zeitlos wrote: gheller wrote:
Gorgeous images, but I will wait for the DG DN version of this lens.
The built-in convertor just turns me off.
If it shaves size / weight off (like it did the 85mm), it will be a game-changer.
g
Is this to be expected anytime soon? And: Is there already a version without "built-in converter" so that one can see what it will look like?
There's no way to know, we can only speculate. My guess would be, "maybe not": some think Sigma has now joined in with the popular trend of making small, sensible-compromise-sized lenses given its string of most recent releases. I'm not sure, I think it's partly just coincidence and a matter of filling gaps they saw in the market rather than a major philosophy switch. But the 105 is not the kind of lens you necessarily make many new versions of. Sales volumes for it can't be that immense, can they? Rightly or wrongly it's more of a niche lens than an 85mm f/1.4. I think Sigma often like to make lenses that will sell in high volumes to keep their big, self-owned factory busy. They might make a new version but I don't see how it would be their top priority.
I think, with the "built in convertor" remark, that gheller is referring to the Sigma MC-11 adapter. You can buy the Sigma 105 either as a native E-mount lens or as a Canon or Nikon DSLR lens. It has a lot of spare back-focus room to make it compatible with DSLRs. If you had the Canon version, you'd need to attach the MC-11 adapter, to gobble up that spare length, to use it on a Sony body. The size and weight of the native E-mount version is basically identical to the Canon-mount version with an MC-11 attached - the E-mount version just features a metal tube as a longer, built-in feature to get the spacing right.
The MC-11 itself weighs about 125 grams and adds (as a v rough guess) about an inch and a half of length, as an example of what that spare space is adding to the resulting bulk on a mirrorless body.
But, as I think gheller is assuming/implying, a new version of the 105 would presumably be a complete optical redesign without so much spare empty back-focus space behind the last lens element. It'd be a different lens altogether, hopefully in no ways worse but potentially maybe slightly different in character. Assuming it were made, it might not be anywhere near as substantial a size reduction as was seen going from the original Sigma 85 Art design to the mirrorless Sigma 85 Art redesign. One might like to think that an optically flawless 105mm f/1.4 can be made a lot smaller on mirrorless, but it might not necessarily be so.
If you think it might be something you'd want to have but you're worried about weight or it getting replaced in the market with a new model, buy used so you'll take less of a financial hit either way on reselling it.
Apr 02, 2021 at 06:44 AM
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