Sigma 16 mm f/1.4 (C) AF DC DN Lens for Canon EF-M X Mount, Mirrorless

Product Information

The mount features a special sealing to make the lens an excellent choice in a wide variety of conditions.

Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Review | PCMag Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary Review | PCMag

This trio of affordable, ultra-fast prime lenses are of particular interest to Canon APS-C shooters because Canon have released so few native lenses for the EF-M mount - just 8 since the system was launched 8 years ago in 2012, with half of those being slow zoom lenses. I don’t consider this lens a top choice for astro, but I made a few images with it that night that I like a lot, so won’t hesitate to use it in that fashion in the future. A Good Video OptionBokeh 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 | Contemporary from CameraWorld Sigma 16mm f1.4 DC DN | Contemporary from CameraWorld

Sigma have paid close attention to this aspect of lens use, employing a 9-segment diaphragm with rounded blades in all three lenses for more pleasing bokeh.The SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary features SIGMA’s inner focus technologies, while lighter lens elements in the focus lens group make possible a more compact actuator. Moreover, this lens offers outstanding stability whether the photographer is shooting handheld or has the camera placed on a surface. Structurally, the lens features materials and parts that contribute to its compact, lightweight structure. In summary, this is an unprecedented lens that combines outstanding optical performance with exceptional portability and usability. The 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary is the world’s first interchangeable lensfor 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. From my perspective, having Image Stabilization on the lens doesn’t make that much of a difference when shooting video on the M50. Final Thoughts 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. Before I break down the details of the lens performance, I do want to raise one more point. The Sony a6500 I’m testing the lens on has an excellent sensor. Good color, great dynamic range, and a nicely detailed 24 MP sensor. In some situations I strongly prefer full frame image quality to APS-C, even from a good sensor like this one. One of those areas is when the ISO level goes up, as I find the “look” of the pixels to be more obvious on APS-C. A lens like this 16mm f/1.4 certainly helps that problem, though, as due to the wide maximum aperture, easy to handhold focal length, and, in the case of the a6500, an excellent IBIS system (In Body Image Stabiization), there are very few situations where a high ISO level will be necessary. The lens’ strong performance at wide apertures only seals that deal! Resolution

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 EF-M Lens Review - Todd Dominey Sigma 16mm f/1.4 EF-M Lens Review - Todd Dominey

I’ve got nothing but good to say about the AF on this lens, which hasn’t always been the case with Sigma lenses in the past! Sigma 16mm DN Image Quality TheSigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN C isn't claimed to be a macro lens, but it delivers reasonable performance nonetheless. It has a minimum focusing distance of 30cm/11.8in and a maximum magnification ratio of 1:7. Visit us and you'll always find a friendly welcome. Our policy is to treat our customers as we would like to be treated ourselves, a simple ideal that we try hard to live up to.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.

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Canon EF-M with Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for Canon EF-M with

The result? As expected, Digital IS does make a difference with both lenses. I wouldn’t shoot handheld on the Canon M50 without it. Thanks to the M50’s exceptional Dual Pixel Auto Focus mode, focus speed and accuracy was exactly the same between the two lenses. I thought that the Canon might have a slight edge over the Sigma (because third party lenses sometimes don’t perform as well), but thankfully that wasn’t a problem. Depth-of-field 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. The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 lens is one of three new EF-M prime lenses now being offered by Sigma (including a 30mm lens I reviewed here). For Canon users looking for EF-M lens options, the Sigma lenses couldn’t come at a better time, because Canon—for whatever reason—has never expanded their EF-M lens lineup with anywhere near the breadth of their full-frame EF lens options.The 16mm DN is a very strongly performing lens, with a lot of resolution available even at wide apertures. In real world shooting I was very happy with the results, with a lot of good detail showing up at a pixel level. The sharpness is also nicely even across the frame, with fairly good edge performance (important for landscape photographers). Wide open (f/1.4) the center performance is stronger than the corners, but neither are the corners mushy, either. There is a bit of veiling (lower contrast) wide open that I traced to a fairly common problem with wide aperture lenses – some axial (or longitudinal) chromatic aberrations. Unlike lateral chromatic aberrations, which often appear near the edges of the frame as green and purple fringing on both the top and bottom of things like, say, tree branches or other high contrast subjects, axial CA (LoCA) occurs when not all colors focus equally. It typically appears as purple fringing before the plane of focus and sometimes also with some green fringing after the plane of focus. Lateral CA is mostly unaffected by aperture, and will appear at most aperture values. Axial CA is often “fixed” by stopping the lens down to smaller apertures, as the depth of field increases and there is less variance between the focus of the colors.