{"id":3779,"date":"2014-07-31T20:56:38","date_gmt":"2014-08-01T01:56:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=3779"},"modified":"2014-07-31T20:56:38","modified_gmt":"2014-08-01T01:56:38","slug":"review-sigma-60mm-f2-8-dn-art-sony-e-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-sigma-60mm-f2-8-dn-art-sony-e-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 DN Art (Sony E-Mount)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today I’m taking a look at the newest member of Sigma’s trio of lenses for mirrorless cameras, the 60mm f\/2.8 DN Art, which is available for Sony E-mount and Micro 4\/3. \u00a0The 60mm keeps a similar body style and the same f\/2.8 maximum aperture as the 19mm and 30mm lenses that preceded it. \u00a0The DN series has a reputation for low-cost and high optical quality, and the 60mm f\/2.8, which is priced at a mere $239, hopes to match or exceed the other two lenses in this new line.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 DN Art on the Sony a6000<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you\u2019re not familiar with my reviews, I review from a real world shooting perspective. \u00a0You won\u2019t find lens charts or resolution numbers here. \u00a0There are plenty of other sites that cover those. \u00a0I review products on how they act for me as a photographic tool in real-world shooting.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Construction and Handling<\/h3>\n

The Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 DN Art is built with the same body construction as the other two DN Art lenses.\u00a0 The 60mm is a compact and lightweight lens with a thin metal shell in a two-tone black or silver finish and a metal mount.\u00a0 The copy reviewed here is the black model.\u00a0 The base of the lens shell is a matte finished black with a silver inset ‘A’ for the ‘Art’ designation.\u00a0 The rest of the lens body\u00a0is taken up by\u00a0the broad focus ring, which is finished in a very shiny black paint.\u00a0 While the overall effect looks fantastic, the smooth shiny black finish on the focus ring is quite prone to fingerprints. The lens includes a nice lens case as well as a lens hood.\u00a0 In another appreciated twice, the three DN primes all utilize the same hood and lens caps, allowing you to bring one and share if desired.<\/p>\n

\"Sigma<\/a>
Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 DN Art with supplied hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The focus ring turns smoothly and has a bit of damping to provide a nice manual focus feel when using the ring.\u00a0 The lens is a bit longer than the other two Sigma mirrorless primes, but it’s still a small and lightweight lens that will handle beautifully on any of the E-Mount cameras.\u00a0 The lens also shares the same floating focus group with the other two lenses, which will rattle when the lens is jostled and the camera is off.\u00a0 While the construction isn’t up to the standards of\u00a0a pro-grade lens, it is tightly assembled and quite well-built considering the low price.<\/p>\n

Autofocus Performance<\/h3>\n

The Sigma 60mm features a very quiet and relatively fast autofocus motor.\u00a0 The focusing is notably faster than that of the Sigma 30mm f\/2.8, though it falls short of the fastest lenses available for E-mount.\u00a0 still, focus is quick and very accurate in single shot mode.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the Sigma 60mm doesn’t appear to be compatible with the phase-detect focusing in recent Sony cameras, and as such doesn’t provide a good experience when shooting on continuous autofocus.\u00a0 Some have mentioned that it will work with the center AF point, but I was unable to get the camera to track focus on a moving subject with the 60mm f\/2.8.<\/p>\n

Continue: Image Quality<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Image Quality<\/h3>\n
\"Upper<\/a>
Upper Falls, Hocking Hills, OH – Sony a6000 with Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 @ f\/8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n

The Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 is a budget telephoto lens, but when it comes to image quality, the lens delivers and delivers well.\u00a0 The lens is extremely sharp right from f\/2.8, with excellent central sharpness and even very good borders wide open.\u00a0 Stopping down brings the 60mm f\/2.8 into utterly outstanding territory.\u00a0 The majority of the frame is blisteringly sharp, and while the very edges aren’t quite<\/em> as sharp as the center, they are still very sharp all the way into the corners.\u00a0 Indeed, the 60mm f\/2.8 is one of the sharpest lenses available for a mirrorless camera today, in the same realm as the Fujifilm 56mm f\/1.2, the Leica 42.5mm Nocticron, the Olympus 75mm f\/1.8 and the Zeiss 50mm f\/2.8 Touit Macro.\u00a0 Of course, it has a more modest maximum aperture and no macro capabilities, but for a lens this cheap to be capable of this level of resolution is extremely impressive.<\/p>\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n

With a short telephoto focal length providing the field of view similar to a 90mm lens on a full frame camera, one of the prime uses for such a lens will be portraiture.\u00a0 As such, the quality of the out of focus areas is quite important.\u00a0 The Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 provides generally quite nice\u00a0bokeh, though it falls short of exceptional.\u00a0 Out of focus areas are smoothly rendered and specular highlights avoid bright rings for the most part.\u00a0 However, the presence of aspherical elements does cause a bit of onion-ring like structure to those highlights.\u00a0 While the f\/2.8 maximum aperture isn’t going to provide tons of subject separation, the lens provides enough blur to provide for very pleasing portraits. \u00a0A very solid performance in this area.<\/p>\n

\"Staring<\/a>
Staring – Sony a6000 with Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 @ f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Color, Contrast and Chromatic Aberration<\/h4>\n

The Sigma 60mm f\/2.8 continues its strong optical performance with a nice rich color palette and crisp contrast throughout the aperture range. There is little change in the contrast profile even wide open, producing punchy images whatever your depth of field needs happen to be.<\/p>\n

The lens puts in a strong performance with regards to chromatic aberration control as well. \u00a0Lateral chromatic aberration is negligible and longitudinal CA is also relatively well controlled. \u00a0No issues here.<\/p>\n

Distortion, Flare and Vignetting<\/h4>\n

Again, the Sigma 60mm produces excellent characteristics when it comes to distortion, with nothing field relevant in that department. \u00a0The lens also works quite well against bright light, with flare and ghosting of minimal concern. While the it isn’t impossible to make the lens flare, it does so only in very specific circumstances when the sun is in a very specific part of the frame. \u00a0Otherwise, it’s nothing to worry about.<\/p>\n

The Sigma 60mm has some mild vignetting at f\/2.8 that is predominantly gone by f\/4.<\/p>\n

You may be asking yourself: Is there really nothing to complain about with this lens optically? \u00a0Well, it’s f\/2.8 only, but that’s really about it. \u00a0Sigma has done something remarkable and created a low-cost lens that is simply spectacular optically. \u00a0The Sigma 30mm f\/2.8 is an outstanding lens, and the 60mm is even better.<\/p>\n

Continue: Conclusion and Image Samples<\/a><\/h4>\n

<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/h3>\n

\"sigma_a\"<\/a>Pros<\/h4>\n