New Sigma ART lens tests by Marc Alhadeff

Sigma 20mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art by Marc Alhadeff:

The Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (1000 euros) is a very good lens optically for a wide angle with fast aperture
Centre sharpness is excellent , and closed down to F4 corners are very good
The F1.4 allows for some unique effect for a wide angle that has no equivalent
However at F1.4 you get medium corners and field curvature is visible , so far from a perfect lens
The biggest issue is certainly its weight : 1 kilo
So if F1.4 is a must for you , Sigma is the way to go , otherwise other options are lighter and as (globally) performant

Sigma 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art by Marc Alhadeff:

The Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (850 euros) is an excellent lens that has no equivalent for Sony FE mount
Size and price remains reasonable and optical performance is excellent wide open with very good sharpness in real life and very nice blur effects for close subject
For landscape where you will close the aperture, corners sharpness is excellent as of F4
Highly recommended if you like this focal length

Sigma 35mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art by Marc Alhadeff:

The Sigma 35mm F1.4 DG HSM Art (800 euros) is a excellent lens optically
Excellent sharpness , low distorsion , low CA, better than Sony Distagon FE 35mm F1.4 Zeiss on this point
The Sony has still the edge in term of Color rendition and Aperture ring for video and most importantly in term of AF reliability
Unfortunately, the not reliable AF in AF-S is a big hurdle and you will need to stick to AFC. I hope Sigma can fix it with a firmware update or better quality control with other samples of this lens
If you don’t have the money for the Sony Distagon FE 35mm F1.4 Zeiss (1100-1500 euros) take a look at the very good Samyang 35mm F1.4 AF which has also a very good sharpness, fast AF (even if not as fast as Sigma and Sony) and reliable AF (better than Sigma)

Sigma 70mm F/2.8 DG Macro Art by Marc Alhadeff:

The Sigma 70mm F2.8 DG Art (550 euros) is a Macro lens offering excellent optical results with top sharpness, good bokeh, low CA, low distorsion at a very reasonable price. AF is on the slow side like any macro lens, and you will need to correct the lens fall off wide open (no Lightroom lens profile for the moment (July 2018). The Sony 90mm F2.8 macro does not do better in term of sharpness but well in term of ergonomics but it costs almost 2 times the price of the Sigma

New Sigma FE lenses:
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 70mm macro for $569 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and  Adorama.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 105mm f/1.4 for $1,599 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.

New Samyang lens tests by John Sison and Nic Taylor

On top you can see John Sison 35mm f/1.4 FE lens review. And this is the conclusion of the Samyang AF 24mm f2.8 FE Review by Nic Taylor:

During my time with this lens so far I have been very impressed with how fast and accurate the autofocus performs, even in low light. The fastest of all of the AF lenses by Samyang so far. I think it says a lot that this lens performs so well even on my Sony A7R given the unreasonably bad AF performance of that particular camera when it comes to moving subjects due to it only having the vastly inferior contrast detection AF system. Undoubtedly this lens will perform even better and far more accurately on a later model Sony A7 series camera like the A7iii, the A9 or even an A6XXX series APS-C camera with a phase detection autofocus system. A possible downside to the lens for some photographers may be that due to it’s size it doesn’t feature a distance or depth of field scale. This lens also lacks weather sealing. Samyang’s AF lenses (AF 14mm f2.8 EF & AF 85mm f1.4 EF) for Canon have both featured a rubber weather sealing gasket at the rear of the lens. Maybe this could be something that Samyang introduce on future Sony E-mount lenses. However, this lens is very enjoyable to shoot with partly down to it being so compact and light weight but also the stunning, detailed images that it can produce. It does show some signs of chromatic aberration but this can be easily combatted with a simple click in Lightroom or other editing software. Despite being a lens with a relatively wide focal length it produces pleasing bokeh (out of focus areas) but you need to position the lens pretty close to your subject to get a shallow depth of field with the background. The lens is focus by wire and seems pretty responsive when in manual focus. This lens will no doubt appeal to travel and street photographers looking to carry a compact, lightweight yet well-performing lens and at a very competitive price point. I have a feeling that this lens will do very well for Samyang.

Links to all Samyang/Rokinon FF E-mount AF lenses:
14mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
24mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama. Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
35mm f/2.8 at BHphoto, Adorama. Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
35mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, Adorama. Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.
50mm f/1.4 at BHphoto, Adorama, Amazon. Amazon DE, Amazon UK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.

New Sigma ART lens tests by Jason Vong and Lenstip

On top you can see Jason Vong’s ART lens test. While  Lenstip tested the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 test (Canon version):

The Sigma A 135 mm f/1.8 DG HSM was one of the best lenses we’ve had an opportunity to test so far. The Sigma A 105 mm f/1.4 DG HSM was even a greater challenge for optics constructors. They had to design a lens with a shorter focal length and the same size of the entrance pupil so the rays had to be focused much closer to the element. When you compare the dimensions of both lenses, their front elements and the diameters of the filters you see exactly how much more difficult that challenge really was.
The price they had to pay was significant – the Sigma A 105 mm f/1.4 DG HSM is a huge device, monstrous even, especially when you add the hood and the tripod adapter to its barrel. Still I suppose many people used to medium-format won’t feel any difference between work with the Sigma attached to the Canon 5Ds R or the Nikon D850. The sensational optics quality of the Sigma supported by excellent sensors of both these camera bodies will make you forget about any differences between that and medium format and we mean here dimensions, weight and the quality of photos too.
Sensational optics closed in a solid barrel and lack of any serious flaws – small wonder the Sigma, tested here, is another lens from that producer that gets our “Lenstip.com Editor’s Choice” badge.

New Sigma FE lenses:
Sigma 14mm f/1.8 for $1,599 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 20mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 24mm f/1.4 for $849 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 35mm f/1.4 for $899 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 for $949 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 70mm macro for $569 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and  Adorama.
Sigma 85mm f/1.4 for $1,199 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 105mm f/1.4 for $1,599 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for $1,399 at BHphoto, FocusCamera, Amazon and Adorama.

 

 

Sony Cyber-shot DSC RX100 VI review at DPreview

Dpreview published the full RX100VI review. The camera earned the Silver Award:

The RX100 VI is a very capable camera, combining a flexible zoom range with impressive autofocus. However, the small maximum aperture required to keep the size down limits the image quality in some situations. The relatively high price means you have to really want its unequaled combination of capability and size.

The new Sony RX100VI is in Stock at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon, FocusCamera.

New A7III books by David Busch and Gary Friedman

You can now preorder the new A7III book from David Busch on Amazon US. And long time Sony guru Gary Friedman also released his A7III eBook. It’s available now here: http://friedmanarchives.com/A73/.He also posted these Youtube videos:

Sony A7III in USA at Adorama, BHphoto, Amazon, BestBuy, FocusCamera, BuyDig.
Sony a7III in Europe at Amazon DE, Calumet Germany, Amazon UK, ParkCameras UK, WexUK, Amazon FR, Amazon IT, Amazon ES.