Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro ART Review

Dustin Abbott

September 3rd, 2018

Sigma’s first macro lens in the ART series has flown somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by the more flamboyant lens announcements (Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 ART, 105mm f/1.4) along with the announcement of the Sony FE retrofit of the ART series. Sigma’s approach is a little different from the established conventions in focal length, focus method (the lens focuses externally and employs a focus-by-wire system), and eschews the image stabilization that most modern macro lenses employ. What they have done, however, is focus on the ART series priority – optical performance – on which the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro ART definitely excels. It is extremely sharp at all focus distances. It also has weather sealing, and, continuing in the delightful trend from the 14-24mm ART, it is fully compatible with Canon’s Lens Aberration Correction (only the second third party lens that this is true of). But are these things enough to make the 70 ART Macro worth adding to your kit? Read on to find out!

Prefer to watch your reviews? You can see my full video review here:

Sigma 70 ART Macro Build and Design

I refer to this lens as being somewhat quirky, mostly because it is seems somewhat out of step with everything else that Sigma has done recently. Sigma has carved out a niche for the ART series by offering high resolution lenses (which this lens does qualify for!), but also by offering lenses with wider maximum apertures that what is typical, be it at that particular focal length or zoom range. 70mm is a slightly oddball focal length, and the maximum aperture of f/2.8 is in no way unusual. For a closer look at the lens, check out this video episode where I take you up close and personal with the lens:

What makes this lens unusual for a 2018 release is what is missing, namely an internally focusing design and a lack of OS (an optical stabilizer). This is also the first ART series lens (for DSLRs) to not have Sigma’s HSM focus motor (HyperSonic Motor) – a ring-type focus motor. Let’s take a moment and examine what each of these things mean.

First of all, this lens is not internally focusing, which means that the inner barrel extends like a piston when focusing towards the macro range. In fact, you can actually get reproduction ratios by seeing the markings on that inner barrel as it extends:

Sigma has this to say on the topic: “In recent years, macro lenses in the standard range have tended to employ inner focusing with the goal of maximizing autofocus speed. In contrast, the new SIGMA 70mm F2.8 DG MACRO | Art lens is designed to prioritize optical performance, fulfilling the demanding image quality requirements that define the Art line.” I’ve used a lot of internally focusing lenses with amazing optics, but I’ve also got two lenses that externally focus and are incredibly sharp (Zeiss Milvus 2/135mm and Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 65mm f/2 Macro). I’m not sure that I follow the reasoning of why Sigma conflates external focus and image quality, but the lens does have excellent image quality, so I’ll concede this point to them. On a practical level know that using the lens hood here is particularly important, as at no time does the front element exceed the length of the lens hood, meaning that the front elements stays protected…if you are using the lens hood. Here you can see what things look like with the lens hood in place and the lens completely focused to macro.

A byproduct of this inner barrel extension is that the lens has a fairly tiny filter thread of just 49mm. The lens bucks the general trend of Sigma ART lenses being large and heavy all around, in fact, as the lens is a moderate 2.79 x 4.17″ / 70.8 x 105.8 mm (Diameter x Length) and weighs 1.13 lb / 515 g. This isn’t small in an absolute sense, but it is very reasonably sized and slightly smaller than some competing lenses.

More puzzling is that this lens does not have OS. Pretty much everyone started putting image stabilization in their macro lenses about 7 years ago because, of all lenses, macro lenses are the most demanding to handhold (at macro distances). Depth of field becomes incredibly small at macro distances, and effective aperture reduces (meaning that the lens needs more and more light the closer you get to a subject). Many hardcore macro shooters work only from a tripod for this reason, though one still has a problem if their subject moves at all. Most macro lenses with a stabilizer have one especially designed for macro work (Canon calls this a “hybrid IS”), and I can attest that it makes a huge difference. Yes, when I’m serious about macro work, I use a tripod, but I also find that macro lenses are very flexible “run and gun” lenses, allowing one to capture a variety of subjects. If I’m hiking, for example, I don’t want to be carrying a tripod. I found using the 70 ART Macro much harder for this kind of work.

When I used it on the a7R3 and it’s excellent IBIS (Steadyshot Inside), I was able to shoot a handheld macro like this of the top of a Pepsi can. Good luck doing that on a Canon or Nikon without that stabilization.

It wasn’t so much about stabilizing the final result (you can easily solve that by using a fast shutter speed), but rather more about holding the lens still long enough to focus on the small area where I wanted focus. Suffice it to say that I really missed OS for the situations where I frequently use a macro lens. Sigma designed this lens for macro purists who are willing to do their macro work from a tripod and are more concerned with image quality than anything else. Fair enough, but that does limit the appeal of the lens to a wider audience, particularly when Tamron’s exceptionally good 90mm f/2.8 VC Macro from their SP series costs only $90 more. In some ways this lens makes most sense to me on Sony FE where it can take advantage of Sony’s excellent IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization). I think Sigma’s decision to exclude OS from this lens is going to haunt them.

The general build of the lens is very good. It has the now-familiar Sigma ART series design, which is sleek and modern in dark, understated way. The lens comes with both lens hood and a nice padded, pouch. While it doesn’t have more robust weather sealing of the new 105mm f/1.4 ART lens, it does at least have some dust and moisture resistance at the lens mount (better than nothing!) The mount is brass and the body a blend of metals and engineered plastics (or “thermal composites” as per Sigma)!

As is typical for ART lenses, it employs a nine rounded blade aperture iris design, which is very effective at maintaining a circular shape with the lens stopped down. The minimum focus distance on this lens is 10.16″ / 25.8 cm, a little lower than either Tamron’s 90mm Macro or Canon’s 100mm macro options. It is a full 1:1 macro lens.

I consider this focal length to be a good option for those that shoot food or product photography, where the slighter wider framing may come in handy. Those that shoot insects or moving things might prefer the longer working distance of a longer focal length.

It should be noted that this lens is compatible with Sigma’s teleconverters, which gives you a few options. It can also be used with Sigma’s USB dock (for firmware updates, focus calibration, and more), is eligible for Sigma’s mount conversion service, and also is compatible with the MC-11 adapter for Sony (though with a few quirks).

Sigma 70 ART Macro Autofocus

The final somewhat odd element of the Sigma 70 ART Macro is Sigma’s decision to go with a focus-by-wire system rather than a traditional HSM motor here. I’ll give you Sigma’s marketing/explanation followed by my thoughts. “The focus-by-wire system eliminates the direct mechanical connection between the focus ring and the focus drive system. Controlled by SIGMA’s latest algorithm, a newly developed coreless DC motor adjusts focus with optimal speed and low noise. Full-time manual focus is available even during autofocus, allowing the photographer to make minute focus adjustments simply by turning the focus ring. In addition, the focus ring’s large angle of rotation helps the photographer achieve the extremely precise focusing required for effective macro photography.”

I’m afraid I can’t swallow all of this. First of all, Sigma’s HSM motors are typically fairly quiet anyway, and the statement about “optimal speed” is pure marketing – the autofocus is quite slow, particularly if you are doing major focus changes. Using the included focus limiter is going to be key here, as focus speed is fine for smaller focus changes. Going from macro to infinity is somewhat leisurely, though.

At first I thought this was a wise decision by Sigma, as it seemed like the lens was going to be a natural to adapt to to mirrorless. Sigma ART lenses are some of the very best lenses to adapt to Sony FE already due to their MC-11 doing a great job in helping lenses make that transition. I was somewhat disappointed by what I found when adapting the lens to my Sony a7R3, though, as the lens tended to hunt at times, get stuck sometimes, and in other occasions refused to focus on the foreground object that I wanted it to focus on. In this image of a flower, for example, the camera refused to focus on a very obvious foreground subject. In the second image I actually manually focused into the right zone, and the focus system “woke back up” then.

The image quality results were excellent (this is an optically superior lens!), but I didn’t particularly enjoy the experience due to the inconsistent character of the focus. I’m actually interested in testing an actual FE mount lens, as I suspect it will operate much better. I did check both the lens and my MC-11 for firmware updates, but while there was an MC-11 update, it didn’t address my issues. Perhaps a future firmware update to one or the other will improve this performance. Here’s a few shots taken with the Sigma/Sony combo:

A byproduct of the focus-by-wire system is that the traditional distance window is eliminated from the barrel, though if you take off the lens hood and look at the barrel markings you will get a similar effect. Focus-by-wire lenses require the camera to be on and awake before any input to the manual focus ring does anything. There is no direct coupling to the elements, so all input has to be routed through the focus motor. I’m skeptical that this is what macro photographers really want as these systems tend to have poorer tactile feedback and less precision, though, to be fair, focus-by-wire systems are vastly improved over where they were a few years ago. You can employ full-time manual override, but the camera must be on and active for this to work. Let’s just say that this lens is no Zeiss for manual focus bliss.

On a far more positive note, the autofocus accuracy was generally excellent right out of the box in my tests on my Canon 5D Mark IV. I didn’t feel that any calibration was necessary, as the lens nailed focus again and again. There was one oddity, though. I have a setting enabled on my 5D Mark IV where only the cross-type AF points supported by a given lens will show up (I value accuracy over having more points). I had the fewest points available to me of any lens I’ve used, with only the center group lighting up for some reason. I’ve used a lot of Sigma lenses before and never seen anything like that before.

This lens would be too slow to keep up with very fast action, but I did shoot a few things moving moderately fast (like the Luge riders at the Skyline Luge Mont Tremblant) and was able to stop that action fine.

All in all, the focus system leaves me with some unanswered questions. It probably makes most sense on Sony, but I was surprised that the experience with MC-11 was actually sub-par compared to other ART lenses adapted with it (the 105mm f/1.4 ART I was reviewing at the same time worked very well). It works fine in what it does, and focus accuracy was excellent, but the slower focus speed, limited focus points, and the disappointing MC-11 performance left me a little underwhelmed.

Sigma 70 ART Macro Image Quality

To this point in the review, I’m sure you’ve gotten the impression that I’m somewhat nonplussed by the 70 ART. Fortunately, this is where things take a definite turn for the better. Sigma made this lens all about the image quality, and it delivers here in spades. For those of you that have skipped right here, here’s a brief recap of this focal length (a somewhat unconventional one). I like shorter macro lenses for things like food and product photography, where a longer lens is sometimes a detriment. I do a lot of work in my Angler Port-a-Cube light tent, and my Canon 100L Macro is sometimes a little tight for that kind of space. I don’t like the 70mm focal length as well for portraits or used as a short telephoto, as it doesn’t compress the image as much or blow out the background the same way. It also doesn’t have as big of working distance as longer focal lengths for photographing insects or other things that might be scared off by getting too close. You need to determine how you intend to use your macro lens and whether this focal length is an asset or liability for the kind of work you want to do.

The 70 ART is supported by Canon’s Lens Aberration Corrections in camera, which is a huge recent development for Sigma. Prior to the release of the 14-24mm f/2.8 ART lens no third party lenses were supported by Canon’s in camera corrections, which was a baked-in advantage for first party (Canon) lenses. Somehow Sigma has gotten access to this (most likely through some kind of internal agreement with Canon), which now extends this advantage to Sigma (other third party lenses that I’ve reviewed in this same time period are NOT supported). The 70 ART is the third Sigma lens in the past few months that I’ve reviewed that has been supported, and it is a significant advantage for these lenses. What this means is that all of your JPEGs are fully corrected in camera for things like vignette, chromatic aberrations, and distortion (if you enable these corrections). In this case, the lens actually has relatively few issues in any of these areas (other than vignette at f/2.8) it does enable you to get great looking JPEGs right out of camera. This is particularly helpful for the times you A) need to quickly get images to clients without an opportunity for editing or B) want to show images to clients. I like to shoot with RAWs recorded to one card and JPEGs to another for this purpose. Sigma’s new access to this allows their lenses to compete on a level playing field with Canon lenses in the Canon space, and gives them an advantage over other third party lenses for now. Sony is not restrictive on third party lenses, so the FE mount will have similar Sony support…but that’s not unique or unusual. For Canon shooters, however, this is a big deal.

My coverage of image quality falls into two categories: 1) Resolution, where I cover sharpness and contrast and 2) Rendering, which looks at the global look of images in areas like color rendition, bokeh, flare resistance, chromatic aberration, etc… I would recommend that you watch the following video episode where I interactively breakdown the optical performance of the 70 ART in detail:

Resolution:

I used a strong competitor in this field as a benchmark for this comparison – the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8L IS USM. I’ve owned this lens since shortly after its release and have used it for literally thousands of product shots for dozens of companies. I’ve also used it as a point of comparison for variety of other macro lenses released since I’ve owned it. While the focal length isn’t identical (Sigma alone makes a 70mm Macro), I’ve made minor adjustments to the camera position to accommodate the difference in framing.

With both lenses wide open (f/2.8), I discovered the following. Both lenses metered identically and seemed to deliver similar light transmission. Both lenses exhibit some vignette to roughly equal degrees, and neither lens shows any visible distortion (very important in a macro lens!) The vignette will be cleared up either in post (by applying a lens profile), or can be corrected for in-camera for JPEGs with either lens. Both lenses show roughly equal amounts of center sharpness and contrast, but the Sigma is a little better along the edges of the frame (though both lenses are excellent across the frame). This is a very strong performance, as the Canon is an exceptionally good lens. The Sigma delivers just a slightly warmer color temperature than the Canon (a typical Sigma trait).

As you can see from the crops from this handheld landscape photo, the image quality is nearly perfect even wide open from the Sigma 70 ART.

At f/4, the vignette mostly clears away on both lenses and they show a fairly even illumination across the frame. You can see from this comparison just how much the vignette lifts (this is from the right upper corner).

The Sigma makes a more significant jump than the Canon at f/4, and the edge performance is just brilliant. The Sigma shows slightly more resolution along with higher microcontrast levels. Note how there is no haze in the stone textures anywhere. This is basically a perfect optical performance.

There is little more to be gleaned when stopping the lens down further, as both lenses deliver fantastic optical performances stopped down.

The Sigma 70 ART can be stopped down to f/22, though except that diffraction will start to cause a bit of softness to creep in at smaller apertures beyond f/11 (how much depends on the resolution of your camera body). Here’s a few more shots at typical landscape apertures (f/5.6-f/8) that show just how fantastic the lens is for resolving even at infinity.

Rendering

We’ve seen that the Sigma 70 ART is a fantastically sharp, contrasty lens, but what about other metrics? Let’s take a look at a few more comparisons with the Canon to glean a few more insights. In these comparison photos, we will look at the three things: 1) the overall rendering in terms of the “look” of the images including global contrast, color rendition, and bokeh. 2) the microcontrast – local contrast at a pixel level and how it affects textures and 3) the bokeh rendering (defocused area).

In these comparisons it becomes clear what the 70 ART’s strengths and weaknesses are. It is a strong lens when it comes to color rendition, global contrast, and microcontrast. In both main images and microcontrast crops you can see that the contrast metrics favor the Sigma (all settings were equal here). The plane of focus shows fantastic degrees of contrast and the color rendition looks great.

The great challenge for a lens like this, however, is to do the opposite in the defocused region, where you want less contrast and no sharpness. You want a creamy out of focus area without hard lines. The Canon is the better lens here, with noticeably softer, creamier bokeh.

At macro distances, however, this is less of an issue. Here’s a look at near-macro framing at f/2.8, f/4, and f/5.6:

Moving in even closer, and the bokeh looks beautiful.

I also liked this image, where I felt like the great contrast helps my subject to stand out even though I was quite a distance from him when taking this shot.

Here’s a substantial gallery of “bokeh” images taken at a variety of focus distances so that you can determine for yourself if the 70 ART’s blend of bokeh and sharpness works for you.

What’s indisputable is that Sigma has nailed chromatic aberration correction on this lens. The primary reason for that very high microcontrast is an extremely low amount of CA. In this photo of water droplets (it’s not monochrome), just a low color subject), there is no visible CA before or after the plane of focus.

I likewise find these white blossoms to be a hotbed of chromatic aberrations because of the high contrast inherit to them…but there are none to be seen, even at f/2.8 here.

This really helps the lens to shine for food or product photography, which, as you can see from these images, it does very well at:

Flare resistance was also a strength for the lens. I didn’t torture test it, per se, but it worked well in all of the real-world shooting situations I found myself in:

So, outside of some slightly busy bokeh in some situations, I think the image quality from this lens is exceptional. I would encourage you to visit the Lens Image Gallery and look at more photos. Evaluating real photos is very beneficial for evaluating what a lens is capable of. I purposefully do minimal editing on these images so that you can better evaluate its potential.

Conclusion

As I said previously, the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro | ART is a somewhat quirky lens. It deviates from the path established for the ART series on a number of levels, and also deviates from the modern standard of what a macro lens should have (Image Stabilization, Internal Focus, etc…) The one area where it is very much a Sigma ART lens is in the optical performance, where it delivers as good a performance as I’ve seen from a macro lens outside of bokeh that is a little busy in some situations. I’m less impressed by the decision about the focus motor, at least on DSLRs, and frankly surprised that the performance on Sony via the MC-11 (at the moment) isn’t better. I’m sure that the FE version optimized for Sony probably works well, and the choice to go with the focus-by-wire DC focus motor makes perfect sense there. In fact, I wonder why Sigma didn’t just go all in and develop this lens purposefully for Sony. The lack of OS is not really an issue there, and they could have probably made it even smaller and more attractive by purposefully designing it there. The reasonable price point (this is the least expensive lens in the ART series) would have made it very attractive to Sony buyers as Sony’s 90mm f/2.8 Macro, while reportedly excellent, costs twice as much. The lens that Sigma made seems somewhat stuck between a mirrorless and DSLR lens, and suffers for it despite its fantastic optical performance. I’m left with the conclusion that Sigma designed this lens mostly for macro shooters who want this kind of focal length for dedicated macro work and typically work from a tripod. For those of you that want a general purpose macro lens that can double as a portrait lens, consider other options. The Tamron SP 90mm f/2.8 VC that I reviewed here is a compelling alternative.

Pros:

Solid build including some weather sealing at the lens mount
Compatible with teleconverters, Sigma MC-11, and USB Dock
Exceptional image quality at all apertures
Fantastic microcontrast
Low distortion
Perfect chromatic aberration control
Good flare resistance

Cons:

Focus motor quite slow
Lacks an image stabilizer
Focus-by-wire not optimal for macro photographers
Inconsistent performance on Sony via MC-11 (FE version works fine)
Bokeh can be slightly busy at some focus distances

Gear Used:

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Keywords: Sigma 70mm ART, Sigma 70 Macro, Sigma 70mm Macro ART, Sigma 70 f2.8, Sigma 70mm f/2.8, ART, Macro, Sigma 70mm Review, Sigma 70 ART Review, Dustin Abbott, Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro ART, Sigma 70mm f/2.8 ART Review, Photography, Sample Images, Video Test, Sony FE, Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5D4, Sony a7R3, Sony a7Riii, Sharpness, Bokeh, Autofocus

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Danica and Alessandro

Dustin Abbott

September 1st, 2018

Danica and Alessandro chose the incredible Stonefields Estate outside of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada as the venue for their wedding. This was pretty much a photographer’s dream for a number of reasons. First of all, everything was self-contained on the estate. I shot everything from the “getting ready” photos (in separate themed buildings) to the posed photos to the ceremony and reception all on the grounds. It saves so much time (the worst thing for a photographer on a wedding day is to spend all of the photo time on travel and then have to rush through the photo sessions).

The second great thing about Stonefields is that everything is picturesque. There’s a great mix of rustic and elegant that gives you options as a photographer. Nothing feels stuffy or contrived, and the smart sense of decorating has obviously been done with photography in mind. Little splashes of color here and there, like the red of the flowers on the table in the shot below, provide some color contrasts without it screaming at you.

The final ingredient that made this day easy was that the weather really cooperated. The sun was shining and yet the temperature remained very temperate throughout the day. The weather is very fickle here in Ontario, and there were very few days quite like this one. Obviously this is incredibly important when doing an outdoor wedding.

It was a welcome change to not have to worry about cranking the ISO to retain a fast enough shutter speed to freeze the action of people walking down the aisle. This has gotten easier due to the great high ISO performance of modern cameras, but I still prefer the greater latitude of low ISO shots for editing.

On a gear front, I used a mix of Canon and Sony. My primary camera for the day was the Canon 5D Mark IV, which is one of the best wedding cameras out there. It’s tough, reliable, and takes great photos. My one complaint is that it eats batteries faster than what any recent Canon pro-grade DSLR that I’ve used. My review of it is here. I shot two lenses on it throughout the day. The first is the Canon EF 35mm f/1.4L II, a gorgeous lens that balances a great focal length with amazing optical performance. I find 35mm to be incredible versatile for event settings, and the fact that I can easily shoot it at f/1.4 gives me the ability to play with the depth of field creatively. I often use it for group and family shots, too. My review of the lens is here.

The second lens is my bread-and-butter event lens – the Tamron SP 70-200mm f/2.8 VC G2. It’s reliable, has great AF, and produces nice results. A lens like this is pretty much a requirement for shooting the ceremony, where it gives you the chance to quickly change framing on the fly. I had an elderly gentleman approach me after the ceremony and tell me that I was the best photographer he had ever seen at a wedding. He wasn’t saying that based on the images (he hadn’t seen any of them); he was referring to the fact that I was discrete during the ceremony and didn’t dominate the proceedings. He recounted how a wedding he had attended the previous week had been ruined by the photographer always being in the way. I suspect the photographer was trying to work with something like a “normal” lens (50mm), and had to “zoom with their feet” (something I’ve seen too often at weddings). 70-200mm f/2.8 lenses are big, heavy, and expensive, but are worth every bit of the weight, expense, and hassle if you are going to be a working professional. Lenses like the Tamron I’m using help by giving you as good of results as first party lenses from Canon and Nikon at a much lower price point. My review can be found here.

My primary second body carried on my Cotton Carrier harness system was my Sony a7R3. (my review of the a7R3 is here) One of the best things about the a7R3 is the combination of great resolution and dynamic range, which helped me in some of the challenging lighting conditions when shooting the smoke bomb sequences in the trees.

This photo was actually quite dark to begin with due to the fact that I had been shooting with the Canon body and quickly switched over to the Sony for different framing. Obviously you have a fairly narrow window of shooting opportunity before the smoke bomb dies off, so I wasn’t taking time to review the back of the screen (by the way, if you are interested in experimenting with smoke bomb photography, here’s a great article that will teach you the basics.) I have solved the issue with my Metz 64 AF-1 flash units being designed for Canon E-TTL by just having a Yongnuo YN-622C-TX wireless command unit on the hotshoe of each camera, and then I put my flash units on separate channels with Yongnuo YN-622C wireless triggers mounted to the flashes. I just put the flash command unit in Manual HSS (High Speed Sync) mode and control the power output from the TX command units. This system seems to work well, and allows me to make quick adjustments on the fly and not worry about shutter speed due to being in HSS mode. Because the flash units are wirelessly controlled, I just use a few assistants (or even a few helpful volunteers from the wedding party) to hold my lights at the height/angles that I want. I help shape and soften the lights by using the Lite Genius Super-Scoops on them (you can see my video review of these light modifiers here:). I had last used the Sony in a different setting, however, and I didn’t realize I needed to turn up power to the flashes for these shots…until I reviewed them after the smoke bomb had died off. The great news was the dynamic range of the Sony a7R3 made it easy to recover the image and turn it into a beautifully dynamic shot that was one of my personal favorites from the day. I had a similar recover on the shot below, as my assistant holding the flash on the left side of the group had gotten distracted and wasn’t pointing their flash unit in the right direction, leaving the bridesmaid on the left side of the image severely underexposed. No problem. A little selective exposure addition and shadow recovery in post, and the end result is very cool.

I used a total of three different lenses on the a7R3: the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero D for the wide angle/interior shots. It shines in this setting due to being very sharp, having extremely low distortion, and is also wonderfully compact, making it an easy lens to bring along. You can see my review here.

I used the fabulous Sony Zeiss Planar 50mm f/1.4 as my standard lens for the day. It is fantastic for delivering incredible color and contrast along with fantastic resolution even at wide apertures. I thought some of these veranda shots of the couple using the lens looked fantastic. You can find my review here.

My favorite lens of the day to use, however, was the amazing Voigtländer APO-Lanthar 65mm f/2 Macro lens (my review here). It’s a manual-focus-only lens, so I had to be more deliberate in my use of it (and selective of when I used it), but the combination of color, resolution, and contrast is just fabulous. It sucks in light and produces stunning images that I viewed as being some of the most special of the day.

It was also a great option for shooting the up close images of rings and bouquets.

All in all, between a great venue, great gear, and a cheerful bride and groom, I had little to complain about and came away with a lot of images that I’m proud of and the bride and groom adore. Congrats to Danica and Al!

Here are more images for you to enjoy!

Keywords: Wedding, Stonefields, Stonefields Estate, Dustin Abbott, Photography, Thousand Word Images, Bride, Groom, Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5Div, Canon 5D4, Sony a7R3, Sony a7riii, Tamron 70-200 G2, Canon 35LII, Canon 35mm f1.4L, Sony Planar 50mm, Zeiss, Voigtlander, Laowa, Smoke Bombs, How To, Tips, Wedding Photography Tips

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Irix 15mm f/2.4 Blackstone Edition Review

Dustin Abbott

August 28th, 2018

The new lensmaker Irix came onto the scene a couple of years ago with the announcement of a beautifully designed 15mm prime lens available in two different build/trim levels. This has become Irix’s unique approach to marketing their lenses, offering up two “trim levels” much like an automaker might. The Firefly versions of their lenses have the same optical formula, but rely on a more traditional engineered plastics housing with a feature or two missing compared to the premium build. The higher end build is the “Blackstone”, which I am reviewing here. The Blackstone 15mm (and later, 11mm) lens has a build grade more similar to a Zeiss lens than your typical commercial grade build. In some ways the “Blackstone” design most resembles a “Classic” Zeiss finish, with a semi-glass anodized metal finish that looks fantastic. Irix upped the ante by adding a robust weather sealing to the design. What’s interesting is that when I reviewed a similar lens from Zeiss – the Distagon 15mm f/2.8 – it cost nearly $3000 USD. The Irix 15mm f/2.4 (even in the upscale Blackstone trim), costs only $675. Like the Zeiss, however, it is a manual focus lens with an electronically controlled aperture iris.

The combination of value and quality is definitely interesting and has helped Irix get at least some limited exposure. I was intrigued (I’m always glad to see new lens makers come onto the scene), but was involved in other projects at the time and so the lens went in and out of my radar. I’ve gotten periodic requests from my audience to review the lens, but had never gotten around to it. When Irix reached out to me, however, I was definitely open to reviewing this intriguing lens, which purports to offer an excellent build along with great image quality at a reasonable price. Read on to join me in discovering if the Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 lives up to its billing.

Prefer to Watch Your Reviews? My full video review can be seen below.

Irix Blackstone 15mm Build and Design

First, a little about Irix. Irix is a Swiss lens designer whose lenses are manufactured in Korea. My contact with the company has been with someone based in Poland, so this is truly a multi-national company.

But what really stands out to me in this whole company is the unique degree of innovation I’m seeing. A company like Voigtländer has been making lenses since 1756, so this isn’t exactly a brand-new industry, and, while companies are always improving the optics, coatings, and operation of their lenses, most of them pretty much do the same things. It’s rare that I see new features actually make it into lenses. Irix has definitely got some flare, however, along with a few genuinely useful features I haven’t seen elsewhere. First of all, Irix wins major style points for the way that their lenses are presented, from the fancy metal tin to the very cool molded hard case for the lens. I particularly like the case because the compact, molded nature of it means that it takes up much less room in a bag and will be more likely to come along. Check out this video to really get a closer look at what I’m talking about:

One aspect that I will touch on but hope to delve into further when I review the Irix 11mm f/4 is that Irix has recognized that the challenge with wide-angle lenses is often when it comes to using filters. Filters give you creative choices when using a wide angle lens. You can use a polarizer to either reduce or even enhance reflections or to create richer color. Neutral Density (ND) filters give you creative control over exposure and are essentially required to do long exposure work in most lighting conditions. Irix has thought this through and given photographers options with the Blackstone 15mm. First of all, it actually has a 95mm filter thread up front (like the Zeiss Distagon 15mm), so you can use traditional filters. 95mm filters are expensive, yes, but Irix has actually created their own line of filters (Edge) that are reasonable and yet look pretty good. This includes both screw-on filters and also a square filter holder and square filters that allow you to use graduated filters. While square filters are more cumbersome, graduated ND filters are some of the best tools there are for landscape photographers.

If you want to go lower profile, however, Irix has wisely elected to also include a gel filter holder in the design. This allows you to insert small gel filters in the holder built into the lens near the lens mount. These gel filters are incredibly inexpensive (you can get the full set of 15 variations for less than ten Euros!) This is very clever, because it gives buyers a compelling reason to choose this lens over a competing one.

Another clever feature that is designed around accommodating filters is a little window built into the lens hood that gives you access to a circular polarizing filter (which needs to be rotated to the proper position to provide maximum benefit). You can easily rotate the filter by reaching a finger through and using the knurled edge of the filter to rotate it forwards or backward. It’s more convenient than reaching around the front of the lens hood and rotating the filter, particularly since there isn’t much room between the filter and the interior of the lens hood.

Also smart is the front lens cap, which is actually beveled inward along the front edge. This makes the front cap easier to pinch with the lens hood attached and also makes it store in your pocket a little easier. The plastics in the front and rear cap feel a little thin and flimsy, but the pinch action on the front cap does work fine. I like the way that the Irix logo is displayed on the front cap.

As previously mentioned, the shell of the Blackstone 15mm is made of a premium aluminum-magnesium alloy. It has a anodized metal finish that resists fingerprints and scratches (and actually seems to work!) It’s a very attractive lens – all shiny and sleek. The lens is moderately sized at 114mm (Diameter) x 100mm (Length), or 4.49” x 3.94”. Due to the all-metal-and-glass construction, the lens is fairly dense at 685g (1.51lbs), though that weight is still quite moderate.

The next unique element on the lens (one I’ve never personally seen on a manual focus lens before) is the inclusion of a clutch/tension ring that allows you to lock the focus ring at any particular focus point. Rotating the ring to the left engages the lock, while rotating the ring to the right loosens it back up. This might be useful if you wanted to make sure that focus didn’t shift from a critical point while, say, carrying the lens in a bag or mounted to a camera on a strap or harness. I didn’t personally use it during my review period, but that was primarily due to something I really, really liked.

Most manual focus lenses allow you to focus past infinity. People ask me what that means, as it does seem illogical. What it means is that you can actually focus to a place where, essentially, nothing is in focus. You can pass infinity focus and begin to actually defocus the lens, almost like eyeglasses that are too strong and actually diminish vision. “Why would they do that?”, you might ask, and the reason is because of thermal expansion. How hot or cold the lens is can actually slightly shift the tolerances, and if you left no “play” at the end of the focal range, you might actually be unable to achieve infinity focus under certain conditions.

Fair enough, but the problem is that most of the time people are shooting in more moderate conditions where that extra travel in the focus ring past infinity just ends up messing up their images. Irix has implemented an extremely clever solution to this problem. The Blackstone 15mm has, like all manual focus lenses, a mechanical hard stop at the “infinity” end of the focal range (you cannot focus any farther). But before that, where normal (for more environmental conditions) infinity is calibrated, there is actually a mild detent that you can easily feel when focusing even if you aren’t looking at the lens (it is also marked in the same UV fluorescent paint as all the other distance markings). Under normal conditions all you need to do is focus to that infinity detent and you have perfect infinity focus, which actually works absurdly well for about 90% of the situations I used the lens in). It means that you honestly don’t have to think much about focus at all, only using focus when you need to focus on a closer subject (or, in extreme weather, to focus beyond that point to infinity). The detent is just firm enough to easily hold that position, which is the reason why I didn’t use the lock ring. Most of the time where I wanted focus was exactly on that infinity detent. While I’ll deal with astrophotography a little later in the review, I will note that this detent was perfect for shooting the night sky, and this feature alone was enough to make really enjoy the lens for that kind of work. Sometimes the hardest part of astro work is nailing focus.

In real world shooting, this was my favorite thing about the Blackstone 15mm. It gave me great confidence that when I was shooting with the lens prefocused to that infinity detent and stopped down to f/5.6 or f/8, I was getting essentially perfectly focused results every time. Kudos to Irix for finding a better way to handle this problem.

The focus ring itself looks beautiful, with tight metal ribbing that provides endless amounts of grip. I wasn’t a huge fan of the focus action, however, that had a slightly gritty feeling when making larger focus changes. It lacks the perfectly damped, smooth feel of the better Zeiss or Voigtländer lenses, and I felt the damping was a bit heavy (which also somewhat eliminates the need for the locking clutch). The actual amount of focus throw/travel was excellent, however, allowing for precision at all focus distances. Distances markings are clearly legible in that special paint, and hyperfocal guides are included for f/8, f/11, and f/16 (f/22 is the smallest aperture available).

A small knurled ring near the lens mount allows for both a nice texture variation (cosmetically appealing) and also provides a natural place to grip the lens when mounting/unmounting it. All of this is very good design. The lens is just as handsome as the Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8, which is to say very nice indeed.

A badge near the lens mount touts Irix’s proprietary “Neutrino Coatings” (everybody’s got their own special coatings). We’ll examine how effective they are in a moment.

The metal lens mount shows off a few other details. One is the gel filter holder previously mentioned. Another is the electronic contacts that reveal that, like Zeiss, this is a manual focus lens but uses a modern electromagnetic aperture iris (which means that you open/close the aperture iris via the camera by selecting the aperture value you want) and also that it communicates EXIF data to the camera body. Both of these are good things! The final detail there is that you can see a rubber sealing gasket near the lens mount. This is the external evidence of the weather sealing on the lens, but Irix says this, “Blackstone, the Premium version has durable body made with aluminium-magnesium alloy, that ensures foolproof protection of your lens, even in extreme situations. Its construction is equipped with four rubber seals, that protect the camera mount and focusing mechanism against the dust and moisture, as well as front or side accidental water splashes.” That seems fairly confident, though “foolproof” may be a little extreme (never underestimate how foolish people can be!) Still, the specificity of the language does inspire confidence.

The lens can focus down to 11″ (28cm) and produces a rather uninspiring amount of magnification there (0.11x). While the maximum aperture of the lens is moderately wide, the nature of the wide angle focal length means that blurring out backgrounds isn’t going to be a big strength for this lens. This photo represents best case scenario:

You can see a bit of busyness in the bokeh circles, but the most defocused region is fairly smooth. But let’s not kid ourselves; you don’t buy a 15mm lens for the bokeh!

The aperture iris is the standard 9 rounded blades.

Some might ask why the filter thread is so large when the front element is relatively small. The answer is due to the curved front element (which enables the wide angle of view). A smaller filter thread (or edge of the lens) would cause heavy vignette, as would the lens hood on a smaller diameter. All of this is necessary to keep these things far enough away to allow the lens to “see” properly. Sometimes you just can’t compete with physics.

All in all, there are a lot of positive takeaways from an examination of the build, design, and features of the Blackstone 15mm. It’s a premium lens with a lot of clever engineering, which is to say that you are getting a lot of lens for your money.

Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 Image Quality

Irix has a key advantage at this focal length compared to competing lenses – the maximum aperture of f/2.4, which is slightly better than a 1/3rd stop advantage over f/2.8 (f/2.2 and f/2.5 are the 1/3rd stops between f/2 and f/2.8). On my Canon 5D Mark IV body that I used for this test, f/2.4 is not an option because it doesn’t fall on a traditional increment. It displays at f/2.5 instead, although the aperture physically opens up a little wider than that. Unfortunately that will almost certainly cause some confusion for some who will think their lens is “broken”. While most of the time people use wide angle lenses at smaller apertures (for landscapes or city/architecture), there are situations where having a wider aperture is useful. These might include shooting astrophotography (where more light sensitivity is very important) or in other low light scenarios.

The Blackstone 15mm has a sophisticated optical formula of 15 elements in 11 groups, including 3 high-refractive elements, two extra-dispersion elements, and 2 aspherical elements. There are also the previously mentioned neutrino coatings to help with flare resistance, aid contrast, and reduce chromatic aberrations. We’ll determine how all of this adds up in our coverage of the image quality from the Irix 15mm f/2.4 Blackstone.

My coverage of image quality falls into two categories: 1) Resolution, where I cover sharpness and contrast and 2) Rendering, which looks at the global look of images in areas like color rendition, bokeh, flare resistance, chromatic aberration, etc…

The best way to see my findings on image quality is by watching this detailed video episode where I interactively break down the image quality of the 105 ART.

Blackstone 15mm Resolution

Those of you who follow my reviews know that I prefer whenever possible to not test a lens’ resolution in a vacuum. I prefer to have at least one lens whose performance I’m familiar with as a benchmark. I keep an extensive (and diverse) personal kit for this reason (and let’s be honest, also because I love lenses!) I elected to use the Tamron SP 15-30mm f/2.8 VC lens for this comparison for several reasons. First, I had it on hand. Second, I’ve used it extensively for comparisons with a number of wide angle lenses and so I have a clear understanding of where it stands in the hierarchy of lenses. Finally, it shares a similar focal length on the wide end (and frames nearly identically).

If you didn’t watch the video episode on image quality, I’ll quickly recap a few of the areas that I perceive strengths and weaknesses between the two lenses. Obviously the Tamron is a completely different kind of lens: it’s a zoom, has autofocus, and has image stabilization. It is also much more expensive, much larger and heavier (1100 vs 685g), and cannot use traditional filters. Despite these significant differences, there will certainly be some cross-shopping for those debating the merits of a zoom vs a prime. When it comes to image quality, the Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 has lower distortion and chromatic aberration (the Tamron has some lateral CA on the edges of the frame). It also has less veiling from the sun in the frame, though it has it’s own unique flare characteristic that we’ll detail in the next section. The Tamron has lower vignette, delivers better microcontrast levels, and has slightly better color rendition. There’s pros and cons to each (I’ve yet to find a perfect wide angle lens), so you have to prioritize what matters to you. Do you value the versatility of a zoom, or do you prefer a more compact lens that will allow you to use screw-in filters?

Let’s take a look at some comparisons. As this was a backlit scene, I’ve raised the shadows by equal amounts on all images to allow for as fair a comparison as possible.

With both lenses wide open (Irix at f/2.4, Tamron at f/2.8), we see that the lenses frame roughly identical. The Tamron shows off its lower levels of vignette by delivering a brighter image along the edges, though a closer look reveals that the Irix shows better contrast due to lower CA there. The Tamron shows greater impact from the sun in the frame with a localized veiling in that area. The Tamron shows slightly higher resolution and definitely better microcontrast (textures pop more due to better contrast on a pixel level). What’s very positive for the Irix, however, is the fact that even at f/2.4 there is strong resolution right across the frame.

Stopping the Irix down to f/2.8 does a lot to equalize the vignette situation, and leaves the two images looking more similar on a global level. The superior microcontrast and color rendition of the Tamron lens (a serious strength for this lens) delivers a more vibrant image with all settings equal, though the Irix shows better flare resistance. The resolution is roughly similar across the frame, with the Tamron showing a little more “punch” due to contrast and the Irix handling the edges a little better with slightly higher resolution and better chromatic aberration control.

Moving on down to a more traditional landscape aperture (f/5.6), the general trends continue. The Tamron image has a little more contrast when viewed globally, but both images look fantastic at a pixel level all across the frame (I included the bottom right in this comparison). I noted that both lenses metered identically at each aperture value that they shared. You can see the ghosting pattern following the shaft of light from the Tamron becoming slightly more pronounced.

When I compared f/11 results to the f/5.6 results from the Blackston 15mm, I saw just the slightest bit of softening due to diffraction, but the results were more similar than different. In terms of resolution, the Irix is right up there competing with the best lenses at this focal length, but the color and contrast lags a bit behind the best. If compared to lenses at its price point, however, I think it would be the hands-down winner.

Here’s a few landscape images that show how great landscape images from this lens look.

In real-world shooting (outside of the comparison sphere), the colors and contrast look very good.

Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 Rendering

As I’ve already noted, I think that color rendition from the lens is good but not exceptional, and the same applies to the contrast (both global and micro). In some real-world scenarios I felt the color looked quite good:

But how about some of the other metrics?

This brick wall comparison shows that vignette is fairly heavy at f/2.4, but by f/4 a lot of it has cleared.

You’ll also note that even in this very challenging test (the camera was only about three feet from the wall), distortion is near non-existent. At more typical distances you can see only the mildest amount of barrel distortion (though all wide angle lenses that cannot tilt will show some perspective distortion or keystone effect). This lens wouldn’t be as good as tilt/shift lens for shooting real estate or architecture, but it is definitely a better option than most wide angle lenses that I’ve tested. It even compares pretty well to the Laowa 15mm f/2 Zero D (zero distortion) lens I own for Sony, delivering similarly low levels of barrel distortion. Here’s an interior shot with a lot of lines.

The chromatic aberration control from the Blackstone 15mm is pretty close to perfect. As we noted in our landscape comparison, there is no lateral chromatic aberrations to be seen along the edge of the frame. I didn’t notice CA in any of my real world images, in fact, including this incredibly challenging scene where I was capturing a board room scene for a hotel property. The client wanted to demonstrate how close the conference rooms were to nature, and wanted the outdoors to be pictured in the scene. The midday sun was extremely harsh, so this created a huge contrast variance between the board room and the outdoors. The rock edges, glass bottles, door frames, and chrome chairs are all perfect places for chromatic aberrations to lurk, but the crop from the photo shows how well the lens has dealt with all of these. Bravo, Irix!

Another important aberration to be corrected for in a wide angle lens is comatic aberrations, often called “coma”. Comatic aberrations show up with bright, distant points of light like stars as deformation of the geometric shape along the edges. This can take shape as flying insects, saucers, or ducks in appearance rather than crisp star points. Wide angle lenses are the most commonly used instruments for shooting astrophotography, so I always try to test for this. What I found is that while the lens does have some comatic aberrations along the edge of the frame, the lens was still fairly appealing for shooting astro due to A) having a wider than typical maximum aperture and B) the aforementioned infinity focus detent. I got very crisp looking results, and the coma is only visible at a pixel level.

As you can see from these photos, stopping down to f/2.8 makes little difference in either sharpness or improvement of the coma, so I would probably just shoot at f/2.4 for the additional light gathering potential. This isn’t a perfect performance here, but I felt like it was better than average with all aspects considered.

A more complicated topic is that of flare resistance. As we noted previously, the Blackstone 15mm is actually highly resistant to veiling with the sun right in the frame. It shows little ghosting in terms of the typical pattern along a ray of light. But what it will show (if you don’t compose to combat it) is a massive red ghosting ring around the outside of the frame. Here’s an example of three different compositions of the same scene. In one I purposefully allowed the ring to show up. It’s pretty dominant if you allow this:

It showed up mildly in a few other situations, but its also not difficult to compose your image to where flare is scarcely an issue at all. Just use the lens wisely.

Another positive is that the sunburst with the lens stopped down looks nice. I always like a nice sunburst effect as I feel it adds a nice finishing touch to images.

As previously mentioned, creating bokeh (defocused areas) with this lens isn’t easy. It doesn’t have much of a magnification factor, and this just isn’t a strength for wide angle lenses. Here’s the best I could do around minimum focus:

This isn’t really a factor here.

So, other than that big ghosting artifact if you aren’t careful, there are few serious flaws here. The lens produces beautiful images if you use it to its strengths. I would have liked to see a little more microcontrast and more punchy color, but you can also add those pretty easily in post. Here’s an image that I postprocessed, and I think it looks pretty fabulous.

I would recommend that you visit the Lens Image Galleries to see many more photos from the Blackstone 15mm. It is certainly capable of producing beautiful images.

Conclusion

It’s taken me a while to get an Irix lens in my hand, but I have to say I’m pretty impressed for this new company’s first “kick at the can”. The Irix 15mm f/2.4 (particularly in this Blackstone finish) comes across as a pretty mature offering. It has a lot of great innovation in its presentation, build, and feature set, and I found it a genuine joy to use. I think Irix has been very clever to not rely on others to solve the filter issue and to address it themselves. By doing so they have eliminated some of the challenges inherit to wide angle lenses. I particularly like the detent at [typical] infinity focus that allows one to quickly focus properly for landscape shots (and the stars!) in most environmental conditions. My recommendation for areas that Irix can focus on improving are in the smoothness of the manual focus ring along with improving color and microcontrast. From what I’ve seen here, however, I certainly believe that they are capable of making top grade lenses. This lens is already as sharp as the Zeiss Distagon 15mm f/2.8, and at a fraction of the price. The Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 represents a great value for landscape (and even architectural) photographers on a budget, and, if you don’t mind a less pro-grade build, the Firefly version can be had for under $500 USD while delivering an identical optical performance. There’s a lot to like here, and I look forward to seeing what Irix has to offer in the future.

Pros:

Professional grade build with excellent materials
Quality weather sealing
Innovative design in packaging, handling, and features
Very low distortion
Very good resolution from f/2.4 on
Impressively low amount of chromatic aberrations
Detent at typical infinity is extremely useful
Options for filter use great at this focal length
Slightly wider than average maximum aperture
Highly competitive price

Cons:

Focus ring action could be smoother
Colors and microcontrast not as vibrant as some competitors
Strong ghosting ring can occur with bright light source in the frame

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Keywords: Irix, Irix 15mm, Irix 15 Blackstone, Irix Blackstone, 15mm, f/2.4, Irix 15mm 2.4, Irix 15mm Review, Irix 15mm 2.4 Review, Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4, Irix Blackstone Review, Dustin Abbott, Sample Images, Video Test, Canon 5D Mark IV, Sony a7R3, Sony a7riii, canon 5d4, Sharpness, Resolution, Comparison, Tamron 15-30 VC, Tamron 15-30 2.8, Review, Comparison, Test, CA, Distortion

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Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART Review

Dustin Abbott

August 22nd, 2018

Sigma may just be the bravest camera/lens maker in the market today. When they initially launched their new Global Vision (which spawned the ART series as one of the three branches of lens design), they began to tackle the established brands optically, but with familiar focal lengths (the 35mm f/1.4 was the first). At first they showed their daring by building big, heavy lenses that eschewed compactness in favor of optical excellence and high resolution. That daring was rewarded by first a rabid following of amateur photographers who found a high-quality option in their price range, and, in time, by a growing market acceptance even among professionals. As time passed, however, Sigma became even more daring by tackling projects that no one else would touch. This typically included focal lengths or zoom ranges at larger maximum apertures than what had been done before. The most recent example is this lens – the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART. This focal length and maximum aperture has been done (by Nikon last year in the Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E), but Sigma has ratcheted things up further with a bigger, badder, bolder lens that looks more like a slightly smaller 200mm f/2 lens, tripod foot and all. The 105 ART will not be for everyone, but portrait photographers with some arm strength may have just found their new favorite tool!

Why a 105mm focal length? Part of the debate that many photographers will have is whether to choose an 85mm, 105mm, or 135mm focal length for portraits (Sigma now has portrait-focused lenses at each of these focal lengths). What is the best choice for you will ultimately be up to you and your unique shooting needs, but here are a few general thoughts.

85mm is the most flexible of the focal lengths. It is often a favorite of portrait photographers because it is easy to use and produces good results. It is easy to use in a studio because the angle of view is wide enough that you can frame even full body portraits at about 15 feet. It is narrow enough that it doesn’t exaggerate facial features like wider angle lenses. The downside is if you are shooting outdoors it provides the least amount of subject isolation, particularly if you are shooting full body portraits. Images will also look more “common” and less exotic or unique.
105mm strikes a great balance between the two focal lengths. It is still short enough to work in a studio for most things (save full body portraits) but gives more dramatic results (particularly when paired with this maximum aperture value) when shooting outdoors. Many portrait photographers would argue that this is a near-optimal focal length for human features. It is flattering because it doesn’t exaggerate any features (like wider angle lenses do) but neither does it compress them (like longer telephoto focal lengths do). It will give better subject isolation than an 85mm lens will at equivalent shooting distances and the overall “look” of images will be closer in many ways to the 135mm focal length than the 85mm focal length.
135mm is the most extreme of the common portrait focal lengths. Both its strengths and weaknesses are more pronounced. Longer telephoto focal lengths will compress features to the degree that people’s faces will be “flatter”, so the 135mm represents the upper limit before this really begins to happen. 135mm lenses offer the best maximum magnification figures and will often work with teleconverters. They offer the best subject isolation, and even a 135mm lens with a maximum aperture of f/2 will give a more shallow depth of field than the 105mm f/1.4. At 10 feet, the depth of field with the 105mm at f/1.4 will 2.79”; the 135mm f/2 will be 2.17”. At 30 feet the difference will be 2.09’ vs 1.63’. The difference will be slightly more pronounced with Sigma’s 135mm f/1.8 ART lens due to the slightly larger maximum aperture. 135mm lenses offer very unique and often dramatic portrait images (particularly full length environmental ones) only surpassed by the very extreme 200mm f/2 lenses. The major downside (and it’s a big one), is the 135mm focal length is the least flexible of the group. If you shoot in a studio, the 135mm focal length is mostly only good for waist up or head and shoulders. It will give you fewer framing options and the shallow depth of field is really too shallow at smaller working distances (at a working distance of 8 feet, for example, the depth of field is smaller than 2 inches, meaning that even getting both eyes in focus will require stopping the lens down.)

My own opinion is that I think the 105mm focal length strikes a great balance between the 85 and 135mm focal lengths, retaining some of the flexibility of the former while gaining some of the dramatic quality of the latter. I really liked it when using it for portrait sessions, and feel like if I owned both 105 and 135mm focal lengths, I would be likely to reach for the 105mm more often. Your mileage may vary, as the saying goes, but hopefully this will help some of you making a decision between several focal lengths.

The 105 ART is available in Canon EF (reviewed here), Nikon F, Sigma, and Sony FE mounts. If you are a Nikon shooter, the 105mm f/1.4E might be a good choice for you (particularly if you favor smaller size and don’t mind spending more money). Canon and Sony shooters really have no equivalent to this lens.

Prefer to watch your reviews? My video review is loaded with sample images and footage to help give you the details.

Sigma 105 ART Build, Design, and Features

My first reaction to this lens was a chuckle over the size of the box, and then an exclamation of surprise over the size of the padded case containing the lens inside. “Oh my!”

Oh my, indeed.

This is a BIG chunk of lens. The Nikkor lens weighs 985g; the 105 ART weighs 1645g (58oz)! This a more than 3 ½ pound chunk of prime lens. You knew it was going to be a beast when you realize that of all the very large, very heavy prime lenses in the ART series, this was the first that Sigma decided needed a tripod collar. In fact, if you broaden your scope to include the zoom lenses in the series, this is only the second lens to have one (the 50-100mm f/1.8 ART also has one). Unlike the 50-100 ART, fortunately, this tripod collar is fully removable if you want to save a little weight and are going to primarily use the lens handheld. If you do put it on a tripod, however, using the collar is a good idea as you will probably have any issue with balance due to the lens mushrooming to a massive 105mm front filter thread – the same size as Sigma’s 150-600mm Sport lens!

This video will give you an in-depth, hands-on look at the build and design of the 105 ART:

As I mentioned, the 105 ART most reminds me of a compact(ish) Canon 200mm f/2 in its general profile. It is the huge flare to the front element that most catches your eye. While the 200L is 3 inches longer (79mm), it is actually only a half inch larger in diameter. Both lenses have appearance of being somewhat squat and front heavy due to the extreme nature of their front element. The physical dimensions of the Sigma 105 ART are 4.56” (115mm) in diameter by 5.18” (131.5mm) in length. This definitely dwarfs the Nikkor 105mm f/1.4E, which is 3.72” (94.5mm) in diameter by 4.17” (106mm) in length. The Nikkor sports a much more common 82mm front filter thread.

There’s no question that the size and weight of this lens are going to be the most daunting aspects of this lens for many photographers. I had one viewer comment (rather obviously) that, “This lens is no good for general purpose or travel…” Ummm, no it is not, but that’s certainly NOT what Sigma designed it for. This is a specialty tool for portrait and/or event (wedding) photographers, the kind of the lens that you have to be intentional about using because of the special results that it provides. No, this lens is not going to be for everyone, but I suspect the target demographic is going to be willing to forgive the size and weight because of the optical performance.

The lens is actually very nicely built, and, in a very positive twist, the degree of weather sealing is actually up to the standard of Sigma’s Sport line, which is to say much more robust. While Sigma has started to add some weather sealing to the ART series in more recent releases, it has typically been limited to including a rubber gasket at the lens mount. That’s certainly not the case here, as Sigma says this, “Like SIGMA’s Sports line lenses, the 105mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art features a highly effective dust- and splash-proof structure with special sealing at the mount connection (with exception of the Sigma mount), manual focus ring, cover connection, and other areas, allowing photographers to work in all types of weather. In addition, the front of the lens is protected by a water- and oil-repellent coating that makes cleaning easy.” That’s certainly much more encouraging language, and reflects the fact that Sigma has treated this lens very seriously – like a tool for professionals, which is what it needs to be!

Another interesting departure is when it comes to the lens hood, which is not a typical bayonet-style. It is made out of a material called “carbon fiber reinforced plastic” (CFRP), a material often used in the aircraft industry because of its combination of strength and light weight. It employs a knob that activates an internal clamp that tightens it down. Another thoughtful touch here is a recognition of the size/shape of the lens and that the most stable position to set it in will often be face-down. The portion of the lens hood that would come in contact with the surface of whatever the lens would be set on has a rubberized, soft touch material that will prevent damage to either the lens or the surface it is set on.

I also want to praise Sigma for delivering an excellent design on the tripod collar. It is made of good materials, is fully (and easily) removable, and the foot is Arca-Swiss compatible, which means that you can easily clamp it onto most tripods without the need for a quick-release plate. It’s a much better design than the one found on the 50-100mm f/1.8 ART, which I found more of a nuisance than anything.

I mentioned the very large front filter thread (105mm), which fortunately does have a practical purpose. Sigma’s press release states that the purpose of the large 105mm filter diameter is that the 105 ART, “…delivers a significantly greater volume of peripheral light than other lenses in its class. Minimizing vignette while offering a beautiful bokeh effect, this lens is ideal for portrait photography.” While it is true that the level of vignette is lower than most medium telephoto lenses, there is a significant downside to this approach. The first is that many portrait photographers don’t actually mind some natural vignette on short and medium telephoto lenses (within reason). It is often flattering to the general look of portraits, and, if undesired, is pretty easy to correct either in post or in JPEGs by enabling Canon’s “Peripheral Illumination Correction” (which is supported in this lens).

The bigger concern is that many portrait photographers will employ neutral density (ND) filters to allow them to shoot outside with wide apertures (f/1.4 is a lot of light-gathering potential, which means when shooting outside it isn’t difficult to hit the maximum shutter speed limit of your camera). They will use the same technique to match sync speeds to their strobes/flash units, which is typically capped at no higher than 1/250^th second. Often something like an ND 0.9 filter is required to get shutter speeds down to that level. A quick search of B&H Photo reveals that 1) selection is much more limited in filters that large and 2) the filters are fairly expensive. Most of them are $150+, which means that if you want a few filters, the price of your lens is going way up. I think I would personally employ HSS (High Speed Sync) with this lens (which I have done for most of the portraits shown in this review) instead of going for expensive filters, but there would be situations in brighter sunlight where you would be forced to stop the lens down to smaller apertures to accommodate the light without having a circular polarizer or neutral density filter. One final consideration is that the sheer size of 105mm filters makes them a little more unwieldy for packing and bringing along.

I know from feedback from my audience that this is a real concern for a number of potential buyers, and it was obviously a calculated risk by Sigma. It will alienate some photographers, but primarily those whose workflow centers around the use of filters. I personally utilize other techniques to solve the same problems, so it impacts me less.

A moment ago I mentioned that this lens IS supported by Canon’s Lens Aberration Corrections in camera, which is a huge recent development for Sigma. Prior to the release of the 14-24mm f/2.8 ART lens no third party lenses were supported by Canon’s in camera corrections, which was a baked-in advantage for first party (Canon) lenses. Somehow Sigma has gotten access to this (most likely through some kind of internal agreement with Canon), which now extends this advantage to Sigma (other third party lenses that I’ve reviewed in this same time period are NOT supported). The 105 ART is the third Sigma lens in the past few months that I’ve reviewed that has been supported, and it is a significant advantage for these lenses. What this means is that all of your JPEGs are fully corrected in camera for things like vignette, chromatic aberrations, and distortion (if you enable these corrections). In this case, the lens actually has relatively few issues in any of these areas, but, as these RAW/JPEG comparisons show, it does enable to get great looking JPEGs right out of camera. This is particularly helpful for the times you A) need to quickly get images to clients without an opportunity for editing or B) want to show images to clients. I like to shoot with RAWs recorded to one card and JPEGs to another for this purpose.

Sigma’s new access to this allows their lenses to compete on a level playing field with Canon lenses in the Canon space, and gives them an advantage over other third party lenses for now. Sony is not restrictive on third party lenses, so the FE mount will have similar Sony support…but that’s not unique or unusual. For Canon shooters, however, this is a big deal. Here’s a look at both a RAW file and then the corrected JPEG that comes out of the camera:

This lens is also compatible with Sigma’s services like mount conversion (if you change camera systems you can have the mount changed on your lens…for a price). It is compatible with Sigma’s USB dock (firmware updates, focus tweaks, etc…) and also with Sigma’s MC-11 adapter (which allows Canon EF and Sigma mount lenses to be used on Sony E-mount).

What it’s not compatible with, unfortunately, is teleconverters. I had the bright idea (as did some of my viewers) of how nice a 147mm f/2 lens might be (or a 210mm f/2.8, for that matter, though that is less unique). I tried to mount my Canon 1.4x III, but it just won’t physically work. I don’t own any of the Sigma teleconverters, but I did note that Sigma’s list of features of the lens did not include compatibility with them, and when lenses are compatible they are always quick to point that out. The closest you will get to this is with cameras that allow you to shoot in a crop mode, though that isn’t really the same thing.

One other area where this lens lags in comparison to 135mm options is when it comes maximum magnification/reproduction. The lens has only a moderately close minimum focus distance of 39.4” or one meter. As a result, the magnification ratio is 1:8.3 or 0.12x. This is fairly typical for an 85mm lens (they are often around 0.13x), but 135mm lenses will often give you 0.20x or better (the Zeiss Milvus 2/135mm gives you a 0.25x magnification, which is very useful).

All things considered, however, this lens is beautifully built and highly functional. It has perhaps the most robust build of any of the ART series, and, while the general look is familiar, the materials are a grade higher. It is certainly the match of any first party lenses that it might compete with.

105 ART Autofocus

My experience with the last three Sigma lenses has been radically different than all of the previous Sigma ART series lenses I have reviewed. Autofocus has been so dialed in that I haven’t even had to calibrate the lenses on my 5D Mark IV but have just mounted them on the camera and used them. Interestingly, this has also coincided with Sigma having access to Canon’s Lens Aberration Correction (in camera correction of things like vignette and chromatic aberrations for JPEGs). This makes me wonder if Sigma has not entered into some kind of silent (as far as the public goes) agreement with Canon that gives them access not only to the Lens Aberration Correction (something no third-party lens maker had access to before) but also Canon’s focus algorithms. The Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 ART and this 105 ART have behaved very much like first party lenses. The 70mm f/2.8 ART is a slightly different beast, with a different type of focus motor, and while I have also had excellent focus accuracy with it, I have noted that far fewer cross-point AF points are available with that lens.

As a part of my final video review, I did a segment where I examined the focus points I selected during a portrait session and then reviewed the final results at a pixel level to see how well focused they were. Remember that this was with a lens in which I did zero calibration; I used it right out of the box because early tests indicated the focus was reliable. What I found is that most all portraits were essentially perfectly focused regardless of the focus point I selected (which is fantastic progress for Sigma!!) There were a few that were acceptably focused (very slight front or back focus), but I also noted that those tended to be shots where I had used focus and recompose rather than putting a focus point right on the eye or face. I’ve used the Canon 135mm f/2L in a lot of similar sessions, and I feel (from experience) that I actually had better focus results with the Sigma than I did with the Canon…and that’s not a sentence I ever really felt I’d use! In all kinds of shooting situations I was exceptionally pleased with the focus accuracy of the 105 ART, which is a big part of why I felt so positively about the lens by the end of my review period. I can’t stress enough how important focus reliability is for an extreme instrument like this.

I spent an evening with friends who are breeders of Golden Retrievers out at their RV along the Ottawa River, and we did a session where the Retrievers, well, retrieved, while I tracked the action with the 105 ART. Focus accuracy continued to be very good in AF Servo mode despite my shooting at a very wide f/1.4 aperture. I found that focus speed was sufficient in most situations, though when the dogs were coming towards me and getting closer, focus wasn’t always fast enough to achieve a sufficient lock for me to take the photo. The photos looks great, though, with great subject isolation. Here’s a little gallery of them:

Some might consider this lens for sports use, and my best recommendation is perhaps to do a rental and see if the lens focuses fast enough for your particular sport. It’s a tempting option because it does let in such a great deal of light and provides nice subject isolation. It’s easy to keep your shutter speed up and your ISO low with it, but I’m not convinced the focus speed is quite fast enough to deal with the most critical action. Wedding and event photographers will find the focus speed and AF servo tracking to be plenty for their needs.

I found that the lens adapted easily to a Sony body via Sigma’s MC-11. While it is overpoweringly large on the smaller Sony mirrorless bodies, autofocus was quick and accurate and things like Eye AF seemed to work well. If you ignored the size of the lens (admittedly a little hard to do), it’s a nice fit on Sony.

The Sigma 105 ART is a lens with a specific mandate – to be an exceptional tool for portrait photographers. When used for its intended purpose, its focus system (at least on Canon), has been exceptional in my tests. I’ve never been happier with the focus results from a Sigma lens.

Sigma 105 ART Image Quality

This is what it all comes down to. The justification for such a large, heavy lens is the kind of image quality that it can provide. My coverage of image quality falls into two categories: 1) Resolution, where I cover sharpness and contrast and 2) Rendering, which looks at the global look of images in areas like color rendition, bokeh, flare resistance, chromatic aberration, etc… Some lenses are good in one metric but not the other. Case in point is a popular lens like the Canon EF 85mm f/1.2L II. It’s not incredibly sharp nor does it have exceptional levels of contrast (it suffers from some longitudinal chromatic aberrations), but it is beloved because of its rendering. We’ll see how the 105 ART deals with both of these areas.

The best way to see my findings on image quality is by watching this detailed video episode where I interactively break down the image quality of the 105 ART.

Resolution

I used one of the finest optical instruments in the world as a point of reference for this comparison – the Zeiss Milvus 135mm f/2. While they don’t share an identical focal length, they do serve a similar purpose (plus I own the Milvus and had it on hand). It should also be noted that the Milvus costs about $600 more. How does the 105 ART hold up to such illustrious competition?

Pretty well, actually.

With both lenses wide open (f/1.4 for Sigma, f/2 for Zeiss), the Sigma shows lower vignette (a stated aim and reason for the 105mm filter thread). Neither lens shows any measurable distortion. The Zeiss has slightly higher measures of contrast/microcontrast (always a Zeiss strength), though not by a wide margin. The center resolution is roughly similar, with Zeiss showing slightly higher resolution on the edges of the frame. It wouldn’t be enough to noticed in real world shooting.

With the 105 ART stopped down to f/2, the image across the frame is brighter with the corners notably brighter due to lower levels of vignette. The Zeiss still shows slightly higher microcontrast, though the heavier vignette masks that along the sides of the frame. Both lenses are nearly perfectly sharp across the frame. I would categorize the difference in vignette the most significant attribute on display.

The Milvus lens shows a near complete improvement of vignette when stopped down to f/2.8, and the f/2.8 image (with equal settings) now favors the Zeiss in total brightness. Both lenses are brilliantly sharp everywhere in the frame, but the microcontrast levels still favor the Zeiss (it’s an Apochromatic design, which means that chromatic aberrations are essentially nonexistent – which always boosts contrast.) I would say that the f/2.8 comparison favors the Zeiss, but not in a major way.

Stopping on down reveals little else in this comparison. Both lenses are perfectly sharp and deliver essentially equal levels of image quality.

The 105 ART certainly doubles as an exceptional landscape option. It delivers incredible amounts of detail, and makes me wish that I could have mounted it on a 50 MP 5DsR! Still, even on the 30 MP of my 5D Mark IV, there are fantastic amounts of detail everywhere you look. Here’s a handheld f/5.6 shot that shows what this lens is capable of. Look at the amazing detail in the crops from across the frame.

There’s no question that the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 ART is a very sharp lens. It delivers such high levels of sharpness and contrast that you can just choose an aperture value based on your depth of field needs. It will always be sharp. Here’s a wide open portrait along with a crop of the detail on the face.

Pretty awesome, I’d say. The Sigma 105 ART delivers in the resolution department.

Rendering

The Sigma ART series has always been strong in the resolution department, but I’ve levied an accusation in the past of images from some of the lenses looking a little “clinical” or “sterile”. This could be due to somewhat flat color, a lack of 3-dimensional depth, or uninspired bokeh rendering. I felt like the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 ART represented a new height for the series, however, with a generally excellent blend of resolution and overall “look” to the images (or rendering). I’m happy to say that the 105 ART continues in that fine tradition.

Let’s return to the comparison space for a moment. I tried to frame a portrait roughly similar between the Milvus lens and the 105 ART. I used an aperture of f/2 to further equalize the comparison. What I found was that I preferred the microcontrast and color slightly on the Milvus (the subject “popped” a little more), but I preferred the defocused region (bokeh) more from the Sigma (I found it both smoother and softer). Both the strength and weakness of the Milvus image is a by-product of the Apochromatic design.

When I stepped further away, I found similar results.

The strength of the Milvus as a portrait lens is great color rendition, microcontrast, and three-dimensional pop to images. The strength of the 105 ART is a great balance between sharpness and bokeh. I think the images look fantastic from it, and on a practical level, I had a lot more keepers from the Sigma due to having accurate autofocus (the Milvus is a manual focus only lens). While in an absolute sense I slightly favor the image quality from the Zeiss, the Sigma images are incredibly close and the Sigma is the more practical tool due to having excellent autofocus. I actually prefer to use my Milvus lens adapted to my Sony a7R3 due to gaining both image stabilization and a lot of manual focus aids to assure my images are properly focused.

Here are series of portrait images from the 105 ART:

Another asset to the impressive image quality from the 105 ART is the exceptionally low levels of chromatic aberrations (of either the longitudinal or lateral varieties). I’m very familiar with the scenes most likely to produce chromatic aberrations, but when I shot those scenes, I simply did not see real-world CA anywhere. Here are few of those scenarios along with crops that show where the CA would show up…but isn’t there.

The lens seemed to handle flare reasonably well. There is definitely some loss of contrast with the sun in the frame, but not in an overly destructive kind of way. That’s obviously a very big front entrance pupil, so I think that Sigma has done a fairly good job of taming flare. Using the lens hood is always wise, however, for a number of reasons. These two images show first wide open flare resistance followed by the lens stopped down to f/11.

As noted, the bokeh quality is beautiful. Expect there to be some geometric deformation of bokeh circles around the edges (cay-eye or lemon shapes) with the lens wide open, but if that is an issue for you, stopping down to f/2 or f/2.8 usually fixes that. Examining bokeh highlight circles close up reveals the usual Sigma look – a slightly busy interior, but not concentric rings along with a fairly soft inner line. This grass and water droplet image shows what I’m talking about.

I should note that while I didn’t test this lens for coma (I typically only do that with wide angle lenses), Sigma does tout low levels of coma on the lens and states that it is an excellent night sky image lens (which the bright maximum aperture and low vignette helps with as well).

All in all, the lens produces beautiful images. Here’s a few more general purpose shots to feast your eyes on:

You can find even more images in the Lens Image Gallery here. Looking at photos from a lens (particularly unedited ones like these) are a good way of getting a sense of what a lens is capable of.

Conclusion

Sigma has once again successfully created an extreme optical instrument. Tackling a project like a 105mm lens with a huge maximum aperture of f/1.4 is not for the faint of heart, and yet I see evidence of growing maturation as Sigma manages to get more and more right. There’s no question that the extreme size and weight of the 105 ART will be off-putting to many, but those with a little extra arm strength will be rewarded with an exceptional portrait lens. The Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART is not a mainstream lens. It isn’t a general-purpose lens; it is a tool for specialists. A lens like the 105 ART can seriously set your work apart from the crowd, providing images unique to those that a standard 70-200mm f/2.8 lens can produce. And for some photographers, that is worth the extra effort. Outside of the size/weight (and to lesser extent, the price), there is little to criticize about this lens. The autofocus works well, the images look fantastic, and the build level is high. I started off this review with little interest in adding the lens to my kit; I end it with a strong interest in acquisition. Put simply, the new Sigma 105mm f/1.4 ART is one of the best portrait lenses I’ve ever used. Now if only it was a little lighter…

Pros:

High grade build with Sport level weather sealing
Consistently accurate autofocus even using outer points
Low vignette
Nearly nonexistent chromatic aberrations
Exceptional sharpness and contrast from f/1.4 on
Bokeh quality is smooth and soft
Good color rendition and general “look” of images

Cons:

Exceptionally large and heavy
Doesn’t accept teleconverters
Low levels of magnification
AF isn’t quite fast enough for demanding sports work
105mm filters are expensive and unwieldy.

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Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

August 7th, 2018

The new lensmaker Irix came onto the scene a couple of years ago with the announcement of a beautifully designed 15mm prime lens. I was intrigued, but was involved in other projects at the time and so the lens went in and out of my radar. I’ve gotten periodic requests from my audience to review the lens, but had never gotten around to it. When Irix reached out to me, however, I was definitely open to reviewing this intriguing lens, which purports to offer an excellent build along with great image quality at a reasonable price. I’ll be determining if the Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4 lives up to the billing in my review. In the meantime, however, I invite you to check out the image galleries below and check back regularly for new photos.

Photos of the Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4

Images Taken with the Irix Blackstone 15mm f/2.4

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Sigma 105mm f1/.4 DG ART Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

August 2nd, 2018

Sigma’s announcement of the Sigma 105mm f/1.4 DG HSM ART was intriguing to a lot of photographers because of the extreme nature of the focal length and aperture. Sigma has carved out a niche for itself by offering with a certain “extreme” quality; they often push the limit of what can be done with a certain focal length/range and maximum aperture. There is only one other lens that achieves this focal length and maximum aperture – the Nikon 105mm f/1.4E. The Nikon lens is significantly more expensive (about $600), but also significantly smaller and lighter (about 1.5lb or 655g less). The Sigma 105mm is large, heavy, and optically exceptional – pretty much the mantra for the ART series, though carried to an extreme here. Still, portrait photographers can delight, as this is a versatile focal length that will allow them more flexibility than a 135mm lens while giving similar levels of subject isolation. Check back often for new photos from this lens and watch for my full review coming soon!

Images of the Sigma 105mm f1/.4 DG ART

Images Taken With the Sigma 105mm f1/.4 DG ART

Sigma MC-11 + Sigma 105mm f1/.4 DG ART (Sony a7R3)

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Keywords: Sigma 105, Sigma 105 f1.4, Sigma 105mm f/1.4, Sigma 105mm f/1.4, Sigma 105 f1.4 Review, Sigma 105mm Review, Sigma, 105mm, f/1.4, 105 f1.4, Sigma 105mm 1.4 ART, ART, Dustin Abbott, Sigma 105mm 1.4 Review, Lens, Review, Comparison, Test, Autofocus accuracy, AF, Canon 5D Mark IV, Canon 5D4, Sony a7R3, Sony a7riii, Sigma MC-11, FE, Nikon D850, Video Test, Sample Images, Portrait

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Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro ART Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

July 26th, 2018

Sigma’s first macro lens in the ART series has flown somewhat under the radar, overshadowed by the more flamboyant lens announcements (Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 ART, 105mm f/1.4) along with the announcement of the Sony FE retrofit of the ART series. Sigma’s approach is a little different from the established conventions in focal length, focus method (the lens focuses externally and employs a focus-by-wire system), and eschews the image stabilization that most modern macro lenses employ. What they have done, however, is focus on the ART series priority – optical performance – on which the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro ART definitely excels. It is extremely sharp at all focus distances. It also has weather sealing, and, continuing in the delightful trend from the 14-24mm ART, it is fully compatible with Canon’s Lens Aberration Correction (only the second third party lens that this is true of). Stay tuned for my detailed coverage of the lens and how it performs on a the native Canon mount that I have it in along with how it performs via the Sigma MC-11 adapter on my Sony a7R3 body. Check out the dedicated Sony gallery below. Check back often for new images!

Images of the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro ART

Images Taken with the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro ART

Images Taken with the Sigma 70mm f/2.8 Macro ART on Sony FE

Gear Used:

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Canon EOS 5D Mark IV Review

Dustin Abbott

November 14th, 2016

Oh, the Drama!

Wow! When I made a video about preordering the day of the formal announcement of the 5D Mark IV, I had no idea that I was about to become embroiled in controversy. The initial response was positive from viewers (others than some complaints about the high price; complaints I shared). Then again, I’m rarely happy about the initial price of new Canon gear. Recent Canon lens releases (particularly the better ones) have been very expensive, though the lenses themselves have mostly been excellent (the new 35mm f/1.4L II is a great example). But over the next 48 hours the Internet hype machine got itself worked into a frenzy and before long I was getting more negative comments and dislikes than at any point in my decidedly non-controversial stint as a [very] minor YouTube personality. Why all the drama? Because I had the audacity to say that I was happy about the announced spec list of the 5D Mark IV and that I was preordering one.

Before I proceed to my actual review of the camera, here’s why I was happy. While reviewing the Canon 5Ds R, I found that it’s MRAW setting of 28MP hit a sweet spot for resolution for me, so I was very happy at the 30.6MP count of the 5D Mark IV. It also featured a number of the new innovations that the 5DsR had that really made life easier; things like a built in intervalometer, flicker detection, the white priority white balance, the Fine Detail Picture Style, and HDR mode. While reviewing (and owning) the 80D, I learned that I loved its responsive touch screen, it’s improved DPAF, the ability to focus at f/8 with a wide range of focus points, the improved dynamic range, and its improved video spec list. The 5D Mark IV had all of that. Finally, my most read article ever was about why I chose a Canon 6D over a Canon 5DIII in the previous generation, and some of the main reasons were its low light performance (both the sensitivity of the center focus point down to -3 EV, cleaner shadow performance, better high ISO performance) along with the useful features of Wi-Fi and GPS (both features that I have used a lot). Guess what? The 5D Mark IV had all of that, too. I was happy with the spec list because it combined a lot of features that I really like and use in real world shooting (and photography work) in one camera. So I preordered.

And caused a lot of controversy, apparently.

Before we move on to the actual review, let’s acknowledge the chief criticisms. Most of the complaints are actually from the video front. I heard a lot of “2012 tech” complaints that are mostly centered around the 5D4’s approach to 4K Video. People were disappointed at first that it featured only the 4K 30P standard; no 4K 60P. Then people discovered that the 4K video was delivered with a 1.7x (approximately) crop factor, and, to add insult to injury, at the space swallowing MJPEG codec. Lost in the shuffle was the fact that this would only be the second full frame camera (after the premium 1Dx II) from Canon to feature DPAF servo AF in video and a touchscreen to control video performance, or that it improved the 1080P capabilities all around. I can’t say whether or not the chief complaints were from those who actually use a DSLR for filmmaking or from those that are more into spec lists than real world cameras. Perhaps some of both. But this was the most vehement complaint.

One of the other major complaints was over the memory card slots. One CF, the other SD. People wanted CFast and XQD (or at least support for UHS II) cards. I’ll address those complaints in the review, but one of the first things I did was stick in a Lexar Professional SDXC 1000x card (150 Mbps transfer rate) and rattle off a burst. The result? 22 full RAW frames before it began to slow, which exceeds the 21 frame buffer rating. And this was from a UHS-II card, which is operating in “backwards compatible” mode. Furthermore, I was able to review the images by the time I had brought the camera down (though the red writing light stayed lit for a second or two longer). I shot another burst until it slowed, paused for a second, and then began shooting another burst. According to the time stamp I got 34 full 30.6MP RAW images in 8 seconds of shooting…on a SD card (and not even the best kind for this camera). My initial burst had 24 RAW images. When I got home I swapped out that card for my best UHS-1 card and upped that total to 28 RAW images before slowdown. The reality is for me (and most all non-sports shooters) is that this is plenty of performance from the SD standard. And beyond that, you can add more performance in burst situations be electing to go with a CF card.

I chose a Lexar Professional 1066x UDMA 7 as my primary CF card. This card had the fastest transfer rate. Using the CF card in optimal conditions I produced a burst of 32 frames before slowdown began. Clearly Canon has chosen to be very conservative with the buffer rating on this camera. That is more frames than what I am personally ever likely to need, and that’s probably true for 90% of shooters. True sports shooters will be better served by the 1Dx series or perhaps a 7DII (depending on the lighting conditions you shoot in).

I hear some complain that if Canon had gone with CFast that you could have unlimited buffer and just shoot RAW until the card is full. That does sound very cool, but how many shooters actually do that? When is the last time you just stood and shot as many frames as you possibly could of the same thing? By the way, if you really want to do that, just switch to JPEG and you can shoot until your card runs out of space. I personally tend to be a little more selective in my shooting because I know I’m going to have to edit all of those files when I get home!

My reviews are not of spec lists, though, but rather of relatively long term actual real world use of products. In the case of the 5D Mark IV I have been working on this review for 2 1/2 months, and am only now reporting my final conclusion on the camera. I have been publishing a number of videos that detail different aspects of the camera’s performance. You can view that playlist here, or you can elect to watch my final review here:

Ergonomic Improvements:

The physical body of the 5D Mark IV is going to feel very familiar to anyone who has used a 5D3, 5Ds, or 5DsR. Little has changed on the exterior with a few minor exceptions.

The remote cable port has moved. The 5Ds/R body featured the change to the USB 3.0 standard (appropriate to accommodate the increased data flow). The female USB 3.0 port takes up significantly more real estate than the USB 2.0 port, however, so something had to give. What was lost on the 5Ds/R body was the headphone monitoring jack; a significant loss for videographers. The 5D Mark IV solves this problem by moving something to a different location, namely the remote trigger port. It now occupies the spot where the “Mark III” logo used to be on the front of the camera. The 5D Mark IV says “Mark IV” right under the 5D logo up top, with the “EOS” label in a slightly odd location above. It works, though, and we get the headphone jack back.
New AF Mode selection button. The 5D Mark IV adds a little nub underneath the thumb stick that provides a redundant AF Mode selection (the little button near the shutter release still exists). This provides an improved ergonomic experiences as you are often using the thumb stick already to select an AF point. You can also reprogram it to some other function if you prefer.
A touch screen! It cannot be overemphasized how big of a difference having a touchscreen makes. It makes navigating menus simpler. It makes using the the Q menu extremely quick and intuitive. It is also the touchscreen that makes DPAF so special for either stills or video use. Simply touch where you want the camera to focus…and it does.

It bears mentioning that they stopped short, however. The 5D Mark IV could really have used an articulating screen like the 80D. The touchscreen eases the blow of having to move/eliminate a few of the buttons, and the lack of the articulating screen makes using the 5D Mark IV less practical than the 80D for Vloggers, YouTubers, and other solo video creators. DPAF and the touchscreen is really cool when you are behind the camera, but who touches the screen when you are in front of it? I’ve already had a few segments blown where the camera did not grab focus on me for some reason and I couldn’t tell until after investing the 15+ minutes in shooting the segment. I discovered the workaround after a while, though, as the Canon Connect app now supports video monitoring. I can use my phone or a tablet to get a wireless live feed from the camera via WiFi, change settings, and even direct focus by touching the screen. It doesn’t solve the camera angle problem for shooting at high or low angles, though. I just feel that an articulating screen allows you to take full advantage of that great touchscreen and the extremely rapid DPAF focus. It not here, though.

Still, overall the 5D Mark IV is a very well executed camera ergonomically. It is very easy to do what you want on it, and I have quickly adapted to its layout and prefer it to any other camera.

It is also worth noting that the 5D Mark IV has a great viewfinder. You have the ability to really customize what information is shown in there, and the way the level is implemented has really helped me (particularly with certain lenses where I’m trying to minimize distortion). The only downside here is that I suspect trying to change out the focus screen for something oriented for manual focus (a matte precision screen) isn’t going to be easy (more like the 5DIII; less like the 6D).

Vastly Improved GPS

One of the things I really liked about the 6D was the inclusion of GPS. I’ve done a lot of traveling with a 6D body (or two), and coming home to images already accurately geotagged was very nice indeed. But I had one chief complaint about the implementation of the GPS on the 6D; you had two choices – ON/OFF. If you chose “ON”, it meant that the GPS was literally always on…even if the camera was turned off. This meant that if you happened to not turn the GPS off it would slowly be draining battery life off all the time. There was no practical limit to this. If the camera sat for a week or so the battery would go completely dead. I had hoped that Canon would fix this via firmware update, but that was not be case.

Fortunately it HAS now been addressed…in the 5D Mark IV. The Mark IV includes two different modes. One is like the 6D’s “always on” and should be chosen if you are in a circumstance where you are frequently turning the camera on and off and want to be sure every single image is properly geotagged. But the second mode is going to be far more practical for day by day use. In this mode the GPS is on but only when the camera is powered on (or in standby mode). When you physically turn the camera off the GPS is fully powered down and will not be sucking the life out of the battery.

Even in the latter mode, however, be prepared for battery life to take a hit when compared to the 5D Mark III.

Early Adopter Issues:

My 5D Mark IV was delivered literally minutes before I left for an extended business trip. I happened to have my Tamron SP 15-30 f/2.8 VC lens along (I’m was using it as a comparison point for my review of the brand new Zeiss Milvus 18mm f/2.8), and I noted that when I tried to activate Live View mode to test DPAF that the camera would not activate Live View with the Tamron attached (the Zeiss lenses were fine). It’s not unusual for Canon to introduce some new quirk for third party lenses when releasing a new camera body. Firmware update time; one of the downsides of third party glass on new camera bodies. Tamron happily agreed to take all of the my three “pre Tap In” lenses (24-70 VC, 70-200 VC, and 15-30 VC) to update in one fell swoop. While on this topic I should note the that 85 VC is a great fit with the new 5D Mark IV; it focuses very quickly and very accurately. The time invested via the Tap In console meant that it focused better than most of my other lenses before AFMA on the 5D Mark IV itself. The end results are gorgeous. I’ve seen more of an impact from the second microprocessor in the 85 VC’s focus on the 5D IV (which also has an added Digic 6 chip dedicated just to autofocus) than I did on previous bodies.

The older three Tamron lenses were back in my hands within a week and the Live View issue is fixed. The experience was quick, and relatively painless, but it was a reminder of why Tamron and Sigma’s move to create their consoles for quick updates at home on their newer lenses was such a smart move.

Another bit of good news is that Reikan FoCal support has arrived more quickly than expected. Over the past couple of months I’ve gone through the process of using it to calibrate my rather extensive collection of lenses. It’s a somewhat laborious process when you have so many lenses to calibrate, but getting optimal performance from my lenses is important to me. I will note that the addition of the touchscreen made this process much simpler when it comes to something like changing values in camera.

Adapting to a New Sensor

Whenever you move to a new camera there is a period of adjustment where you learn to either unlock the potential or accept the limitations of the camera. While the 5D Mark IV does have some limitations, I have found that it is a highly adaptable, customizable camera that in many cases can be set up to do what you want it to do. This does make the camera a little more intimidating for inexperienced shooters, but the 5D series is really marketed to more experienced photographers. My initial concerns about the image quality (and perhaps those from other reviewers) came before I had learned to unlock the potential of the camera.

At full resolution “out of the box” I found the JPEGs had too much “smoothing” for my tastes. I preferred the native JPEG profile from the 6D. I wasn’t blown away by the TIFF files I was getting from DPP, either, but on September 20^th Adobe added RAW support for the 5D Mark IV and I was quickly in heaven. The RAW files are BEAUTIFUL out of the 5D Mark IV. So much sharper and such incredible processing latitude. HDR is going to be far less necessary in the future; the dynamic range from the 5D Mark IV is impressive!

Update as of September 29^th, 2016: I did some tweaking to the profile in the camera (JPEG), and made sure all of the noise processing settings were off. I also did a firmware update today (1.0.2). Between those two things I am much happier with the JPEG images I am getting. They actually look pretty great now, and give a bit of a processing guideline for tackling the RAW images. They look good enough that when shooting RAW + JPEG you may be able to give your clients the JPEG images and they’ll be happy right out of camera. The JPEGs have really rich color and look like they’ve already been “post-processed” in a good kind of way. I have chosen the Fine Detail profile as my default mode, though with some tweaks to the sharpness and contrast. As I continued to fine tune the profile to my unique preferences I found that I was happier and happier with the JPEG output. After getting things where I want I’m now pretty delighted with the 5D Mark IV’s JPEGs and RAW files alike. The JPEG files also benefit from the improved sensor performance of the 5D Mark IV; you definitely have more leeway to “push” them a bit compared to the previous generation.

It is worth noting that the MRAW (17MP) setting is also very nice on the 5D Mark IV and provides one of the best options for shooting in very high ISO settings (more on this in a moment).

Resolution and RAW

If you compare the RAW files side by side with the Canon 6D (as I’ve done a lot of during my various comparisons), the RAW files from the 5D Mark IV seem a bit “flatter”. The contrast is a bit lower, and the “sharpness” is a little less pronounced. This is actually a good thing. Video shooters are familiar with a LOG type profile for video that delivers a fairly flat image that you can then impose your unique preferences to during color grading. I feel like a somewhat similar concept is at work here, and the added dynamic range produces a RAW file with less extremes “baked in”. Similarly it seems that the files both need and can tolerate more sharpening than what I’m accustomed to. Perhaps the antialiasing filter is more aggressive, but I find that the images DO sharpen up better and when I downsample the RAW images to the dimensions of the 6D or 5DIII there is clearly more sharpness in the 5D Mark IV images.

I do feel that there is a bit of a learning curve to unlock the full potential from the camera, and as photographers become familiar with it they will ultimately appreciate that potential.

Here’s a video where I break down the overall resolution and image quality from the camera.

As anticipated, I feel that the 30.6MP pixel count is a “sweet spot” for me. Images have noticeably higher amount of information to work with, there is more latitude for cropping, and yet the file size (and impact on your computer when processing) is far less onerous than it was with the 5DsR. Canon was able to successfully raise the bar in all other areas of sensor performance while also increasingly resolution by about 39% over the 5DIII (and 52% over the 6D). I loved the 5DsR, but I’m not finding that I miss the extra 20MP and the additional challenges that it’s extreme resolution provided.

I enjoy being able to significantly crop an image and still retain similar resolution to my 6D. Higher resolution bodies bring a pixel density closer to that of crop sensor bodies (though only the 5Ds/5DsR have a pixel pitch that completely rivals that of the higher resolution APS-C bodies), so the additional “reach” benefit of APS-C bodies is somewhat undone, particularly when one considers the image quality strengths of the full frame sensor. Look at this photo of a squirrel:

In this second shot I have cropped the image to the exact same pixels of my Canon 6D; look how much extra reach I had “baked into” each frame while still retaining as much resolution as the previous generation.

I’m definitely happy with the megapixel value that Canon chose here.

Dynamic Range

I ran a controlled test with the Canon 6D (rated as having the best dynamic range of Canon’s previous generation), the Canon 80D (Canon’s best APS-C sensor), and the 5D Mark IV to test dynamic range performance. The 5D Mark IV is rated by DXO as having Canon’s best sensor…ever, though in their tests it still lags a slight bit behind the Sony A7R II and a bit further behind the Nikon D810. I’m a Canon shooter, however, so I’ll confine my comparison to what I’m familiar with.

In this controlled test it quickly became clear that as you pushed the limits further the 5D Mark IV distanced itself from the pack. The 80D showed a clear improvement over the 6D, but the 5D Mark IV showed an equal advantage over the 80D in my tests.

Real world shooting has demonstrated the value of this to me. I find that I have more processing latitude, and it affects me in the real world. I’m better able to recover skies, and, as is common in Canada, I will often lift the shadows in trees. In the scenes that I frequently shoot there is often a pretty big exposure difference between the tree line and the open areas, so I often lift the shadows in the forested area. In the past this has often resulted in shadow noise as well as textures becoming a bit muddy. I’m delighted to be able to lift those shadows in files from the 5D Mark IV and retain great detail with minimal color noise. Here’s a number of photos before and after applying Lightroom sliders to recover them.

Not only that, but I was frequently up against the limits of how much I could raise shadows in the past. While I still frequently reduce highlights by 100% in Lightroom’s sliders, I’m finding that it is rare that I need to raise the shadows 100%. Often a value between 40-60% is plenty. I do find that there is increased latitude in the highlights, too, meaning that I am able to better recover highlights, though not even close to the extent with which I can recover shadows. As a result I’m finding far fewer situations where I feel that I need to employ exposure bracketing or HDR. The advantage to the single exposure is that you don’t have to worry about movement or other factors that are a threat to typical HDR work. Here’s a comparison of a 3 stop underexposed image processed as I would process the HDR image (second image is a three bracketed exposure HDR).

While I do prefer the overall tonality of the HDR image, this is an extreme example (-3 EV). A slightly underexposed image that retained highlight information (between -1 to -2 EV) actually often produces a better result in all but the most extreme situations. In these images the first image is a single RAW with the shadows recovered. At a pixel level all the textures are very sharp and crisp. There is no issue with the wind moving the grasses and creating ghosts because it is just one exposure.

The second image is a combination of three bracketed exposures. It shows some ghosting artifacts in the grasses and trees but also isn’t quite as sharp as the single exposure.

In this video I demonstrate the superiority of the 5D Mark IV to previous generation cameras.

I can tell that you that in a very real way I am discovering an improved workflow due to the enhanced dynamic range of the 5D Mark IV. Even the JPEGs have more processing latitude than previous generation cameras. From portraits to event shots to landscapes I’m finding that it is easy to produce a balanced, great looking image from the RAW files.

Canon’s claim of improved dynamic range is backed up in the real world.

High ISO Performance

In the previous generation the 6D outperformed the 5D Mark III at higher ISOs. Is there an improvement in the new generation? Canon’s challenge here is that higher resolution results in more apparent noise, as was made clear by their limiting the normal range of the 5Ds/R at ISO 6400. The 5D Mark IV has 52% more pixels than the 6D and 39% more than the 5D Mark III. Despite this they have increased the ceiling of the normal range to ISO 32,000 (from ISO 25,600). This is a somewhat odd jump and equates to roughly a third stop more, while the expanded range remains the same (ISO 51,000 and 102,000). The latter two should be considered useful only in the most extreme of circumstances, and, in fact, one might be better off shooting at a lower ISO and pushing the results in post.

Compared head to head to the 6D at native resolution I didn’t see much of an advantage for the 5D Mark IV, though when compared at downsampled resolution it looks better at most all ISO settings. It did exhibit less color banding than the 6D for the most part save at ISO 25,600 (and beyond). It is a clear advantage over the 5DIII, however, which was more prone to color noise and banding in the shadows. I did discover a potentially helpful trick, though. Using the MRAW setting (17MP) resulted in a demonstrably cleaner looking image at ISO 32,000 (or 25,600). Better contrast and apparent detail despite technically having less resolution due to fewer pixels. I consider this to be a very valid alternative in low light situations. Here’s a sample at ISP 32,000 at the MRAW setting.

It is worth noting that JPEGs at high ISO look pretty good and could potentially be “improved” by enabling some of the noise reduction settings for High ISOs (this is a matter of preference). Some prefer more sharpness even it means more noise, while others prefer a “smoother” image even it comes at the cost of some of the detail. The 5D Mark IV gives you some options for getting the results you want.

If you want more detailed coverage of this aspect of the 5D Mark IV’s sensor performance, I recommend that you spend a little time and watch this video episode.

I didn’t see a major step forward at higher ISO settings, but that is in part due to adding a significantly larger amount of pixels into the equation. The fact that Canon has managed to do this while still making some minor gains at higher ISO settings is positive. This is pretty much where sensor performance is at, and the competitors from other brands are delivering a similar performance with some give and take. I wouldn’t be surprised to find that this will be an area of strength for the new 6D Mark II (expected next year) which will almost certainly have a lower megapixel rating (current rumors have it at 24-25MP).

The bottom line is that once you learn how to take advantage of the potential of the 5D Mark IV you will find that it can deliver excellent results in just about every situation.

Autofocus Observations

While on paper the focus system is a similar 61 AF points to that of the 5D Mark III, this is an improved AF system in every way. Some have called the revised AF system in the 5D Mark IV its biggest upgrade. While the number of AF points is the same, they aren’t as tightly clustered as before, resulting in higher coverage of the frame. The top to bottom measurement of the two groups on the left and right has increased by 24%, while the larger center group’s measurement has increased by 8%.

It is now easier to get an AF point where you want it. I tested the 5DsR a few months ago, and while it was improved over the 5DIII in its metering system and added a bit more f/8 support, I still noticed a significant improvement in the 5D Mark IV. Everything seems to focus faster, including third party lenses, and I’m noting good focus accuracy from the system, too. As more and more people get the 5D Mark IV in their hands their feedback has been universally very positive. Focus is simply awesome in the 5D Mark IV.

Another strength of the AF system is tracking. It has Canon’s EOS iTR AF (Intelligent Tracking and Recognition) that works to recognize faces, colors, and shapes to help select the proper AF point and allow for more accurate tracking. The AF system in the 5D Mark IV actually employs a dedicated Digic 6 processor (in addition to the main Digic 6+ processor), which is part of why it is so vastly improved. The end result is that tracking a moving subject has never been easier.

You can unlock the potential of the AF system by becoming familiar with the 6 different “cases” that you can choose from in the AF menu. Each of these is customizable, but they have descriptions in which they detail the scenarios that they were designed for. Choosing the right case for your situation helps establish the focus priorities and will result in better tracking and focus priorities.

You have a number of choices for what focus points are active. Spot AF utilizes a reduced size single point (a dot within the AF point box) for the situations where you want pinpoint accuracy (put this point on the subject’s eye when shooting portraits!). Single point AF utilizes the single point but the whole focus point box rather than the inner point. The coverage grows a bit as does the potential for focus to be on something other than what you want (a nose rather than an eye, for example). AF Point Expansion mode supports the selected point with four surrounding points (to the four points of the compass). Zone AF utilizes the selected point plus the 8 surrounding points in a large square. Zone Large AF allows you to select the large group on the left, right, or center. Auto AF point has all 61 points active. Getting the most out of the AF system will require you to pair the right selection to your task. Put simply, the more AF points that you activate will result in the camera doing more of the thinking. In some situations this is advantageous (it’s quick!), but if you are shooting in more precise situations (and with large aperture lenses where depth of field is very small) you may want to use fewer points and make sure focus is happening exactly where you want it to.

You now have two choices for making the selection of how many points are active. The M-Fn button near the shutter release is the standard method (clicking it will cycle through the options), though there is now a redundant control right under the thumb stick on the back of the camera. I’ve been using it more often, as I’m usually there selecting focus points anyway.

The focus system of the 5D Mark IV is somewhat complex, and the reality is that some photographers will find themselves overwhelmed by it. I’ve had a number of photographers that have expressed to me that they preferred the simpler focus system in the 6D over the 5D Mark III because they understood how to the use the former but were overwhelmed by the second. Others strongly prefer the more complex system because of its many advantages. There’s no question that the more complex system is better in an absolute sense, but whether or not it is better for you will come down to your own comfort level with the more complex or your willingness to learn how to best utilize it. If you were already using the 5DIII, for example, you will probably be delighted with the 5DIV. If you are upgrading from the 6D you may be initially overwhelmed.

One of the great features on the 6D was the excellent sensitivity of its center point, which would focus down to -3 EV (moonlight, essentially). In some ways this actually made it a better performer than the 5D Mark III in low light despite having an inferior AF system. The 5D Mark IV has inherited that greater center point sensitivity, and even one-upped it by allowing for -4 EV focus in Live View via DPAF. Bottom line: you shouldn’t ever find yourself in a situation where you can’t autofocus some way!

I’m also finding that my third party lenses are now more confident in focusing – both in speed and in my ability to use outer points with them. The new Tamron 45mm f/1.8 and 85mm f/1.8 VC lenses are standouts in this regard (I’ve tweaked them through Tamron’s Tap In Console). Here are a few samples:

F8 Focus

One of the biggest improvements made to the 5D Mark III via firmware was the addition of the ability to autofocus at a maximum aperture of f/8 (the standard limitation is f/5.6). This allows one to shoot an f/5.6 lens (like a telephoto such as the 100-400mm II) with a 1.4x extender attached (which reduces the amount of light that can reach the sensor by 1 stop, meaning that maximum aperture is now f/8). Still, the 5DIII was only able to use the extra sensitive center point in this kind of situation. That meant that 60 of the 61 points were completely unusable in this situation. The 6D did not support f/8 focus at all.

I was impressed by the improved performance of the 80D with a lens like the Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM II and a Canon 1.4x teleconverter. It allowed one to shoot with that combination (a maximum aperture of f/8) at a variety of focus points – far more than what was previously possible (27 of the 45). The 5D Mark IV takes this a step further, however, and enables f/8 focus on ALL AF points, and 27 of them remain cross type for extra sensitivity to boot. This makes a huge difference, and I can honestly say that I saw little difference in the autofocus capabilities in this scenario than I did in any other situation. What has been (to me) a somewhat frustrating scenario now just works. AF is extremely quick and accurate with this combination. I was able to focus with this combination effectively even in low light conditions. It is as if Canon has figured out this tech (probably with the help of that dedicated processor) and it now finally lives up to its potential.

This section has included some shots taken at 560mm, f/8 (400mm + 1.4x TC).

DPAF

If you have never used Canon’s DPAF (Dual Pixel Autofocus), you are in for a treat. I’ve been shooting a number of comparison series with the 6D over the past month, and it shocking how painful traditional Live View focus feels after having used DPAF. The technology debuted on the 70D (and was revelatory then), matured on the 80D, and is simply a delight on the 5D Mark IV. Touch the screen (about 80% of the sensor area is covered) and the camera focuses almost instantly. While still not quite as fast as the traditional phase detect AF (through the viewfinder), the difference is now almost imperceptible. Focus is incredibly fast in DPAF and makes tripod based shooting in particular a real joy. Now if only the 5D Mark IV had come with that articulating screen…

Tracking is also very impressive in DPAF mode. The face detection is almost eerily accurate, and I’ve been using this feature on xxD bodies for my YouTube channel for the past several years as it allows me to film my episodes at larger apertures without worrying that my face will be out of focus when I’m in front of the camera. The addition of DPAF to the full frame 5D Series gives it a serious advantage over the competitors.

Video Observations

Bottom line: Canon has made a lot of people mad on the video front with the release of the 5D Mark IV. What’s interesting is that the implementation of 4K video isn’t radically different on the 5D Mark IV than it was on the 1Dx Mark II, though the release of that camera didn’t have nearly the same amount of drama. What’s mostly different is that the 5D series A) has broader market appeal and B) is viewed as more of a hybrid/general purpose camera than the more sports/wildlife oriented 1D series. But let’s step back and take a rational look at the reality of the video features of the 5D Mark IV.

It is actually a better video camera than the 5D Mark III…without question. It has more shooting options, a better sensor to work with, produces sharper video than the 5D Mark III, has a useful HDR video mode, and most importantly, it has DPAF video servo focus and that great touchscreen. It adds the ability to create time lapse movies in camera. It is one of Canon’s best ever 1080P cameras, lacking basically only a 1080 120FPS mode (that frame rate is limited to 720P). The footage looks great, and no one is talking about how incredible DPAF is at tracking and how nice this is to have on a full frame body. I loved DPAF beginning on the 70D, found the 80D even more improved, and this is a great implantation here. If you are behind the camera it really opens up so many options. Canon’s major misstep here was not going ahead and implementing the articulating screen that makes using the camera for vlogging and/or YouTube so much easier. If you missed the tip before, you can remotely monitor video through the Canon Connect app on your mobile device, controlling not just settings and modes but also simply pressing on your screen where you want the camera to focus. Very, very nice! Still, a lot of YouTubers and Vloggers want that articulating screen, and in the “selfie age” that we now live in I think Canon may have missed an opportunity to move YouTubers and Vloggers upmarket.

If the camera only supported 1080P, people would have loudly complained over the lack of 4K support, but would have had to conclude that at the least the 1080P performance was very good. But the camera does support 4K, at least nominally, and it is the nature of that support that raised so many people’s ire. The criticisms are largely focused on 1) the codec (MJPG) and 2) the crop factor.

The codec. Canon’s decision to only support the massive MJPG codec has caused a lot of hair pulling for a number of reasons:

It’s huge. A 64GB card will only hold about 16 minutes of 4K footage because the bitrate is so high. Battery consumption is also pretty huge while recording 4K, and, of course, the massive file size adds a lot of stress on the processing end back at your workstation, too. If you move up to a bigger card (say 256GB), your battery will go dead before the card is filled.
The footage is not correspondingly epic. That massive, uncompressed footage should blow highly compressed h.264 footage away, right? Not according to a thousand head to head comparisons already out on YouTube. The 5D Mark IV footage has pros (mostly due to the nature of Canon’s superior color rendition) and looks great, but not really better than the footage from other cameras at a tenth of the file size. The MJPG codec is clearly not implemented because of its intrinsic advantages.

The crop factor. There was a collective groan when it was discovered that Canon’s 4K support would not be utilizing the full frame coverage but would instead be a cropped portion of the sensor. That crop factor is, in fact, is a significant 1.74x. This means that shooting wide angle video is difficult. My widest lens goes to 15mm, which with this crop factor is slightly over 26mm. Ah, but it gets worse. Canon has persisted in not allowing EF-S (APS-C crop specific lenses) to be mounted here, which means that Canon’s lenses designed for a crop factor cannot be used here. The end result is there is going to be a lot of videographers mounting Sigmas and Tamrons on there (a lens like the Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 ART will mount and function perfectly). Third party crop sensor lenses utilize the EF and not the EF-S mount, so they will attach to the camera where Canon’s own crop lenses will not. I’ve just started testing the new Laowa 12mm f/2.8 Zero D lens and it is actually a very intriguing lens for shooting 4K video with on the 5D Mark IV as the focal length after the crop factor is about 20-21mm; right in the sweet spot for wide angle footage.

There is, however, one very positive aspect of the 4K support. Canon has designed the implementation so that right in camera you go through footage frame by frame and grab JPEGs at a decent 8MP size. I can attest first hand that this in fact valuable, as the files are large enough (and detailed enough) to actually be useful. I’ve got an image gallery of images like this. Here’s one of those screen grabs here:

This could be valuable for catching crucial moments like the first kiss at a wedding, or to grab segments in portraits where your subject moves into position and you can choose that perfect moment from the sequence. It will also be useful for getting clean images of fast moving subjects like insects and hummingbirds.

There are other lesser complaints. While the 5D Mark IV does support HDMI out, it is limited to 1080P, and there is not a true neutral profile (C-LOG) that provides the kind of footage that filmmakers most value. The 4K framerate options are limited to 24 and 30FPS with no 60FPS option (which the 1Dx Mark II does have).

The 4K footage does look quite good. Here’s a few unedited samples of it (only transcoded into MP4 and pieced together).

I’m not a videographer, and to be honest I don’t have a screen in the house at the moment that supports 4K, although I do like the idea of having some crop latitude in my footage without sacrificing quality. I find 1080P content painful enough to upload to YouTube, so I’m in no rush to switch to 4K, but there is also no question that Canon did a lackluster job of implanting 4K support in the 5D Mark IV. This is something that people value and even something that many people expect in a modern DSLR. Canon is clearly trying to push serious filmmakers towards their more expensive cinema line, but there’s one problem: people have options these days. They can move to a far less expensive Sony a6300 and get very good 4K support (though that new camera has already been replaced with the recently announced Sony a6500…ouch!).

But you know what? I’m actually really enjoying the 5D Mark IV for video work. After I accepted the limitations of the 4K video, I’m actually enjoying using it here and there and marveling at the tremendously detailed footage. I love the 1080P on the camera due to the great DPAF, sharp footage, and flexible video modes. I wasn’t using any of my full frame cameras for video work before, but the 5D Mark IV has rekindled my interest in using full frame for video. The moire suppression is the best I’ve seen so far. I did an extensive video for my YouTube channel covering all the highs and lows of the 5D Mark IV’s video features here.

Despite the video implementation actually being good in a number of areas, I think that this was perhaps Canon’s greatest misstep. If they had included a MP4 option for 4K they would have had a much more positive reception from the video crowd. I think they may have underestimated how much backlash there would be over its omission.

Battery Hungry?

Canon’s DSLRs are usually pretty fantastic when it comes to battery life. The 5D Mark IV used the LP-E6N battery that has been the staple in the newest generation of Canon bodies, though it is also backwards compatible with the older LP-E6 batteries. Though the rating for the number of shots isn’t really down all that much, I found that due to all the tech on the 5D Mark IV I’ve been burning through batteries faster than typical. The primary culprit is probably the GPS logging, and make sure that Wi-Fi isn’t on when you don’t need it, too. Even using the GPS in the Mode 2 (where it shuts off when the camera is off) has an impact on battery life. I suspect the extra voltage going into focus has a negative impact on battery life as well. If you shoot 4K video, too, you are very likely to see serious battery drain. The bottom line is that I’m seeing a low battery indicator more often now.

I’d recommend putting a backup battery or two on your wish list.

Conclusions

The Canon EOS 5D Mark IV is a bit of paradox. It is simultaneously one of the best cameras Canon has ever created along with being one of its most divisive ones. Whereas the 5D Mark III was universally accepted as an excellent choice for both professional and amateurs alike, things have changed. It is my opinion that the 5D Mark IV is a better camera in every measure than the 5D Mark III, but is that enough for the 2016 market that it is released into? It has better autofocus performance (including vastly improved performance with teleconverters), better resolution, better dynamic range, better high ISO performance, and faster shooting and buffer performance. And, despite all of the drama surrounding the video performance, it is actually a better video camera than the 5D Mark III. It has more shooting options, a better sensor to work with, time lapse movie mode, a useful HDR video mode, and most importantly, it has DPAF video servo focus and that great touchscreen. While the 4K support is unquestionably flawed, the reality is that it does serve some purpose, the footage looks great, and the image grab from 4K video is actually useful.

If the 5D Mark IV was being compared only to Canon cameras, it would be declared a smashing success. But things have changed since the release of the 5D Mark III, particularly on the video front. Nikon’s D810 still combines a higher resolution sensor with even better dynamic range, and the D820 may not be far off. Sony and smaller players like Fuji and Panasonic have demonstrated that quality 4K video can done in a mirrorless or DSLR form factor. Canon’s choices regarding the 4K implementation on the 5D Mark IV seem to have disenfranchised a lot of people, particularly considering that it is more expensive than its competitors (in some markets by a LARGE margin) and when one considers that the 5D series created the hybrid video/stills market. Time will tell whether these protests will affect sales, but the initial “mood” towards the camera was mostly negative (watch that change as people actually USE it!) In short, people expected more, realistically or not, and even the most positive are having a hard time justifying the implementation of the 4K video.

5D bodies are known for implementing some new technology, and while Dual Pixel RAW undoubtedly has useful future applications, the current form has extremely limited value. The amount of adjustments that you can make to focus, bokeh shift, and flare are so small as to be mostly imperceptible. Having Dual Pixel RAW enabled essentially doubles your file sizes, making them larger than those of the 5DsR and its massive 50+ megapixels of resolution. It also ties you (at least for the present) to Canon’s own Digital Photo Professional software to enable those effects. In its current form DPRAW holds no real attraction for me.

But at the same time I pride myself in be reasonably objective. I’m not going to fuss and complain over a camera I’m actually very happy with. If you, like me, are primarily a stills shooter who does some video, then you are going to love this camera. I think it may just be Canon’s best stills camera so far, combining a high resolution, high dynamic range sensor around Canon’s best focus system so far outside of the 1Dx series. The camera is ergonomically excellent and I find shooting with it a joy. It just does what I want, without fuss. A tear down from Roger over at Lens Rentals shows that it is more robustly sealed then previous generation 5D bodies. I love the images that it produces, and the file size is fully manageable. After some tweaking I love the JPEGs, and the RAW files have loads of processing potential. Most important to me is the ability to create amazing images, and I genuinely feel like I have greater potential to do that than before.

In short, Canon has (mostly) lived up to the potential that I saw when I looked at the specs and was delighted by them. After two and a half months of using the camera I am confident that this will be my workhorse for the next three or four years. I find it hard to rant and rave over a camera I’m personally very happy with.

But neither can I disagree with those who are highly disappointed over certain aspects of this camera, particularly when it is coming in at a very expensive price point that is significantly higher in every market save the US, it seems. Even though I had the money put aside for the Canon EOS 5D Mark IV, I almost changed my mind over putting in my order. But now that the money is spent and I plan to focus on enjoying the camera and letting it pay for itself. Bottom line: if you are debating whether or not to purchase the 5D Mark IV, do a realistic evaluation of your shooting needs and then consider if the 5D Mark IV meets those needs. It is in most ways an exceptional camera despite some of the early ranting on YouTube and the message boards. But once the drama is over and people move on, I suspect that you’ll find a whole lot of people shooting with and loving this camera. I will be one of them.

Pros:

Improved autofocus performance that is now exceptional
The best rated sensor from Canon yet
Great dynamic range
Strong high ISO performance despite MP upgrade
Higher resolution while retaining reasonable file sizes
Inclusion of a touchscreen and DPAF
Inclusion of WiFi, GPS, Intervalometer, and NFC
Improved burst rate and buffer depth
Outstanding ergonomics
Anti-Flicker, White Balance priority modes

Cons:

Expensive (extremely so in some world markets)
Questionable 4K implementation
Dated memory card standard support
Battery life has decreased
No articulating screen

Gear Used:
Canon EOS 5D Mark IV (5D4)

Shopping in Canada? I bought mine from Simons Camera. If you use code CEAB when ordering from them you will receive a free Canon Collector Edition Accessory Bundle.
Canon EOS 6D DSLR Camera (Body Only)

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Alien Skin Exposure X (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)

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