Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Review

The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art: B&H Photo, Amazon USA, Amazon Canada, Canon Canada, Canon USA

At a glance:

• EF-Mount Lens/Full-Frame Format
• Aperture Range: f/1.4 to 16
• Two Low Dispersion Elements
• One Aspherical Element
• Super Multi-Layer Coating
• Hyper Sonic AF Motor, Manual Override
• Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
• TSC Material, Brass Bayonet Mount
• Compatible with Sigma USB Dock

Photographer and reviewer Dustin Abbott concluded his exhaustive review of the new Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART lens. The new Sigma 85mm gets a lot of attention and talk, and Dustin Abbott’s real-world review highlights what makes this lens so interesting.

While not being without flaws, having a “fairly strong amount of chromatic aberration“, the overall impression of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM is very good. From the conclusion:

[…] the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 ART is pretty fabulous.  It is impressively sharp at all apertures, has the lowest vignette I’ve yet seen from an 85mm lens, and has fantastic light transmission.  The lens is beautifully built, has an exceptional nice manual focus ring, and focuses extremely quickly and quietly.  It is also the best focusing ART series lens that I’ve used, with much more consistent, reliable results (though focus accuracy drops when using outer focus points).  The bokeh is quite smooth, the transition and fall off from the lens is good, and images look great.  It is a great performer in the studio, and should be a serious consideration for portrait shooters.

The Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM sells for $1,199, a more than fair price for the optical performance this lens delivers. Dustin’s review comes with many sample pics and discusses all aspects the lens.

A closer look to the bokeh quality of the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 DG HSM: