Digital Camera World - UK (2019-12)

124 DIGITAL CAMERA^ DECEMBER 2019 http://www.digitalcameraworld.com

K i t Z o n e

Olympus

45mm f/1.8

M.Zuiko Digital

£279/$399

Light and budget-friendly

Sigma

85mm f/1.4

DG HSM | A

£899/$1,199

A heavyweight contender

Digital Camera verdict Digital Camera verdict

3.5 Very good 4.5 Outstanding

Features Build & Performance Value Features Performance Value

handling

Build &

handling

The compact build

makes this lens

well-balanced on svelte

MFT bodies, but bokeh

is fidgety. The Olympus

45mm f/1.2 Pro does

better, but costs nearly

four times as much.

It’s a big bruiser of

a portrait lens but, if

you don’t mind the size

and weight, there’s no

beating it for image

quality – and it’s great

value for a full-frame

85mm f/1.4.

3.5

hanks to the 2x crop factor

of the Micro Four Thirds

system, this lens has an

effective focal length of

90mm. It also has a fast aperture of

f/1.8, bringing some much-needed

help in getting a tight depth of field –

generally a struggle with MFT cameras.

Measuring just 56 x 46mm and

weighing a mere 116g, the Olympus

is the smallest and lightest lens here.

Autofocus is driven by an ultra-quiet

stepping motor, while high-precision

manual focusing is available via a

‘fly by wire’ focus ring.

Performance

Sharpness remains good across

almost the entire frame, even wide-

open, where it only drops off towards

the extreme edges. However, bokeh

isn’t as smooth as with any of the other

lenses and, when stopping down a

little, points of defocused light take

on a pronounced heptagonal shape.

ow available in Canon EF,

Nikon F, Sony E and Leica L

mount options, this Sigma

is a weighty proposition for

an 85mm f/1.4 lens, at 1,130g. Typical

of Sigma’s Art series, it’s designed

for premium image quality without

any concessions to compactness.

The complex optical path is based

on 14 elements, including an aspherical

element at the rear and two SLD

(Special Low Dispersion) elements,

placed at the centre and towards

the front. Autofocus is based on

a ring-type ultrasonic system,

and weather seals are built-in.

Performance

Autofocus is both fast and accurate.

Sharpness across the entire frame is

hugely impressive, even wide-open,

which is a real challenge for an f/1.4

lens. We’ve noticed a little ‘onion ring’

effect in the bokeh of some Sigma Art

lenses, but it’s negligible in this one.

TN

Sharpness

Sharpness at wide apertures

is easily good enough to give

a real pop to portraiture.

Sharpness

Lenses with an f/1.4 aperture

are often soft wide-open, but

this retains superb sharpness.

Fringing 0.59

There’s next to no fringing at

wide apertures and only a little

at medium to narrow settings.

Fringing 0.36

The minimal amount of colour

fringing is almost as negligible

as from the Nikkor Z 85mm.

Distortion 0.3

We’re used to minimal

distortion in MFT lenses, but

this one has a little pincushion.

Distortion 0.03

Again, like the Nikkor Z lens,

the Sigma is essentially

distortion-free.

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

f/1.8f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11 f/16 f/22

Centre Middle

Edge

0

500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

3,500

f/1.4 f/2 f/2.8 f/4 f/5.6 f/8 f/11

Centre Middle

Edge

3.5 3.5 3.5 4.5 5.0 5.0 4.5

Group Test Portrait lenses