Amateur Photographer - UK (2019-08-23)

Thefastfall-offin focusat
f/1.4is cleartoseein this
bridalpreparationphoto
CanonEOS5DMarkIII,
1/1000sec at f/1.4, ISO 800

Shootingatf/1.4helps

accentuateyoursubject

anddrawsviewers’

eyestowardsit

CanonEOS5DMarkIII,

1/500sec at f/1.4, ISO 200

‘Nailthefocusatf/1.4and

you’llgetsatisfyingresults’

Thenine-bladedroundeddiaphragm

canbesetacrossanaperturerange

of f/1.4-f/16.Usedat itsmaximumaperture,

thesenineaperturebladesareintendedto

createattractiveblurin theout-of-focusareas

of animage,withpleasingcircularbokehin

thehighlights.Theminimumfocusdistanceis

28cm(11in)andbeingphysicallylargerthan

the35mmF1.4DGHSMArt,screw-infilters

andadaptersaremountedviaa 77mmthread

sizeasopposedtoa 67mmthread.

Aswellasbeingmadein Canon,Nikonand

Sigmamounts,it’soneof Sigma’sArtlensesto

beofferedin E mountforSonyandL mount

forLeicaandPanasoniccameras.Bymaking

thelensavailablein E mountandL mountit

rulesouttheneedof a MC-11orMC-21

converter,plusit opensupthepossibilityof

being able to use the lens in combination with

Sony,LeicaandPanasonic’scontinuousAF

modes.TheE-mountandL-mountexamples

alsoworkwithin-cameraimagestabilisation

andin-cameralenscorrection.

Buildandhandling

Althoughthesizedifferencebetweenit and

theSigma35mmf/1.4doesn’tlookhuge

whenthetwoareviewedside-by-side,the

differencein weightis discernible.Mostof my

timewasspenttestingthelenswitha Canon

full-frameDSLR,butoutof curiosity,I tried

handlingit witha smallerCanonAPS-CDSLR

withwhichit wasequivalentto44.8mm.This

combinationconfirmedwhatI thoughtwould

bethecase.It canmakesmallercamerasfeel

a touchnoseheavyandnotaswellbalanced.

Therearenosurprisesin termsof build

quality. You only need to glance at it to notice

it sharesa commonlikenesstoSigma’sother

primesin theArtrange.Thesectionof the

barreladjacenttothecamerabodyis made

of metal,withtherestformedof high-quality

plastics.Aroundthecircumferenceof the

metalmountyou’llfinda rubbersealthat

compressesagainstthemountof thecamera

topreventdirtandmoistureworkingitsway

between.Justbeyondthefocusdistance

window,there’sa large,rubberisedmanual

focusringthatoperatesfluidlywithsufficient

resistancetomakeprecisemanualfocus

adjustments.Justovera quarterturnis

neededtogetfrominfinitytominimumfocus.

TheAF/MFswitchis raisedfromthebarrel

andis easytolocatewithyourthumbwhen

theviewfinderis liftedtoyoureye.In its

forwardpositionit’ssettoautofocus.

Sigmahasstartedintroducingthelocking

typeof hoodwithitslatestlenses,andthe

LH828-01thatcomessuppliedhasjustthat.

It secureswitha 90°twist,butcan’tbe

removeduntila releasebuttonis pressed.The

hoodalsohasa stripof rubberisedtextureto

makeit easiertogripwhenyourhandsarewet.

It’sa goodidea,butit’sratherpronetogetting

markedanddoesattract dirt and dust.

Imagequality

LikeallofSigma’sArt-seriesf/1.4prime

lenses,the28mmF1.4DGHSMArtis

optimisedfortoday’shigh-resolutionDSLR

andmirrorlesscameras.I hadoriginallyhoped

that I might be able to test an L-mount