Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | ART Review

Sigma’s 18-35mm F1.8 that was released nearly ten years ago became a cult favorite, particularly with the video crowd. Even full frame users often used it to help mitigate crop factors and because of the flexibility of having a zoom range AND a fast maximum aperture. Sigma followed that up with a similar full frame lens – the Sigma 24-35mm F2 – but that lens never seemed to capture the same kind of attention (perhaps due to its large size and abbreviated zoom range). But Sigma is back for the mirrorless era with a unique new offering that surely hopes to recapture the success of the 18-35mm. This is a full frame lens, but Sigma has tweaked the formula to allow for a slightly larger zoom and a little brighter a maximum aperture. We now have the 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | ART lens…but does it have the magic of the 18-35mm? We’ll explore that question in either my video review below or in my text review here…or just enjoy the photo gallery.

Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN ART Review | World's First FF F1.8 Zoom!

Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for sending me a review loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review. *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with the Sony a7RV along with the Sony Alpha 1 that serve as my benchmark cameras for Sony lenses.

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Some of the key selling features of the 28-45 DN include:

World’s first F1.8 full frame zoom
Prime-like optical performance
Full range of video features
Multiple custom buttons
Aperture ring with declick and iris lock options
Internally zooming design
Thorough weather sealing.

Sigma revealed the development of this lens to me a while back, and my immediate thought when I heard the specifications was, “a full frame version of the 18-35mm!”. I saw their marketing materials about a month later, and that was exactly how they are marketing it. The numbers aren’t exact, but since the 18-35mm was an APS-C lens, if you apply a 1.5x crop factor (the most common APS-C crop factor) to that focal length, you get 27-52.5mm. So obviously the zoom range is a little more constrained on the full frame version, though definitely a bigger zoom ratio than the 24-35mm. Sigma cheated a bit on the wide end (-4mm) to allow more on the telephoto end (+10mm) and to avoid making the lens even larger. And that size factor is going to be, in my mind, the biggest potential deterrent. This is a BIG lens – over 153mm in length and weighing 950g – 33mm longer and 140g heavier than the 18-35mm. That’s not terrible in absolute terms (considering this is a full frame lens), but it does mean that this will be slightly harder lens to gimbal.

The whole “bag of primes” in one lens applies here, though I will practically point out that the Samyang 24mm F1.8 (230g), 35mm F1.8 (210g), 45mm F1.8 (162g) weigh a combined 602g. You could throw in the 75mm F1.8 (230g) and still undercut the weight of the 28-45mm by 150g! That’s not to suggest that those lenses are of the same quality as the Sigma or that having 3-4 prime lenses are as convenient for video making, but the size and weight will be probably the single greatest deterrent for some potential buyers. The better argument here is the image quality and overall performance, which is nothing short of exceptional.

Sigma has a well deserved reputation for producing sharp lenses, but every now and then they make something exceptional – something that stands out from the ordinary lenses that I review from them and is optically special. The 28-45 DN is one of those. Here’s why…

Photos of the Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 ART

Photos taken with the Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 ART

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GEAR USED:

Purchase the Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 ART @ B&H Photo | Nuzira | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Purchase the Sony a7RV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Sony Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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Purchase the Sony a7IV @ B&H Photo | Adorama | Amazon | Camera Canada | Sony Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany

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