Sigma 14mm f/1.8 dg hsm art review

Vibration Reduction

When shooting handheld or in low-light circumstances, having a lens with built-in Vibration Reduction (VR) technology may be quite beneficial. The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art lens has this technology. As a result of the VR system’s ability to successfully correct for camera shake, photographers are now able to take crisp, blur-free photographs even using shorter shutter rates.

This is especially helpful when photographing the night sky or taking pictures in dimly lit areas, both of which are situations in which using a tripod may not always be possible. Because of the function known as Vibration Reduction, photographers are now able to confidently push the boundaries of their creativity without having to worry about unwelcome image blur.

Handling and Ergonomics

The ergonomics of the lens have been thoughtfully considered throughout its design process in order to provide photographers with a pleasant experience when they are shooting. Because of its small size and low weight, it is very easy to use and can be carried around with you wherever you go, making it an ideal companion for shooting on location and when traveling.

The lens has a large manual focus ring that is conveniently located for easy and accurate focusing on the subject of the photograph. Additionally, the lens features a lens hood in the shape of petals, which effectively prevents stray light, therefore reducing lens flare and boosting the overall image quality.

Build Quality

The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art lens has the superb build quality and was built to endure the rigorous use that is required in the photography industry. It has a sturdy design and a metal barrel that can withstand harsh shooting circumstances, which assures that it will last for a long time and will function reliably.

Because the lens has been weather-sealed, it offers protection against dust and moisture, making it suited for use in photography that takes place outside in a variety of settings. The focus ring and aperture ring both have a satisfyingly smooth and well-damped feel to them, which provides a satisfying tactile sensation as well as accurate control over the focus and exposure settings.

Conclusions

Ultra-wide lenses aren’t everyday tools for most photographers, but for some disciplines they’re indispensable. I tend to recommend zooms at this end of the coverage range, as they’re more versatile tools, giving you the ability to capture a wider variety of subjects without changing lenses. But wide zooms are typically f/2.8 or f/4 designs, and there are times that you just need more light.

The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art is an especially appealing lens for landscape photographers who like to work at night and incorporate the night sky into compositions, as it’s much, much easier to manually focus with a brighter lens and a live view system than with a dimmer one. Sadly, New York’s light pollution means that I wasn’t able to do any real astro work with the lens during my review period.

It’s also an appealing option for architectural photographers, especially those who need to work quickly and don’t always have the ability to use a tripod. The bright aperture means you’ll be able to get crisp handheld images at a lower ISO than an f/4 zoom like the Sigma 12-24mm ($1,219.00 at Amazon) or Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM. Both of those zooms are Editors’ Choice winners, although we give preference to the 12-24mm due to its more affordable price. But if your needs require a lens that gathers more light, the 14mm is a good way to go.

Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art

4.0

See It

$1,549.00 at Amazon

MSRP $1,599.00

Pros

Ultra-wide field of view.
Very bright aperture.
Very sharp.
Solid build.
Dust and splash protection.
Available for multiple camera systems.

Cons

Some barrel distortion.
Soft edges and corners at wide apertures.
Dim corners.
Doesn’t support front filters.

The Bottom Line

The Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art is an ultra-wide prime lens with an extremely bright aperture and crisp optics.

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Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art: Physical Size and Hand Feel

At nearly two and a half pounds, and with a 3.8 inch diameter and 5 inch length, the Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art is a solid chunk of high quality glass and electronics. Of the 16 elements in 11 groups in the optical path, three are FLD glass, four are SLD glass, and three are Aspherical lenses. The petal-type hood is permanently attached, and the fit and finish is in the distinctive and elegant Art line finish. The full-time manual focus ring is towards the front of the barrel, at the widest diameter of the lens, for easy focus tuning and the AF switch location and feel is familiar to anyone who has handled an Art lens. Because the lens field of view is so wide, you’ve got to be mindful to keep stray fingers out of the framing when cradling the lens in your hands—once you’ve caught yourself through the viewfinder gripping the front of the petals, you’ll quickly stop this habit!

On a hike through Rutgers Gardens, I stumbled upon a series of interconnected timber shelters built of fallen trees in the geometric forest. The 114.2º field of view allowed me to show the interiors of these cool artistically hewn spaces. 1/30 F7.1 at ISO 400.Another section of the shelter compound in Rutgers Gardens. The ultrawide field of view really works to document this space. Same tech specs as above.

Image Quality

I tested the 14mm F1.8 with the 50MP Canon EOS 5DS R. It delivers solid sharpness numbers, even wide open. At f/1.8 it scores 2,963 lines on a center-weighted test, better than the 2,750 we look for at a minimum. It’s not an even field, though. Imatest shows that the center area of our test chart is excellent (3,870 lines), but gives way to a middle area and edges that are a bit soft (2,250 lines) in lab tests.

I feel those numbers skew a bit low. Edges look pretty good in shots taken in the field at f/1.8, although not on the same level as the center. Field curvature is an issue when testing ultra-wide lenses, as we need to place them very close to our test chart in order to frame it from edge to edge.

Lab results are about the same at f/2. At f/2.8 we see an improvement in center resolution (4,180 lines), which brings the average score to 3,149 lines. At f/4 the edge score improves significantly (2,981 lines), as does the center area (5,575 lines), for a center-weighted average of 4,143 lines. That’s a sharper result than you get with the 12-24mm zoom at 12mm f/4 (3,295 lines).

The lens delivers peak image quality at f/5.6 (4,620 lines) and f/8 (4,668 lines), with edges that show about 3,500 and 4,000 lines, respectively. Those are outstanding numbers all around, especially when you consider that this is an ultra-wide angle lens.

Diffraction cuts into resolution at the two narrowest options, f/11 (3,835 lines) and f/16 (3,336 lines), but they’re both still useable options, even on a high-resolution body like the 5DS R. Lower-resolution sensors are a little less prone to showing the effects of diffraction.

There is some visible distortion, about 4.3 percent. That’s not overwhelming for an ultra-wide, but you will want to remove it to get the best representation of reality, especially when shooting architectural subjects. Lightroom includes a profile for the lens that offers one-click corrections, but any editing suite with a distortion control adjustment slider will do the trick.

We also see some dimness at the edges of the corners of the frame when shooting at wide apertures. There’s about a 4-stop (-4EV) drop from center to corner at f/1.8 and f/2, cut to -2.5EV at f/2.8, -2EV at f/4, and -1.5EV at narrower apertures. You won’t notice it for most shots at f/5.6 and smaller, but you’ll want to dial in some correction in software if you find that a vignette distracts from your wide-aperture shots. Again, you’ll need to do this in Lightroom or another editing suite, as in-camera corrections aren’t available for third-party lenses.

Lens Sharpness and Contrast

Considering all of the above and the fact that Sigma has been making some stunning Art-series lenses, it is obviously expected for the lens to deliver exceptional sharpness…and it certainly does! I was very impressed by my field experience (especially once I figured out how to focus with this lens) and my lab tests with Imatest confirmed my findings as well – the lens produced very nice sharpness results, even when focusing at close distances:

As you can see, the lens is capable of superb sharpness wide open and it produces very impressive results when stopped down to f/4, where it shows best overall performance. However, keep in mind that the above numbers are what I was able to achieve after getting my focusing figured out. Due to the field curvature of the lens, you must be careful about how you focus with it. Using live view contrast detection and placing the focus point in the center frame might yield even better center sharpness than the above, but at the cost of the corners. Take a look at the below graph, which shows what happens when you do that:

The center sharpness in this case peaks to very impressive numbers at f/4, but the corners become blurry as a result. In this particular case, I focused at the middle section of the test chart at f/1.8 and then took shots at different apertures. Wondering what kind of a difference one would see in real life? Take a look at the two crops below, from the left bottom side of the frame (as seen from RAW image, no post-processing applied):

This is what a corner looks like at f/4 when you focus well, as I did for the first graph of this review. And now take a look at a crop using same aperture, except when I focused in the center of the frame, as shown in the second graph:

That’s a pretty big difference, wouldn’t you agree? If you use this lens and see blurry corners when stopped down, you might need to tweak your focus a bit via live view, so that both the center and the corners look good!

Keep in mind that this behavior is not limited to shooting test charts at close distances. I observed the same behavior at longer distances – even at infinity. For example, take a look at this image, which I focused on correctly:

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 64, 10/1, f/8.0

And here is the extreme corner from the bottom left:

Looks nice and sharp right? Well, take a look at the second image, which I focused on incorrectly this time – only used the center focus point and didn’t pay attention to the edges in live view. First, the full image:

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 64, 10/1, f/8.0

And here is the same size crop from the bottom left corner:

Yikes! Both images were shot on a stable tripod, with a shutter speed of 10 seconds, so there is no chance for other variables that could have impacted the sharpness here. The two images look very sharp in the center, but the corners look drastically different, even at f/8!

If you are curious about the MTF chart that’s provided by Sigma, here it is:

When it comes to contrast and color, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art does not disappoint – it is certainly excellent, as expected from a premium Art-series Sigma lens.

Ghosting and Flare

When shooting this wide, ghosting and flare are rarely an issue, because the points of light are so tiny in the frame. Unless you have a huge light source right next to your camera, you should not worry about it in your images. To make sure that the impact of ghosting and flare is minimal, Sigma coated the lens elements with its Super Multi-Layer Coating, which certainly does make a difference. Take a look at the below image, with the sun in the frame:

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 200, 1/80, f/16.0

As you can see, the lens handled it very well. The worst case scenario I could come up with, was when shooting with the sun just right out of the frame, as can be seen in the below image sample:

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 64, 1/100, f/11.0

Even then, traces of ghosting and flare are very minimal, which is great!

Nocturnal Performance That’s Lights Out

Excellent optical performance coupled with professional build quality; what’s not to love? The Sigma 14mm continues the tradition of Art series lenses, delivering the goods at a decent price. Despite the larger physical size of the lens, the trade-offs are worth it.

I think astrophotographers will enjoy this lens and will appreciate the faster aperture compared to some other competitors. Anyone who needs an ultra-wide lens for low-light situations like indoor music venues or documentary work might also want to take a look.

Sigma has created an excellent low-light lens. There is a little Sagittal Astigmatism but no Comatic aberrations.

Are There Alternatives?

In L-Mount, there really isn’t much else available. Buy this lens now: it’s the way to go for fast aperture ultra-wide primes. If you have a Leica or Panasonic, this is the lens to purchase.

In Sony E-Mount the main competition will be the Sony 14mm f/1.8 G Master. The Sony is smaller, lighter, and takes stunning night photos. But it is also somewhat slower than the Sigma 14mm f/1.4 Art. If compactness for travel or back-country hiking is important, get the Sony. The price is effectively the same, and both lenses are excellent, so consider whether you want small or fast.

Should You Buy It?

Yes. Sigma has made an interesting focal length that is worthy of the Art badge, while also providing an excellent astrophotography lens at a decent price.

Lens Features

When it comes to lens features, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art is perhaps one of the most advanced lenses Sigma has made to date. First, the lens features the largest 80mm glass mold in the industry, something the company is very proud of. Thanks to its complex optical formula comprising of a total of 16 elements in 11 groups (most of which are corrective elements), the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art produces images with very little distortion – something most other lenses in its class struggle with. To reduce various aberrations and produce exceptionally sharp images, Sigma engineers used a total of three “F” Low Dispersion (FLD), four Special Low Dispersion (SLD) and four Aspherical glass elements in the design.

The new “F” Low Dispersion glass is supposed to be as good as calcium fluorite glass in terms of its refractive index, which is pretty impressive. Next, the lens is equipped with the latest generation Hyper Sonic AF Motor, which works quickly and quietly when relying on autofocus operation. Similar to other modern lenses, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art features a rounded 9-blade diaphragm. To reduce ghosting and flare issues, the lens is coated with Sigma’s proprietary “Super Multi-Layer Coating” (see below on ghosting and flare performance of the lens). Lastly, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 is compatible with the Sigma USB Dock, so if you have any issues with its AF accuracy, it is something you can calibrate yourself without having to send the lens to the manufacturer.

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 64, 1/250, f/8.0

Vignetting

Any fast lens is going to vignette at larger apertures and the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art is not an exception. As you can see below, there is definitely some visible vignetting at f/1.8 and f/2:

Stopping down the lens to f/2.8 reduces vignetting, but not significantly – you will need to stop down to f/4 and smaller to get the best results. Here is the worst case scenario, shot at f/1.8, infinity focus:

Personally, I find vignetting to be a bit too extreme for my taste at f/1.8 and f/2, especially considering that this is not a portrait lens. If vignetting bothers you, it is very easy to remove it in post – Lightroom already has a built-in profile for the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art, so you can remove it with a single click via the Lens Corrections sub-module.

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 100, 1/640, f/8.0

Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art vs Laowa 12mm f/2.8

The first copy of the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 I received was soft – the lens could not resolve much wide open, barely getting to acceptable levels at f/4. The lens was heavily decentered, showing very soft corner details on the right side of the frame, and sharper corner details on the left. I reached out to Venus Optics and they sent me another sample (claiming that the earlier sample was worn out due to heavy use by reviewers, which it certainly showed some signs of). I tested the second sample of the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 and it had the same issue as the first in terms of decentering, but this time, the left side of the frame was sharp and the right side was blurry. After failing to achieve good enough performance numbers, I was forced to tilt the lens towards the same angle of decentering, which made all four corners look acceptable. Take a look at the below image of the chart:

Yes, that’s how much the lens had to be tilted to equalize all four corners. Only after this, I was able to get a good enough representation of what this lens can do. Let’s take a look at the Imatest scores and compare the two lenses:

As you can see, the Laowa can produce decent center sharpness wide open, but its corners look quite a bit blurry when compared to the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art. If one stops the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art down to f/2.8, it absolutely crushes the Laowa 12mm f/2.8 in terms of sharpness and that’s across the frame! The Laowa f/2.8 showed some field curvature at closer distances and when I tried to make the corners look better, the sharpness in the center of the frame deteriorated considerably.

In fact, the Laowa f/2.8 has a pretty bad “wavy” field curvature, where the lens gets worse in the middle of the frame than the corners – this is evident when looking at its performance stopped down to f/8, where the corners outresolve the mid-frame. When shooting at wider apertures and looking at the whole image, the nasty effects of the wavy field curvature were very clear, where some parts of the frame looked much worse compared to others. When I saw pretty average numbers for center resolution at f/5.6, I thought that the lens suffered from focus shift, but even after focusing at f/5.6, I could never get any numbers that approached 3,000 in Imatest. This means that the lens overall is simply incapable of resolving enough detail on a 36 MP sensor…

Unfortunately, build quality of third party lenses, especially from smaller brands like Samyang and Venus Optics can be pretty disappointing – there is a lot of sample to sample variation in them based on my experience. Sigma is much better in this regard, but it is not free from variation either (and no manufacturer really is).

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 64, 1/400, f/5.6

Distortion

Sigma claims that the 14mm f/1.8 Art exhibits “virtually no distortion”. While I certainly agree that the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art produces the least amount of distortion I have seen on an ultra-wide angle lens, it certainly has some, especially at closer distances. Imatest measured 2.34% of barrel distortion, which is low compared to the amount of distortion we see on many other ultra-wide lenses, such as the Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G (4%), Nikon 16-35mm f/4G VR (5.9%) or other third party lenses such as the Samyang 14mm f/2.8 (4.6%). So, if you compare distortion to other ultra-wide angle lenses, the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art is among the best of the bunch.

Take a look at the below image, without distortion correction applied:

As you can see, it is very minor – mostly towards the edges of the frame.

Lens Flare, very wide fields of view, and High Dynamic Range Imaging

Taking in nearly one-third an arc of a circle, there a good chance the sun is in, or near your framing with an ultra wide lens like the 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art lens during daylight hours. Therefore, flare control is critical. I shot into the sun, around the sun, across the sun, and in every instance, flare and ghosting was exceptionally well controlled. And so was chromatic abberation, which can often be a hobgoblin for ultrawides near the frame edge.

It was very challenging light, and very tight quarters on a boardwalk pathway riddled with poison ivy, so my angles were limited to capture the full breadth of the historical Lifesaving Station at Sandy Hook. So I shot a bracketed sequence for HDRI and gave it the full Photomatix treatmen for old time’s sake. The combination of HDRI and very wide angle can make for some cool compositions. I made sure the center corner of the building’s tower was the anchoring line in this composition.Nine Gun Battery is an impressive set of military ruins at the very tip of Sandy Hook’s Fort Hancock. Due to the decaying status, it is off limits to foot traffic. I chose HDRI bracketing here to really accentuate the deterioration and decay, rust and overgrowth that is reclaiming the concrete and steel of this old battery. F8 for maximum depth of field, merged and toned in Photomatix.

This optical formula is really impressive at taming these sorts of imaging issues, and this makes the 14mm Art a great choice for ultrawide angle high dynamic range imaging. When you are taking in such a sweeping field of view, there is oftentimes a very wide dynamic range that can tax the sensor performance for a single shot even in the best modern DSLRs. It is 2017, not 2007, so I’m not interested in debating the artistic merits of HDRI versus single shot; and if you don’t choose to employ this technique, that’s your personal decision. But when it comes to ultrawide angle primes, everything about the imaging characteristics that makes the 14mm F1.8 DG HSM | Art a favorite among astrophotographers and architectural photographers also rings true for HDRI photographers.

Дизайн

Это большое. Amazon 14mm f1.8 стоит 1 445,39 долл. США, F1,8 измеряет 5,0×3,8 дюйма (HD) и составляет 2,5 фунта. Он имеет большой и выпуклый передний элемент, который позволяет снимать изображения с яркой апертурой и широким полем зрения. Вы можете использовать его только без держателя аксессуаров. Sigma включает в себя как скользящую крышку линзы, так и встроенный капюшон. Мягкий корпус переноса и задняя крышка также включены.

Строительство сильна и соответствует линзам глобального зрения. В то время как ствол имеет металлическую основу, его объем изготовлен из поликарбоната. Это’S не дешевый пластик, хотя—Это очень хорошо сделано. Сигма утверждает, что объектив защищен от пыли и брызг

Это важно, потому что он будет использоваться для ландшафтной фотографии

Весьма вероятно, что передний элемент со временем будет поднимать отпечатки пальцев. Он имеет переднее покрытие на основе фтора, которое отталкивает нефть и воду. Это позволяет легко поддерживать и чистить.

Вы можете купить объектив в нескольких креплениях—Canon EF, Nikon F, Leica/Panasonic/Sigma L, Sigma SA и Sony E. Есть несколько различий между ними. Он использует тот же дизайн электромагнитной апертуры, что и более старые линзы Nikkor, что означает, что он не будет работать с какими -либо зеркалами Nikon. Только модель Canon может использоваться с дополнительным держателем заднего фильтра (FHR-11), который стоит 36 долларов. Чтобы установить FHR-11, вам нужно будет чувствовать себя комфортно, используя отвертку. Версии для безразличных камер могут быть немного длиннее, чем в SLR, что необходимо для того, чтобы сохранить расстояние между датчиком изображения и элементом линзы одинаковым.

Широкое прорезиненное кольцо с ручным фокусом расположено в нижней части крышки линзы, в середине ствола. В нем находится единственный контрольный переключатель: переключатель AF/MF и шкала расстояния фокусировки. Часть, которая более узкая, держит его. Глубина полевых знаков для f/4 до f/11 и f/16 расположена на нижней части.

Вы можете сосредоточить 14 -миллиметровую линзу около 10,6 дюйма от вашего датчика изображения. Вы можете встать близко и лично со своим предметом. Хотя макрос увеличение составляет всего 1: 9,8, это связано с широким полем зрения.

Related Reading: Pentax HD D FA 15-30 мм F2.8 ED SDM WR обзор

Coma

While the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 Art is perhaps one of the best lenses for astrophotography out there, it is definitely not free from coma. Take a look at the below crop from the top left side of the frame, shot at 5 second shutter speed to reduce star trails:

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 12800, 5 seconds, f/1.8

There is definitely some visible coma at the widest aperture at the edges of the frame, something we normally see on most lenses out there. Unfortunately, coma stays there at f/2, but gets drastically reduced as you stop down. By f/2.5 it is practically gone, but if you have very bright stars, you might still see some traces of coma at the edges of the frame.

NIKON D850 + 14mm f/1.8 @ 14mm, ISO 800, 1/50, f/5.6

Let’s now move on lens comparisons.

Conclusion

In the area of wide-angle lenses, the Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art lens is a notable performance thanks to its fast aperture. Photographers who are interested in capturing magnificent landscapes, architecture, or astrophotography will find that this camera’s superb image quality, wide maximum aperture, and sturdy construction make it a trusted instrument.

The quick focusing, smooth handling, and great ergonomics of the lens all contribute to an enhanced shooting experience that gives photographers the confidence to express their creative potential fully. The exceptional optical performance of the Sigma 14mm F1.8 DG HSM Art lens more than makes up for the fact that it does not have image stabilization and is not compatible with teleconverters. As a result, this lens is an excellent option for photographers who put a premium on picture quality and adaptability.