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The Japanese company has just added two new fast wide-angle primes to their Art lens series, the SIGMA 20mm and 24mm F1.4 DG DN. Their compact and lightweight construction is specifically designed to work with Sony E-mount and Leica L-mount full-frame cameras.
SIGMA’s legendary Art series, which was developed with supreme image quality in mind, really needs no introduction. This lineup includes many popular fast zoom and prime lenses, such as the 35mm F1.4 DG HSM, which was revisited last year with the introduction of the mirrorless-oriented DG DN version.
The Art series already includes two f/1.4 DG DN members – the aforementioned 35mm and the 85mm F1.4 DG DN. Now, the family is growing with the addition of two new focal lengths, the 20mm F1.4 DG DN Art and the 24mm F1.4 DG DN Art. Both lenses are designed to cover full-frame sensors and come in two (mirrorless) mount options: Sony E-mount and Leica L-mount. Let’s take a closer look.
The new SIGMA 20mm F1.4 DG DN Art offers a wide angle of view of 94.5°, which makes it an ideal lens for capturing landscapes and architecture. The fast f/1.4 aperture has an 11-blade design, which should result in smooth, round bokeh. Also, the lens can focus as close as 23cm / 9.1”, which is great for shooting peculiar wide-angle close-ups.
The optical design consists of 17 elements arranged in 15 groups. These include two SLD elements, three aspherical elements, as well as the largest double-sided aspheric glass front element in the company’s history. According to SIGMA, this high-precision construction guarantees sharp images with low distortion.
The SIGMA 24mm F1.4 DG DN Art offers a slightly narrower angle of view (84.1°). The lens is still made up of 17 glass elements, this time divided into 14 groups. The design incorporates two FLD elements, one SLD element, and four aspherical glass elements.
The minimum focus distance of the 24mm version is 25cm / 9.9”, so not as close as its super-wide 20mm sibling. This fast lens is said to meet the needs of the most demanding applications, such as astrophotography, but can also fit in your camera kit for everyday stills and video applications.
Despite the difference in focal length, the SIGMA 20mm and 24mm F1.4 DG DN Art have quite a few design traits in common. First off, they are both designed to be lightweight and portable. Indeed, the 20mm measures 87.8 x 111.2cm and weighs 635g, while the 24mm is even lighter (520g) and more compact (75.7 x 85.5mm).
The construction of the lens barrel is dust and splash-resistant, while the front element of each lens has a water and oil-repellant coating. The glass elements of the two optical schemes share the same coating technologies (Super Multi-Layer Coating and Nano Porous Coating). Also, the company claims that both models can deliver edge-to-edge sharp images, with optical aberrations, including sagittal coma flare, kept to a minimum.
A useful feature, especially for wide-angle lenses of this kind, is the ability to attach multiple filters to the glass. Indeed, both lenses can host threaded filters at the front, while also accommodating a rear filter via a dedicated holder. However, the front filter thread diameters differ between the two models (φ82mm for the 20mm, φ72mm for the 24mm).
Finally, several buttons and switches populate the lens barrels, granting access to useful features and enhancing operability. We can find a focus mode switch, a customizable AFL button, an aperture ring lock switch, an aperture ring click switch, as well as a brand new MFL (Manual Focus Lock) switch. The latter can be used to lock the focusing ring, thus preventing accidental changes in focusing distance.
Given our video-oriented approach here at CineD, let’s take a quick look at the features that matter most to filmmakers. Both lenses have an aperture ring, which can be de-clicked to access smooth, full manual control of the iris. Moreover, their autofocus system is claimed to be fast, silent, and thus suitable for video recording.
The new SIGMA 20mm and 24mm F1.4 DG DN wide-angle lenses are now available for pre-order for $899 and $799 respectively. In the box, you will find the lens with front and rear caps, as well as a petal-style locking lens hood.
For more information, please visit SIGMA’s website here.
Have you ever shot on SIGMA Art lenses? What do you think of these new 20mm and 24mm focal lengths? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below!
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Francesco Andreola is an Italian filmmaker. He currently teaches the Video Technology class at the European Institute of Design (IED) in Milan.He’s the co-founder of Outdoor Studio, a media production company specialised in creating visual contents for the mountain sports world.
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