Alan Parker wrote:
Apparently a reviewer from India released his review too soon; YouTube has deleted it though.
I watched it before it went down. It was aimed at a beginner audience and it didn't tell you anything that wasn't on the leaked specs (and didn't even cover all of those and what they mean). I was trying to get a sense of close up IQ had improved at 70mm 2.8 but there was just one image and it was hard to tell.
"The Sigma Art 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II is around 7% smaller and 10% lighter than its predecessor. This makes it a versatile and powerful tool that allows photographers and filmmakers to fully exploit their creative potential."
This is a tough one. Budgetwise, it's slightly more than the Sony 24-50/2.8, but has like 90% of the qualities of the Sony 24-70/2.8 GM 2. So tempting.
hlansing wrote:
This is a tough one. Budgetwise, it's slightly more than the Sony 24-50/2.8, but has like 90% of the qualities of the Sony 24-70/2.8 GM 2. So tempting.
Only negative thing I'm seeing so far in reviews is the really bad close-up image quality at 70mm with wild color fringing and low contrast.
SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art - Features - YouTube
And, the product launch video (Japanese, but easy-enough to follow along with lots of slides comparing it to all of their previous 24-70mm models going all the way back to my once-favorite EX DG HSM Macro for EF)...
Alan Parker wrote:
Only negative thing I'm seeing so far in reviews is the really bad close-up image quality at 70mm with wild color fringing and low contrast.
One review said a little bit soft in the corners at 24 for photos. But no issues if you shoot videos.
To add to the early reviews above, Gerald Undone, Gordon Laing, and the Northrups all weigh in (as with all my links, I have zero affiliation, for educational purposes only)...
Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 Mark II Review & Comparison - YouTube
NEW Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 DG DN II Art REVIEW in-depth - YouTube
Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 DG DN II Art vs Sony 24-70 f/2.8 GM II: Half price, equal quality! - YouTube
V2 has the same 19 elements in 15 groups optical formula as V1. The difference is that V2 has 5 aspherical lens while V1 has 3. The lens element diagrams look exactly the same except the aspherical lens part. MTF charts show V2 has improved sharpness and contrast, especially in edge and corner.
I was holding off on V1 due to size and weight. V2 is making life interesting.
mak543 wrote:
V2 has the same 19 elements in 15 groups optical formula as V1. The difference is that V2 has 5 aspherical lens while V1 has 3. The lens element diagrams look exactly the same except the aspherical lens part. MTF charts show V2 has improved sharpness and contrast, especially in edge and corner.
I was holding off on V1 due to size and weight. V2 is making life interesting.
I was wondering if this was the case based on the image samples I saw. I'm seeing the same issues in close up shooting at 70mm 2.8 with haziness and LoCA. That made me wonder if it was more of an iterative re-design rather than a complete one because I would have thought they would have addressed that. Since I have the v1 and the infinity quality is great, I'm not certain anymore that the upgrade is worth it.
I've always found it notable about how if you take both Sigma's and Tamron's wide zooms (14-24 and 24-70 along with the 17-28 and 28-75) how much more expensive Sigma's duo is. It's both impressive and costly to gain those 3mm on the wide end.
May 16, 2024 at 11:18 AM
Steve Spencer Online • • • • • • • Upload & Sell: On
corposant wrote:
I've always found it notable about how if you take both Sigma's and Tamron's wide zooms (14-24 and 24-70 along with the 17-28 and 28-75) how much more expensive Sigma's duo is. It's both impressive and costly to gain those 3mm on the wide end.
You are comparing apples to oranges a bit when you compare the Sigma 14-24 f/2.8 to the Tamron 17-28 f/2.8. The better Sigma lens to compare to that Tamron is in my view the Sigma 16-28 f/2.8 Contemporary. That Lens is $840 and very similar in cost to the Tamron lens. I think it is nice that Sigma has the choice of the wider higher quality lens in the 14-24 and the cheaper but still competent 16-28. I don't think it makes much sense to compare the Tamron 17-28 to the Sigma 14-24.
Keep in mind Sigma also has a 28-70 f/2.8 contemporary, so If you want to compare pairs of lenses then I think if you want to compare to the Tamron 17-28 f/2.8 and 28-75 f/2.8 then it should be the Sigma 16-28 f/2.8 and 28-70 f/2.8 contemporary lenses and in that comparison you actually save a couple hundred bucks going with Sigma.
To me the Sigma Art lenses are just a different sort of lens. Not built as small and they are made to compete with the Sony GM lenses. The Sigma 14-24 f/2.8 Art and 24-70 f/2.8 Art II are not quite as nice as the GM 12-24 f/2.8 and 24-70 f/2.8 GM II, but in my view they are a lot closer to them than they are to the Tamron lenses.
mak543 wrote:
V2 has the same 19 elements in 15 groups optical formula as V1. The difference is that V2 has 5 aspherical lens while V1 has 3. The lens element diagrams look exactly the same except the aspherical lens part. MTF charts show V2 has improved sharpness and contrast, especially in edge and corner.
I was holding off on V1 due to size and weight. V2 is making life interesting.
Well, not exactly "the same 19 elements in 15 groups", in the product launch video I linked to above they did show this comparison slide between the optical design changes between the V.1 and V.2 models (translation below)...
24-70mm Art Original Optical Design vs Mark II Design
Another pair of slides from that product introduction video comparing the V.1 and v.2 sizes and weights along with a comparison graph showing all of Sigma's 24-70mm variant weights...
Size and weight comparison of 24-70 DN v.1 and v.2
Weight Comparison of All of Sigma's 24-70mm models
And, finally from that product launch video, a three-slide comparison of showing the MTF improvements of the Sigma 24-70mm models over the years (and here I thought that EX DG HSM Macro was the bee's-knees on my 5D Mark II ), MTF comparison of the Art versions, and, finally, they offered an MTF comparison against their new 24mm DG DN f/1.4 Prime...
MTF Improvent Chart Over The Years For Sigma 24-70mm Models
MTF Graph Comparison for All of Sigma's Art 24-70mm Models
MTF Comparison of 24mm f/1.4 Prime and 24-70mm DN II @ 24mm
ketang wrote:
I was wondering if this was the case based on the image samples I saw. I'm seeing the same issues in close up shooting at 70mm 2.8 with haziness and LoCA. That made me wonder if it was more of an iterative re-design rather than a complete one because I would have thought they would have addressed that. Since I have the v1 and the infinity quality is great, I'm not certain anymore that the upgrade is worth it.
I'm in the same boat. I would want to upgrade as well; but the weaker performance at 70mm doesn't sit too well with me. The upgrade would also probably cost me 600 euros, which isn't too great
