SIGMA 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A

It’s big on image quality but, in other ways, is less typical of Sigma’s ‘Art’ lenses

Sigma’s 50mm and 85mm f/1.4 ‘Art’ lenses are notoriously big and heavy, both of which featured in last month’s super test of portrait lenses. At 77x94mm and 665g, the 35mm edition is more manageable yet retains the same, fast f/1.4 aperture rating. It’s still lighter than the Canon and Samyang 35mm f/1.4. On the other hand, the Sigma is still a lot chunkier than Canon’s 35mm f/2 lens, and nearly twice the weight. It also lacks the Canon’s prized image stabilization.

Build quality and finish are immaculate, although the lens isn’t weather-sealed. Autofocus is fast and very quiet, while manual focusing is supersmooth and precise. There’s a generous amount of rotational travel and the focus ring itself is comfortably large. The focus distance scale is useful, with markings at the long end of the range for 0.6m, 1m and 2m before going on to infinity. However, there are only depth of field markings for an aperture of f/16. As with other Sigma ‘Global Vision’ lenses, it’s compatible with Sigma’s optional USB Dock for applying firmware updates and other aspects of fine-tuning.

Performance

It’s big in design, but the Sigma goes extra-large in terms of performance. Image quality is astounding. It matches or beats the Canon 35mm f/1.4 lens for sharpness across the whole frame, as you go through the aperture range. Colour fringing and distortion are also negligible. Quite a feat when you also consider that in various parts of the world the Sigma is between a third and half the price of the Canon.