Best third party lenses for SL2?

[JohnSantaF4]

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I’m considering acquiring a used SL2 now that prices have eased. I understand that third party L-mount lenses have improved markedly in the last three years are so. I shoot mainly landscape and architecture, and would appreciate advice on cost-effective lenses for that use with the SL2. Thanks in advance.

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[KenTanaka]

In my own experience with the SL2, Sigma's L-mount lenses were excellent. They've really come a long way in their optical quality over the years.

[keeping_a_balance]

Yeah. They are great, both panasonic and sigma lenses. Marginal differences in my opinion. 

[Pelu2010]

Hey, 

I use the 24-70 sigma all the time.

the Panasonic 100 macro is a favorite 

I use all my old Canon Ef lenses on the sl2

And more but this is all experimental and I love it. 
 

 

[Filip Baraka]

13 hours ago, JohnSantaF4 said:

I’m considering acquiring a used SL2 now that prices have eased. I understand that third party L-mount lenses have improved markedly in the last three years are so. I shoot mainly landscape and architecture, and would appreciate advice on cost-effective lenses for that use with the SL2. Thanks in advance.

I had almost same question few months ago and the forum collective steered me toward a VE24-90mm. Although not a cost effective solution I would urge you to have a look in that direction, best zoom I ever had. 24-90 + ultra wide and you are set for  a lot of landscape scenarios

[Chris W]

The Sigma 'contemporary' lenses are excellent.

[Stuart Richardson]

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At least in my experience, the Sigma 105mm Macro is right up there with Leica quality in sharpness and freedom from aberration. The 24mm 3.5 is also a great lens, but not quite at the same level. But still better than most M wides. The Sigma lenses have been really good in general, but in my experience the 35mm and 45mm Contemporary lenses are not at the Leica level, but are still quite good when stopped down a bit. I struggle to find fault with the 24mm or 105mm, however. What focal lengths or kinds of lenses are you gravitating towards?

[Chris W]

People seem to like the 65mm Sigma. I have the 90mm and it's better than my old M 90mm.

[NasePups]

50mm/f2 Sigma DG DN kills the new Summicron Asph. in sharpness/bokeh...

Edited March 9, 2024 by NasePups

[Photoworks]

many of the sigma lenses are quite good. some of them rebrand with leica.

i like the 35mm 1.4 art lens, the 24-70 zoom and the 14-24 zoom

Stay away from 45.. I was sigma 1st L mount lens and it is nothing special

"DG DN" is the code you want

[JohnSantaF4]

7 hours ago, Stuart Richardson said:

At least in my experience, the Sigma 105mm Macro is right up there with Leica quality in sharpness and freedom from aberration. The 24mm 3.5 is also a great lens, but not quite at the same level. But still better than most M wides. The Sigma lenses have been really good in general, but in my experience the 35mm and 45mm Contemporary lenses are not at the Leica level, but are still quite good when stopped down a bit. I struggle to find fault with the 24mm or 105mm, however. What focal lengths or kinds of lenses are you gravitating towards?

I’d like to find a longish zoom, and one or two primes (one a wide angle for landscape). 

[Dr. G]

The Sigma lenses are really good.  I’m going to add one of the newer versions of the 20mm ART or 24mm ART as soon as I settle on which fills length I want (although I’m leaning toward the 20mm since I’ll lose a bit of information when using perspective control). If you can handle the weight and size the ART DG DN lenses are great (as are many of the contemporary line lenses).  

[GFW2-SCUSA]

On 3/9/2024 at 10:09 AM, Photoworks said:

 

Stay away from 45.. I was sigma 1st L mount lens and it is nothing special

"DG DN" is the code you want

I would be interested to learn why you would stay away from the Sigma 45 DG DN f2.8? I have had one for a while and find it to be a good lens and as I remember reasonably priced. Perhaps it is nothing special, but I am not super critical of my lenses. Maybe now that I've had my cataracts removed and new lens put in I will see the shortcomings of my lenses. I hope not!

I agree with those who find the Sigma 105 macro to be a wonderful lens. I think it is super and I sometimes use it with the 1.4X extender and find that to be excellent as well. 

[rouge_homme]

I also own the Sigma 45mm and it’s a lens I would actually recommend without hesitation.

Yes, it’s not the absolute sharpest wide open but still renders nicely and once stopped down, it performs very well (my copy at least).

However, it’s beautifully compact and well-made with a versatile focal length that makes a great ‘walk-around’ option. You can usually find them on the used market for a few hundred dollars, which is a true bargain in my mind.

[mdavidp]

Hi,

I was going to sell my 45mm. Sigma after all the bad press.

I had used it a year ago with L to Sa adapter and was not impressed. Before posting on Ebay

I tried it on my new sl2 and wow what a sharp lens!

It's at least as good as the 24-90 @ 45mm.

Mike P

[Leicaboy Norway]

I have to recommend the Sigma DG DN Art 85mm 1.4.

 

I just ordered this lens for my SL2. And I've previously owned it on Sony. 

 

Compared to the best 85mm lens ever made (I'm pretty sure of this) - the RF 85mm 1.2, it's 95% of the performance, a tiny bit slower aperture, but the handling is so much better.

 

The old Sigma DG 85mm 1.4 was the best measured lens by DXO Mark i think, so this is solid stuff.

[mdavidp]

The L line of Sigma lenses have made the SL2 into just a remarkable camera.

I.e. I used the 24-70 on my Sigma SDqh.

It was a very good lens.

The 24-70 L I use on my sl2 is even better and lighter!

Mike P

[ErikW]

I have recently swapped out of Canon and have got a number of Sigma Art Lenses as well as the 24-90 Leica zoom. I find the sigmas very usable and sharp In the DG-DN guise. The Leica while sharp (although not markedly more than my excellent CanonRF 24-70 which surprised me) is very heavy and (this is completely anecdotal) I think seems to be reasonably slow when focusing on the SL2 if that is an issue for you. While the sigmas seem quite snappy when focusing. I personally put that down to the lighter weight of those lenses.  The Leica is still great lens though and use it all the time.

I also bought the sigma converter for Canon EF lenses so that I can use my 18mm PC lens and that works a treat and may be useful for your architectural images. Its a great combination of the functionality of the canon lens with the file quality of the leica.

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[la1402]

The new Sigma 24-70 MarkII is super. Excellent Optics, fast AF, low weight. 

[GLAUMAX]

I really like sigma 65mm and 24mm 3.5.

Both are excellent performers and super sharp