SIGMA 35MM F1.4 DG HSM | A

IF YOU THOUGHT ALL SIGMA ART PRIME LENSES WERE BIG AND HEAVY, THIS ONE COULD CHANGE YOUR MIND

COMPARED WITH F1.4 LENSES FROM MOST MANUFACTURERS, SIGMA’S 50MM AND 85MM F1.4 ‘ART’ LENSES ARE NOTORIOUSLY LARGE AND WEIGHTY. AT 77 X 94MM AND 665G, THE 35MM F1.8G ED 35MM F1.4 DG HSM | A IS MORE MANAGEABLE YET RETAINS THE SAME FAST F1.4 APERTURE RATING. INDEED, THIS IS THE FASTEST LENS IN THE GROUP, WITH AN APERTURE RATING THAT’S TWO-THIRDS OF A STOP QUICKER THAN THE NIKON AND TAMRON LENSES AND A FULL STOP FASTER THAN THE CANON. HOWEVER, IT LACKS OPTICAL STABILISATION, AS FEATURED IN THE CANON AND TAMRON LENSES, AND IS MORE THAN TWICE AS HEAVY AS THE NIKON.

THE BUILD QUALITY AND FINISH ARE TYPICALLY IMMACULATE FOR A SIGMA ART-LINE LENS. THERE’S A PARTICULARLY LUXURIOUS FEEL TO ALL THE EXTERIOR COMPONENTS, ALTHOUGH THE LENS ISN’T WEATHER-SEALED AND LACKS THE RUBBER GASKET ON THE MOUNTING PLATE THAT’S FEATURED IN THE NIKON AND TAMRON LENSES.

RING-TYPE ULTRASONIC AUTOFOCUS IS TYPICALLY FAST AND NEAR-SILENT, WHILE MANUAL FOCUSING IS SUPER-SMOOTH AND PRECISE. THE FOCUS RING ITSELF IS COMFORTABLY LARGE, ESPECIALLY COMPARED WITH THAT OF THE CANON LENS. THE FOCUS DISTANCE SCALE HAS MARKINGS AT THE LONG END OF THE RANGE FOR 0.6M, 1M AND 2M BEFORE GOING ON TO INFINITY, BUT IT’S A SHAME THAT THERE ARE ONLY DEPTH-OF-FIELD MARKINGS FOR F16.

AS WITH OTHER SIGMA ‘GLOBAL VISION’ LENSES, THIS ONE IS COMPATIBLE WITH SIGMA’S OPTIONAL USB DOCK FOR APPLYING FIRMWARE UPDATES AND FOR FINE-TUNING AUTOFOCUS PRECISION.

THE BIGGEST ATTRACTION OF THE LENS IS THAT IT SIMPLY HAS STELLAR IMAGE QUALITY. SHARPNESS ACROSS THE WHOLE FRAME IS SPECTACULAR, EVEN AT F1.4, WHICH IS NO MEAN FEAT FOR SUCH A WIDE-APERTURE LENS. COLOUR FRINGING AND DISTORTION ARE ABSOLUTELY NEGLIGIBLE.