Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) – First to Review in Singapore

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Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) – First to Review in Singapore
– Featuring Melvin Ho, Cindy & Chester Chen

Photo (L to R): Cindy, Editor AL, Melvin Ho & Chester Chen
Photo by Trisha Lim

14th March 2014, Singapore – We were given the NEW Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (Art) from Sigma and we decided to review it via our guests reviewers for some real world user-comments. Made & designed as one of Sigma’s Top-Line Prime Lens, this Wide-angle lens is “created” to the likes of the ultra successful Sigma 35mm F1.4 ART as well as the 50mm F1.4 ART. According to Sigma, the new 24mm F1.4 ART was designed to give photographers of what Sigma calls the “edge to edge performance”. Most photographers would know that for wide angle focal range like 24mm (on full frame), the corners are somewhat distorted which is a normal phenomenon that occurs in most wide angle lenses. Sigma aims to counter this and came up with a design that had the aspherical elements finding its way to the back of the lens barrel/group which allows users to shoot high quality images even when the aperture is opened wide.

Topping off that, Sigma incoporated premium FLD & SLD glass elements which dramatically reduces chromatic aberrations (CA) & corner distortions to a negligible level. Made as an all-purpose prime lens for wide angle applications, Sigma informed us that this lens was designed for “wedding photography, landscape photography, videography, astrophotography, indoor photography and event photography.”

Photo: The New 2015 Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART)

From our past reviews with the 35mm (ART) & 50mm (ART) (Part 1 & Part 2), we expected a lot more with the New 24mm (ART) as the previous 2 releases are already award-winning lenses now. On first look, the lens is slightly shorter than both 35mm & 50mm at 85mm x 90.2mm, and it’s pretty light at 665g. Featuring the same level of build, the lens barrels are made using the TSC and the lens size & design vividly reminded me of the Sony-Zeiss SAL CZ-24mm F1.4 SSM. A 9-blader which stops down to F16, the new 24mm focuses from a mere 25cm rendering a good magnification ratio of 1:5.3. It accepts 77mm filters at the front and it runs on the company’s proven and improved hypersonic motor (HSM) that gives you near silent focusing and hyper-fast & accurate focusing.

We invited 3 Guest Reviewers this Round to put the new Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (Art) through its paces and hear what they think of this lens after using them. We have Melvin Ho, a Wedding & Event Photographer with a Full Frame Canon EOS 5D MarkIII, Cindy, a serious Enthusiast with an APS-C Canon EOS 60D and lastly, an Award-winning photographer Chester Chen testing out the 24mm (ART) with his Infrared-converted (full Spectrum) Canon EOS 5D MarkII for IR compatibility.

What Melvin Ho have to say –

Photo: Melvin Ho with the New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM(ART) mounted on his Canon 5D MarkIII.

“The new Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) is rock-solid. Lens built and overall design is very good and it does seems like this is a lens that can withstand the elements. This has live up to the mass expectations of being an “ART” lens. On shooting, the lens is easy to handle and switches well-placed and it is not heavy to carry or use. In terms of image quality, I would say that the distortion control is well sorted out and in fact if you are not paying attention, you might not even notice any distortion at all. This is a great lens for wedding table shots or ambience documentations or even portraits of wedding guests against a background or a decorated scene. Lastly, it was revealed to us that this lens costs only a fraction of Canon’s EF 24mm F1.4L USM.” – Melvin Ho.

Shots by Melvin using the new Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART)

Melvin Ho is 37 years young, 6 years in wedding photography.

Photo: Melvin keeps smiling to himself while using the new Sigma 24mm (ART). We wonder what he saw that made him smile.

What Cindy have to say –

Photo: Cindy with the New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM(ART) mounted on her Canon 60D.

“The New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) is light and compact making itself more user-friendly to users. I also like the fact the lens looks very professional although its a 3rd party lens. On the lens, it is a very versatile lens and it has a wide variety of possible uses – even when it is used on an APS-C sensor. I would like to highlight that the photos produced by this lens is sharp even when I was shooting with it wide-open (aperture). I had lots of fun using this lens and I would recommend this lens to anyone who wants to have a fast wide-angle primes lens (for full frame) or a street lens (for APS-C) – the possibilities are endless.” – Cindy S.

Shots by Cindy S. using the new Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART)

Cindy S, an ageless beautiful young lady who loves macro photography and had been doing photography for about 3 years.

Photo: Cindy shooting a “pre-scene check” before mounting the New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM(ART).

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What Chester Chen have to say –

Photo: Chester Chen with the New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM(ART) mounted on his Infrared-Converted Canon 5D MarkII.

“I had the opportunity to fire a few shots with the Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) lens on my Canon EOS 5DMk2 modified full spectrum infrared camera to test for IR compatibility. As this was a co-review with other guest reviewers, it was a time-limited window to test the lens.”

“For comparison I shot an equivalent focal length using EF 17-40 f/4 lens at the same aperture of f/5.6., please see the photo examples below.”

[ SIGMA24_56.JPG ]

[ CAN24_56.JPG ]

“The two raw files were converted to B&W in Photoshop. No additional sharpening or clarity was added. Exposure was tweaked to achieve a desirable image for this article.

You’ll notice that the prime lens at 24mm does offer the same viewing angle of the Wide Angle Canon zoom. However, the 17-40 tends to make the buildings look a lot more distant and smaller.

Take a look at the 100 percent crops to get an idea of sharpness at f/5.6. Note I chose to zoom this area of the image because it had similar lighting although not exact.

[ SIGMA24_56_100.JPG ]

[ CAN24_56_100.JPG ]

“I don’t have access to the Canon 24mm f/1.4 Mk2 for comparison. I do know that the Canon 24mm works well shooting infrared and the Sigma does appear to work well with no hotspotting. If you like primes and the sharpness associated with primes the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Series lens is worth a look as it is very friendly to your wallet.” – Chester Chen.

Chester Chen, a mysterious photographer who had won multiple photography awards and loves spending time with his children. (When he is not holding a camera of course.)

Photo: Chester with the New Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) under the extreme heat from the mid-day sun.

Editor’s Note:
From what we gathered from our 3 guest reviewers, the new 2015 Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART) is well poised to challenge & take on the wide-angle prime lens market. Well built, good image quality and a fraction of the asking price of other equivalents, the 2015 Sigma 24mm (ART) stands out among the rest easily. If you are into primes or a new-found Fan of Sigma’s ART lenses, this lens is a must-get.

Sigma had proven to the world that they had beefed up their manufacturing consistency after the company went under the “Sigma Global Vision“, the company had sold lenses like hot cakes while churning out award-winning lenses after lenses. This is the brand to watch.

– Thanks Melvin, Cindy & Chester for taking time out and went under the hot sun for the new Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG HSM (ART).
– Thanks to Trisha Lim for all the Behind-the-Scenes photos for this Article.
– Special Thanks to Sigma Marketing (Singapore) for letting us have the lens before anyone else did in Singapore.

Ed.

Read my other reviews of Sigma Equipments here.
Buy Your Sigma Lenses here.

More Behind-the-Scenes Photos

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IMPORTANT NOTE:
** Sigma had re-organized their whole lens line into 3 category.
They are “C” Lens, “A” Lens & “S” Lens.

C Lens = Contemporary Lens Line

Featuring the very latest technology, and combining optical performance with compactness, Sigma’s high-performance Contemporary line covers a wide range of needs. Lenses in this category are Standard zoom lenses, telephoto zoom lenses, high-magnification zoom lenses.

A Lens = Art Lens Line

Designed with a focus on sophisticated optical performance and abundant expressive power, Sigma’s Art line delivers high-level artistic expression. Lenses in this category are Large-aperture prime lenses, wide-angle lenses, ultra-wide-angle lenses, macro lenses, fisheye lenses.

S Lens – Sports Lens Line

While offering sophisticated optical performance and expressiveness, SigmaSports line lenses deliver high action-capture performance, enabling photographers to get exactly the shots they want. Lenses in this category are Telephoto lenses, telephoto zoom lenses, super telephoto lenses, super telephoto zoom lenses.