Sigma is known as one of the brands that specializes in making lenses for different types of cameras (also known as “lens for”, referring to 3rd party lenses). The company has introduced a trio of Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F/1.4 lenses for Canon EF-M, Sony E, M43 and L-mount cameras. This lens line is highly appreciated by users for its quality compared to the price range.
Most recently, in addition to the “contemporary” lens line, Sigma has introduced a trio of lenses for Fujifilm X-mount, giving Fujifilm users a new choice besides lenses. native”, Viltrox lenses and cheap MF lenses.
Design and finishing quality
If you have ever experienced Sigma lenses for Canon EF-M or Sony E, the version for Fujifilm X also has the same design and finish, almost no difference at all.
Of course, being a cheap “for” lens line, Sigma lenses can’t give the same perfection as its lenses. Users will still have a familiar appearance of the Sigma C line of lenses, finished from metal, plastic and rubber-coated focus ring.
Sigma reuses the familiar design language for the X . mount version
In the trio of lenses for the X mount, Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN is still the lens with the most “lean” design, followed by Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC DN and finally Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN.
With a short focal length, aperture up to F/1.4, it is not surprising that the Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN is the lens with the largest appearance.
Sigma 30mm and 56mm F/1.4 have more compact designs. As a fan of the 56mm focal length on the crop system, I especially like Sigma’s 56mm lens because it has an extremely compact design, when mounted on a Fujifilm camera it looks very nice, not too big like the Fujifilm 56mm. F/1.2 CHEAP
Compare Fujifilm 56mm F/1.2 R and Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN: Sigma’s lenses still have a more compact body, this is partly because Sigma lenses do not have an aperture ring, which is typical on other lenses. Fujifilm’s lenses
The filter diameters of 3 Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F/1.4 tubes are φ55mm, φ52mm and φ67mm respectively, weighing 280g, 275g and 405g respectively. The mount has a thin rubber ring to limit dust and moisture
Sigma 56mm F/1.4 and 16mm F/1.4 mounted on Fujifilm X-E4 body: 56mm and 30mm tubes for a more balanced design, while 16mm lenses make the camera focus on the lens
Due to the lack of aperture ring, users will have to set up a custom gear on the camera body to be able to adjust the aperture. This will be a drawback that Fujifilm users need to get used to, especially for those using the X-E4 which has fewer gears than the XT series.
Image quality
For those looking for 3rd party lenses, what they need is a level of performance at an attractive price point. Indeed, for Fujifilm users, they have quite a few choices of 3rd lenses, most of which are just MF lenses that are cheap but not convenient. Viltrox is also a popular lens brand with Fujifilm users, but the quality is definitely not equal to Sigma.
After about a week of experimenting with Sigma’s new trio of lenses for the X mount, there are 3 things that really impress me: the image quality is too good for the price range, the focus is fast and smooth, the aberration is low.
Among the three advantages above, the advantage of focusing ability is probably one of the most expected factors in a 3rd party lens. Because we all know Fujifilm’s large aperture lenses. All use old technology, for slow focusing ability and especially very noisy. As a user of the Fujifilm 56mm F/1.4 R lens, I really can’t accept the way this lens focuses: it’s too noisy and too slow, even worse when shooting video.
Test the focusing ability between the Fujifilm XF 56mm F/1.2 R lens and the Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN . lens
With aberration, in harsh lighting conditions, Sigma lenses produce images with relatively little blue and purple fringing, which mainly occurs when shooting against light with large apertures. To limit this situation, users can narrow the aperture down to about F/2.8 to F/4.
Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC DN
Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN
Fujifilm XF 56mm F/1.2 CHEAP
Although Sigma advertises the C-series lenses as equipped with a super-high-contrast coating and a special lens element system to improve image quality, for high contrast, however, In some conditions of use, the image produced by the Sigma lens still has a bit less contrast than Fujifilm’s native lens.
The Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN (left) has a lower contrast ratio than the Fujifilm XF 56mm F/1.2 R. However, this is just a specific example, in most practical use conditions, Sigma lenses give the best quality. good contrast and hardly noticeable difference compared to Fujifilm lenses
With a 16mm lens, this lens produces images that are not too distorted when compared to many other lenses with the same focal effect on the market.
Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN has extremely little distortion
Finally, about bokeh, all three of Sigma’s lenses have a 9-blade inner aperture structure, for relatively round bokeh.
Sigma lens has 9 blades built inside
In the corresponding focal length range of Fujifilm’s lenses, the 56mm F/1.2 R lens has only 7 aperture blades, giving the hexagonal bokeh is not rounded, while the other two 33mm and 16mm F/1.4 lenses have it. 9-blade aperture similar to Sigma.
Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN at F/1.4
Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC DN at F/1.4
Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN at F/1.4
Fujifilm XF 56mm F/1.2 R at F/1.2
Overall, the price for the Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F/1.4 trio is 8.9 million, respectively. 6.2 million and 8.9 million, this is an extremely attractive price for Fujifilm users who want to find a quality 3rd party lens option that is still not too expensive. Sigma lenses have always been known for their attractive price-to-performance levels, regardless of model.
Image taken with the Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN . lens
Image taken with the Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC DN . lens
Image taken with the Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN . lens