DxOmark (Click here) tested the brand new Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens. And according to their testings this is the best 35mm lens on market. It even beats (easily!) the Zeiss Distagon. DxO writes: “It’s lens that’s designed not only for the very best of today’s sensors but it appears well suited to handle the demands of the next generation of high-resolution imaging chips. The lens sets a new benchmark for optical performance for a retro-focus lens in this focal length and it’s a feat that’s even more remarkable given the price is well-below that of any of the big name brands.”
The lens is set to ship for the Sony A-mount on April 30th accoridng to BHphoto (Click here).
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I took some pictures with it at the WPPI expo in Las Vegas last week. It’s AMAZING. I couldn’t see ANY chromatic abberation at all.
It’s a very exciting lens.
Then you need camera with more resolution or not having CA correction on “auto ON”. 😀
It does have CA, just not much. Unless you are using it on SD1M (thats why this lens was made, its for SD1M). On SD1M there is some CA visible (not that much tho, only corners). Main point is that its incredibly sharp lens even on SD1M.. and thats amazing feat.
Absolutely more resolution and here’s how to get it.
Take the exact same sensor design as the nex7n and scale it up to full frame 56mp.
Put that on the new nex9hmp camera that everyone is talking about.
The performance will match the nex7n but the resolution will be higher because the sensor is larger.
Thats how to get every bit of value from this snd all our other lenses.
The performance per unit area would be the same (if overheating doesn’t become an issue, the largest enemy of larger sensors). At an image level, DR, SNR, colour sensitivity and tonal range go up too.
The SD1M is 1.5 crop camera. Has Sigma made lens with FF coverage for crop camera? How come?
Wow… I want it for E-MOUNT!!!!!
Hope they release it by time 7n comes to market!
Wow… I want it for E-MOUNT!!!!!
Hope they release it by time 7n comes to market!
On the sharpness front, I am both impressed and not impressed. Impressed because Sigma achieved the best score, and not impressed because it is the newest lens around so there should be quite a few tricks up its sleeve compared to the competition.
That being said, I am impressed how much better it performs than the Zeiss. Indeed, now there is no reason why be attracted to it unless the drawing of the image is considerably better than the Sigma (if field curvature makes the image be more 3D for example)
Well, I am impressed. Because nothing beats Zeiss and Leitz … or so the saying goes.
There may be more to it than resolution etc., but impressive it is.
Ohh please sigma make an emount version of this lens.. Pleaseeeeee
You can use this lens on E-mount cameras with any available chinese DSLR-E adaptors. Fantastic, eh?
Duhhh.. With full electronic control? O… Im not gonna buy speedbooster…
Pardon 😉
I have a number of lenses in the street photography range. But one of my favorites is the Voigtlander Nokton 35/1.4 and it’s far from being one of the sharpest. I just really like the character it brings to my images. I think most of the fast 35s are sharp enough for street photography, but I am more interested in other characteristics of the lenses.
Agreed. I actually have this Sigma lens on pre-order, but the intangibles are what really make a lens great or not, rather than the pixel-peeping line-counting at DX-O labs. I think their tests are a good starting point though. To me, the Sony Zeiss lenses are worth the $$ because of the intangible warmth that comes through, which can’t be measured in lines per mm.
What about colors and contrast? These things are quite subjective and cannot be easily measured, especially by DXOMark which is known to have some quite illogical conclusions and sensor/lens ratings. IMHO, take it with a grain of salt and always use real world samples to make any conclusions. The Sigma may well be the best 35mm lens, but DXOMark “scores” are not proof to that.
As you pointed out, colors and contrast are subjective. So, this is the only objective test that could tell us if this is the best lens.
Contrast is not subjective. The closer the mtf curve is to 100/1 the higher the contrast. Colour should ideally be as neutral as possible with a digital lens as changing colour can be done in post.
No Sigma lens is going to beat the look of a Zeiss. The only coating I know as good as T* is the one that Rollei used on their mf lenses and that was a Zeiss formulation.
You just said “look”. Isn’t that subjective? If it isn’t then the question is how important is it versus the resolution. A look can be altered, at least to an extent, to achieve a desired look, but resolution is what it is.
These days contrast and colors are affected more heavily by the sensor and the PP than the lenses. Lack of sharpness which implies a lack of information on the other hand cannot be decreased by any means. Mostly, PP sharpening tools just perform some efficient but dumb algorithm (just set sharpening to max to see how dumb they really are) that in some cases may increase perceptual sharpness. But they actually do not increase real sharpness which is trivial since no algorithm can create anything meaningful from nothing (i.e. you cannot create information from nothing).
Most people mess around with colors and contrast in PP anyways. If the photographer is skilled it’s very difficult to find out how colors and contrast have been modified in post even when the pp was very extensive (for instance some HDR, I mean the subtle good ones, not the overprocessed s**t that you can find everywhere on the web). With sharpening however a small degree can already lead to noticeable ugly artifacts.
Finally we enter the new age of not overpriced gear.
I love this lens and ordered it with the d800 I just got.
I’m also very excited about the Nikon 85/f1.8 and I have that on backorder.
Buy this lens for your Sony gear!!!!!
And before some posters start having seizures about me posting Nikon I do still have my a850, Zeiss and all of my old Minolta lenses, I just needed to cover the bases and I needed stuff that Sony is showing no interest in supplying like a 200/f4 Macro and affordable 24/f3.5 Tilt-shift I needed to have or rent for a commission.
So far the Sigma has proven to be a nice walk around lens on this 36MP beast that I got from Nikon because I could not wait forever for Sony.
I’m holding on to my Alpha gear for now till I understand what direction Sony is going with the A-Mount.
Sony take note.
This is why we keep asking you to enlarge the nex7n sensor to 56 megapixels and put it on your new nex9hmp camera.
We even named it for you.
This way people like Steve who want to buy Sony can.
Incedentlly Steve Tamron makes a 180mm f3.5 and Sigma makes a 180mm f 2.8 . Both are available in Sony mount and both are excellent super sharp lenses.
I see no problem in crossing platforms. I actually have my eye on a dx1 but will surely keep my 99. More a pipe dream than a soon to be reality. I will be definitely getting this 35mm if it ever gets released for the A mount. I really like my 99 and 850 but one of the drawbacks to shooting with Sony is 3rd parties are not in a hurry to release their wares to the small populated A mount. Hell Sigma didnt even release the 120-300/2,8 in the A mount and it does not appear that Sony is even thinking about releasing such a lens.
I forgot to add they are both macro lenses
Going to use this with my Speed Booster.
“best”… what a word.
This thing has been shipping since December. It just keeps getting pushed down the road.
Wow, Sigma! Best at f1.4, that’s really designed for bokeh porn. And the cheap Samyang is telling the Zeiss elitists to tone down their braggadocio! Makes me look forward to their tilt-shift offering.
This reminds me Samyang ad campaign when everybody and his dog raved about their better than Zeiss lenses. Needs to be taken with a teaspoon of B. S.
WOW!! Mounted on a Nikon D3x is even better than the RX1’s lens: http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/%28lens1%29/1057/%28brand%29/Sigma/%28camera1%29/485/%28lens2%29/1019/%28brand2%29/Sony/%28camera2%29/0
So we could say that here in Europe the 2900 € Sony RX1 can’t match the 2400 € Nikon D600 + Sigma 35/1.4 image quality!
Couldn’t we?
(When some fanboyish articles appear here at SAR…)
so what?
do you guys really care what they say about lenses?
they are great at testing sensors but not lenses.
and they do not test many of really significant lenses in all mounts.
and by the way, when you get us EDIT feature here?
The key point is best lens tested at DXO. All of the Leica & Schneider lenses listed are just reviews (never tested). Looks like they do not have any interest in testing true benchmark lenses that may surpass the Nikon and Canon lines.
You shouldn’t swallow the nonsense about the magic of Leica lenses the reality when they are tested is that the only significant difference between them and other lenses is down to the ridiclous pricing. Then we get the defensive posts from the fan base with claims that the magic is down to unmeasurable,ethereal,airy factors lol. Don’t drink the cool-aid
Maybe you have not actually ever used Leica lenses. I have used them for years and compared them side by side to Nikon on architectural jobs, where both were shot on tripods at f 8. The Leica left the Nikon in the dust , example: points on a fork from 20 feet away (21 mm lens) were clear and sharp with the Leica, the Nikon had them blurred to the where they could almost not be counted.
Of course if a tripod is not in use, or you don’t care about sharpness at wide open (f 1.4), there is not much to talk about.
Not a fan boy here, just a professional that makes a living because my images are tack sharp and printable to 2 meters wide, and without any distortion or fuzzy corners.
That was to be expected… Zeiss … lower your price for your lenses!
We’ll see how that lens works on Sony A-mount. In general, Sigma and Sony are not the best partners – or am I wrong? I had one Sigma 15-30mm which was awful blurry, slow AF and often off-focus. The forums are full with Sony-Sigma problems. Sony and Tamron work much better. Or am I dated?
Go Sigma! Setting the (MTF) curve higher. I love great optical designs in actual products.
the sigma 35mm is perhaps the sharpest 35mm but quallity is also important we cant say in this moment becourse we dont now that yet will the sigma have the same quallity in 10yers from now the New ART quallity is not tested yet but in 10yers we now it sorrey for my bad inglish