I did not believe that a cheap lens could be so good. Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 - review

I did not expect that the lens costing less than 1800 PLN could be so good. And yet - New Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 is wonderful.

A year ago, Marcin Połowianiuk started his review of another Sigma from identical words. And just like last year Sigma 16 mm f / 1.4, now Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 seems to defy all logic.

The new Sigma 56 mm is available in versions under the Sony E bayonet (where equivalent to 85 mm for full frame) and micro 4/3 (where it has 112 mm focal length). I tested the lens with Olympus OM-D EM1 mk II and I will say straight - for a few weeks I forgot that I have a nail-sized matrix in my camera.

Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 C does not go against the quality of the lenses under the full frame.

Although it is a lens from the Contemporary series, apart from the lack of full sealing, it only slightly gives way to the series of Art lenses. It is very solid, durable, and also wonderfully light and handy. It has only 280 g of mass, filter diameter 55 mm and length less than 60 cm.

For comparison: a full frame Sigma 105 mm f / 1.4 weighs up to 1645 g and measures 115 mm in length. It's a lens that can barely fit in large photo bags. Meanwhile Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 will even enter the pocket of the jacket ...

In terms of possibilities, the new Sigma also has nothing to be ashamed of.

Every day I use only Olympus system glasses, which are characterized by instant autofocus. I was expecting Sigma not to work as well, but I was wrong - AF is flawless, fast and precise. I almost did not happen to make this glass with a blurry photo, and if it was my fault, not the lens.

The issue of manual sharpening was also solved in an interesting way. As in Sigma 16 mm, also here the mechanism is step-by-step. And although it is still the focus by wire system (the speed of change of focus depends on the rotation speed of the ring), the Sigma Sigma is very easy to "feel" and work on it when filming almost as comfortably as on SLR lenses. The more that the focus change ring is large and convenient to use.

From the usable side, it is really impossible to accuse Sigma 56 mm.

In terms of quality, the image is just a firecracker.

When I took the first Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 pictures my jaw dropped. Let's remind: we are talking about a lens costing less than PLN 1,800, fastened to the body with a miniature matrix. According to all regularities, the picture should be at most OK. Meanwhile, the picture produced by this duo is amazing.

Inside the tiny slide there are as many as 10 elements in 6 groups. This translates into an almost complete lack of clear optical defects. Ok, in "laboratory" conditions Sigma 56 mm vignetting a little "full hole" and has a large distortion, however, these are defects fully understandable at this price, and it is ridiculously easy to improve when machining. And most of all - in "real" conditions, they do not bother you at all.

Surface Pro 6

Surface Pro 6

The background blur is also amazing for this class of lens (and for micro 4/3). I could only attach to the non-ideal shape of boke balls, which sometimes also have a delicate "onion", but it would really be an impunity for clinging. Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 beautifully blurs the background, even when connected to the Olympus camera. I imagine that the Sony A6500 or A6400 effects would be even more spectacular.

With this lens, you just want to take pictures.

For several weeks, which Sigma 56 mm spent in my photographic bag, I made several commercial orders, I took many photos for Spider's Web and photographed a lot for pleasure. I also used a new lens to record 100 percent. video about the Google Assistant in Poland:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6J42D_n6aJw

Sigma advertises its new lens as a "lens for portraits". Personally, I do not do portraits, but for the purposes of the review I immortalized my pets (in very poor lighting conditions) and as you can see, the focus in the frame center is amazing, for this class of lens:

There is nothing to ponder for this money.

For 1800 PLN it is impossible to buy a better lens of this type under the micro 4/3. On the Sony E side, we will not find another glass with a focal length that would at least approach the price / price ratio for the new Sigma.

I have already decided that unless I get rid of my Olympus , Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 lands in my bag. There is nothing to ponder for this money.

The problem can only be the purchase itself, because ... just like a year ago at Sigma 16 mm, so now the first lot of lenses went off immediately, and currently in most stores the lens is unavailable.

And that speaks for itself.



I did not believe that a cheap lens could be so good. Sigma 56 mm f / 1.4 - review

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