A fast standard zoom lens can be one of the most versatile pieces of equipment in a photographer's kit. Covering a popular zoom range and offering a wide maximum aperture, lenses like the new Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN ART II are ideal for a variety of photographic applications.
Coming to you from Christopher Frost, this informative video reviews the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN ART II lens. This lens is designed for Sony E-mount mirrorless cameras, but it will also be available for L-mount cameras. Frost notes that the build quality is excellent, with a mixture of metal and high-quality plastics. The lens features an aperture control ring, a rubberized zoom ring, autofocus hold buttons, an auto/manual focus switch, and a rubberized focus ring. Frost is also impressed with the lens's autofocus performance, which he describes as "silent and accurate."
Frost found that the lens produced "superb" image quality in the center of the frame at 24mm and f/2.8. The sharpness continued across the image frame, with only minor softness emerging in the very edges. Stopping down to f/5.6 and f/8 resulted in sharper edges, which is good news for landscape photographers. At 45mm, the corner image quality was even better, with sharpness extending right into the edges at f/2.8. At 70mm, Frost again found excellent image quality in the center of the frame. Corner image quality was also very good, looking sharp straight from the maximum aperture. Stopping down to f/5.6 or f/8 resulted in even sharper corners.
Frost does point out some weaknesses with the lens. He observed some barrel distortion at 24mm and pincushion distortion at 70mm. He also noted that the close-up image quality was "dreadfully bad" at f/2.8, but improved at f/5.6 and f/8. Despite these flaws, Frost concludes that the new version is a fantastic fast standard zoom lens that is "certainly quite reasonably priced for what you're getting." He recommends the lens to photographers who are looking for a great fast standard zoom lens for their Sony camera but cannot afford the Sony G Master option. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Frost.
