Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN Art Sony E Mount 578965

Product Information

The good news about the 24-70mm focal length range, considered "normal" and covering angles of view ranging from wide angle through short telephoto, is the great general purpose usefulness it has. The 24-70mm f/2.8 lens has always been one of the most popular zoom lenses because it happens to hit many of the more popular wide to mid focal ranges. As such, it is only natural that Leica would launch one for its own L-Mount system. The closest the company had come before is the 24-90mm f/2.8-4 variable aperture lens which, while sharp, is not able to reach f/2.8 at anything other than the widest angle.

24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art | Lenses | SIGMA Corporation 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art | Lenses | SIGMA Corporation

Focusing is internal – the lens does not extend and the filter threads do not rotate during focusing. At other focal lengths, and especially at 70mm, the lens needs to be stopped down to f/4 for best results. Also, lenses with an opening wider than a specific aperture (usually f/2.8) enable the higher precision AF capabilities (most often the center AF point) in some cameras and present a brighter viewfinder image than narrower aperture alternatives. The Nikon mount version of this lens includes an electromagnetic diaphragm mechanism that allows it to receive the appropriate signals from the camera body. This feature ensures precision diaphragm control and stable Auto Exposure (AE) performance during continuous shooting.At f/4, the center shows slight improvement, but the mid and periphery show noticeable improvement.

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 IF EX DG HSM Review - Trusted Reviews

At f/4, these two lenses are both extremely sharp and there is little differentiation in this regard aside from the Canon's still-better corner performance. The Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Lens is available in Canon (reviewed), Nikon, Pentax, Sony/Minolta and Sigma mounts. Focus is powered by a HSM motor, which provides fast, silent and accurate autofocus performance throughout the range. As focus is performed internally the front filter thread does not rotate, which should please users of polarising filters and neutral density graduated filters. The HSM motor used also allows for manual focus adjustments at any time and the focus ring does not rotate during AF, which I find helps with the handling of the lens.The blue column represents readings from the centre of the picture frame at the various apertures and the green is from the edges. Averaging them out gives the red weighted column. We have not tested the non-VR Nikon lens on the Nikon D810 yet, but we do have results from the D3X which are available to nicely compare against Canon 1Ds III results. The enhanced resolution ISO 12233 test chart we photograph under lab conditions generally produces results that are ideal for assessing image quality.

Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN | Art field review: Digital

Both the earlier model and the Nikkor have higher levels of aberration than the Art lens up to 50mm, and somewhat beyond for the Sigma’s predecessor. But this is mostly present in the corners of the frame and will likely only be noticeable along high-contrast edges. Software can usually remove chromatic aberration when processing RAW files, but its effect on sharpness can be difficult to correct. The scale on the left side is an indication of actual image resolution. The taller the column, the better the lens performance. Simple.It is always exciting to bring in a new Sigma Art lens and covering the normal, most-commonly-used focal length range with an f/2.8 aperture combined with optical stabilization definitely raised the anticipation level for this one. From weddings to photojournalism, landscapes to portraits, professional photographers demand low-light capability, exceptional imaging performance, and long-term durability. And that's exactly what these lenses deliver. Together, the SIGMA 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM | Art, 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art, and 70-200mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Sports lenses can capture nearly any moment, brilliantly. The focal length range is highly useful, as is the wide aperture and the AF system may be my new Sigma favorite.

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Lens Review Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM Lens Review

But, you are probably not considering this lens if you only plan to use an f/4 max aperture because in that case, you are better off with the image stabilized So, the f/2.8 made available over the entire 24-70mm focal length range is, for the most part, best-available. There is a reason that the focal length or focal length range is included in the product name of every DSLR lens produced today. So, valuable is that OS allows handholding in medium and low light levels when more depth of field is needed, allowing narrower apertures to be used without a tripod. Auto focusing does have its niggles as the lens tends to focus either in front or behind of the point you want focused but this seems to occur more commonly at close ranges, although on average i have noticed that i delete more and more pictures due to focus errors than i have ever done with any other lens.

Overall, the lens is well-built with essentially no play/wobble in the barrel assembly even at full extension.