GEAR MINI TESTS
SIGMA 28-105MM F/2.8 DG DN ART LENS £1399/$1499 sigmauk.com
get at f/2.8. The bokeh is impressive and smooth, ideal for portraiture or throwing the background out of focus, with no nasty jagged edges. Used on a modern camera like the Sony A1, it’s so easy to get eyes pin-sharp using wide AF and eye detection, even when wide open or in a rush. This was just one of the many uses we had for the lens while covering a major international youth motocross race. The Sigma came in useful for everything, from shots in the pits or paddock and close-ups of riders with and without helmets to scene- setting landscapes and capturing on-track action. Although 105mm isn’t ideal for sports, up close it still worked well, especially when shooting slow-motion footage in 4K at 120fps, where our Sony A1’s crop gave a tad more reach. For the real track action we switched to a longer lens, but for everything else the Sigma never left the camera. Removing the petal lens hood and fitting a variable ND onto the 82mm thread did incur a bit of flare in bright sunshine, but added a cinematic look to the footage. The real advantage of a lens like this is that it can be used for so much, aided by the fast f/2.8 aperture and 12-blade aperture ring. For shooting documentaries, events or pretty much anything except for sports action at longer
This is yet another new high-end Sigma lens that falls in line with the brand’s mission to make innovative and boundary-pushing products. These are often optics of a kind that other manufacturers don’t make – and always at attainable prices. In the last issue we tested Sigma’s 28-45mm f/1.8 DG DN Art lens - the world’s first zoom lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras with a constant f/1.8 aperture throughout the entire range of its focal lengths. Hot on its heels is this 28-105mm f/2.8 DG DN Art that loses some speed but offers more than double the focal length at the longer end. No other lens manufacturer makes a lens with this range and maximum aperture, at any price. Canon does offer a 24-105mm f/2.8, image-stabilised version of its latest RF lens, but this is only for EOS cameras and costs double the Sigma’s asking price. There’s no option for Sony, Panasonic or Leica users unless you go to an f/4 version, which only gathers half the amount of light and significantly reduces the bokeh effect. Where many manufacturers focus on 24-70mm f/2.8 as the ‘standard’ of pro zooms, the new Sigma gives lots more length at the long end. It doesn’t go quite as wide, but is a very exciting option for image makers who just want that little bit more telephoto shooting and demand the shallow depth-of-field you can only
distances or super-close-up work like vlogging, this is a multifunctional lens that doesn’t compromise on quality in any way whatsoever. Optical construction is 18 elements – including two FLD, one SLD and five aspherical – in 13 groups. Sigma’s Nano Porous and Super Multi-layer Coatings are used to reduce any lens flare, which they do well. The colours produced fit in well with the rest of Sigma’s Art range – so look natural – and the contrast is high. Of course, any zoom lens will have some optical compromises when compared with the equivalent primes, but the Sigma really does an excellent job. At the widest focal length, central sharpness is superb even when wide open. Zoom to the 50mm standard setting and sharpness is excellent wide open, but falls a little after f/11 while at 105mm. Central sharpness is excellent to f/8 and still good from f/11 onwards. There’s nothing to complain about at all, especially at the wider aperture settings where a lens like this usually spends a lot of its time.
ALPHA SIGMA The new 28- 105mm f/2.8 lens might be the new king of standard zooms
FALL GUY It’s not really a sports lens, but the Sigma captured this young racer losing control
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