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Internal conversations with Sigma insiders reveals that the popularity of Sony’s E mount (and its evolution to the more premium a6xxx series) caught Sigma a little by surprise, and this second wave of lenses (and their more premium nature) makes for a better match with Sony’s own evolution. Having owned and used the 30mm f/1.4 DN lens, I was excited for the release of the new Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary as a reasonably priced, premium wide angle option. If you own Micro 4/3rds or Sony APS-C E-mount, the 16mm DN should be a serious interest to you. 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.
Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C Review | Photography Blog Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C Review | Photography Blog
With the Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F1.4 DC DN C lens wide open at f/1.4, you can see some obvious light fall-off in the corners. Stopping down helps, although to completely get rid of this phenomenon, you will need to use an f-stop of f/4 or smaller. Light Fall-off - Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C 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. With 16 elements in 13 groups, the optical system features a multitude of high-tech and high-end components, including three FLD glass elements, two SLD glass elements, and two molded glass aspherical elements. This optical system minimizes optical aberrations and ensures outstanding resolution at wide-open aperture and throughout the aperture range. In particular, the two aspherical lens elements have ultra-high-precision surfaces polished to tolerances under 10 nanometers, minimizing the onion ring bokeh effect that some aspherical elements produce and ensuring clear image quality throughout the frame. In addition, the structure of the optical system gently bends light to minimize sagittal coma flare and deliver optimal optical performance from the center of the frame to the edges. The result is a smooth, round bokeh effect with ample light volume throughout the frame.
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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. 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. Sigma’s approach to mirrorless lenses (DN) has come in two distinct phases. Sigma first released a series of three budget primes with moderately wide apertures (19mm, 30mm, and 60mm f/2.8 DN lenses). I’ve tested all of these, and they are actually surprisingly good little optics, with nice color, quiet focus, extremely compact size, and a bargain price. Though they look nothing like the other ART series lenses, they were, ironically, badged as ART lenses. In 2016 Sigma launched a new mirrorless lens, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DN DC. Though it shared a lot of design elements with the SLR ART series primes (similar body style and materials), along with the wide maximum aperture that ART primes are famous for, it was, ironically, badged a “Contemporary” lens. As a result, Sigma’s approach to mirrorless branding is a little like Alice’s “Through the Looking Glass”, where everything ends up somewhat upside down. The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DN lens certainly looks very much like an ART lens!
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
With 16 elements in 13 groups, the optical system features a multitude of high-tech and high-end components, including three FLD glass elements, two SLD glass elements, and two moulded glass aspherical elements. This optical system minimizes optical aberrations and ensures outstanding resolution at wide-open aperture and throughout the aperture range. In particular, the two aspherical lens elements have ultra-high-precision surfaces polished to tolerances under 10 nanometers, minimizing the onion ring bokeh effect that some aspherical elements produce and ensuring clear image quality throughout the frame. In addition, the structure of the optical system gently bends light to minimize sagittal coma flare and deliver optimal optical performance from the center of the frame to the edges. The result is a smooth, round bokeh effect with ample light volume throughout the frame. This 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. This is the large-diameter wide-angle lens for which mirrorless camera users have been waiting. In April 2023, Sigma announced it would be making three of its “Contemporary” prime lenses available for the Nikon Z mount – the first Sigma lenses to do this. Amy Davies spent some time using the new lenses to see how well they work with Nikon Z. I did notice some purple fringing in certain high contrast scenes at wide apertures. The nature of this is covered in the resolution section above. It is essentially only an issue at f/1.4. It's a bit of a different lens when paired with a Micro Four Thirds camera. The sensor is smaller than APS-C, so its angle of view is more like a 32mm—a more moderate swath of coverage. Here the lens has some peers, including the svelte Olympus 17mm f/1.8 and Panasonic 15mm f/1.7, both of which are a little more expensive and gather a bit less light when shot wide open, but are very light and compact. And there's the premium Olympus 17mm f/1.2, which captures more light than the Sigma and features a manual focus clutch, but is a lot more expensive.Barrel distortion measures -0.08%, virtually perfect drawing. Whether this is because of the high level of correction of the lens or because of basic processing in camera that is integral to the system and cannot be switched off is impossible to say, but the result is in any event excellent. Sigma says this, “ The optical design and stepping motor deliver smooth autofocus during video shooting. The lens design fully accommodates the Fast Hybrid AF of Sony E-mount cameras for super-fast autofocus functionality. Using face recognition AF results in consistent autofocusing on faces, even as the subjects move.” In other words, the 16mm DN supports all of Sony’s new bells and whistles on their newer mirrorless bodies. Chromatic aberration (CA) is the lens' inability to focus on the sensor or film all colours of visible light at the same point. Severe chromatic aberration gives a noticeable fringing or a halo effect around sharp edges within the picture. It can be cured in software.
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