Dave Sanders
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 p.35 #20 · Sigma 45mm f/2.8 DG DN Contemporary Review | |
tzhang4284 wrote:
I was able to get a good price on this lens (slightly less than the B&H sale price), was very impressed with its performance. At f5.6 to f11, I thought it was as good as my Batis 40mm and a copy of the Voigtlander 50mm APO I tested. This was true both at infinity and for close-up type photographs. I couldn't see a meaningful difference pixel peeping. Note that it is indeed 45mm - the batis 40mm is slightly wider and the voigtlander 50mm is a bit more telephoto.
In many ways, I actually preferred the rendering of the Sigma to the Voigtlander stopped down - vignetting was much less of an issue. Both were sharp and no noticeable CA with good colors.
At f2.8, the lens is definitely a bit soft. I have yet to see a shot I've taken where the slight glow is an advantage and I'm not sure I see the magic yet in the bokeh but it is somewhat smoother than the Batis 40mm. Also, AF-C performance is disappointing but I'm using this mainly with a Sony A7R III for street, cityscape, and landscape type photos so AF-S is generally sufficient.
I kept this over the Batis and Voigtlander since it's the perfect size with AF even if the wide open performance isn't great. I hope Sigma comes up with an equally small 28mm and 90mm for a nice street photography trio....Show more →
After much consideration, I just bought this lens for myself for Father's Day...or I bought this for my wife to give to me for Father's Day  I have found some things similar to you. First, the background...
I read every thread here, must have read every review online and watched a ton of videos. Opinion is quite varied but I must say, I'm glad I trusted myself -- and Fred's photos and just went for it. Everyone emphasized the lovey build quality and while I've always been a fan of 'haptics', I didn't think I'd enjoy the feel of this lens as much as I do. Very solid yet light. Love the aperture ring. More of this please, Sigma.
I think it was Fred who called it a bit of a 'mini STF' and I must say, he's not wrong. The bokeh is great, smooth with a lot of context but not a lot of hard edges, nervousness or 'bite'. Not my beloved 100STF, but very nice. At f/2.8 it is softer, but I'm not going to say it's soft. Close up? Sure, it glows. But even at selfie style arm's length, it's a sharp lens. Tack sharp? No. Can render my eyelashes sharp? Yup. That surprised me.
Stopped down to f/4 and resolution seems to just explode. Boom. Very sharp. By f/5.6 I'm with tzhang, mine is sharp across the frame. At f/8 and f/11, landscape apertures for me, it's sharp edge to edge corner to corner with no real weaknesses. A great optical performance. As for AF performance, I'm a very undemanding AF user so I can't comment much on that.
So, for me it really is a dual purpose lens. At f/2.8 it is sharp at mid distance, sharp enough at closer distances. It has a lovely rendering and bokeh at f/2.8 and even by f/4, it's critically sharp. By f/8 it's a near perfect landscape lens.
I'm not gonna lie, I do wish it was an f/2, but it's not a deal breaker for me at all. Apart from that and, I guess the AF-C issues which may rear their head in the future, it's a fantastic piece of kit. I'll try to get some photos uploaded soon-ish.
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