Sigma Launches Newly Designed Full-Frame Mirrorless Lenses

2019.08.08

Neocamera took a break last month and so here is what was missed from Sigma this past July. Emphasizing their commitment to a future of mirrorless digital camera, including their own membership into the L-mount alliance with Leica and Panasonic, Sigma unveiled a new full-frame mirrorless digital camera and a number of lenses for Leica L and Sony E mounts.

Although similarly specified optically to existing Sigma lenses for DSLRs, the company introduced 3 newly designed lenses that take advantage of the short flange-distance of mirrorless digital camera. These lenses come in two mounts, L-mount to build up the lineup for Sigma's own range of full-frame mirrorless digital cameras and E-mount which is presently the most popular full-frame mirrorless platform.

First up is a Art series 14-24mm extremely wide constant F/2.8 aperture zoom lens. The new Sigma A 14-24mm F/2.8 DG DN covers an expansive field of view with top-quality optics worthy the the Sigma Art label. The lens is built with an 11-blade aperture in a fully weatherproof body. It is among the widest rectilinear lens for full-frame mirrorless cameras and now the absolute widest for L-mount.

Second is the Sigma A 35mm F/1.2 DG DN which is now the brightest L-mount lens on the market, and also the bright E-mount one, along with a few by Samyang that also manage an extremely bright F/1.2 maximum aperture. This normal lens will produce razor thin depth-of-field and gather a huge amount of light. Expect top-notch optics and a durable weatherproof body for an Art-series lenses.

The third and final addition to the new lineup of full-frame mirrorless lenses is the Sigma C 45mm F/2.8 DG DN. This new 45mm lens is an unusual entry for Sigma and part of their Contemporary series. It is designed for a highly mechanical feel and more classic type of rendering, lacking the sophisticated optics of the Art series in favor a some nostalgia.

Even more unusual that the previously described lens, Sigma introduced an unexpected and unique full-frame mirrorless digital camera based on the L-mount platform. Unlike their previously announced entry which has yet to be released, the new Sigma fp used a traditional 24 megapixels Full-Frame CMOS sensor with Bayer Color-Filter-Array. Its claim to fame is that this is now the smallest full-frame digital camera on the market by far.

The very compact Sigma fp offers a 24 MP sensor without Anti-Alias Filter and a shutter-less body, relying solely an electronic shutter. The sensor offers a standard ISO 100 to 25600 sensitivity range which expands to an incredibly low ISO 6! Although this mirrorless had neither a viewfinder or a hot-shoe, it manages to fit dual control-dials in a weatherproof body.

Sigma is preparing a Foveon Full-Frame sensor for a camera to be released in the near future too but no further specifics were announced.

• Lens