Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART

Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART

Image: The NEW Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART.

07th December 2015, Singapore – Sigma Singapore sent me their latest 20mm F1.4 ART series lens a couple of days ago. Firstly, I would say that this is the best time to release this lens as it is near Christmas so this lens makes a perfect gift for the photographers and the F1.4 aperture is superb for shooting Christmas Lights off the streets. While I was thinking how to review this lens, I decided the best way to test this lens is to use it for a Christmas outing that I had planned for the group. And off to Singapore’s Orchard Road we went.

Before we proceed, (and as usual) we would like to disclaim that we are more interested on how the lens performed and what kind of images can we achieve using this lens. If you found your way here looking for technical specs, I will suggest you try googling for it instead.

Image: The NEW Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART.

The New Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART was designed as a “bokeh master lens” for those who wants flexibility on focal range (Ultra wide) as well as the large aperture that opens up to F1.4. I was pretty amazed by what Sigma had put inside the lens. Featuring 02 FLD glass, 05 SLD glass (Yes you saw it right!) & 02 aspherical glass and arranged to 11 groups with a total of 15 elements – this is MADNESS!!!! It is like having all the best optics known to Sigma and have them all arranged into a lens!

The 9 blades aperture is my personal favorite! It created a round bokeh – so round that my friends thought those were fake! It focuses from F1.4 to F22 which is pretty standard and it allow close focusing from as close as 27.6cm plus it has a really good magnification ratio of 1:71! For a moment, this full-frame lens is not exactly small at 90.7mm x 129.8mm but really manageable. Weight wise, it is slightly below the 1 kg mark at 950gm so this lens can be managed easily by most photographers.

OK, let’s take a look at the images produced by this monster of a lens by Sigma! All images are direct out from the camera with adjustment to straightening, cropping & adding of watermarks. No exposure or color manipulation was done. Check it out!

Photos from the Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART

Check out the below 3 photos where the 1st image was shot from a distance, then a 50% crop and followed by a 25% crop. The amount of details captured at wide open (F1.4) is amazing!

At 100%

At 50%

At 25%

I personally like the gradual loss of focus on the example below. At F1.4, I focused on the “F” and see how the out-of-focus kicks in gradually across the frame. This also means that this lens is great for wide angle portraits too!

OK, this is passe but I like doing this every year.(Bokeh Tree)

From the examples above, you will also notice that the Sigma 20mm F1.4 ART is also well suited to cover street shots and it is a monster at low light shooting situations which details are captured nicely.

Hope everything like what you saw above. The Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART is not a lens that will usually come by. Marvel lens like this takes a lot of R&D & engineering to perfect it and Sigma had it all packaged for you and call it – Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART.

Thank you Sigma Singapore for the lens!

-Ed.

Buy your Sigma 20mm F1.4 DG HSM ART here.

Behind-the-Scenes Photos by Cyndris Neo.

For other Sigma Articles by Ourshutterjourney.com, click here.

=================================

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.