I finally got my first Sigma Art Lens!
After visiting the Sigma factory in the historic samurai town of Aizu, nestled in the picturesque hills of Bandai-Asahi National Park in Japan's Fukushima prefecture, I was honestly very impressed at the painstaking process that the Sigma factory technicians go through to build each lens, from the barrels to the optics to the packaging. Even though I was shooting stills at the factory, I didn't actually have the opportunity to try out the lenses myself (the factory tour took a long time - or maybe I just took a long time shooting the different areas of the factory). That being said, I decided to take the shinkansen (bullet train) back to Tokyo so I could go shopping at my favorite camera shops.
I started off by looking at the new 20mm, 50mm, and 85mm Sigma Art Lenses, but actually found a used 20mm copy at a discount that was still in pretty much perfect condition. Even though I looked into the Art Series 50mm and 85mm initially, I was really intrigued by the 20mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art because most of the lenses I use often tend to be telephoto lenses or zooms, and I didn't have a wide prime in my collection yet. (I used to own the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L, but ended up selling it because I didn't use it much.)
However, when I tried out the 20mm Sigma Art Lens, I was so shocked at the sharpness and bokeh it produced at such a wide focal length! In fact, from my research, I think this Sigma Art Lens is the highest quality, widest aperture lens available in 20mm. I just had to have it!
I'm not going to get all technical on this writeup - instead, I figured I'd just show some of the images I shot with this lens thus far! Enjoy!
This is Sofi on the local train from Koriyama Station heading to Nihonmatsu Station. You can view more images from our adventures exploring in Fukushima by viewing the hashtag #VisitFukushima on Instagram.
Here's an image I shot in Meguro at a hip hop record label/music shop called Jazzy Sport. Look at how wide the image is, and all that bokeh! Still, the focal point, the headphones, remain sharp. This was shot at f/1.6 if I remember correctly.
All images above were taken directly from the camera - no editing whatsoever.
Here's a photo from the Mooneyes Xmas Party at Irwindale Speedway, shot in December 2017. I placed the sun behind her head for backlighting, so focusing was a tad difficult, but the Sigma 20mm was able to achieve sharp focus on her eyes - normally this would be tough when using such a wide lens. I love the results!
I'll probably add more images to this thread a bit later. I need to get back to working on a deadline!
- @antoniosureshot