Photography News Issue 50

Photography News | Issue 50 | photographynews.co.uk

First tests

Sigma 14mmf/1.8DGHSMArt £1679.99

Specs

The Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art is the seventh prime lens in the range to provide full-frame coverage, and a cracker it is too. With its 114.2° ultra wide-angle of view, fast f/1.8maximum aperture and weather-resistant build, this lens quite a feat of engineering so you won’t be surprised that it comes at a price. It’s a penny shy of £1680 but is something quite special and while its appeal is not universal, those photographers who need such a lens will appreciate its creative potential. Physically, this is a robust, weighty lens but with a good balance; the centre of gravity is around the middle of the lens. Fitted on a Canon EOS 5DS R, the lens is definitely the senior partner. Handling rates highly and the manual focus ring is smooth and responsive and gives full-time manual override. Looks-wise, the 14mm is typically Art, it looks the business with a classy finish and includes a depth-of-field scale. According to this, at f/16 with hyperfocal focusing, depth-of-field extends from around 33cm to infinity. As wide as f/4, again with hyperfocal focusing, you still get everything from one metre to infinity in focus. A bulbous front element is inevitablewith such a fast, wide lens so it demands careful use. The lens is dust and splash resistant but that doesn’t keep dust and straying fingers off the front element. The built-in vestigial lens hood tries to keep flare down but again, given its wide view, that is a challenge too. With the low autumnal sun I was getting flare spots even with the sun about 90° to where the lens was pointing and that got worse the closer I moved the lens towards the sun. Image contrast remained high with minimal ghosting even with the flare spots so it wasn’t a bad effect, but needs watching in bright conditions. Shielding the front element with a piece of card or hand while keeping it out of frame does work but this isn’t easy while handholding – works well with the camera on a tripod though.

Giventhelens’sdesign,conventional front filter use is not practical (Lee Filters has an adapter on the way for its SW150 system) but Sigma does have a rear filter gel solution for Canon users only. The Rear Filter Holder FHR-11 costs £34.99 (£59.99 including installation). Using a rear-mounted filter is not that convenient and key filters (the polariser) are ruled out but having the option isworthwhile. It does beg the question of why didn’t Sigma design and fit a rear gel holder to start with and on all mount versions. The answer is that Sigma wanted the best possible performance and that meant keeping the distance from the rear element to the sensor to a minimum. This still left enough space for a rear filter holder on the Canon fit model but not on the Nikon and Sigma versions. It seems obvious, but there’s no point having a f/1.8 lens if the shots you get at that value are soft. But no danger of that with this lens. Yes, it is true that if you go digging at the very edges of the frame, you can find some softening but most of the image is lovely and sharpand finedetail is clearly resolved. Stop down to just f/4 and those slightly soft edges improve noticeably and any aperture from f/4 to f/8 will give you impressive image quality across the frame. F/5.6 is probably the best aperture but there is little to choose between the middle values. Diffraction softens the image slightly at f/11 and slightly more at f/16 but image sharpness remains high; if you want the very maximum depth-of- field, stopping down to smaller f/stops won’t impact on your shots much. All round, I thought this lens performed really, really well. I’d happily use it wide open knowing that the images would be first rate. Low-light and astro shooters will be happy to hear that, but for more general use, stop the lens one or two stops and image sharpness gets even better. Indeed, landscapers can stop right down to f/16 and still be critically happy with the results they’ll get. WC

Price £1679.99 Format Full-frame, APS-C Mount Canon, Nikon, Sigma Construction

16 elements in 11 groups Special lens elements 2x FLD glass, 3x aspherical, 4xSLD glass Coatings Sigma Multi-layer coating Filter size No front thread. Filter gel via Rear Filter Holder FHR-11 for Canon £34.99 (£59.99 including installation) Aperture range F/1.8-16 Diaphragm Nine blades Internal focus Yes Manual focus Yes, full-time manual override. HSM for autofocus Minimum focus 27cm Focus limiter No. Maximummagnification 1:9.8 Distance scale Yes Depth-of-field scale Yes Image stabilizer No Tripod collar No Lens hood Built-in Weather-sealed Dust and splash proof Dimensions (lxd) 126x95.4mm Weight 1170g Contact sigma-imaging-uk.com The Sigma 14mm f/1.8 is a heavy, ultra-wide lens and is certainly not a lens anyone is going to buy and lug around on the off-chance it will be used one day. However, if you do have a job for it, it’s worth every penny. Its angle of view and speed means it is ideal for astro photography and while its f/1.8 is less of a benefit it will appeal to scenic and architectural photographers too. The big news for me is that the maximum aperture is very usable which makes Sigma’s 14mm f/1.8 a highly capable member of the Art family and well worth the money. Pros Very good maximum aperture performance, angle of view Cons Heft, can flare, filter use a challenge, no rear filter holder as standard (for Canon) Verdict

I’d happily use it wide open knowing that the images would be first rate. Low-light and astro shooters will be happy to hear that

Original image

F/1.8

F/2.8

F/4

F/5.6

Images For these test shots, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8was used on a Canon EOS 5DS R set to ISO 100 and Raw shooting. The camera and lens were fixed onto a Gitzo carbon fibre tripod and the self- timer used for shutter release. Raws were processed in Lightroomwith default sharpening set.

F/8

F/11

F/16