Thursday 24 October 2013

Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art first thoughts, mistake

The new Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art should compete against the Nikon AF-S Nikkor 24-120mm f/4G ED VR and the Canon EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM. Lets see how the Sigma comes out based on first impression.

If Sigma has to win against Nikon and Canon it has to be better and cheaper otherwise most people (including me) will go for the factory option as it is known that this will give you the least problems.

The construction of the Sigma lens is bigger and more heavy than the Nikon and Canon counterparts and in a world where everything gets small and lighter this is an issue. It is over 200 grams more heavy than the Canon lens and almost 200 grams over the Nikon lens. The amount of glass that Sigma has put into this lens the the reason why and Sigma is hoping that the extra amount of glass will have an impact on the optically performance of the lens.

The biggest issue with the Sigma lens is that it uses 82mm filters in a world where almost every lens is 77mm filter size or smaller. If you already have a great investment in filters and are using them then this is a deal breaker for a lot of photographers. That is a major mistake by Sigma and it will cost them a lot on the sales of the lens.

What Sigma can counting on is that the performance of the lens is a lot better than the Nikon and Canon lens and there are a hope for them. Both the Canon and Nikon lens haven't scored that well in reviews on the Internet. The average rating for the Nikon lens is 76% and the average rating for the Canon lens is 78%. 

The price is still unknown but it has to be lower than the Nikon at $1300 and the Canon $1150. I think it has to hit a price around $1000 to have any chance of being a hit.

There are two reasons why I wouldn't be buying this lens. One is the filter size and the other is that the lens expands when it zooms. I know that Nikon and Canon are doing the same, so wouldn't be buying them either. If I had to choose between the brand version and the Sigma version I would go for the brand version as they uses the most common filter size of 77mm.

Follow the Sigma 24-105mm F4 DG OS HSM Art at Sigma Index

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