276°
Posted 20 hours ago

Sigma 16 mm f/1.4 (C) AF DC DN Lens for Canon EF-M X Mount, Mirrorless

£203.375£406.75Clearance
ZTS2023's avatar
Shared by
ZTS2023
Joined in 2023
82
63

About this deal

If the lens is Sony E fit, then the APS-C format gives an equivalent of 24mm, a classic ultra-wide focal length. This would also be an excellent lens for street photography, landscapes and architecture, although it is always possible to use lenses outside their normal, accepted applications, sometimes to very good effect. So when Sigma announced a new 16mm prime EF-M lens with a large f/1.4 aperture, I jumped at the chance to review it. Is it worth buying? Read on to find out. Sigma 16mm f/1.4 EF-M

Sigma 16mm f1.4 DC DN | Contemporary from CameraWorld Sigma 16mm f1.4 DC DN | Contemporary from CameraWorld

Weighing in at a modest 380g, without hood or caps, the lens is by no means a burden. It is supplied with a solid petal lens hood that bayonets cleanly into place. This surrounds a filter thread of 67mm.The only other adornment is the wide, electronically operating, manual focusing ring. This is very smooth and probably best switched off in camera if MF is not being used. Otherwise, the natural grip on the lens barrel also grips the ring, which could be accidentally moved. As the MF function works with the AF system this could be an issue for some. However, as the AF is so fast and silent, thanks to the excellent stepping motor used, there is little motivation for manual focus in general use. One exception could be macro photography, where small manual adjustments to the point of focus can be useful. As this use would probably involve mounting the camera on a tripod, there would be no issue with accidental shifting of the focus point.Optical construction is 16 elements in 13 groups, and interestingly the instruction leaflet makes a point of informing that all the glass used is both Lead and Arsenic free. This is relevant to environmental issues if and when the lens is finally disposed of. There are various special lens elements, including 2 moulded glass aspheric, 2 SLD (Super Low Dispersion) and 3 FLD (Fluorite-like Low Dispersion). The FLD glass performs in a way very similar to a fluorite element, helping to reduce chromatic aberration even further. Fluorite elements are both expensive and quite brittle, so the FLD glass can be used with a very similar end result. There are 9 rounded diaphragm blades, aimed at making the aperture as circular as possible for improved bokeh. Like the 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, the 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary features SIGMA’s latest design technologies to offer F1.4 brightness while minimizing optical aberrations.

Sigma 402965 16 mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Sony E Lens - Black Sigma 402965 16 mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Sony E Lens - Black

Lens flare is very well-controlled when dealing with the sun. Even shooting straight into the sun, the Sigma lens handles it well. Artificial light when shooting at night is less well-controlled, however. Another point to remember here is that the lens doesn’t have inbuilt stabilisation. Although that’s not so much an issue with some manufacturers, such as the several of the Fujifilm models mentioned here, none of the Nikon Z DX cameras include IBIS. Generally, that shouldn’t really be a problem with a lens this wide, but it’s worth bearing in mind if you’re looking to shoot in certain conditions, such as low light or for vlogging for example. Chromatic aberrations, typically seen as purple or blue fringes along contrasty edges, are more of a problem with the Sigma 16mm and 30mm than with the 56mm F1.4 DC DN C. Chromatic Aberrations - Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN CAll in all there is a lot to like and little to criticize here. It’s a nicely made lens that has a premium look and feel to it. The 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary is the world's first interchangeable lens for mirrorless Sony E-mount cameras in the APS-C format to offer a 24mm focal length (35mm equivalent) and F1.4 brightness. The lens for Micro Four Thirds offers a 32mm focal length (35mm equivalent) with the same bright F1.4 aperture. This is the large-diameter wide-angle lens for which mirrorless camera users have been waiting. With the lens set to its maximum aperture of f/1.4, there is some light fall-off in the corners. Stopping-down to f/4 virtually eliminates this. The Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C lens has a very wide focus ring. There are no hard stops at both ends of the range, making it more difficult to set focus at infinity. Polariser users should be pleased that the 67mm filter thread doesn't rotate on focus. The lens hood cuts harmful rays that can negatively affect photographs while also minimizing reflectivity within the hood itself. The hood also features a rubber construction and a non-slip groove to make it easy to hold in a variety of shooting situations.

16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary | Lenses | SIGMA Corporation

This is a super lens. It’s a well-made bit of equipment, pleasant to use, and the photos taken with it look good. f/1.4 is fast. The images from it across the range of apertures are usable, but there is a substantial difference in sharpness across that range, and I had hoped that wide open, it would have been sharper. I ran the Sigma 16mm and the Canon 11-22mm lens through a low-light test to see their relative ISO performance. I set the Canon M50 to Auto ISO, then slowly opened-up the aperture. By the time I reached the Sigma’s maximum aperture of f/1.4, ISO had dropped all the way down to 200 — far lower than what the Canon 11-22mm could ever dream of achieving. The result? Far less noise, soft depth of field, and a surprisingly sharp image with superb highlight roll-off and color. Autofocus performance Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc.In this shot, we can see that there is some rather heavy lens flare from the lamp. This would not be easy to handle during post-processing, so this is something to keep in mind. See the below crop for a better look. Physically, there is no significant difference between this Fujifilm X version and other versions of the lens that we have seen, aside of course from the mount. It has the same simple, elegant design that Sigma adopted almost a decade ago. There is minimal text and branding on the barrel, with just a simple small chrome badge with the letter ‘C’ denoting that this is part of the Sigma Contemporary lens line. There are no buttons either, just a very large focusing ring with a ribbed texture. Unlike most of Fujifilm’s lenses, there’s no aperture ring, so to change this setting you have to use a dial on the camera body. Autofocus

Asda Great Deal

Free UK shipping. 15 day free returns.
Community Updates
*So you can easily identify outgoing links on our site, we've marked them with an "*" symbol. Links on our site are monetised, but this never affects which deals get posted. Find more info in our FAQs and About Us page.
New Comment