that will let us update our own ROM chip and micro focus adjustment. Sony should give this option (AF adjust) on their CZ and G lenses so that cheaper body without micro AF adjust can take advantage too. Price is still too expensive for me and I will see in 1 or 2 years if the street price drop a bit.
I guess it depends on your type of shooting. I use my Sony 35mm f/1.8 all the time on my A77, far more than my Sony 50mm f/1.4.
I’ve got my eye on this lens. I am interested to see how it performs. If it performs as well as I hope, I just might look at replacing my Sony 35mm f/1.8 with it.
I second that. That Sony 35mm f1.8 is my favorite on my A77. I like it for street photography. It acts more like a standard 50 mm on fullframe. In some cases, it could be a little bit wider but it’s much sharper than any other ~24 mm lens. And it’s a bargain.
That’s why I’m not going to buy a A99. As much as I like the less high ISO noise and low-light capabilities, the lenses are to expensive for a non-pro like me.
wow, compared to those 35mm FF lenses the 24mm Zeiss (35mm equiv.) is almost cheap!
Btw I like the design of this lens! It’s much more simple and pleasing than those rubbish looking Sigma lenses with the golden ring and golden print on it (golden colour is really a no-go!). I know the look of lenses doesn’t improve it’s optical quality, but anyways good design is always welcome in every product!
+1
Much nicer design. Gold details were awful.
Havin MA in lens is nice touch. 🙂 Now it should be possible to MA lens on any body. This should be mandatory for all lens..
What the heck is MA?
PCYT?
Manual focus
I might be wrong but I think “MA” ain’t “Manual Focus”, which is more “MF” 😀
Maybe “MA” is “Micro Adjustment”, since it’s one of the thing you can store in the lens’s chip?
Yes, its shortcut for micro adjustment.
Hopefully you won’t have to send it back to Sigma to be rechipped if you’re an A77 or A99 owner.
Nice looking lens, can’t wait to see some samples!
a-mount -_-
Sigma has the 30mm F1.4 for the crop bodies, i have always love mine.
if the USB dock really works wonder, i have no fear buying import Sigma, look at 85mm on Ebay, some cost less than $800 shipped
What is this Sigma USB Dock? Ah!…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vU0WcpNAtl8
Not cheap but interesting, I would like to see comparison of this lens and Sony 35G.
I just ordered and will compare it to my 35G when it arrives. I already know the 35G doesn’t resolve the best in this class but it renders so nicely.
Waiting for the new Sigma 120-300mm to come out.. depending on how the reviews look I’ll be getting that
I’m really hoping they put the 120-300 in Sony Alpha Mount.
I thought I read here they were going to release the new 120-300 as an A-mount
Yes, they are going to, but noone knows when.
Hopefully sooner than later, I’m an amateur but I keep loading up the purchase screen for the Sony 300mm F2.8 😛
I have yet to read anything on Sigma’s website which explicitly states they will release that lens in Sony Alpha mount (does anyone have other info that I am missing?). It would be awesome if they released it in Sony Alpha mount because the current version is not offered in this mount, is priced significantly lower than any other 300mm lens on the market (there really is no 120-300 offered by any other company), has HSM and image stabilization. What more could you want for under 3 grand?
Sky_walker got it right: it was “rumored” that the Sigma 120/300 will be coming in A mount sooner or later (let’s hope sooner…). My dream is to see the sigzilla 300/800 in A mount! 🙂
nice, good price … but Sigma’
Not sure what you’re saying – I own a few very nice sigma lenses. The 70-200/2.8 is very respectable.
Ditto on the 70-200 2.8 OS HSM. That lens has super smooth bokeh, and the OS and HSM is indispensable for video. Love it!
Nice lens but i also wish samyang could one day make AF lenses
With the current shoddy construction and cheap materials, I hope Samyang would improve that before releasing an AF lens. What’s the point of AF if you can only use it for a year? Even Sigma has faulty AF motor all the time.
its calling this a sony D mount WHAT IS THAT ?? i need this for a99 im desperate and prepared to roll dice but what is D mount ?? thanks for help !
“D” is a designation for a lens with extra contacts to the body (8 rather than 5, I think) to provide the camera with focus distance information from the lens. This is used by the flash to estimate needed power levels and the camera for various AF functions. I believe most new lenses are “D.”
is this an A mount lens it says D mount ?? i need this for a99, price point is good enough to gamble on preorder
“D” is for distance measurement for use with the flash. The lens is definitely made in the Alpha mount.
this is a good news, now we have many choice for FF lens 35mm on sony 😀 i really curious what if this lens compare to RX1 sonnar 35mm/2 😀
Compared this one to a fixed, optimized lens, this Sigma would not be able to compete. The only thing that this Sigma would have over the Sonnar is possibly the AF speed.
A99 + 35mm = $3700 and dinosaur size
RX1 = $2800 and near pocket size.
And they all said RX1 was expensive 🙂
Yea, and to be honest: I wouldn’t be surprised if A99+Sigma would deliver worse results then RX1.
But that isn’t anything new. RX1 is excellent camera, no doubt about that, just some people find it too expensive because there’s now way to swap lenses – not because the picture quality is lacking.
Most likely this lens will be good in absolute terms.
But it will need to be proved that it will do better on large apertures than the older semi-wide high aperture lenses of Sigma.
Not to talk about the disappointing G 35/1.4 from Sony (with regards to IQ at large apertures as well).
Glad to see this getting closer to reality. Been eyeballing a fast wide lens for a little while now and was about to settle on the Sony 24mm f2 ZA lens. Not that this would be “settling” in the normal sense, but… Really wanted to like an older Minolta or Sony 35mm f1.4, but want it to be good wide open, and great close to wide. Neither of the 35mm f1.4’s can do this, and the 24mm is pretty good starting at f2, being as sharp as the 35mm’s, or better, at f2.
Wait and see I guess…
You really can’t compare this to the Sony 35mm f/1.4, which is steaming chunk of crap.
Really? You tested both already?
wow, finally a cheaper alternative other than the Canon, Nikon and Sony ones. I always wonder, why we don’t have a cheaper FF 35mm fast lens, and the Canon/Nikon/Sony ones are so expensive. Hopefully the quality is as good as the 85 1.4 =)
Will it perform D-Focus on the a99? Maybe a ROM update down the road…
Wondering as well.
I’ve been trying to locate information about third-party lenses (Sigma) supporting (in the future?) the AF-D focus on the A99.
Anyone has any info or links ? Thanks.