Review by Klaus Schroiff, published September 2013

Introduction

The first lens that carries the "Art" tag is the 35mm f/1.4 DG. Sigma already has some experience in building fast prime lenses, a market segment that has not seen much contribution from 3rd party suppliers in the past. Just like their other full frame primes, the EX 50/1.4 and the EX 85/1.4, the new Art lens competes with the original manufacturer's products. Since we're looking at the EF-mount version of the Sigma lens here, the direct competitor is obviously Canon' own EF 35mm f/1.4, a highly regarded lens, but also a rather expensive one. Retailing at just more then half the price of the Canon, Sigma now offers a more affordable option to Canon shooters but is it also as good ... or even better ?

Sigma's new vision not only leads to new categories, but also a new product design. However, unlike a few years ago, where they simply changed the coating of the EX lenses, Sigma this time obviously started from scratch and came up with a result that is very impressive and totally different from what we've seen from Sigma in the past. In fact, the 35/1.4 is built and designed so well, that several experienced photographers we showed the lens to had trouble believing they were looking at a Sigma lens ;)

Parts of the lens tube are made from metal, including the focus ring (which also features the usual rubber ring to provide better grip). However, some parts also seem to be made from plastic, for example the body part containing the distant scale and also the lens hood, so there's a bit of material mixture. Nonetheless, the lens really feels like a premium product. The focus ring is nicely damped and operates smoothly.

Because of an internal focusing (IF) design, the physical length of the lens remains constant at all focus settings and the front lens does not rotate during focusing. So, using a polarizer is no problem. The lens features HSM, which is Sigma's version of an ultrasonic drive. Typical for many HSM lenses, the AF is virtually silent and very fast - although recent Canon designs still have an edge in this respect. The AF accuracy was very high on the tested sample.