Sigma Reveals 2 Extreme Full-Frame Lenses

2024.02.21

This morning Sigma Photo announced two new lenses designed for Full-Frame Mirrorless Digital Cameras. The two lenses find themselves at completely opposite ends of focal-lengths! Seeing those launched simultaneously demonstrates the versatility of the Sigma lens lineup.

The widest and brightest is the Sigma A 15mm F/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye, a lens which captures a 180° angle-of-view that covers the entire Full-Frame image area. This ultra-bright lens is the brightest fisheye lens on the market, allowing it to be taken down to very low light. Expect this Art series lens to produce dramatic unique images. It is a specialty item that is likely to be in high-demand due to the resurgence of Virtual Reality (VR). It only takes a few frames to capture a fully immersive 360° panorama.

The Sigma A 15mm F/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye is built to the highest specifications. Its enormous front lens element is protected by a fixed lens hood. A rear slot accepts filters near the lens mount where light rays are closer to being parallel. The barrel is fully weatherproof. There is a focus-lock, which is critical for capturing VR panoramas, and a heater retainer to use this lens in the cold for long periods at a time. This is necessarily a very large and heavy lens, weighing almost 1.4kg. Sigma has scheduled pre-orders for March 14 for $2000 USD in both Sony E and Leical L mount versions.

The other extreme is taken by the super-telephoto Sigma S 500mm F/5.6 DG DN OS. This very long lens takes photos with a narrow 5° angle-of-view. Its moderate F/5.6 maximum aperture is typical for this focal-length as any brighter would make the lens impractically large and heavy. This lens is used mostly for wildlife and field sports.

This Sport series lens is equipped with most features, including optical image-stabilization effective up to 5-stops compared to hand-holding, although such lenses are rarely used hand-help. The front of the lens accepts 95mm filters. Its minimum focus-distance is 3.2m which translates into a 0.16X magnification. This lens is weatherproof. Its large barrel measures 24cm long and weighs 1.4kg. The Sigma S 500mm F/5.6 DG DN OS lens is priced at $3000 USD. Preoders are scheduled to start on March 14 too.

• Lens