The Sigma 24-35mm f/2.0 DG ART Review
My Thoughts - 17th December 2015
I have now been working with this lens for about a month, and so far I am incredibly impressed.
The f/2.0 is the headline feature here. Working from the success of the 18-35mm f/1.8 for APS-C camera bodies, Sigma wanted to attempt to bring that incredibly wide aperture to a full framed lens.
Now while a lot of the time I have no use for such wide apertures, I typically photograph at f/5.6 - f/8.0, it has certainly proved it’s worth when photographing in the few hours, and generally low light conditions of this gloomy British winter without a tripod.
Although focusing as wide as F/2.0 is sometimes challenging, it is nonetheless incredibly sharp across the areas in focus and only slight weakened in the corners. Drop the aperture down a few stops and from F/4 onwards to F/8 this is one of the sharpest lens out there.
While this may immediately seem to have a very limited focal range, it does serve a great purpose for photographers who are interested in landscapes and occasionally have the need to get a bit closer with a 35mm focal length. It does therefore give you a bit more flexibility.
My first impressions are certainly positive. The build quality it stunning, and certainly a welcome improvement from my current Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8. The new design ethos is magnificently simple, utilitarian and beautiful.
However it is big and very heavy (940g / 33.2oz) for something that is directly competing with prime lenses. This added bulk certainly does mean that it is very conspicuous, although that is a sacrifice you have to accept to get the very fast f/2.0 aperture on a zoom I suppose.
The Sigma 24-35mm F/2.0 DG ART can be picked up for £600-£800 and is worth shopping around for the best deal.
I should have a week or so longer with this lens before I start testing either the Sigma 24mm F1.4 DG ART or the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG.
If you are finding this new blog segment useful I’d love to hear your comments. Leave an answer below if you have a preference for which lens you’d like to see me look at next?
