SIGMA 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM | A £1199/$1599

This bokeh beast from Sigma is a real heavyweight and comes complete with a tripod mount ring

With its upsized 105mm focal length, this Sigma Art lens retains a fast f/1.4 aperture rating. The net result is a big, heavyweight build that tips the scales at 1645g. To put that into perspective, the Sigma is about the same weight as most 70-200mm f/2.8 telephoto zooms, and comes with a tripod mount ring. It’s a particularly good one as well, with a foot that’s directly compatible with the industry-standard Arca-swiss mounting socket.

Not just large, the lens also has a complex optical path based on 17 elements. These include three top-performance FLD (‘Fluorite’ Low Dispersion) elements, two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) elements, and an aspherical element. Sigma’s usual Super Multi-layer Coating is on hand to minimize ghosting and flare, and a fluorine coating is applied to the front element, to repel moisture and greasy smudges. Unlike the other Sigma lenses on test, this one also features weather-seals.

Billed by Sigma as the ‘bokeh master’, the lens’s combination of telephoto length and fast aperture enables a razor-thin depth of field that marginally undercuts that of Canon’s 85mm f/1.2 lenses.

Performance

Both axial and lateral chromatic aberrations are very negligible and the overall quality of bokeh is beautifully soft. There’s no lack of sharpness and contrast when shooting wide-open either but, if anything, the depth of field can be a little too tight in many shooting scenarios. Even so, bokeh remains very good when stopping down a bit, adding to the lens’s versatility.