Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens for Canon EF

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Not quite in the same league as the 35mm and 50mm Art lenses. However, as good as the iconic Canon 24mm. I am a professional photographer and demand the best, I am not dissapointed. Focusing is not the fastest, particularly if going full range. One more point, the creamy bokeh is a joy to have. The first photo I took with the camera is attached, it gives you an idea of the bokeh. Shot with a D810 wide open, hand held. Loving the results

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Just for those who are interested in purchasing a wide angle prime lens for some kind of astro or nightsky photography. I bought this lens just a couple of weeks ago and used it on my Canon 6D mainly for photographing the stars. The build quality of the Sigma 24mm lens is on the superb level. Infinity focus reference is very accurate, at least true for the copy I own. AF works smoothly and quietly (not tested at night, I only use MF and liveview on stars). At max aperture, F1.4, the vignetting is obvious and still visible but acceptable at F2.8 and so is the coma of the stars in corners. But all are gone stopped to F4. Impressively sharp from the center to outer region. I compared the Sigma 24mm to its rival, Samyang or Rokinon 24mm which is said to be the best for astrophotography especially for its unparalleled control on comatic aberration and found that, frankly, the Samyang does fairly better for this purpose than Sigma but, unfortunately, at the price of losing sharpness. After all, Id surely like to recommend this lens to anyone who is looking for a wide angle prime lens for some night photography stuff.

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I admit that for many years I was a lens snob (first Canon, then later Nikon). Yet with this latest addition of the Sigma ART 24 1.4, I find myself with an all-Sigma set of primes (24, 50, and 85), not necessarily because theyre cheaper, but rather because theyre BETTER (or, at a minimum, just as good). Was a bit nervous that a few of the reviews mentioned focus problems, but although I do have the USB dock, my initial impressions (on a D850) is that this lens focuses perfectly at near and far distances, no adjustments necessary. Focus speed is not lightning fast (not as fast as 24-70 or 70-200), but I didnt expect it to be. Id say its roughly on par with the 50 1.4 ART in that respect, and is certainly good enough for me.

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Consider this a preliminary review. Ill update it as things evolve. When I first got this lens, I went out and took a variety of photos in a variety of conditions using my D810. The photos did not have the sharpness I was expecting based on my experience with the outstanding Sigma 50mm Art lens I have been using. Even a casual inspection of the photos showed severe front-focusing. I tried connecting it with my Sigma USB port device (purchased 11 months ago when I got my Art 50mm), but learned that the USB device was now dead. I had only used it once, back when I first received my 50mm. Got the focus dialed in then, and havent used the USB device since. I dont know if the 24mm somehow killed the USB device, or if it just died on its own over the last 11 months, but it was dead. The particular symptoms were that I could plug it in, the on-computer software would recognize it (little green "port" light on screen would come on), but the on-device indicator light would not come on and no functionality was accessible. Called the (very helpful) people at Sigma, talked through the issue, and they concluded there was no option but to send it (the USB device, that is) in for warranty service. As of this writing, it is off at Sigma. I am told they have a 48 hour turn-around in their warranty department, so I expect it back any day. I decided to try the on-camera AF fine tune to see what I could get out of this lens. See the attached photo. I discovered that my subjective conclusion of front focusing was correct. I also discovered that the extent of the front focusing was so extreme that even at the limit (20 units) of the cameras adjustment, there was not quite enough to cure the problem. My intention is to wait until I receive the USB device back from Sigma and then try that. Hopefully I will be able to get these focus problems resolved. If not, I will be quite disappointed. I have had amazing results with the 50mm Art from Sigma, and was really hoping to get similar results from the 24. For now, Im calling this a "Three Star" review. Depending on how things turn out, I expect it will either go to "One Star" or "Five Stars". Update #1: I received my repaired USB dock back from Sigma today. By all appearances, they just replaced it, but either way, the dock now works perfectly with my 50mm, but it still does not connect to my 24mm. I am sending the 24mm back to Amazon for replacement. Well see if the replacement lens solves the problem. Update #2: I received my replacement 24mm from Amazon yesterday, and spent several hours working through focus calibration in my studio. My initial reaction is disappointment. The prior problems with connection to the USB dock are resolved, but so far I do not find this lens living up to the reputation of the 50mm. Not by a fair amount. The sharpness is just not there. Im going to run some more tests, but unless things turn around, this one is going back. Update #3: Decided to try the lens out on a shoot. Took a few hundred action shots in a martial arts environment. Overall performance was better than I expected. Im not a real technical guy, so I dont know about all the details. My "by eye" conclusion is that if you stop this lens down to at least f/4 it becomes acceptably sharp. Wide open? Not so much. My final conclusion is that I am going to keep it, but that it does not have that "magic" that the 50mm ART delivers. The 24 is an "ok" lens.

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This lens amazes me every time i use it. I wont get into the technical aspects, but every time i put this on my camera (Nikon D750) after using my Nikon lenses, i always have to double check once focus is locked. It happens SO FAST! Faster than any of my Nikon lenses. Its tack sharp, and so SO good for wide shots when im shooting weddings. If youre debating between the 24-70 and just this prime, go for the prime! You wont regret it!

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Almost 5 Stars The Sigma 24mm f1.4 Art is an outstanding lens, sharp and well built. I also own the 20mm f1.4 and 14mm f1.8 Art lenses. From my experience you absolutely must have the Sigma USB Dock. None of these 3 lenses focused properly out of the box with the 20mm being the worst of the three. And you really do need a focusing target like LensAlign or something similar. From my experience, Sigma Art lenses really aren’t calibrated to any standard so it’s important to use Sigma’s optimization software and calibrate your new lens at each of the distances shown in the software. Making adjustments at infinity is the hardest part. I found a distant object outside that had enough detail, so I could check the sharpness. But without a focus scale I found manually adjusting the focus as I looked through the viewfinder helped me determine if the lens was front or back focusing. This may seem like a lot of work, but I’ve found that once calibrated, those settings transfer to other Nikon bodies. Once adjusted on one camera body using the USB dock I can use the lens on other Nikon bodies. However, with each new body it’s still important to use AF fine-tune to tweak the focus for that body. AF fine-Tune may be more important with these lenses due to their shallower depth of field. As others have said, these lenses are sharp, well built, and heavy compared to similar lenses from Nikon. My main reason for purchasing these fast prims is for star shots, the advantage being the 2 or almost 2 extra stops of light. I can shoot at much lower ISO resulting in much less noise, no more star stacking to reduce noise. Previously, I’ve been using Nikon’s 14-24mm f2.8 and while it’s surprisingly sharp even compared to the sigma primes, f2.8 is too slow for astrophotography. So, what’s not to like? First you must calibrate the lens yourself. From all the testing I did, I also found the Sigma lenses don’t focus as consistently as the Nikon’s do. I could see this visually in the series of tests shots I took, and it was even more obvious when I used FocusTune software in conjunction with the LensAlign target. When FocusTune analyzes a series of shots, it produces a plot of the variation within the test group. In many of the Sigma test there was an inexplicable outlier or wild shot. Even at their best the Sigma lenses had larger groups than the Nikon lenses. Weather sealing isn’t great either. Of the three lenses I own, only the 14mm f1.8 has a gasket on the flange and all were purchased since July 2017. I also discovered during a trip to the southwest, that a small grain of sand found its way into the focusing ring of the 20mm f1.4. I could feel the roughness when I turned the focus ring. Fortunately, I could see the tiny piece of grit and I was able to remove it with a brush and compressed air. In terms of astrophotography, I can’t say the 14 and 20 have reduced coma relative to other lenses like the Nikon 14-24mm. In particular, stars in the corners develop some interesting shapes particularly the 20mm, but I kind of like them since there shape reminds me of alien space craft. FX Corners on both the 14mm & 20mm when shot wide open are decidedly soft and don’t really become sharp until f8 or even f11 at the expense of reduced center sharpness. Also, at those f-stops you begin to encounter diffraction limitations. My only real reservation with this lens and the others is focus consistency. I find I need to double check focus manually when focus is particularly when the aperture is wide open.

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I bought this lens mainly for the focal length and 1.4 aperture, but the optical quality ended up really surprising me. Its extremely sharp even wide open. Sure the edges lose some of that sharpness, but its hardly noticeable unless youre pixel deep diving. Stop it down a bit and it might just be the sharpest lens Ive ever used, really damn good stuff. And the depth of field is so silky smooth, I absolutely love the dreamy watercolor like backgrounds this lens can provide. Auto focus in low light can be a bit of a letdown (sometimes), but its easily worked around once you get a feel for what the lens needs. Ive been hearing some people have had issues with focus calibration, but luckily mine was perfect out of the box. Its a very large and heavy bit of glass, not to the extent that its uncomfortable to hold, but it definitely has a significant presence in the hands. The fast aperture and wide focal length make this an ideal choice for low light street photography. Im loving the shots I can get just using the beautiful neon signs, warm street lamps, and the triple color threat of a changing traffic signal. The Sigma 24mm 1.4 has been my go to lens for everything of late, its great for portraiture, product photography, landscape. If its in your budget, and you dont already have a fast wide, I wholeheartedly recommend you add this to your camera bag.

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This is a fantastic lens. All of the Sigma Art series lenses have been fantastic. I now own the 24mm, 35mm, and 50 mm. I currently have the Tamron 85 1.8 that is going to get switched with the Sigma 85 1.4. Thats how much Ive enjoyed my others. Fair warning, though, you will need the USB Dock to update the firmware on all of these. I had MAJOR focus issues with all three prior to updating the firmware. After I updated, I only needed to make very minor in camera calibrations (+/- 3) to get these things absolutely tack sharp. These adjustments were so minor I opted to make them via my 5D IV in camera calibrations by lens instead of the USB dock. It was just easier that way. After updating the firmware these things get the focus bang on at a way higher percentage than the majority of the Canon L glass I have owned and do own (at comparable apertures). Being someone that can afford all Canon L glass if I wanted, I would still buy these over the Canon versions. The only thing that would sway me would be if I required weather sealing, and I dont. If weather sealing isnt an issue for you, and you make sure you get the USB dock to update/calibrate the lens, this thing is a no brainer.

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I bought this lens to work side by side with my 50mm f1.8 AFS from Nikon and 70-200 f2.8 VR II. The lens is built very, very well, and is made mostly of metal and high-grade plastics that will withstand years of use. But buyer be warned; a lot of copies of this lens have autofocus issues out of the box. My copy struggled to focus on my subject, and was often confirming focus when indeed it was nowhere near such. Fortunately Sigma makes a USB dock to correct this, however my copy of the lens still had some trouble nailing the focus even when I manually did so. Also of note, Sigma gave me false information when contacted about the focusing problems. I was told the lens I was given was a grey market lens and my warranty would be invalid and void if I had any issues going forward. However when inputting the serial number on their website to check warranty info, my warranty was valid according to their system. Be careful. Otherwise, the lens is extremely sharp. Sharper than Nikon and Canons equivalent lenses and for a third of the asking price. That’s a major feat and Sigma really got this lens right in almost every way. If only the autofocus wasn’t so off out of box this would have gotten five stars.

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This lens had good reviews here and elsewhere but I should have paid more attention to negative reviews, almost all of which commented on focus issues. This front focuses on AF & MF and it was such a frustrating disappointment. Returning and getting the Canon 24mm lens instead.

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