Fred Miranda
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Chuck Coyne wrote:
Received my Sigma 14-24 yesterday. It is a very well centered copy. I ran a few sets of infinity tests comparing it at 14mm to my Samyang 14mm, CV 15mm III, Batis 18mm. I also ran a few series of the Sigma at 20mm, and 24mm. I didn't have time to run comparison sets against my 24GM or 24 to 105 G. I ran sets of f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6, f/8 and f/11. Focused manually at center of frame on a sturdy tripod and with cable release.
I reviewed the results in LR compare mode and on a 5K monitor. The scene had both buildings and lots of trees with foliage. It is a very tough test for any lens, prime or zoom.
Bottom line, this lens is amazing for a zoom. It is strongest at 14mm, sharp across the entire frame all the way into the corners at f/2.8 through f/11. At every aperature it was clearly better than the Samyang 14mm MF FE lens. Not even close in the mid-frame and exteme corners. No surprise here.
At 15mm it was very sharp in the center and mid-frame starting at f/2.8 through f/11. The extreme corners were sharp but slightly less so than at 14mm and f/2.8 and f/4. But at f/5.6 through f/11 the extreme corners were as sharp as at 14mm. Compared to my Voigtlander 15mm III E-Mount lens the Sigma clearly was sharper at mid-frame and especially in the extreme corners at every aperature tested (f/4.5, f/5.6, f/8 and f/11). However, the Sigma and CV 15 sharpness levels were close at the center of the frame.
At 18mm it was very sharp in the center and mid-frame starting at f/2.8 and through f/11. The extreme corners were sharp but slightly less so than at 14mm and f/2.8 through f/5.6. Compared to the Batis 18mm at f/2.8 and f/4 the Batis had a slight edge in the extreme corners (I have an excellent copy of the Batis). But by f/5.6 through f/11 the Sigma catches up to the Batis in the extreme corners and I would call it a close draw at this point.
At 20mm the results are very similar to the 18mm with very sharp center and mid-frames at all aperatures and extreme corners good to very good at f/2.8, f/4 and f/5.6 with excellent sharpness in the extreme corners at f/8 and f/11.
At 24mm I can easily see that this is the weakest focal length especially in the mid-frame to extreme corners compared to the 14mm, 18mm and 20mm results. But at f/5.6 the mid-frame improves a lot and the extreme corners are very good but not excellent. At f/8 and f/11 the results at 24mm are excellent from center right through to the exterme corners. I know from prior testing of my 24GM and 24 to 105 G that the Sigma at 24mm will not be as good in the mid-frame to exterme corners as the 24GM at any aperature, especially at f/2.8 through f/5.6. At f/8 and f/11 the Sigma is only slightly behind. The Sigma's results across the entire frame are very similar to the 24 to 105 G at f/4 through f/11.
I did not notice any defraction at f/11 or any CA either at any focal length or aperatures.
So this lens looks to be a an excelllent Astrophotography lens (14mm and 15mm starting at f/2.8), I can see pairing it with my 24GM for shooting the milky way. As a general landscape lens it can cover from 14mm through 24mm with outstanding prime-like results at f/5.6, and especially f/8 and f/11. However, I would likely always choose to shoot my 24mm GM instead unless I decided not to carry it.
I will likely keep my Batis 18mm as it is an excellent copy and I can use it when I want to go lighter and it is much easier to filter with my Lee and Nisi 100mm filter kits or the CPL and Breakthrough ND screw on filters I have in 77mm size. It is also would be a better choice for travel photography and city nightscapes.
It will be interesting to see what filtering options come as this lens will surely be a successful seller. Also interested in what internal filter options may develop. Not sure if it would be a better trade off to have to remove the lens each time you want to put on a different strength filter or have to carry around the huge filters required for this bulbous lens.
Handling wise I find it not too heavy and certainly much lighter than compared to my experience using the Nikon 14-24 f/2.8 with an adapters on both my Sony A7R2 and Canon 5D Mark2.
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Thanks for your detailed analyses Chuck! It's definitely an ultra wide zoom I'm considering adding to my bag.
I'm not surprised that a modern 14-24 zoom with so many corrective elements would outperform the tiny CV 15/4.5 in terms of resolution away from the center area.
How do you feel it compares to the CV 15/4.5 in terms of flare resistance, color rendering and sunstar rendering?
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? It is so weird. cant they fix the direction?
