News tagged with "sigma"

We've been lucky enough to get our hands on an early pre-production sample of one of the most anticipated lenses of the year, the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM, and bring you a gallery of full-resolution sample images shot with it. This lens is the fastest zoom ever made for SLRs and, in principle, should provide the depth-of-field control and low-light image quality on an APS-C DSLR that you'd get using an F2.8 zoom on 35mm full-frame. We've shot a samples gallery including a variety of subjects, using a range of apertures, focal lengths and subject distances, to try to give an initial flavor of how the lens performs.

In a brief note on its Japanese website, Sigma has announced that the Sony and Pentax mount versions of its highly-regarded 35mm F1.4 DG HSM 'Art' lens will go on sale on 31st May. It's also announced that the Nikon-mount version of its 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM 'Sports' telephoto zoom will be available at the same time. We gave the 35mm F1.4 our Gold Award when we reviewed it back in December, for its combination of exceptionally good optics and solid build at a price rather lower than the camera manufacturers' equivalents.

Sony's RX1 fixed 35mm full frame compact has received the prestigious Camera Grand Prix 2013 title, while Sigma's 35mm F1.4 DG HSM was named lens of the year. The awards, organized by the Japanese Camera Journal Press Club have a history of recognizing what prove to be historically significant cameras. Meanwhile, the Editors Awards were given to the Canon EOS 6D and Sigma's DP Merrill series of compacts.

Just posted: Our hands-on preview of the Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art lens. The announcement of the world's first constant F1.8 zoom caused a lot of discussion, much of it centered around the idea that the brighter aperture would help APS-C DSLRs to compete toe-to-toe with full frame cameras in many respects. We've had a chance to handle the lens and prepare a preview putting its capabilities in more context. Click here to find out more.

Korean website lcap.tistory.com has published what it claims are sample images from the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens, purporting to show its performance in a range of different shooting situations, on both a Canon EOS 600D and 5D Mark III. We doubt very much that the site had Sigma's permission to publish the images from a pre-production lens, but if you're curious, you can click through for a link to the original 'preview' at lcap.tistory.com.

Sigma has announced the 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM Art lens for APS-C DSLRs - the world's first constant F1.8 zoom. The lens covers a 27-52.5mm equivalent range, and will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. As yet there is no announcement of a recommended price. The lens will offer the depth-of-field equivalent of a constant F2.7 on full-frame, and allow the use of lower ISO settings in low light, which may under-cut the need for some photographers to change formats.

Sigma UK has announced its new USB dock for lenses will be available from May 2013 at a retail price of £39.99 (including VAT). The company has also announced the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM lens will start shipping in Canon and Sigma mounts around the same time but has not confirmed the price. Launched at Photokina 2012, the USB dock enables users to easily update lens firmware and fine-tune focus parameters, while the 120-300mm F2.8 lens comes with a button to adjust the focus speed and the focus limiter.

Sigma has announced a delay in the shipping of its new USB dock for lenses and 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM lens for Canon that was expected to retail this month. According to the company, this delay is due to supply issues of the parts. Announced at Photokina 2012, the USB dock enables users to easily update lens firmware and fine-tune focus parameters, while the 120-300mm F2.8 lens comes with a button to adjust the focus speed and the focus limiter. Sigma has not given details about when it will start shipping the products.

Sigma US has announced the price and availability for its three latest 'Art' series prime lenses - the 19mm f/2.8 DN and 30mm f/2.8 DN for mirrorless cameras, and the 30mm f/1.4 for APS-C DSLRs. The DN lenses will be available for street price of $199 and the redesigned 30mm f/1.4 will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts for $499. All three will start shipping from the end of this month. No details were given about the 60mm f/2.8 lens also announced during the CP+ tradeshow.

Sigma USA has announced the price and availability of its DP3 Merrill large sensor, fixed lens compact. The camera will be available from March 2013 at an estimated street price of $999. It is nearly identical to the earlier DP Merrill models featuring the familiar 15x3MP APS-C Foveon X3 sensor, but with a 50mm (75mm equiv.) F2.8 lens. In the UK, meanwhile, the DP3 Merrill will be priced at £799.99 (the same as the DP1 and DP2 Merrill models).  

Sigma has released version 5.5 of its Photo Pro raw processing software, which adds a monochrome processing mode for cameras with the 15x3MP Foveon sensor - i.e. the SD1, SD1 Merrill, DP1 Merrill, DP2 Merrill and DP3 Merrill. It's also now compatible with Windows 8. The software is available now from Sigma's website - click through for more details and download links. 

CP+ 2013: Nikon has several samples of its 18-35mm F3.5-4.5G ED consumer-level wide-angle full-frame zoom on show, while Sigma has re-designed and re-worked several of its most interesting lenses, which are being shown in prototype form at its stand. This includes a new version of its 30mm F1.4 for APS-C DSLRs. And, while none are available to shoot with yet, we got a chance to handle them, along with the portrait-friendly Sigma DP3 Merrill. 

CP+ 2013: Sigma has announced four additions to its 'Art' range of prime lenses, including a 60mm F2.8 DN lens for mirrorless cameras and an updated 30mm F1.4 DC for APS-C DSLRs. Alongside these are redesigned versions of its 30mm and 19mm F2.8 DN lenses for mirrorless in metal bodies. Like these lenses, the 60mm F2.8 DN features a metal casing and will be available for the Sony E and Micro Four Thirds mounts. It will offer a 90mm equivalent field of view on Sony NEX cameras or 120mm equivalent coverage of Micro Four Thirds bodies. The Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC is a completely redesigned version of the popular normal lens for APS-C DSLRs - it will be available in Canon, Nikon and Sigma mounts. Price and availability details have not been given.

This year's Consumer Electronic Show is packed with exhibitors, industry analysts and press, all eager to see, touch and talk about this years' hottest electronics. As well as countless televisions, tablet computers and portable electronics, a lot of cameras get announced at CES, too. Here's a quick rundown of some of the most interesting new models on show at this year's event.

CES 2013: Sigma has announced the DP3 Merrill, the latest iteration of the company's enthusiast large sensor compact camera. Nearly identical to the earlier DP Merrill models, this camera features the familiar 15x3MP APS-C Foveon X3 sensor, but it is now mated with a 50mm (75mm equiv.) F2.8 lens. The lens lends itself to portraiture and, with a minimum focus distance of 22.6cm, offers respectable 1:3 magnification. Video recording is still limited to VGA resolution but the DP3M can shoot at up to 4 frames per second for 7 frames in Raw.

CES 2013: Sigma has published details of what it will be showing at the CES show, including pricing details for two of the lenses it announced at Photokina 2012. The 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro OS HSM, part of the company's 'Contemporary' line of lenses, will retail for around $499. Meanwhile the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM, which falls into the company's 'Sports' category, will sell for around $3,599. The company has also given details of a monochrome processing mode that it's added to its Sigma Photo Pro processing software for its Foveon-sensored cameras.

Earlier this year Sigma outlined a new vision for its product line-up, with lenses to be split into three categories: Contemporary, Sports and Art. The 35mm F1.4 DG HSM is the first release in the latter, and is designed to offer a relatively affordable alternative to the camera manufacturers' equivalents. It works on both full frame and APS-C cameras, and will be available in mounts for all major brands. In our latest review in partnership with DxOMark, we take a detailed look at how it performs, including test data from all of its closest competitors to see how it measures up. Click through to find out what we thought.

We've just posted a gallery of shots from Sigma's new 35mm F1.4 DG HSM prime lens, showing off its capabilities in a range of different environments, across its aperture range. We were very excited to start using this lens, and so far, it doesn't disappoint. Our gallery contains 23 photographs taken using the Canon EOS-1D X and 5D Mark III, and includes several images converted from Raw. A full review is on its way before the end of the year, but for now, we hope you enjoy our gallery of initial images. Click through for a link to the gallery. 

Lensrentals' Roger Cicala hasn't always been a fan of Sigma's lenses but the company's latest 35mm F1.4 seems to have got him pretty excited. He's written a very positive first impressions blog post, considering the build and test data from the first sample he's received. As usual, he's very careful to stress the limitations of what he's reporting - specifically that these are early impressions, based on a single lens that he's had little chance to actually take photos with. However, he's also someone with immense experience with lenses, and is in the unusual position of having had the opportunity to strip the lens down, so we found his insight interesting. (From Lensrentals)

Just Posted: Our review of the Sigma 18-250mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Macro OS HSM. The latest version of Sigma's stabilized superzoom is smaller and lighter than the existing non-macro version, yet is able to add improved close-focus performance, helping it compete with the similarly-sized Tamron 18-270mm F/3.5-6.3 VC PZD. These long-range all-rounders are a popular choice, so we've had a look at how Sigma's latest performs. We've also added DxOMark's test data for a selection of its competitors, to give a sense of context.