{"id":9529,"date":"2019-12-14T15:12:25","date_gmt":"2019-12-14T20:12:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/?p=9529"},"modified":"2024-09-05T16:13:57","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T21:13:57","slug":"review-sigma-35mm-f-1-4-dg-hsm-art-sony-e-mount","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admiringlight.com\/blog\/review-sigma-35mm-f-1-4-dg-hsm-art-sony-e-mount\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 DG HSM Art (Sony E-Mount)"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The 35mm landscape for the Sony E-Mount has a wide array of options to choose from, and it’s become even more crowded with the recent announcements of Sony’s long-awaited FE 35mm f\/1.8, and Sigma’s brand-new ultra-fast 35mm f\/1.2 FE, not to mention Tamron’s new 35mm f\/2.8.  However, at the fast f\/1.4 aperture, there are three solid options: the Sony\/Zeiss 35mm f\/1.4 Distagon<\/a>, the Samyang 35mm f\/1.4 and today’s reviewed lens, the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 DG Art.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 was the first Art lens in Sigma’s Global Vision movement that started back in 2012, and when it was released for Canon and Nikon DSLRs, it was praised for having the best optics at the focal length.  It’s seven years later, and the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art is still going strong, and was one of the Art prime lenses that Sigma ported over to the Sony E-Mount.  Recently, the lens went on sale, dropping its already attractive $899 price tag to a downright bargain $649 price point.  I snagged this copy with a coupon code for B&H, dropping my investment to just $599 for what many perceive to be a top-tier lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma Art primes on Sony E-mount have faced a mixed response.  Many lament the large size and weight, given that they are simply the DSLR lens with a longer barrel and new mount. Some have had issues with autofocus, especially in video.  I had been a little wary of the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 given some of the chatter about these items.  However, my fears were unfounded, and since getting the lens, I’ve grown to think that this lens is massively overlooked within the Sony E-mount system. Let’s get into specifics.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 DG HSM Art on the Sony A7 III<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Construction and Handling<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

If you read a lot of discussion online regarding the Sigma Art primes, a lot of what you’ll hear is about how large they are.  And as a whole, most of them are pretty darn big.  However, the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 still gets described as huge, and given the competition, I think it’s a bit of an unfair stigma.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art is a rather substantial lens.  It’s long, it’s moderately heavy and no one will mistake it for discreet.  However, in comparison to the two other 35mm f\/1.4 autofocus lenses for Sony E-Mount, it’s much more similar in size than different.  The lens is around a quarter-inch longer than the Sony\/Zeiss 35mm f\/1.4 and about 100g heavier.  The difference is even less when compared to the Rokinon 35mm f\/1.4.  So is it big?  Sure.  Is it giant?  No.  To compare to other Sony lenses that I happen to have on hand, it’s a bit smaller than the Sony FE 90mm f\/2.8 Macro, as can be seen below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 next to the Sony FE 90mm f\/2.8<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 is constructed with a mix of metals and plastics, with a tapered metal barrel that leaves clearance for your fingers when in use.  It feels extremely solid in the hand and has zero flex anywhere in the lens body.  It is a weighty lens, but not so heavy that it feels awkward or unwieldy.   Of the Sigma Art primes, it’s the one that balances the best on the Sony bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The front of the lens is dominated by the large, rubber-gripped focus ring that is very well damped.  When I first received the lens, the action wasn’t super smooth, and it would very slightly stick when moving it.  Over the past few weeks or so of regular use, this has loosened up to the point where it operates smoothly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lens comes with a fairly large plastic petal-shaped lens hood that is reversible for storage.  The hood isn’t anything special, but is sturdy enough and provides good shading of the front element.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art with included lens hood<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Autofocus<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

One of the biggest knocks I had read before trying the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 on Sony was that autofocus was sub-par compared to a native Sony lens. When I first got the lens, it was on the original firmware version, which was indeed a bit slower than one may be used to, though I found it perfectly acceptable for stills shooting.  However, Sigma recently released a firmware update that included rather substantial improvements to the autofocus speed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For stills photography, I’ve been very impressed.  Speed is reasonably quick in single shot AF, and rather fast in continuous AF.  While I still don’t think it’s a perfect lens for high-speed action photography, for anything else it performs extremely well.  When used with EyeAF on the A7 III and A7R IV, accuracy was outstanding…just absolutely tack sharp focus on the eyes nearly every time.  Accuracy outside of EyeAF was also very accurate.   I have found accuracy on the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 to be better than when I tested the Sony\/Zeiss 35mm f\/1.4, though to be fair, that was tested on the A7 II, which wasn’t nearly as good a focusing camera as the A7 III or A7R IV.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sigma made improvements in speed in video, it’s still only average at best as far as speed and transition smoothness. The bottom line is, for still photography, the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 has very good autofocus.  For video, AF performance is mediocre.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Image Quality<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Sigma has made a name for itself over the past decade by creating lenses that are not only very competitively priced, but also excellent optically. The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 is often credited as the first of their lenses to truly live up to that standard, and seven years later, it still holds up as an excellent lens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sharpness<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 produces images with impressive sharpness right from f\/1.4.  Shots taken wide open are very sharp in the central 2\/3 of the image, and still maintain good resolution to the edges, while the corners show some visible softness.  Stopping down a few stops brings the entire image into very sharp focus, even into the extreme corners.  While absolute resolution isn’t as blistering as some of the very best lenses on the market right now, it is more than enough to produce outstanding images across the frame in essentially any circumstance.  While the lens isn’t quite as biting wide open on extremely high-resolution bodies like the A7R IV as it is on the 24MP A7 III, it still shows very good resolution wide open and excellent resolution down a stop or two.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Punch – Sony A7 III with Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art @ f\/1.4, 1\/80s, ISO 800<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Sigma has done a great job maximizing sharpness throughout the focus range as well.  At f\/1.4, images have similar levels of sharpness focused close up as it does near infinity.  A very impressive performance here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When compared to the already excellent Sony\/Zeiss 35mm f\/1.4 Distagon, I found the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 to produce images that are sharper at wide apertures and similar in sharpness stopped down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bokeh<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Wide aperture 35mm lenses are often used for environmental portraiture, and being able to control depth of field and tastefully blur backgrounds can be very important for this use.  Bokeh on the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 is a bit of a mixed bag, but on the whole, I find it renders out of focus areas quite nicely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When focused at closer distances, bokeh is quite smooth, with evenly rendered specular highlights and a general lack of nervousness. Towards the edges of the frame, a bit of bright ring outlining can start to occur, which becomes more obvious the further the focus point is from the camera.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Early Morning Flowers – Sony A7 III with Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art @ f\/1.4, 1\/2000s, ISO 100<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Shooting further away, bokeh can get a bit more nervous, with some harsher transitions.  It’s still a decent performance, but it loses its creamy character here.   Again, comparing to the Zeiss 35mm f\/1.4, the Sigma is equally pleasing in those closer focused areas, and is a bit more rough than the Zeiss focused further away.  The lens will show some cat-eye effects towards the edges of the frame, and it can give a slightly swirly appearance to the bokeh in some circumstances.  So, as I mentioned earlier, while far from perfect, the overall effect is quite nice in most situations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 shows quite nice color with a touch of a warm cast, which is typical for Sigma lenses, and I think quite pleasing when used for shooting people.  The color isn’t overly punchy, but is vibrant enough for landscape use.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cedar Falls – Sony A7 III with Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 Art @ f\/14, 6s, ISO 100<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The lens shows good image contrast in the focus plane right from wide open, which really helps the subject pop from the background.  This contrast profile is maintained throughout the aperture range, such that there isn’t a lot of variation in contrast with changing aperture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The lens shows a small amount of longitudinal chromatic aberration at wide apertures, with a bit of a green fringe behind the focus point and a slight magenta fringe in front, but this only appears on fairly high contrast edges and is very well controlled for an f\/1.4 prime lens.  Stopping down reduces these aberrations even further.  Lateral chromatic aberration is fairly minimal and shouldn’t be an issue at all in real world shooting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

The Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 is similarly well controlled with regards to distortion.  The lens shows just a bit of barrel distortion, but it’s barely field relevant.  If shooting buildings with lots of straight lines, you might notice it, but it’s easy to correct and won’t be worth worrying about most of the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sigma 35mm shows rather strong vignetting wide open, with notable darkening of the frame edges that intrudes even into the outer thirds of the image frame.  It helps frame subjects if they are positioned near the middle 2\/3 of the image frame, but you’ll want to correct it if the effect bothers you, or if your subject is near the edges of the frame. Stopping down to f\/2 reduces vignetting significantly, and by f\/2.8, it’s nearly gone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One weak point with the lens is in flare control.  While it does an OK job shooting against bright light when shooting wide open, if you’re stopping down, there can be significant ghosting if the sun is near the edge of the frame, with green and multicolored ghosting.  If the sun is more centrally located as in the shot below, it still flares, but it isn’t quite as objectionable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Summer Morning – Sony A7 III with Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 DG Art @ f\/13, 1\/250s, ISO 100<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Overall, I was very impressed with the Sigma 35mm f\/1.4.  It’s not a perfect lens, with strong vignetting wide open and a tendency to flare when stopped down, but overall it’s a lens that is sharp from f\/1.4, has good (but not great) bokeh, excellent color and contrast and low chromatic aberration.  Even as lenses in this segment continue to improve, the venerable Sigma 35mm f\/1.4 still proves to be an outstanding optic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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

Conclusion<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Pros<\/h4>\n\n\n\n