Sigma 135mm F18 Dg Hsm Art Lens for Sony E Rockwell
Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Review
Updates:
04/14/2017: Technical Review posted
04/28/2017: Field Test & Gallery Images posted
Sigma 135mm f/one.viii Field Exam
Fast and sharp? Insanely shallow depth of field? Sign me upward!
By Dave Pardue | Posted: 04/28/2017
As you lot've likely already seen from our full technical review of this lens past our experienced senior lens reviewer Andrew Alexander, this is one of the sharpest, if not *the* sharpest, lens nosotros've always tested. Due to minor differences in the way lenses are tested across differing sensor sizes, it's a bit tricky making the call for the absolute sharpest, just in any instance, this i rivals the best nosotros've ever seen here in our 18+ years of lens testing.
Lab results can reveal a bang-up deal, merely sample images from the real world are the other half of the story, and we always endeavour and bring you a varied sampling of these for the most pop lens offerings. This lens is designed get-go and foremost with portraits in mind, then I set out with that as a primary goal, merely the results produced in combination with our Nikon D800E were so enticing that I found myself pointing the lens at all manner of subjects, especially out and well-nigh in the smashing wide open.
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| 1/200s / f/2.ii / ISO 100 |
(Images have been resized to fit this page, cropped and/or altered in post-product, primarily to residuum shadows and highlights as needed. Clicking whatsoever image will take you to a carrier page with admission to the original, full-resolution file equally delivered by the Nikon D800E. For additional images, access to RAW files and EXIF data please run across our Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Gallery folio.)
On the superb Nikon D800E, the autofocus performance in the field is nearly instantaneous, and the combination in tandem feels like a super-loftier-end instrument. I experienced no instances of AF hunting, only very fast and definitive locking onto subjects, and that includes a few lower light situations. I didn't endeavour anything in super-low light though for this pass, but I all the same came away feeling very confident in the performance in the field altogether.
The lens feels rock-solid in the hands, and the focus band is quite broad and comfortable, with a nice textured ribbing. The two biggest drawbacks with the lens are obvious ones that you already know: It'due south not at all lightweight, and there is no on-lath IS, only these are both par for the course for a lens of this kind. And then there's weight, yep, merely the comfortable and stable hold does assist in the lack of on-lath IS, and in combination with a high-end full-frame photographic camera similar the D800E, this offer feels right at home.
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| Sigma 135mm f/1.8 for Nikon F mount as shown on the Nikon D800E |
And what of the bokeh delivered from this venerable combination? I love it, but I will let the images speak for themselves. After all, bokeh is a personal affair. The nine rounded aperture blades are certainly configured to deliver the smoothest bokeh possible, and for my part equally your faithful reviewer, I've tried to showcase plenty of varied image examples from different distances and locations for you.
Then let's dive in and get a better feel for what you tin achieve with this lens out in the real world!
Sigma 135mm f/1.eight Portraits
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| 1/200s / f/1.viii / ISO 125 |
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| i/200s / f/2.ii / ISO 100 |
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| 1/125s / f/1.eight / ISO 100 |
| Pupil depth: The shallow depth of field potential with this lens is almost razor-thin. At a minimum focusing distance of roughly three feet, which is nearly how far the D800E was from my favorite feline "Sam" in this image, the calculated depth of field using a handy DOF estimator shows the actual in-focus surface area to be well-nigh .two inches, or about 5mm for the residual of the globe. That's about the width of a few thick coins stacked together. Beneath is a zoomed in ingather, not quite 1:1 as I wanted to showcase the entire area around his center. I slightly missed nailing focus right on his eye, which is not the mistake of the camera nor lens, merely the bespeak of focus is notwithstanding nearly his heart, perhaps 2-3mm in front of it (the stray strands of pilus above his eye, for instance). Only what'due south interesting is how apace the background and foreground blur away into oblivion. For obvious reasons then, information technology's important to keep in mind just how shallow you can get, as nailing critical focus on of import shots requires all the mental focus and care you tin can muster at a tolerance of but 5mm! |
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Portraits in Nature
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| 1/8000s / f/2 / ISO 100 |
| Isolation: The is perhaps the almost revealing image in this slice, because adept subject isolation is a lot harder when you're not so close to your subject area. The longer attain afforded by 135mm in conjunction with the fast discontinuity let for subject isolation that yous simply can't get from a like altitude with traditional wildlife zooms sporting f/2.eight or smaller maximum apertures. |
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| 1/1000s / f/i.8 / ISO 100 |
| Surrealist pinch: Again, another example of a subject made much more than interesting by the long focal length in combination with the shallow depth of field isolation. Interesting juxtapositions seem easier to come past with and then much compression afforded from the long focal length as well. |
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| 1/160s / f/2.viii / ISO 100 |
| Blue Ridge Moon: This was a versatile focal length to have at my disposal every bit I saw the full moon descending towards the Blue Ridge Mountains. I felt lucky in that it's rare to be able to capture whatever lunar details with the same exposure you need for the world and heaven, but the fourth dimension of solar day allowed for it in this case. Interestingly, the moon disappeared behind the cloud bank less than a minute after this shot was captured, well before it got to the tree line, so I'm glad I didn't try and wait for the "perfect" shot (which so often doesn't exist). |
Bokeh Dreams
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| 1/800s / f/ii.ii / ISO 100 |
| The sublime: A rose by any other name might smell as sweet, but the ones photographed by most other lenses wouldn't likely look quite like this. |
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| 12500s / f/1.8 / ISO 100 |
| Dragon's lair: These Antirrhinum are usually known in the U.S. equally Snapdragons, a moniker given due to their dragon-like advent. And they certainly make for a compelling subject on which to train your long, fast prime lenses. |
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| 1/250s / f/one.8 / ISO 100 |
| The impressionist: The background of this shot reminds me just a fleck of Van Gogh'due south "Starry Night" and offers a good representation of the overall bokeh appearance delivered past the 135mm lens shot wide open. |
Sigma 135mm f/one.viii Decision
Subsequently reviewing the images obtained through this hearty area of glass and past such a capable total frame camera, I can most assuredly concur with Andrew's before testament to the Sigma 135mm f/1.eight: It is, indeed, destined to go a mod classic. It is quite hefty and comes without on-board paradigm stabilization, aye, but the epitome quality and the myriad shooting possibilities offered by such a fast, long, sharp lens more than make upwards for these obvious trade-offs -- only be actress-careful in acquiring focus while shooting wide open.
Course follows office, and the office of this new Art lens from Sigma is to deliver works of but that.
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| i/2500s / f/4 / ISO 100 |
Run into more images from this combination in our Sigma 135mm f/ane.8 Gallery. Admission to RAW files is also bachelor.
• Sigma 135mm f/1.eight Art Gallery •
[Want to know more nigh bokeh in general? Nosotros accept you covered... just click here!]
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Sigma 135mm f/1.viii Art Technical Review
by Andrew Alexander | April xiv, 2017
The 135mm prime lens is a long-fourth dimension favorite of portrait photographers, combining the pinch of a telephoto lens with the sparse depth-of-field of a fast aperture, resulting in really blurred-out backgrounds. Sigma's release of the 135mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM "Fine art" is a timely and smartly-planned lens: current offerings by Catechism and Nikon in this focal length are running a scrap long in the tooth, released in 1996 and 1990, respectively.
The lens itself is relatively simple in design: 13 elements in 10 groups with ii big FLD ("Fluorite Low Dispersion") elements and two big SLD ("Special Low Dispersion") elements.
The lens accepts 82mm filters, ships with a circular lens hood, and is bachelor for US$1,399 in Sigma SA, Canon EF, Nikon F and Sony E mounts.
Sharpness
In a word: sharp. A few more words: absolutely sharp, one of the sharpest lenses we've ever tested. Even used wide open at ƒ/one.eight, on a full-frame body, the lens produced well-nigh no corner softness. With a lens at this level of quality, the just reason you want to stop down is to straight how much depth-of-field you want in your image; in that location is no need to consider the consequence on sharpness.
Once yous finish downwards to ƒ/16, we exercise see some light softness across the entire frame due to diffraction, only then at that point, you're probably non using the lens as it was intended to be used -- wide open up, every time, all the fourth dimension.
Chromatic Abnormality
The Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.8 DG HSM Fine art lens employs two types of low-dispersion lens elements, which demonstrably reduce the impact of chromatic aberration. At that place is a low-cal colour fringing that occurs when the lens is used at its widest aperture, showing a slight fringe of majestic in areas of high contrast. Otherwise, the lens is remarkable and does not show signs of longitudinal chromatic abnormality, which are sometimes present in lenses featuring very wide apertures.
Shading (''Vignetting'')
The Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.8 shows some slight corner shading when used with its wider apertures on a full-frame photographic camera torso: at ƒ/one.8 on the D810E, we noted extreme corners that were two-thirds of a stop darker than the eye. In other cases, corner shading is negligible.
Distortion
The lens shows relatively no distortion.
Autofocus Functioning
The Sigma 135mm lens autofocuses very speedily, racking from closest focus to infinity in about 1 second, thank you to its electronic Hyper Sonic Motor. In bones usage, autofocus was fast, locked onto targets easily and didn't chase while focusing. Minor changes in focus happen very quickly, and the AF motor is near silent. Attached 82mm filters won't rotate during focus operations.
Macro
While the Sigma 135mm "Art" isn't designed as a macro lens, information technology offers surprisingly proficient macro performance for its class. That said, there are certainly amend lenses for this purpose. The 135mm ƒ/1.8 offers 0.2x magnification, with a minimum close-focusing altitude of just nether three feet.
Build Quality and Handling
The Sigma 135mm ƒ/one.8 Fine art lens follows other recent Sigma lenses in terms of build quality, construction and design. The lens features their characteristic sleek, matte blackness finish and thickly gripped zoom and focus rings. The butt itself is synthetic out of Sigma's proprietary Thermally Stable Blended material, which allows for much tighter manufacturing precision compared to standard polycarbonate plastics. The lens, therefore, feels great in the manus. The build quality is first-class and feels very solid.
Nonetheless, you don't get this kind of performance without some serious weight. For a prime lens, the Sigma is surprisingly heavy, tipping the scales at over twoscore ounces. This is much heavier than both the Canon 135mm ƒ/2 and the Nikon 135mm ƒ/2 lenses, though for the performance, information technology is unquestionably worth it. The lens features 9 curved diaphragm blades to brand up its aperture, which produce buttery-smooth results for bokeh.
The lens features two switches, the first used to activate or deactivate autofocus on the lens. The 2d is a focus limiter, which has three positions: 0.875m to ane.5m (a typical portrait distance: 3 to 5 anxiety), one.5m to infinity, or Total, where there is no focus limitation. A altitude scale is provided with ranges indicated in anxiety and meters: at that place is no depth-of-field scale, nor is there an infrared index marker.
The focusing ring on the lens is generously-sized at 1 vii/8" broad, composed of rubber with a securely ribbed texture. The ring has soft stops that let you lot know you have reached either end of the focusing spectrum, and autofocus results can be overridden by just turning the ring at whatever time. As well, employing autofocus does not turn the focusing ring, making the feel quite seamless.
The lens ships with the LH880-03 circular lens hood. The hood is bayonet mounted, reversing and attaching to the lens for storage.
Alternatives
Nikon 135mm ƒ/ii AF DC ~$one,400
Released in the early nineties, the Nikon 135mm ƒ/ii offers its unique defocus control technology. Nosotros haven't tested this lens, just tin can say that it uses an older mechanical autofocus technology rather than Sigma's hypersonic motor.
Canon 135mm ƒ/2L USM ~$ane,000
Catechism offers two flavors of 135mm lenses: the regular ƒ/2L, and a soft-focus ƒ/2.8. The ƒ/2L lens is virtually equally sharp as the Sigma at wide apertures: stopped-down to ƒ/4, they are quite like in character.
Sony 135mm ƒ/ane.8 Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* ~$1,800
The about expensive of the 135mm lenses, Sony'due south offering matches the Sigma for its aperture adequacy, but Sigma knocks the Sony out of the park with its sharpness. On a full-frame A900 the Sony 135mm has to stop down to ƒ/8 to achieve the same edge-to-edge sharpness the Sigma achieves at ƒ/2.
Carl Zeiss 135mm ƒ/2 APO Sonnar T* ~$1,500
We haven't tested the Carl Zeiss 135mm, but Zeiss lenses are renowned for their sharpness. In this example however, you are likewise forgoing autofocus as the lens does non come equipped with information technology.
Conclusion
The Sigma 135mm ƒ/1.viii DG HSM "Art" is one of the sharpest lenses we've always tested. Information technology'due south not an inexpensive lens, merely for what you become -- great build quality, outstanding sharpness, little to no chromatic aberration, and most null baloney -- the lens is worth every penny, and destined to become a modern classic.
Product Photos
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Sample Photos
The VFA target should give you lot a good thought of sharpness in the center and corners, as well as some idea of the extent of barrel or pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration, while the Withal Life subject may assist in judging dissimilarity and color. We shoot both images using the default JPEG settings and manual white balance of our examination bodies, and then the images should exist quite consistent from lens to lens.
As appropriate, we shoot these with both full-frame and sub-frame bodies, at a range of focal lengths, and at both maximum discontinuity and ƒ/8. For the ''VFA'' target (the viewfinder accuracy target from Imaging Resources), we also provide sample crops from the center and upper-left corner of each shot, so yous can quickly go a sense of relative sharpness, without having to download and inspect the full-res images. To avoid space limitations with the layout of our review pages, indexes to the test shots launch in carve up windows.
Sigma 135mm f/1.eight DG HSM Fine art
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Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art User Reviews
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10 out of 10 points and recommended past lightknight (31 reviews)
Sharp, sharp, sharp, beautiful bokeh, congenital like a tank
Heavy...
This lens is everything reviewers say. The lack of VR/IS is a non issue with my Sony A7R3, while the extra ane/3 of a stop over my previous Nikkor 135 F2 DC is always handy. The Bokeh is the equal of the legendary Nikkor just much easier to use. Simply it is heavier and bigger so conveying it a long manner (it weighs ii.i KG with my A7R3 with an 50 plate and the hood) is an event if you are out for the 24-hour interval.
reviewed February 27th, 2019 (purchased for $1,175)
Lenses don't become any amend than this :-)
mccrackencomir1936.blogspot.com
Source: https://www.imaging-resource.com/lenses/sigma/135mm-f1.8-dg-hsm-art/review/
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