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amazon Sigma 20mm F1.4 Art reviews
Usually, wide-angled lenses are appreciated for the sake of versatility but, to many, they are misunder stood lack of faith and finally consideration as all of them would declare, these lenses are just for scenery. C, let me change your mind about it. Despite being advertised as a landscape and astrophotography lens, I enjoyed using the Sigma Art 20mm F1.4 for portraits and product photos. It was the perfect lens for wedding dance shots.
Not a new product. It was introduced to the line by Sigma in 2015. Remains the reigning champion of fast, wide-angle primes for Nikon and Canon DSLRs at this point-heading towards 6 years old-and costing 900. It is also available for mirrorless in the Leica L-mount or Sony E-mount, although it is more difficult to use for such cameras.
The design of the 20mm Art lens brings up a few usability concerns that I would have, but if that’s the best for ultimate low-light performance you’re seeking, this has no equivalent to any 20mm lens. Since it competes indirectly with several first-party 20mm f/1.8 lenses, it is a pretty big item.
Design
Each photographic lens is an exercise in compromise, most of which involves price, size, image quality, and features that must all be balanced in order to achieve the intended goal: to create the most effective lens possible at the lowest possible price. Sigma always offers their best quality through their Art series, surpassing or not quite reaching that price point of alternatives-Star or otherwise-in size.
Weighing in at over 2 pounds, the 20mm Art is certainly not light, but that’s the full price you pay for its bright f/1.4 aperture and a great optical formula. The lens consists of a total of 15 elements in 11 groups with two aspherical elements, two of Sigma’s Low Dispersion elements, and five special Low Dispersion elements, ensuring sharp and aberration-free images with minimal distortion.
Size: Body is 3.6 inches in diameter and 5.1 inches long, including a built-in petal-style hood. I found it a good match with the Nikon D780 but not so sure how well it will perform in a mirrorless application.
This is a first DSLR lens; the mirrorless version has an incorporated adapter for addressing the difference in back distance turned into lengthening the lens. Perhaps this would be a giant Panasonic S-series camera, and this wouldn’t feel out of place on it, but I’m not sure how cozy it’s going to be on a smaller, lighter Sony Alpha-series camera. With an excellent feedback feature, Sony has recently launched the awesome FE 20mm f/1.8 G to give a good alternative for E-mount shooters.
The look of the lens is minimalistic, with a wide knurled focus ring complemented by a window gap ratio to lend it that premium look and feel. That’s the only other control point on board; the AF/MF switch is. There’s no stabilizer to turn it on or off – not that I’d expect one on such a fast, wide lens – nor an aperture de-click switch like we’ve seen on Sony’s F1mm f/1.8 and Sigma’s 35mm F1. 2 Art.
Sigma’s bulb front lens means that you won’t fit a conventional screw filter – an issue for landscapes when you want your polarizing filter or a neutral density filter. Professionals and other experienced shooters may not care about using a filter adapter for big drop filters. This alone may be a reason to think of a change of lens for the rest of us.
Autofocus
The use of Sigma’s Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) of the Art F1.4 20mm allows the lens to quickly focus on the viewfinder and in live shooting. You can feel the torque of the motor when it begins to rack from foreground to background. All things considered, it is almost inaudible.
Good performance in continuous autofocus is aided, no doubt, by the intelligent focusing algorithm in the D780, and it tracks a cyclist advancing at my side. It works well under the low light of a reception hall with probably the camera’s focus sensor being the larger limiting factor (the D780 is fine with -3 EV when using viewfinder).
The main problem is a huge one when it comes to autofocus while shooting through the optical viewfinder. Out of the box, my copy of the lens appeared to have focused quite a notable distance in front. Customer reviews report similar experiences. It isn’t something new for Sigma: I too observed the given behavior with the Art F1.4 105mm. Sigma seems to have gotten this issue under control with some of their newer lenses, such as the 40mm Art, which performed flawlessly for me on both Canon and Nikon.
Fortunately, most new DSLR cameras allow the adjustment of lens-focus behavior (this capability is somewhat automatic with the Nikon D780 using the AF Fine Tune function, where focus information from live view is employed to adjust the viewfinder performance). The other option is to purchase a Sigma USB lens dock, which will allow you to adjust focus directly in the firmware of the lens programmatically.
There is a way to work around this problem, but that being said, it is something the customer should quite frankly have known how to identify it. I can absolutely see an individual buying this lens and returning it, convinced that it is just not sharp. The opposite is true.
Image quality
The images I worked with after figuring the autofocus system and correcting it absolutely astounded me, Sigma 20mm Art, with its unforgiving resolution and unexpected bokeh; wide-open, f/1.4 looked like losing a tad bit of sharpness.
Distortion is there, but it’s pretty modest and easy to correct in post-production, requiring very little cropping.
The major concern would rather be vignetting, especially if this is your weapon of choice for the stars. F/1.4 demands enough light and sharpness with even exposure across the frame. At f/1.4, the 20-millimeter Art vignetting is just what one comes to expect from a 20-millimeter f/1.4. Painful.
That’s fine with me except for astrophotography. Once you shoot at a high ISO, lightening the corners to correct vignetting will just add noise. Not a huge deal — I’ve seen great astro shots using this lens from other photographers — but definitely something to pay attention to.
The established short 20 millimeter focal length provides minimal utility to most photographers, but with the Sigma 20 millimeter F1.4 Art, I have truly become a fan. I ended up having more fun shooting with it than I expected-especially considering that it’s a wide lens, and subjects like portraits and products aren’t really expected to be anything that way. Sometimes, all you’d really need to kick-start your creative energies is a new way of looking at things.
The newly improved capture of Sigma Illustrated 20mm Art had gained autofocus accuracy as a regular old model among its cousins in new lenses. Honestly, I would wish to see a redesign in mirrorless of this lens as Sigma did on its 14-24mm f/2.8 Art. But as far as Canon and Nikon DSLR shooters go, it’s still the wide-angle prime to beat.
where can you get a Sigma 20mm F1.4 Art online
Sigma 20mm F1.4 Art DG HSM Lens for Nikon: Buy it now