Any experience with new Sigma primes on CL?

[Kay Tetzlaff]

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Hi I was wondering whether someone has used any of the Sigma Contemporary DC DN prime leises on the CL. Cannot find any reviews yet of the new L-mount Versions. Plan to Buy the 56mm 1.4 and the new 85mm 1.4 Art DG DN once available.

[Boojay]

A search using the box above right usually comes up with some results here, try this one

 

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[wda]

Kay, welcome.

It is probably too early to find reviews of your chosen focal lengths. However plenty of reports of user experience of the 45mm and 70mm lenses. Try looking at the picture thread for images taken with the CL and you will find many examples.

Performance has proven to be excellent, but physical sizes are bigger than primes designed for APS-C might be expected, bearing in mind that the Sigma lenses were designed for full-frame cameras, and adapted for L-mount bodies.

[Boojay]

Kay, I should maybe have also said welcome, did not realise you were new to the CL.

The contemporary DC DN,  lenses are indeed designed for use on crop sensors, and certainly the 56mm 1.4 is a perfect size on the CL, I am sitting here looking at mine.  After saying I would not be buying one as I had plenty of M mount 50's, recent experience with some Sigma lenses and the price (never to be ignored), tempted me, only tried it briefly so far but the 56mm seems a perfect portrait lens on the CL.

The two lenses David mentioned 45/70 DG DN are full frame lenses, the 45 being a newer design and paired with the Sigma FP in a fairly small package.  Lots of users and samples from that on here.

As I said previously the thread above there are some image samples and if I remember correctly images of the three 16/30/56 on or with the CL which may be helpful to you.

 

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2020 by Boojay
Correction

[Kay Tetzlaff]

Thanks guys, also for friendly words! In fact I have have seen the pictures posted, however, am curious about real life user experience that tells me more than 1000 pictures. I owned the 56mm for Sony E and was quite happy with the a6500 combo. Now that I switched to CL and enjoy the distinct colors and rendering of native leises I am just wondering how the Sigma lenses would compare and whether AF works smoothly.  

[wda]

42 minutes ago, Kay Tetzlaff said:

Thanks guys, also for friendly words! In fact I have have seen the pictures posted, however, am curious about real life user experience that tells me more than 1000 pictures. I owned the 56mm for Sony E and was quite happy with the a6500 combo. Now that I switched to CL and enjoy the distinct colors and rendering of native leises I am just wondering how the Sigma lenses would compare and whether AF works smoothly.  

Historically, I have found Sigma lenses giver a slightly warmer rendering than I am used to seeing from Leica lenses. However, since I produce my own profiles for use in Lightroom, it is very difficult to separate Leica  and  Sigma lenses from a clour point of view. I should add that I have only used the 70mm macro lens on the CL, so you need to gather additional views from other users.

[JohnP1]

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I purchased all three of these lenses sight unseen when they were announced. Thanks to the good people at Red Dot Cameras in London (with whom I have no connection except as a customer) I had them in my hand virtually the day they were released. My reasoning was as follows. I have all three of the Leica zoom's for my CL, and good though they are, I do favour primes. I used to own the TL 23/2 but was unimpressed. The TL 18/2.8 is attractive because of it's size but the reviews are luke warm. I have no first Hand experience of it however. Of the other two TL primes, I have the Sigma 70 macro and it is fabulous, so no incentive to buy the TL 60. I am interested in the TL35/1.4 but at the price I need convincing it is worth it, and as yet I've not had the opportunity to try one.

Back to the new Sigma primes. They feel good in the hand and on the camera. Although they are a little large this makes no difference in actual use. Talking of size, for some reason the 16 is the largest, the 30 is mid size and the 56 is the smallest. This seems the wrong way round to my untrained eye. Also the three lenses have three different filter thread sizes. The hood for the 16 is petal style while the other two are round. I think Sigma missed a trick with the hood for the 16, the front of the petals are rounded, and while it is possible to stand the lens on it's front with the hood attached, it would be that much more secure had the ends been squared off. 

Performance wise, it's still early days but my first impression is that all three are very good indeed. There is a little softness and chromatic aberration at full aperture that is mostly gone by f2.0. From there until f11 or f16 when diffraction takes it's toll they are all plenty sharp. The only Leica prime that I can directly compare with is the 50/1.4 Summilux on my M240. The Sigma 30 (45mm equivalent) is clearly superior from f1.4 to around f5.6 where they draw level. From f8 onwards the Summilux wins out. One small quirk that is nothing do do with the actual lens: in Lightroom, the lens profile for the 56/1.4 adds an unacceptable amount of barrel distortion, so I use this one with the profile turned off.

Hope this helps those of you thinking of buying one or more of these lenses. In my opinion, for the price, they are a steal.

Cheers

John

[bags27]

I guess I'm crashing a Sigma thread, but the new Panasonic FF 20-60 (= 30-90) sounds interesting. It's pretty slow (f/5.6) at the long end, but if one is shooting with IBIS (such as the SL2 or [we hope!!!] the CL2), it would be an interesting mid-range for the CL.

In general, I'm certainly impressed with all the new Sigmas (I have the FF 70 and 100-400), but I think Panasonic optics are a bit superior. 

[Kay Tetzlaff]

Thank you this is quite helpful! The (to be launched) Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art L-mount lens will have a focus hold (FN) button that is usually programmable on Sony or other cameras. Is there any use for this on Leica CL?

 

[Boojay]

1 hour ago, Kay Tetzlaff said:

Thank you this is quite helpful! The (to be launched) Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art L-mount lens will have a focus hold (FN) button that is usually programmable on Sony or other cameras. Is there any use for this on Leica CL?

 

I don't think it will be Kay, the Sigma 100-400 has the same AFL switch and this does not work on the CL.  Maybe a firmware update at some stage will change things, but I wouldn't hold my breath on that.