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Favorite Sigma (SA) Mount Lenses?

#1 · June 26, 2023, 2:20 am

Hello all,

My brief history with Sigma cameras:

I bought an SD14 DSLR, that's a later Foveon X3 model, with a bunch of lenses. I ended up selling that camera and now have an SD10 which is older but oddly I like a little bit better. I got lucky with both cameras being in huge lots with lenses that paid for them both in whole and then some when I sold off some lenses. Here's the lenses I've gotten to use. All the older versions, not the newer Art variants for some of these.

Sigma 8mm f4 circular fisheye (fun, but limited use cases and not particularly impressive)
Sigma 50-500 EX DG HSM (nice lens, but not a focal length I use on this system)
Sigma 50mm f1.4 EX DG HSM (felt pretty good stopped down, may pick up again)
Sigma 105mm F2.8 EX DG macro (good lens)
Sigma 15-30mm f3.5-4.5 EX DG (was disappointed in the performance)
Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX Macro (good lens)

The only lens I've kept is a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC that has some fungus that I plan to clean at some point. It seems pretty good so far. Nice standard fast zoom to have around.

I'm keeping my SD10, but I also scored a good deal on the SD Quattro H. I feel like that camera especially is going to shine better with some higher quality glass.

I know some of you, especially @corymaben, shoot with Sigma cameras. Any good ones/ones to avoid?

The newer art lenses seem awesome, but they are also pricey. So if there's any good older ones that is good. If not, I'm considering some of the popular art ones like the 35mm f1.4, 18-35mm f1.8, etc.

Thanks

Happy snappin' 🙂

#2 · June 26, 2023, 10:46 am

Quote from James Warner on June 26, 2023, 10:46 am

Quote from Cory Maben on June 26, 2023, 3:22 am

I'm very jealous of your Quattro H, I look forward to seeing your shots and/or the video on it!

Here are all the Lenses I have owned or used:

Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX OS HSM

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM C

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG GN Art

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM

Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO DC HSM

I am not very picky when it comes to optical performance. Corner to corner sharpness and other optical issues isn't something I pay a ton of attention to, so you should keep in mind when I talk about the lenses that I rarely paid active attention to pure optical performance, but I will try to recall any issues if I noticed them. In general I really like the HSM era lenses, even though they usually don't review nearly as well as the later Contemporary and Art lenses. I think they are good lenses and they can be had for very reasonable prices in my opinion.

The Sigma 24-70 Art is beautiful, but it is very heavy, on the verge of being too heavy but even wide open it is a very clean image with no ghosting, contrast loss or aberration. I have used the older HSM variant for Nikon F-Mount (I assume it's optically identical) and I recall it being good and much lighter and if I didn't already have the Art I would probably go that direction. I haven't used any of the other Art series lenses, but I've never seen anyone have a bad thing to say about how they perform. They are very expensive and heavy though.

My favorite lens currently is my 50-150 HSM, I like the focal length a lot, I have noticed a vignette on some of my images, but I haven't noticed a consistent reason why. It's sharp enough, it's very light and is one of those 'internal zoom' lenses which I find very nice. If I had to do it again (and I might) I would get the stabilized version of the lens because at 150mm it's very shaky. Has TCA when stopped down.

The 50mm 1.4 HSM I rarely use as the focal length is covered by my other lenses and I have never needed the wider aperture. But it is good.

The 17-70 f/2.8-4 I didn't like because I don't like variable apertures, I thought I would give it a chance because I really like the focal range, but the aperture ended up being too much of an issue for me.

The 17-50mm f/2.8, I think it one of the widest constant aperture zooms you can get for the mount. But I don't actually like this lens. Both it and the 17-70 have extremely short focus throw (its probably like 30 degrees or less). They feel very plasticy and cheap. The focus throw made it very hard for me to hit focus manually and the SD1's autofocus just fails to hit in anything except bright sun light so it became my justification for buying the 24-70 Art.

I hope at least some of that was helpful. I have heard very good things about the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 and the 50-100 f/1.8, but they are both crop lenses and I imagine you want full frame glass for that Quattro H. I actually just learned a couple days ago that the "DG" on Sigma lenses indicates full frame glass and "DC" is for crop glass, in case you didn't know.

Also in the future if you want to sell more SA glass or bodies hit me up or at least send me the eBay link. I'd love to have a look.

I wonder how different the 17-50 f2.8 is to the 18-50 f2.8 I have now. I also don't do any crazy tests with my lenses, but there is some level of quality I expect on a given camera body. I have not really defined what that is exactly, I just know for the Quattro H it's going to be high because that's not a cheap camera 😛 But it is more of a subjective getting to know the lens that I run through, and less about specific lines per inch and curvature something or other that people typically look at.

I've wanted a Quattro SD for years now, and the H is just a fun version to try. Albeit you pay a bit more. There was that brief time that B&H was selling off new copies of the Quattro kit with lens for really good prices and I should have bit then. Oh well. Alls well that ends well 🙂 Excited to give it a whirl. The SD10 will get it's own showcase eventually too. I'm not sure what order I'll do everything.

Quote from Cory Maben on June 26, 2023, 3:22 am

I'm very jealous of your Quattro H, I look forward to seeing your shots and/or the video on it!

Here are all the Lenses I have owned or used:

Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 EX OS HSM

Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4 DC OS HSM C

Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG GN Art

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG HSM

Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 APO DC HSM

I am not very picky when it comes to optical performance. Corner to corner sharpness and other optical issues isn't something I pay a ton of attention to, so you should keep in mind when I talk about the lenses that I rarely paid active attention to pure optical performance, but I will try to recall any issues if I noticed them. In general I really like the HSM era lenses, even though they usually don't review nearly as well as the later Contemporary and Art lenses. I think they are good lenses and they can be had for very reasonable prices in my opinion.

The Sigma 24-70 Art is beautiful, but it is very heavy, on the verge of being too heavy but even wide open it is a very clean image with no ghosting, contrast loss or aberration. I have used the older HSM variant for Nikon F-Mount (I assume it's optically identical) and I recall it being good and much lighter and if I didn't already have the Art I would probably go that direction. I haven't used any of the other Art series lenses, but I've never seen anyone have a bad thing to say about how they perform. They are very expensive and heavy though.

My favorite lens currently is my 50-150 HSM, I like the focal length a lot, I have noticed a vignette on some of my images, but I haven't noticed a consistent reason why. It's sharp enough, it's very light and is one of those 'internal zoom' lenses which I find very nice. If I had to do it again (and I might) I would get the stabilized version of the lens because at 150mm it's very shaky. Has TCA when stopped down.

The 50mm 1.4 HSM I rarely use as the focal length is covered by my other lenses and I have never needed the wider aperture. But it is good.

The 17-70 f/2.8-4 I didn't like because I don't like variable apertures, I thought I would give it a chance because I really like the focal range, but the aperture ended up being too much of an issue for me.

The 17-50mm f/2.8, I think it one of the widest constant aperture zooms you can get for the mount. But I don't actually like this lens. Both it and the 17-70 have extremely short focus throw (its probably like 30 degrees or less). They feel very plasticy and cheap. The focus throw made it very hard for me to hit focus manually and the SD1's autofocus just fails to hit in anything except bright sun light so it became my justification for buying the 24-70 Art.

I hope at least some of that was helpful. I have heard very good things about the Sigma 18-35 f/1.8 and the 50-100 f/1.8, but they are both crop lenses and I imagine you want full frame glass for that Quattro H. I actually just learned a couple days ago that the "DG" on Sigma lenses indicates full frame glass and "DC" is for crop glass, in case you didn't know.

Also in the future if you want to sell more SA glass or bodies hit me up or at least send me the eBay link. I'd love to have a look.

I wonder how different the 17-50 f2.8 is to the 18-50 f2.8 I have now. I also don't do any crazy tests with my lenses, but there is some level of quality I expect on a given camera body. I have not really defined what that is exactly, I just know for the Quattro H it's going to be high because that's not a cheap camera 😛 But it is more of a subjective getting to know the lens that I run through, and less about specific lines per inch and curvature something or other that people typically look at.

I've wanted a Quattro SD for years now, and the H is just a fun version to try. Albeit you pay a bit more. There was that brief time that B&H was selling off new copies of the Quattro kit with lens for really good prices and I should have bit then. Oh well. Alls well that ends well 🙂 Excited to give it a whirl. The SD10 will get it's own showcase eventually too. I'm not sure what order I'll do everything.

Happy snappin' 🙂

#3 · June 26, 2023, 6:33 pm

I guess it might exist it Sigma's mount as it's a Sigma lens,
James, do you know if the 100-300mm APO F4 exists in Sigma's own mount?

I know is not a street photography kind of lens, but more a birds and nature one.

My social media: https://linktr.ee/F1photo

#4 · June 26, 2023, 7:12 pm

Quote from red5isalive on June 26, 2023, 6:33 pm

I guess it might exist it Sigma's mount as it's a Sigma lens,
James, do you know if the 100-300mm APO F4 exists in Sigma's own mount?

I know is not a street photography kind of lens, but more a birds and nature one.

It does. I forgot I also had the 150mm f2.8 macro which was very good.

Maybe this is the lens I should pursue? Joking xD

https://www.mpb.com/en-us/product/sigma-300-800mm-f2f56-apo-ex-if-hsm-sigma-sa-fit/sku-1870866

https://www.dpreview.com/products/sigma/lenses/sigma_300-800_5p6_dg

red5isalive has reacted to this post.

Happy snappin' 🙂

#5 · June 27, 2023, 8:30 am

I would go for the stated 100-300mm f4.

Also I own the 17-50 f2.8 and works great, I'd say it could be a good add if the price is correct.

My social media: https://linktr.ee/F1photo

#6 · June 28, 2023, 9:21 pm

I am a big fan of Sigma’s 18-35mm f/1.8 Art lens, which of course is (or was) available with Sigma’s SA mount. (I have the PK-mount version myself.) I posted a thread here about it a while ago. I use it mostly for astrophotography but I have puttered with it in the garden for taking photos of flowers. (Love that creamy bokeh.) It’s not the only Sigma lens I own but the others are ancient 28-200mm zooms, which are not even close to being up to Sigma’s current standards.

But I am wondering about the thread title. Aren’t we really talking only about Sigma lenses here? Surely no one else makes or made SA mount lenses. Heck, AFAIK even Sigma isn’t making SA mount lenses anymore.

#7 · June 29, 2023, 5:36 pm

Quote from Alen K on June 28, 2023, 9:21 pm

I am a big fan of Sigma’s 18-35mm f/1.8 Art lens, which of course is (or was) available with Sigma’s SA mount. (I have the PK-mount version myself.) I posted a thread here about it a while ago. I use it mostly for astrophotography but I have puttered with it in the garden for taking photos of flowers. (Love that creamy bokeh.) It’s not the only Sigma lens I own but the others are ancient 28-200mm zooms, which are not even close to being up to Sigma’s current standards.

But I am wondering about the thread title. Aren’t we really talking only about Sigma lenses here? Surely no one else makes or made SA mount lenses. Heck, AFAIK even Sigma isn’t making SA mount lenses anymore.

Yes you're right, they're the only ones I'm aware of that ever made any for the mount. I don't know if Sigma stopped making them, but there's less and less available new. Old stock I would think.

The 18-35mm f1.8 does seem like a good bet as well. I'll play with what I have so far and save up and decide 😀

Happy snappin' 🙂

#8 · July 12, 2023, 2:04 am

Quote from Cory Maben on July 11, 2023, 9:12 pm

@james-warner-b

I've decided to sell my 50mm f/1.4 DG EX HSM and my 17-50mm DC EX HSM. If you're interested let me know and I'll send you the eBay link.

Hmm, maybe that 50mm. I won't be buying anything this month though, but you're more than welcome to post the links on the deals section. Maybe I'll make a garage sale section in the future, but for now that works.

Happy snappin' 🙂

#9 · May 3, 2024, 1:38 pm

Here below my experience with the Sigma SA I've got to use over the years:

50 F2.8 Macro EX DG: indeed very good and sharp, will use it for scan my negatives going forward
18-35 F1.8 Art: outstanding zoom, very sharp from wide open, almost covers the APS-H circle at the wide end (minor black corners=
14-24 F2.8 Art: excellent UWA zoom, super sharp corner to corner, pretty chunky and heavy, covers FF circle
50-150 F2.8 EX DG OS: an truly excellent APS-C lens, very sharp from wide open at all FLs, nervous bokeh though more a landscape lens for me
105 F1.4 Art: the "mini-Chubb", outstanding portrait lens, the only one for me that can render (on FF cameras especially) on a similar way than on of the fables 200 F2 of Nikon or Canon. Very sharp wide open with beautiful smooth bokeh. On the bulky/heavy side of course
8-16 F4.5-5.6: old APS-C UWA (covers APS-H from 10mm onwards), not very sharp in the corners wide open, sharpens up nicely by stopping down and by F8 is very sharp, a no brainer at bargain prices it can be found used
100-300 F4 APO: this one for me was a letdown not because it's a bad lens, but because it wasn't any sharper than the newer 100-400 C (see below) and possibly even a tad less, while bokeh was nothing to write home about. One that hasn't aged too well in my opinion
100-400 F4.5-6.3 Contemporary: a pretty sharp lens, already from wide open, being stabilized it can yield consistently sharper (and more contrastier) results than the a.m. 100-300 APO. Having to choose among the two, I'd definitely chose this one.

#10 · May 5, 2024, 6:50 am

Quote from Cory Maben on May 5, 2024, 6:50 am
@tirpitz Do you have any experience with the 50-100mm f/1.8 Art? I have the 50-150m f/2.8 EX (non-os) and I consider swapping it out for the 50-100 some times or buying the OS version. But the weight and lack of OS on the 50-100 really makes me feel like it is realistically a tripod only lens

I just bought a copy of the 18-35 f/1.8, it should be here on Wednesday, I've very excited to try it out. It's a little disappointing to hear it vignettes on the wide end though.

I have picked up just a handful of lenses since my original (now deleted) post, which was mercifully persevered by James quoting it.

70mm f/2.8 DG Art Macro: I really like this lens. It seems very sharp and not too heavy. Optically very nice with no aberrations or other issues. Focus by wire though which sucks, but I'll forgive it being a macro lens.

17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC: I love this lens mostly because of it's size and weight, it's very easy to walk around with and gives a good focal range. Despite it being a pre-HSM lens it's fine optically, I've never noticed any glaring issues at least. It's focus throw is actually long enough to make it usable with manual focus unlike the 17-50. It does cover APS-H from around 20mm onward. On a side note there are so many different versions of this 17-70mm lens that it's kind of insane. By my memory I've identified 4 different versions of it and the crazy part is that for several of them no differentiation of them by model name.

10-20mm f/3.5 DC EX HSM: I haven't used this lens since I bought it. I haven't done any architecture photography like I used to but I hang onto it because it's nice and seems kind of rare. It will cover the APS-H sensor from around 12mm or so though

30mm f/1.4 DC ART: I haven't used this lens a ton, but I really like it. Very sharp, no CA issues even wide open. It's one of the few truly compact SA mount lenses which alone makes me like it. But it also will cover APS-H (and iirc full frame). I personally think it takes 'best kit lens ever' from Fuji's 18-55.

@tirpitz Do you have any experience with the 50-100mm f/1.8 Art? I have the 50-150m f/2.8 EX (non-os) and I consider swapping it out for the 50-100 some times or buying the OS version. But the weight and lack of OS on the 50-100 really makes me feel like it is realistically a tripod only lens

I just bought a copy of the 18-35 f/1.8, it should be here on Wednesday, I've very excited to try it out. It's a little disappointing to hear it vignettes on the wide end though.

I have picked up just a handful of lenses since my original (now deleted) post, which was mercifully persevered by James quoting it.

70mm f/2.8 DG Art Macro: I really like this lens. It seems very sharp and not too heavy. Optically very nice with no aberrations or other issues. Focus by wire though which sucks, but I'll forgive it being a macro lens.
17-70 f/2.8-4.5 DC: I love this lens mostly because of it's size and weight, it's very easy to walk around with and gives a good focal range. Despite it being a pre-HSM lens it's fine optically, I've never noticed any glaring issues at least. It's focus throw is actually long enough to make it usable with manual focus unlike the 17-50. It does cover APS-H from around 20mm onward. On a side note there are so many different versions of this 17-70mm lens that it's kind of insane. By my memory I've identified 4 different versions of it and the crazy part is that for several of them no differentiation of them by model name.
10-20mm f/3.5 DC EX HSM: I haven't used this lens since I bought it. I haven't done any architecture photography like I used to but I hang onto it because it's nice and seems kind of rare. It will cover the APS-H sensor from around 12mm or so though
30mm f/1.4 DC ART: I haven't used this lens a ton, but I really like it. Very sharp, no CA issues even wide open. It's one of the few truly compact SA mount lenses which alone makes me like it. But it also will cover APS-H (and iirc full frame). I personally think it takes 'best kit lens ever' from Fuji's 18-55.

Favorite Sigma (SA) Mount Lenses?

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