TECH SPECS
Price: $1,288 (Canon mount, version tested), $1,288 (Nikon and Sigma mount)
Focal length: 14mm
Aperture range: f/1.4 to f/16
Focusing range: 25cm to infinity
Weight: 665g
RATING
Design 3/5
Performance 4/5
Value for money 3/5
Overall 4/5
Many photographers swear by the principal lenses, particularly fast principal lenses. Such lenses fixed focal lengths. This simplifies the complex provision of the elements of lens found in zooms, having for result of the more pointed images.
In addition, a prime lens is usually a "fast" lens, in the sense
that it has a huge maximum aperture, so more light can hit the image
sensor, letting you use a faster shutter speed and minimising camera
shake.
The new Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art is one such fast prime lens.
This wide-angle prime lens is designed for full-frame DSLRs, but it will work on APS-C DSLRs as well.
For this review, I used a Canon EOS 5D Mark III full-frame DSLR. If
you use an APS-C DSLR, the resulting focal length ranges from 36mm
(Nikon and Sigma mount) to 38.4mm (Canon mount) due to the different
crop factors of the image sensors.
With a maximum aperture of f/1.4 and the resulting shallow depth of
field, this lens is also ideal for photographers who love the bokeh
effect - the deliberately blurred out-of-focus areas in an image.
The build of this lens is not as sturdy as Nikon's premium or
Canon's L-series lenses. But at 665g, it is quite light and therefore
easy to move around with.
This lens seems ideal for wedding photographers who sometimes need
to work in low-light conditions. Yet, it can produce beautiful images
with a nice bokeh effect to draw full attention to the bride or couple.
But autofocusing (AF) can be a bit noisy, though not irritatingly so. The AF speed is also not particularly fast.
With a 25cm minimum focusing distance and a 24mm wide-angle focal
length, however, you really cannot do much in the way of macro shots of
flowers or wedding rings.
With the f/1.4 aperture, the lens delivers great sharpness for your
intended subject with soft bokeh surroundings. But there is slight
vignetting at the corners.
With an aperture setting this big, the slightest deviation from the
focus point may blur your subject. So, you must be precise with your
focusing.
On the other hand, when you shoot using the minimum f/16 aperture,
the results are superb. Not only are the resulting images razor-sharp,
the edge-to-edge sharpness is consistent. Vignetting is also almost
non-existent.
The Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art is a great lens to have,
especially for wedding or event photographers. But it has specific
functions which only a skilled user would be able to fully utilise.
