Ladies and gentlemen, the king of lenses has been crowned. DxOMark has announced their test results for the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art lens, and it’s the lens with the highest score ever. It won 51 when mounted on a Nikon D800E and left Zeiss Otus 85mm f/1.4 eat its dust.
DxOMark scores sharpness, transmission, distortion, vignetting and chromatic aberration, and Sigma seems to have nailed it in all categories. Interestingly enough, it scored slightly better on Nikon D800E than D810 (51 on the first and 50 on the second). They both have 36MP full frame CMOS sensor, but D800E is a two years older model.
Sigma Art line is increasingly becoming the first choice of photographers, and Sigma Company has definitely become strong among its competitors. Art series can easily compete with Nikon and Canon lenses. And judging from the latest DxoMark score – even Zeiss falls a little behind when it comes to 85 mm lenses.
An advantage of Sigma lenses that may be the initial reason for buying them was their price. The Art series competes with high-grade and high-speed lenses from other manufacturers, but it comes at a more affordable price. However, the crowned king of lenses requires a bit higher budget and you can get it for $1.199. Still, it beats Nikon’s 85mm lenses when it comes to price (and obviously when it comes to DxOMark score, too). For comparison, Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G is around $400 more expensive.
So, if you are looking for a perfect portrait lens, it seems you can end your search. You can find out more about this lens and read a full review on DIYP, along with some sample photos.
So, will you be upgrading your gear? Or you’ll rather stick to Canon, Nikon or any other lens type you’ve preferred so far?
[via Reddit]
Glenn Dulay Jb Dacanay
Does not really help at all if they don’t get the AF right … still reading a lot of complaints that AF is not reliable on the Art-series lenses.
Can’t speak for the 85, but certainly true for the 35 and 50??
Could this be a case of a product engineered to score high on tests? Computer video cards manufacturers do that quite often. What is their excuse to produce a lens at this price point that has slow/unreliable focus?
It seems that the focusing issues are enough to keep me away from this lens. A lens that has focusing issues has no place in my camera bag. Specially at the price point for this lens.
Sigmas are iffy. I have two art lenses I hated and wouldn’t hit at any consistently. After the latest firmware update you couldn’t pry them from my cold dead hands.
How Samyang 85xp is it score?
And yet, my Canon 85mm f/1.8 focuses faster and more accurately, for 1/4 the price. This is for pixel peepers and bragging rights. I’ll stick with real world performance.
P.s. I have two Sigma lenses, and love them.