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Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN Review

Dustin Abbott

June 3rd, 2022

I was somewhat surprised when Sigma released the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN (my review here).  It had only been 13 months since they had released the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN, a lens I felt was a strong alternative in both performance and price ($1099 USD) to the much more expensive Sony G Master version ($2198 USD).  I had given the 24-70mm a positive review, and wondered if there was room for two similar lenses in Sigma’s lineup for Sony.  Over time, however, I have begun to realize a couple of things about Sigma’s strategy on mirrorless.  The first is that while I tend to focus on the Sony side of things, Sigma is also actively developing for the Leica L mount, which their own Sigma branded cameras now use.  Some of those L-mount bodies are more compact, whereas a lot of the Sigma ART and Sport branded lenses have actually been some of the largest and heaviest in their class.  Sigma’s strategy (which makes sense!) has been to develop two separate lines on mirrorless.  They have, for example, three DN 35mm lenses already (F1.2, F1.4, and F2).  All DN lenses – new,  purpose designed lenses for mirrorless cameras and their unique focus systems.  The large aperture lenses are designed for those who want ultimate image quality (and don’t mind paying for it and carrying it!), while the smaller aperture lenses (called the “i-Series”) are designed for those who want good image quality but aren’t willing to carry around a massive, heavy lens to achieve it.  Sigma has started to bifurcate their zoom lineup in the same way, with the 28-70mm DN being the first of those designs.  Enter the new Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN, a wide angle companion to the “normal” zoom range of the 28-70mm.  The 16-28DN (as we’ll call it for brevity) follows a lot of the same principles of the 28-70mm (compact and lightweight) while also allowing you to go quite wide (16mm):

…and frame in a little tighter on the 28mm side:

This lens is a little less surprising, obviously, as it is an obvious compliment in focal length to an existing lens.  Like the 28-70mm DN, however, the new 16-28DN comes up against an established competitor in the Sony space (where I’m reviewing it) in the form of the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 RXD (my review here).  The Sigma has an obvious advantage in focal length, going considerably wider (here’s what 16mm vs 17mm looks like):

Interestingly, it also zooms in to a bit tighter a framing despite both lenses supposedly ending at 28mm:

That’s a serious advantage, though the Tamron also has a few compelling factors in its favor, including lower distortion and vignette, and, due to market forces, a cheaper price.  There are some of you who just prefer Sigma, period, and I’m always in favor of more competition on the market.  It is the proliferation of lenses like this that make Sony such a compelling platform right now.  There are so many quality choices at a variety of price points…and I love it!

The big question is whether or not this particular lens is worthy of your consideration.  Sigma’s 14-24mm F2.8 DN lens is an excellent lens (my review here), but it is also 43% larger by volume, 76% heavier, and hundreds of dollars more expensive.  Is the superior performance of that lens worth the extra size, weight, and expense…or would you rather travel light?  Sigma is clearly betting that there are those of you who will check the latter box, and, if so, the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN might just be the lens for you.  So join me as we explore the highs and lows of this compact standard zoom for Sony or Leica.  If you prefer to watch reviews, you can watch my video review below…or just keep reading.

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I want to thank Sigma Canada (and Gentec) for the loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review.  The opinions here are completely my own.  *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with three cameras – the Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7IV, and Sony a6400.

Sigma 16-28DN Build, Design and Handling

Whereas the 28-70mm DN offered a slightly reduced focal length relative to its main competitor (the Tamron 28-75mm), Sigma flips the script here and offers up a slightly larger zoom range instead (a solid move, in my opinion).  That does translate into slightly more size and weight relative to the Tamron 17-28mm RXD, the two lenses are close enough in size that I don’t think that will be a factor for many people.   Here’s a look at how the 16-28DN compares to some competing options (I’ve manually added the information for the 16-28mm since it isn’t available to retailers yet).

Here’s a visual comparison to the Tamron (as I happen to own that lens):

The new Sigma 16-28DN is 77.2mm in diameter and right over 100mm long.  You can see from the photo above that the Sigma is marginally wider and longer, but the basic footprint of the two lenses is roughly the same.    There’s only one exception to this, and that is in the nature of the lens hoods (both lenses include a lens hood).  The Sigma lens hood flares out a fair bit and thus doesn’t store as compactly. 

The Sigma is slightly heavier at 450g (vs 420g), though that is significantly lighter than the Sony 16-35mm GM (680g) or the Sigma 14-24mm ART (795g).

Up front we have a 72mm filter thread, which is fairly common but not as ubiquitous as either the 67mm or 77mm standards.  The ability to use traditional screw-in filters is always welcome in a wide angle lens.

Like the 28-70mm DN (and i-Series primes), Sigma has chosen to position the 16-28DN under the Global Vision division of “Contemporary”.  Typically the lenses branded Contemporary carry Sigma’s lowest level of build, with Sport lenses given the most robust while Art lenses land in the middle.  The build here is actually pretty decent, though, and is competitive with the Tamron’s build save the fact that the Sigma has only a gasket at the lens mount while the Tamron has some internal weather sealing points as well.  The Sigma feels ever-so-slightly nicer in the hand, however, due to slightly more upscale materials on the barrel, and (always welcome!) includes an AF/MF switch (something the Tamron 17-28mm lacks).  That may or may not be a big deal to you, but I still find it the fastest and most logical way to switch in between these two methods of focus.

The more upscale Sigma 14-24mm DN has a more thorough weather sealing and also includes a focus hold button – both of which this lens lacks.

This is an internally zooming lens, so it doesn’t change shape at all during zooming or focusing – the length is constant.  This helps with the weather sealing and also means that a zoom lock is unnecessary.  

The zoom ring is closest to the lens mount and moves with that smoothness you only see in internally zooming lenses.  Sigma persists in the zoom action being from left go right rather than from right to left like Sony (and Tamron, and Samyang) lenses on the Sony platform.  Unfortunate, really, as you may find yourself instinctively zooming the wrong direction if you’re accustomed to lenses from any of the other brands on Sony.

The manual focus ring is closest to the front of the lens and also moves nicely.  The focus ring is a “by-wire” system, meaning that input on the focus ring is electronically communicated rather than through a direct mechanical coupling.  This means that input on the focus ring will not create any physical changes unless the lens is attached to a camera and powered on.  The focus ring has a fairly nice feel to it, and Sigma has done a good job emulating traditional manual focus.  

The aperture iris has 9 rounded aperture blades, and this helps keep the aperture shape fairly circular when stopped down, though there are only so many opportunities to see circular bokeh highlights on a wide angle lens once stopped down.

The geometry of the bokeh looks quite good across the frame at 28mm, F2.8, however:

This is helped by having a fairly close minimum focus distance (25cm) and a resulting maximum magnification of 0.178x.  

That’s just very slightly behind the magnification of the GM and Tamron 17-28mm lenses (0.19x) and betters the 0.14x of the Sigma 14-24mm.

Unlike the 28-70mm DN, however, we don’t get a higher magnification on the wider end.  This lens behaves more traditionally where the MFD at both ends of the zoom range are the same.  Up close performance at 28mm looked very good to my eye, however.

Like the 28-70 DN, I would have liked a more thorough weather sealing on the lens, but overall I quite like the build and handling of the 16-28DN.  I think it strikes a nice balance between size, weight, and build quality.  It is marginally bigger than the Tamron that it will compete with, but also gives a bigger zoom range, which I suspect many will find a reasonable tradeoff.  

Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN Autofocus Performance

The Sigma 16-28DN utilizes a stepping focus motor (STM) that makes fast, quiet focus changes.  Video focus pulls are fast, accurate, and smooth, and there is little to no hunting or settling.  I saw minimal focus breathing during my tests, too.

A lens with a maximum aperture of F2.8 is fairly good in low light, though obviously not as good as lenses with even larger maximum apertures.  In many cases, cameras will focus with the lens aperture wide open and then close it down to the preset aperture choice at the moment of capture.  A lens with a smaller maximum aperture is going to be at a disadvantage in low light conditions because the physical aperture is smaller than alternative lenses, meaning that less light can reach the sensor.  F2.8 is what I would call a “medium” maximum aperture, but it is wide enough that one should be able to shoot weddings or events with the lens and get solid results.

Under normal lighting conditions I had no problems.  I was able to nail focus indoors without any problems at all.

Eye AF works well, with good detection of the eye and “stickiness” in tracking it.

In my video test where I track my face, I found the lens did a good job of quickly and smoothly returning to focus on the eyes when I moved my hand out of the way.

I also had no problems nailing focus on this shallow subject (lock) on the chain link fence.

Though it is hard to see at this magnification level, the focus on the golfer in this wide shot is accurate:

In general I feel like Sigma had really hit their stride in the focus accuracy and quality on their Sony DN lenses.  While their telephotos are not quite as fast as the native Sony lenses (that typically employ multiple focus motors), their general purpose lenses are pretty much as good as native Sony competitors.  Autofocus here was fast, quiet, and accurate whether shooting stills or video.  Focus was solid in all the situations I shot with the lens…and that’s all you can ask for.

Sigma 16-28DN Image Quality

The optical formula is made up of 16 elements in 11 groups, which is slightly more complex than the Tamron (13 elements in 11 groups).  That’s to be expected, however, since the Sigma lens does go wider.  It is capable of delivering crisp result even on my high resolution cameras.

Longitudinal chromatic aberrations (LoCA) seem well controlled and I see little to no fringing on the white edges of the letters or transition zone on the mirror behind.

If we look up into the bare branches on this golf course image, we find little evidence of lateral chromatic aberrations near the edge of the frame, too.

That’s a solid start, though things go downhill a bit after this.  I’ve complained about some previous Sigma lenses and the complexity of the distortion that I found hard to manually fix, so Sigma made sure to send a correction profile along with the 16-28DN for me.

It’s a good thing, as it was needed.  I found a strong amount of barrel distortion that unfortunately is a bit complex and difficult to smoothly correct manually.  There’s some mustache pattern left over. 

I dialed in a +21 to correct the barrel distortion and needed to max out the sliders (+100) to correct for the vignette, which is very strong at 16mm.

That vignette will be very obvious at F2.8 if you don’t correct for it:

The profile does a better job of correction the complexities of the distortion and deals with the vignette fairly well.  It is worth noting that aberrations that heavy can cause a bit of damage to image quality in the correction process, though (particularly near the edges).  There’s no free ride, so to speak.

The distortion flips to a more mild pincushion distortion (-4) near the middle of the range and the vignette, while still heavy (+64), is milder than what we saw at 16mm.  The pincushion distortion worsens at 28mm (-10 to correct) but the vignette gets a bit lighter (+50).  That correction profile is going to be necessary with this lens, though JPEGs and video will get corrected in camera.  Tamron took the safer route by producing a lens with a smaller zoom range (and which didn’t go as wide) and the byproduct is that it has less vignette and distortion.  Sigma gambled on photographers preferring the wider angle of view even if it comes with a bit more optical challenges.

So how about sharpness and contrast?  All chart tests done with a Sony Alpha 1 (50 MP) using a tripod and a two second timer.

Here’s a look at my test chart:

A close look at the 16mm, F2.8 results (this is 200% magnification) shows exceptionally good results in the center of the frame and very good results in the midframe and corner:

There’s some minor give and take in comparison to the Tamron (at 17mm), but the two lenses are largely similar on the wide end (which is to say very good!).

Stopping down to smaller apertures (like F5.6) provides only minimal improvement in the center of the frame (already near perfect) but the mid-frame and corners improve to excellent levels.

Take that in the real world and you can get nicely detailed results all across the frame:

Minimum aperture throughout the zoom range is F22, though I typically avoid anything smaller than F11 because of the effects of diffraction that rob the images of contrast and resolution at those very small apertures.

This is a constant aperture zoom, so the maximum aperture of F2.8 applies equally to all focal lengths.  16mm proved the sharpest focal length on my test copy, with a mild regression at 18-20mm most obviously seen in the mid-frame and corners.  You’ll want to stop down to F5.6 or so if you want sharp corners, as there is an obvious improvement when stopped down (here at 20mm):

At 24mm I found a more even performance, though I felt the corners were relatively stronger than the center performance here.  Stopping down sharpens them up to excellent levels.

28mm is similar, with good results wide open and better results available when stopped down.

I thought that my real world 28mm landscape results looked nice.

Here’s another that I like, though I wasn’t quite as wowed by real world results as what I saw on the 14-24DN.  

A lens like this is rarely going to be a “go-to” lens for bokeh, and this lens is no exception.  I didn’t really see any images where I loved the bokeh quality.  Images like this show fairly busy backgrounds.

Likewise this monochrome along the fence never really shows the “creaminess” that I associate with quality bokeh.

To be fair, however, I buy a lens like this more for having everything IN focus rather than out of focus!

Flare resistance was mostly good, but also somewhat mixed.  You can see from these images that having the sun right at the edge of the frame does end up with some reduced contrast, and, if stopped down (like the second image), so very long sun rays.

This second batch of images is mostly better, which shows that being careful in your composition can make a big difference in the flare performance with this lens (and many others).

I’m often very pleased with the colors from Sigma wide angle lenses, and that’s true here as well.  Color seems both rich and accurate.

It won’t be hard to get images you can be proud of out of this lens, though you’ll want to correct that vignette and distortion.  You can see more images by checking out the lens image gallery here.

Conclusion

It’s a little hard for me to predict the market reaction for the new Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN. It is an obvious compliment to the 28-70mm F2.8 DN, giving potential owners a smaller, lighter, cheaper kit than the 14-24mm and 24-70mm F2.8 ART DN lenses.  But like with the 28-70mm (vs the Tamron 28-75mm F2.8), Tamron has had a chance to really beat Sigma to the market with their 17-28mm F2.8 RXD lens – a lens that was introduced nearly three years and was well-received both critically and commercially.  Will the slightly wider focal length of the Sigma attract future buyers on Sony over the Tamron…despite the Sigma being more expensive?

As always, though, it is important to remember that Sigma is also developing for the Leica L-mount.  The market is less crowded there and also competing lenses are often more expensive than some of Sigma’s competition on the Sony platform.  The 16-28DN may excel there.

Outside of the high distortion and vignette, this is a solid lens.  Nice build, relatively compact, great focal range, great autofocus, and a solid optical performance.  There’s no question you can make beautiful images with it, and it is light enough to come along easily.  You can use traditional screw on filters (not the case for the 14-24mm F2.8 DN), so that also makes it a more accessible lens.  I think the 14-24mm F2.8 DN is the more exceptional lens optically, but it is also bigger, heavier, and more expensive.  If you are a Sigma fan and want to travel lighter with your wide angle kit, then the new Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN may just be the lens for you.

Pros:

  • Compact, lightweight lens with nice construction
  • Includes some weather sealing at mount and is internally zooming
  • Broader zoom range than competing Tamron lens
  • Fast, quiet autofocus
  • Smooth and quiet video AF work
  • Good up close performance
  • Excellent flare resistance
  • CA is well controlled
  • Excellent sharpness and contrast across the frame even wide open
  • Weight under 500g

Cons:

  • Strong vignette (particularly at 16mm)
  • Fairly complex barrel distortion on the wide end
  • Strong pincushion distortion at 28mm
  • Sigma persists in the zoom direction being opposite to other lenses on Sony

 

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Sony a9 Camera:  B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7R III Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK  | Ebay
Peak Design Slide Lite:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
Sony a6500: B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | Ebay
Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like.  Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

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Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

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Keywords: Sigma 16-28 DN, Sigma 16-28 F2.8, Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN, 16-28 DN Review, Review, Sigma 28-70 DN, DN, DG, 16-28mm, F2.8, Review, Tamron 17-28mm F2.8, Tamron 17-28, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7IV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Sony a9, sony a7III, sony a7RIII, a7R3, Leica L

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

June 3rd, 2022

I was somewhat surprised when Sigma released the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN (my review here).  It had only been 13 months since they had released the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN, a lens I felt was a strong alternative in both performance and price ($1099 USD) to the much more expensive Sony G Master version ($2198 USD).  I had given the 24-70mm a positive review, and wondered if there was room for two similar lenses in Sigma’s lineup for Sony.  Over time, however, I have begun to realize a couple of things about Sigma’s strategy on mirrorless.  The first is that while I tend to focus on the Sony side of things, Sigma is also actively developing for the Leica L mount, which their own Sigma branded cameras now use.  Some of those L-mount bodies are more compact, whereas a lot of the Sigma ART and Sport branded lenses have actually been some of the largest and heaviest in their class.  Sigma’s strategy (which makes sense!) has been to develop two separate lines on mirrorless.  They have, for example, three DN 35mm lenses already (F1.2, F1.4, and F2).  All DN lenses – new,  purpose designed lenses for mirrorless cameras and their unique focus systems.  The large aperture lenses are designed for those who want ultimate image quality (and don’t mind paying for it and carrying it!), while the smaller aperture lenses (called the “i-Series”) are designed for those who want good image quality but aren’t willing to carry around a massive, heavy lens to achieve it.  Sigma has started to bifurcate their zoom lineup in the same way, with the 28-70mm DN being the first of those designs.  Enter the new Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN, a wide angle companion to the “normal” zoom range of the 28-70mm.  The 16-28mm DN follows a lot of the same principles of the 28-70mm (compact and lightweight) while also allowing you to go quite wide (16mm):

…and frame in a little tighter on the 28mm side:

This lens is a little less surprising, obviously, as it is an obvious compliment in focal length to an existing lens.  Like the 28-70mm DN, however, the new 16-28DN comes up against an established competitor in the Sony space (where I’m reviewing it) in the form of the Tamron 17-28mm F2.8 RXD (my review here).  The Sigma has an obvious advantage in focal length, going considerably wider (here’s what 16mm vs 17mm looks like):

Interestingly, it also zooms in to a bit tighter a framing despite both lenses supposedly ending at 28mm:

That’s a serious advantage, though the Tamron also has a few compelling factors in its favor, including lower distortion and vignette, and, due to market forces, a cheaper price.  There are some of you who just prefer Sigma, period, and I’m always in favor of more competition on the market.  It is the proliferation of lenses like this that make Sony such a compelling platform right now.  There are so many quality choices at a variety of price points…and I love it!

The big question is whether or not this particular lens is worthy of your consideration.  Sigma’s 14-24mm F2.8 DN lens is an excellent lens (my review here), but it is also 43% larger by volume, 76% heavier, and hundreds of dollars more expensive.  Is the superior performance of that lens worth the extra size, weight, and expense…or would you rather travel light?  Sigma is clearly betting that there are those of you who will check the latter box, and, if so, the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN might just be the lens for you.  If you want more information, you can watch my video review or read my text review…or just enjoy the photos below.

 

Follow Me @ YouTube | Patreon |  Instagram | Facebook | DA Merchandise | Flickr | 500px

I want to thank Sigma Canada (and Gentec) for the loaner of this lens. As always, this is a completely independent review.  The opinions here are completely my own.  *The tests and most of the photos that I share as a part of my review cycle have been done with three cameras – the Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7IV, and Sony a6400.

Sigma 16-28DN Build, Design and Handling

Photos Taken with the Sigma 16-28mm DN

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Sony a9 Camera:  B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7R III Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK  | Ebay
Peak Design Slide Lite:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
Sony a6500: B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | Ebay
Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like.  Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

B&H Logo

Great News! I can now offer a 5% discount on all purchases at Amplis Foto, Canada’s Leading Photographic Supplier. Please enter discount code: AMPLIS52018DA in your cart. It is good for everything in your cart, and is stackable with other coupons, too! It will take 5% off your entire order! Proceeds go towards keeping this site going and providing you with new reviews!

Check me out on:  My Patreon  | Sign Up for My Newsletter |  Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | Flickr | 500px |  Google+ |



 


 


Use Code “DUSTINHDR” to get $10 off ($15 CDN) any Skylum product:  Luminar, Aurora, or AirMagic


 

Keywords: Sigma 16-28 DN, Sigma 16-28 F2.8, Sigma 16-28mm F2.8 DG DN, 16-28 DN Review, Review, Sigma 28-70 DN, DN, DG, 16-28mm, F2.8, Review, Tamron 17-28mm F2.8, Tamron 17-28, Review, Sony Alpha 1, Sony a7IV, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Sony a9, sony a7III, sony a7RIII, a7R3, Leica L

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sigma FP-L Mirrorless Camera Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

March 25th, 2021

Most of us know Sigma as a lensmaker and nothing more, but Sigma has actually been developing somewhat quirky cameras for some time.  Many of those were built around Sigma’s own SA mount or with a fixed lens and tended to be crop sensor cameras (APS-C or APS-H).  They frequently had unique shapes well outside the mainstream of camera design.  In 2020 Sigma released the Sigma FP, a 24MP compact full frame mirrorless built around a Leica L-mount.  It should probably come as no surprise that in the latter part of 2019 Sigma had started to design a new lineup of DN lenses designed specifically for mirrorless and coming in both the very popular Sony FE (full frame e-mount) along with the Leica L mount.  Clearly some partnership with Leica had been forged, and by building their new camera around the Leica L-mount, it allowed Sigma to not only leverage their new lens designs on two different platforms but also allowed them to produce lenses “for” their new camera(s) in a more popular mount that maximized their investment.  A fringe benefit is that the FP was immediately compatible with a wide range of existing Leica L-mount lenses and Sigma didn’t have to build their own full catalog of lenses.   2021 brings the second camera in the FP line-up, the Sigma FP-L, the world’s most compact high resolution full frame camera with a massive 61 megapixels of resolution.  That kind of resolution allows you to deeply crop an image like this:

…and get a still nicely resolved image like this:

This also helps explain Sigma’s recent fixation with developing small, light lenses that are still high performing (this has previously been Sigma’s strategy at all).  Sigma’s most recent release was the compact wide aperture standard zoom – the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN (my review here), a lens that makes a lot of sense on a camera like the FP-L. We’ve also seen Sigma dive into the compact prime market in the past year with the i-Series (24mm F3.5, 35mm F2, 45mm F2.8, and 65mm F2 lenses, all of which I’ve reviewed and you can find in this playlist).  These lenses addressed the reality that most of Sigma’s recent lenses have largely been well, large, and as such were poor pairings for compact cameras.  Certain people love Sigma’s large aperture ART series lenses and their highly corrected optical performance, but others find them unnecessarily large and heavy.  Sigma’s focus recently seems to be on addressing the secondary market of those who want good optical and build quality but want smaller, more compact lenses to pair with smaller cameras like the Sony a7C, the Sigma FP or FP-L, and the Leica SL2-S

The Sigma FP-L is the smallest and cheapest way (at the moment) to get such high resolution, but that comes with a major asterisk.  At $2499 USD, it is cheaper than the Sony a7RIV (with similar resolution), and it is certainly smaller at a compact dimension of (W x H x D) 112.6 x 69.9 x 45.3mm (4.43 x 2.75 x 1.78″).  This is identical to the dimensions of the FP, and the weight is quite similar as well, with the FP-L weighing 427g (15.1oz) vs 422g for the FP.  Both bodies can share accessories because of their identical size, which becomes very important because of the discussion at hand.  Sigma has designed the FP cameras to be modular in design, so the basic “brick” is designed to be as square and compact as possible.  This means that a lot of basic features that you take for granted (a viewfinder, hot-shoe, or even a functional grip) are not built into the camera but are accessories.  The hot shoe is an included accessory, but requires you to mount it to the side of the camera like this:

The grip and viewfinder options are separate purchases, however, and if you go with the new Sigma EVF-11, you are looking at an EXPENSIVE upgrade ($699 USD solo, or sold in kit with the FP-L for $2999).  It requires a rather delicate process of removing the cover from some ports and then bending another cover back while simultaneously lining up male mini-HDMI, communication socket, and USB-C attachments on the EVF-11 into their female counterparts on the camera and then securing it with a tightening wheel on the front.  I’m a little concerned that there is room for damage to components if you don’t get that process right.  After attaching everything, here’s what the viewfinder looks like: 

The EVF-11 can be adjusted up or down for different viewing angles, and sports a fairly good 3.68 million dot resolution and 0.83x magnification, though the refresh rate of 60fps is only so-so.  This isn’t really an action camera, though, so it is probably sufficient.  There’s an alternate loupe-style viewfinder (LVF-11) that goes over the LCD screen and provides some magnification of the rear LCD along with shading, but it radically changes the compact nature of the camera (it is more than double the natural depth of the camera).  The modular design of the camera only then makes sense if you either want no accessories (want to go as compact as possible) or want to build around the camera in a video rig, because for ordinary use you’ll end up with a larger, more expensive camera than the Sony a7RIV once you add either viewfinder and a grip…and you still won’t have a hotshoe all the time as it is either/or rather than both when it comes to mounting the two accessories.  It’s an unconventional approach, to say the least, and while it will suit a couple of small demographics just fine, it won’t make a lot of sense to the masses, I suspect.  Maybe Sigma is okay with that…

What’s not up for debate is the fact that the camera can produce beautiful images.  My review period was brief, but you can check out the photos I was able to take during that time below.

 

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Photos of the Sigma FP-L

Photos Taken with the Sigma FP-L 

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sigma FP-L @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

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Purchase the Sigma 35mm F2 DG DN @ B&H Photo  | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

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Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
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Keywords: Sigma FP-L, Sigma, FP, FP-L, Sigma FP-L Review, Leica, L-mount, Sigma 28-70 DN, Sigma 28-70 F2.8, Sigma 24mm F3.5, Sigma 35mm F2, Sigma 45mm F2.8, Sigma 65mm F2, Review, Sony a7C, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Sensor Performance, ISO, Dynamic Range, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Leica L

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Sigma FP-L Mirrorless Camera Review

Dustin Abbott

March 25th, 2021

Most of us know Sigma as a lensmaker and nothing more, but Sigma has actually been developing somewhat quirky cameras for some time.  Many of those were built around Sigma’s own SA mount or with a fixed lens and tended to be crop sensor cameras (APS-C or APS-H).  They frequently had unique shapes well outside the mainstream of camera design.  In 2020 Sigma released the Sigma FP, a 24MP compact full frame mirrorless built around a Leica L-mount.  It should probably come as no surprise that in the latter part of 2019 Sigma had started to design a new lineup of DN lenses designed specifically for mirrorless and coming in both the very popular Sony FE (full frame e-mount) along with the Leica L mount.  Clearly some partnership with Leica had been forged, and by building their new camera around the Leica L-mount, it allowed Sigma to not only leverage their new lens designs on two different platforms but also allowed them to produce lenses “for” their new camera(s) in a more popular mount that maximized their investment.  A fringe benefit is that the FP was immediately compatible with a wide range of existing Leica L-mount lenses and Sigma didn’t have to build their own full catalog of lenses.   2021 brings the second camera in the FP line-up, the Sigma FP-L, the world’s most compact high resolution full frame camera with a massive 61 megapixels of resolution.  That kind of resolution allows you to deeply crop an image like this:

…and get a still nicely resolved image like this:

This also helps explain Sigma’s recent fixation with developing small, light lenses that are still high performing (this has previously been Sigma’s strategy at all).  Sigma’s most recent release was the compact wide aperture standard zoom – the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN (my review here), a lens that makes a lot of sense on a camera like the FP-L. We’ve also seen Sigma dive into the compact prime market in the past year with the i-Series (24mm F3.5, 35mm F2, 45mm F2.8, and 65mm F2 lenses, all of which I’ve reviewed and you can find in this playlist).  These lenses addressed the reality that most of Sigma’s recent lenses have largely been well, large, and as such were poor pairings for compact cameras.  Certain people love Sigma’s large aperture ART series lenses and their highly corrected optical performance, but others find them unnecessarily large and heavy.  Sigma’s focus recently seems to be on addressing the secondary market of those who want good optical and build quality but want smaller, more compact lenses to pair with smaller cameras like the Sony a7C, the Sigma FP or FP-L, and the Leica SL2-S

The Sigma FP-L is the smallest and cheapest way (at the moment) to get such high resolution, but that comes with a major asterisk.  At $2499 USD, it is cheaper than the Sony a7RIV (with similar resolution), and it is certainly smaller at a compact dimension of (W x H x D) 112.6 x 69.9 x 45.3mm (4.43 x 2.75 x 1.78″).  This is identical to the dimensions of the FP, and the weight is quite similar as well, with the FP-L weighing 427g (15.1oz) vs 422g for the FP.  Both bodies can share accessories because of their identical size, which becomes very important because of the discussion at hand.  Sigma has designed the FP cameras to be modular in design, so the basic “brick” is designed to be as square and compact as possible.  This means that a lot of basic features that you take for granted (a viewfinder, hot-shoe, or even a functional grip) are not built into the camera but are accessories.  The hot shoe is an included accessory, but requires you to mount it to the side of the camera like this:

The grip and viewfinder options are separate purchases, however, and if you go with the new Sigma EVF-11, you are looking at an EXPENSIVE upgrade ($699 USD solo, or sold in kit with the FP-L for $2999).  It requires a rather delicate process of removing the cover from some ports and then bending another cover back while simultaneously lining up male mini-HDMI, communication socket, and USB-C attachments on the EVF-11 into their female counterparts on the camera and then securing it with a tightening wheel on the front.  I’m a little concerned that there is room for damage to components if you don’t get that process right.  After attaching everything, here’s what the viewfinder looks like: 

The EVF-11 can be adjusted up or down for different viewing angles, and sports a fairly good 3.68 million dot resolution and 0.83x magnification, though the refresh rate of 60fps is only so-so.  This isn’t really an action camera, though, so it is probably sufficient.  There’s an alternate loupe-style viewfinder (LVF-11) that goes over the LCD screen and provides some magnification of the rear LCD along with shading, but it radically changes the compact nature of the camera (it is more than double the natural depth of the camera).  The modular design of the camera only then makes sense if you either want no accessories (want to go as compact as possible) or want to build around the camera in a video rig, because for ordinary use you’ll end up with a larger, more expensive camera than the Sony a7RIV once you add either viewfinder and a grip…and you still won’t have a hotshoe all the time as it is either/or rather than both when it comes to mounting the two accessories.  It’s an unconventional approach, to say the least, and while it will suit a couple of small demographics just fine, it won’t make a lot of sense to the masses, I suspect.  Maybe Sigma is okay with that…

And that sets the stage for what will be a fairly complicated review, as I have a list of personal dislikes nearly as long as my list of likes.  I’ll do my best to handle this review with nuance, but the Sigma FP-L can be a rather hard camera to pin down and categorize.  You can read on or watch my long format definitive or standard video reviews below…

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Thanks to Sigma Canada for providing me loaners of the FP-L and lens used for this review.

Sigma FP-L Build, Design and Handling

The Sigma FP-L is uniquely Sigma; it doesn’t feel like a clone of any other camera that I’ve used.  There are elements of this that are refreshing, while in other places being different just means being less functional.  The physical shell of the camera is a sturdy die-cast aluminum alloy Sigma says was chosen for its superior robustness and thermal conductivity.  It feels tough and well made.

You’ll note from the photo above that the front of the camera has literally no grip at all.  It doesn’t even extend the textured rubber finish to the front.  The only concession to grip is a slightly raised thumb rest in the back:

It mostly feels like I am just pinching the camera rather than it molding to my hand.  The last camera I used like this was the original Canon EOS M.  If you are sticking with small, light lenses, it will probably be okay, but add on heavier lenses and you are going to miss having a real grip.

Another positive that I like is that Sigma has recognized that a fundamental flaw in many modern compact mirrorless cameras has been heat dissipation.  Capturing and processing high definition video generates a lot of heat, and some recent Canon and Sony cameras have received a lot of public criticism over their overheating issues. Sigma has addressed this by building heat sinks into the design on all four sides.

This is part of what allows the FP-L to record up to two hours of uninterrupted 4K video internally (no 29:59 limit!!) and even longer if recording to an external SSD.  That’s a smart move by Sigma, and, while I have some weather sealing concerns over any camera with open heat sinks, Sigma claims, “…sealing on 42 points for a dust- and splash-proof structure, making it a perfect camera to use for long hours under all types of environments.”

What has probably been sacrificed for the heat sinks (due to their location) is any kind of tilting or articulating on the rear LCD screen.  It is fixed 3.15 inch LCD with 2.1 million dot resolution and a 3:2 ratio.  This is normally where I’d show you the different angles the screen can move to, but there’s nothing to show here.

I was quickly reminded of how dependent I have become on owning only cameras with either tilting or articulating LCDs.  I found the fixed screen limiting in a number of applications, from doing tripod tests of my test charts (usually done at roughly waist height) or when filming on a gimbal.  The screen has limited touch capacity, with the ability to touch to focus and to move focus points around, but no navigation of menus (full or quick menu).  There’s more input lag than what you’ll find on a Canon camera (best) and even some of the better Sony cameras.

That’s a shame, as I really like the look of the menus.  They have a great font and a very clean look.  The Q menu in particular looks tailor-made for touch:

Navigation is done via the directional pad/wheel on the back of the camera, and menu changes are made by either the front or rear wheels, with the center button serving as the OK button.  Sigma has utilized the increasingly popular two-tier approach to menus where the menus are divided between Cine and Stills, so if you select Cine with the switch on the top plate of the camera you will be presented with a unique menu tailored for video use:

The feel of the buttons and wheels feel pretty good with decent ergonomic placement, though I do miss have a dedicated dial for exposure compensation.  One ergonomic fail is that with the EV-F attached there is no quick, logical way to access the power button, as it is located to the far left of the top plate, and suddenly the EV-F is towering near that space, making it nearly impossible to get at with your left thumb (the logical digit to use the power switch).

A uniquely Sigma feature is the row of buttons along the bottom portion of the back of the camera.  It’s a clean design, and the choice of buttons shows the importance Sigma places on being to able to control color and tone curve in either video or stills applications.  You have a lot of control over the output of the camera, from color to contrast.  The Tone and Color buttons provide direct access to these menu functions.

The left side of the camera holds the ports, two of which are covered with port covers that lift but cannot be removed and the middle port cover that must be removed to attach the side accessories.  There is a place to store this rubber cover in either the hotshoe or EVF attachements, though there is probably a pretty good likelihood that some people are going to lose this cover…

I don’t suppose that I need to tell you that losing the port cover will not help the weather sealing of the camera!  I suspect that having one of the attachments in place will also limit weather sealing, as there is no evidence of seals on them.

There are four connection points on the left side, which include a mic input on the bottom, a micro-HDMI and communication pins in the middle compartment, and the USB-C connection on the top.  The camera can be charged via USB (no fancy power-send requirements), and it can be externally powered to further help its ability to do long format recording.  One important inclusion on the FP-L is its ability to be a plug-and-play webcam through the USB-C port.  The pandemic of 2020 and 2021 has made this a more important feature than ever before.

You’ll note that what is missing is a headphone monitoring jack, though the EVF-11 does have one on it.  It also has a dedicated USB-C port designed specifically for recording externally to an SSD.  This recording arrangement is required to access the 30 FPS mode in the higher bitrate CinemaDNG 12 bit format.   Internal recording to the SD card will only allow you up to 25 FPS in CinemaDNG at a lower 8 bit, though you can access 4K30 internally by choosing the .MOV format instead.  FullHD recording can be done up to 120FPS for slow motion capture.

The SD card location is in my least favorite spot – the bottom of the camera in the battery compartment.  This is the least convenient way to quickly access the card if you are working on a tripod or gimbal, though fortunately the bottom plate design is slightly better than most cameras with this arrangement, allow me to fit a standard size QR plate vertically or a smaller Peak Design plate that I add to cameras and still open the bottom compartment.  I add something to make cameras Arca-compatible so I can throw them quickly on a tripod.  I can’t quite open the battery door with the QR plate mounted horizontally, though.  The battery pack is Sigma’s BP-51, a 1200 mAh battery.  It is rated for about 240 shots, and that doesn’t seem to be far off.  You’ll probably want to buy a second Sigma BP-51 to make sure you don’t run out of power for an extended shoot.

The single SD slot is UHS-II compatible, though that proves not enough to give us much buffer depth.  The FP-L can shoot up to 10FPS, but the RAW buffer depth is only 12 frames before that speed drops.  Surprisingly the JPEG rating isn’t much better at just 14 frames.  That obviously limits the potential of the camera as an action camera, though any camera that you primarily shoot with solely via a rear LCD is never going to be an action camera.

The Sigma FP-L is built around an electronic shutter, and there is no mechanical shutter.  The primary liabilities of that will be banding under certain kinds of lighting (any lighting that cycles frequencies) and a serious limitation for strobing.  Flash sync speed is rated at 1/15th second.  That’s a figure so low that I had to verify with Sigma, as I struggle to see how that figure is even usable.  I don’t often find strobes enough to deal with all camera/subject shake at 1/15th second…particularly with a high resolution sensor like this one.  If you are a portrait photographer, you are probably going to need to stick to natural light or fixed lights and just avoid the hotshoe altogether (which might be why they never bothered to integrate it into the camera design).

There’s another serious omission on a high resolution camera that is also marketed as a “run and gun” video option; there is no IBIS (In Body Image Stabilization).  This problem is exacerbated by the fact that out of the ten DN lenses that Sigma has released in a Leica L mount in the past two years, only one of them has a built in OS (optical stabilizer), and that’s the 100-400mm F5-6.3 OS DN.  You aren’t getting stabilization either from the lenses or the camera, which means that to get stable video footage you will have to mount the camera on either a tripod or a gimbal…which really diminishes its versatility as a compact “go anywhere” camera.  That’s a serious liability, and I was reminded of how unsteady handheld video footage is when you have no optical stabilizer helping out.  The footage is near unusable…and I’m fairly steady!  61MP of resolution for stills will also seriously benefit from stabilization, too, as any motion blur occupies more pixels and becomes much more obvious.  The FP-L will show more motion blur in identical conditions than the lower resolution FP would.

It seems to me that developing IBIS is a hugely important next step for Sigma if they are serious about the FP lineup as a “pocketable” option. 

One other thing that I really like here is that Sigma utilizes the high amount of resolution to allow you to employ lossless zooming in video.  Even in 4K, you can do a lossless zoom up to 2.5 times, and up to 5x in FullHD.  What I also like is that you can do the same when recording stills (even RAWs).  Choices include 9.5K (full resolution), 6.2K, 4.8K, UHD, and FHD, each with an accompanying amount of crop.  It’s the same for JPEG, which is not unusual, but to have those options in RAW is much more unusual.  You can actually pinch on the LCD to zoom – a cool feature that shows me that screen is capable of more touch gestures than what it is currently being used for.

As stated in the introduction, the FP-L is a contradictory mix of things that I like and things that I don’t.  This modular design is going to be attractive to some potential users while leaving many others scratching their heads and wondering who would ever choose this camera over a Sony a7RIV (which has a near identical price tag once you bundle the EVF in with the FP-L).

Sigma FP-L Autofocus Performance

The Sigma FP-L upgrades the FP’s 49 contrast point AF to the more modern hybrid system of phase detect autofocus supplemented by contrast AF.  There are still 49 AF points, but those offer more speed and precision.  You can see that the focus point coverage is about roughly 80% of the frame.

I’ll preface my observations by noting that I was using a preproduction model of the camera prior to its announcement, so there might (hopefully!) be some further improvement to AF in the final retail firmware.  Autofocus was the area most criticized in the original FP, and it remains my least favorite aspect of the camera’s performance.  You can use the rear wheel to cycle through the number of active points, from all points down to a single point, though I don’t find even that quite precise enough.  You’ll note from the photo above that the AF point selection on screen has rectangles rather than small squares, and in practical use I found this shape less precise.  It wasn’t hard to hit an overlap between two different layers of focus, and the wider focus point meant that I couldn’t always center the focus point where I wanted.

I also found that I couldn’t always trust my preferred method of focus.  My ordinary case use is to have all points active and the let the camera’s AI first select the focus area while utilizing continuous autofocus.  In most modern cameras the camera’s AI gets the right focus point at least 90% of the time, and I just override with a thumb on the touchscreen if I need to move the AF point elsewhere.  I found in some situations that the FP-L’s focus wouldn’t settle on a focus area with all points active, and sometimes I would end up with an image where nothing was quite in focus.

I found that I ended up going to the smaller focus selection and just moving it around where I wanted, and this produced more reliable results.

I found a similar problem when using Eye AF (works for people and not for animals).  If there was more than one person in the frame, the Eye AF dot (it produces a smaller box than what you can select on screen) kept jumping around from person to person constantly and wouldn’t settle.  In this shot, for example, it ended up not being properly focused on either subject.

I found that I got more reliable focus by overriding Eye AF and just putting a focus point where I wanted.

Even with that technique, however, focus wasn’t always perfect.  In this shot, for example, I feel like focus is a bit backfocused, and I shot several photos in the sequence without any of them being “nailed”.

That lack of settling also impacted video AF focus (check out either of the video reviews to see this in action).  I found that focus did not do a good job of tracking me as I approached the camera at a slow walk, and, when sitting and shooting a static scene, focus kept micropulsing and adjusting rather than just settling on my face and gradually tracking minor movements. I also found that during focus pulls in my standard test that I got some defocusing in the wrong direction and that lack of settling on the final subject…even if it was big and high contrast.

There’s a general lack of sophistication in the focus system that will hopefully be improved via firmware, but I think even in the raw specifications of the camera that it probably running behind most of its competitors.  The Sony a7RIV, for example, has 567 phase detect points.  Autofocus continues to be a weak point for the system compared to the competition.

Sigma FP-L Sensor Performance

The Sigma FP-L sports one of the highest resolutions currently available in a 35mm/full frame camera.  The native resolution of the 61MP Bayer sensor is 9602 x 6498, which is actually slightly higher than the 9504 x 6336 resolution of the Sony a7RIV.  That’s a LOT of resolution, and it makes it easy to create an image from within an image.  This wide view of the thawing Ottawa River can be reframed from within the original image and still have plenty of resolution for printing.

I can deeply crop into this “still life” test and get a highly detailed photo of the grip of this vintage Pentax KR-5 film SLR.

Embedded color seems to be nice in the camera (there’s still some Foveon influence there), and, as previously noted, there are a wide variety of color modes on tap along with the ability to tweak JPEG and video output further. 

And speaking of RAW files…

Often testing a preproduction camera creates a problem for reviewers like myself, as you are getting a camera before the software infrastructure is ready to support it.  You’ve probably seen/heard reviewers say that they were unable to open RAW files in Adobe/Capture One, etc…  I’ve had no such problem here for the simple reason that Sigma has chosen to utilize the DNG file format.  DNG is the Adobe standard, and it is a high quality lossless compression that has a high degree of compatibility.  I convert everything to DNG myself, and Adobe has promised to support the format in perpetuity.  I found that file sizes averaged around 85MB.  Big, yes, but relatively better than the native .ARW files in the Sony a7RIV, which give you the option of an uncompressed RAW at an average of 122MB or a compressed (lossy) format at 61MB.  The FP-L splits the difference but with a lossless format.  This was one of my favorite aspects of the camera, as I think the file format is great and it saved me time on import since I didn’t have to convert formats.

The FP-L does have a low pass filter, and, while that helps with eliminating moiré, it sometimes comes as a cost of some sharpness.  I was curious to compare sharpness on my test chart and to see if I could see less moiré.  I didn’t have either of the lenses that Sigma sent me with the FP-L (24-70mm F2.8 DN and 65mm F2 DN) when I reviewed the a7RIV, but I had reviewed the 65mm F2 in FE mount just a few months back using my Sony a7rIII.  Here’s a look at the center of the frame, with the FP-L on the left and the Sony result on the right:

A few observations.  The FP-L result seems larger due to being higher resolution.  I’ll show a downsampled result to similar resolution levels on the a7RIII in our next comparison.  You can see that that there is bit more detail information on the Sigma result, though the contrast slightly favors the Sony.  What is really obvious, however, is the increased moiré on the Sony results that manifest as the blue and yellow color patterns in the prow and sails of the ship.  Here’s the midframe result with the Sigma downsampled:

Similar observations, but the moiré is even more noticeable here.  It seems to me that the choice to include the low pass filter was probably justified.  Yes, you sacrifice a tiny bit of sharpness, but the camera has great resolution already, and controlling that moiré makes a big difference in controlling false color for stills and video.

ISO

High resolution cameras face an uphill battle in ISO performance for the simple reason that more pixels packed onto the surface area of a sensor results in higher apparent amounts of noise as the ISO rises.  I found the Canon 5DsR (50MP) nearly unusable by 6400 (its upper native ISO limit), but more recent high resolution cameras have done much better in this metric.  The Sigma FP-L has a native ISO range of 100-25,600, with the expanded range going as low as 6!!! and up to 102,400.  Everything is very clean at the base ISO level of 100, with good contrast and smooth, dark shadows.

Things are little changed at ISO 1600, with contrast levels looking similar and minimal amounts of noise showing up in transition areas.

By ISO 6400 the noise pattern is a bit rougher, but the results are still very usable.

At ISO 12,800, there is a more uneven illumination amongst the noise, and contrast levels are starting to lift.  This pattern continues intensifies at ISO 25,600, which is where the image quality starts to degrade.  

I would avoid ISO 25,600 when possible and use 12,800 as my practical upper limit.  This is a fairly good performance for such a high resolution camera, however.

Dynamic Range

Dynamic range has become one those topics debated ad nauseum on photography forums and harped on by certain reviewers to the place where some perspective has been lost on the topic. It has become one of the key “stats” where brand fanboys either push their brand or bash another, causing many people to become disgusted with the term in general.  That being said, there is no question that there are a number of situations where improved dynamic range gives the photographer (and particularly the post-processor) more latitude to fulfill their vision. This could be in the ability to recover a blown-out sky or shadowed area as a landscape photographer or the ability to balance a foreground subject with a background or sky for portrait photographers.  I’ve also been able to save images where I captured something special but a flash didn’t fire.  In this case, I had to deal with the bright directional sun on my new Bengal kitten, leaving his face in harsh shadow.  Good shadow recovery along with a bit of highlight recovery allowed me to freshly illuminate his face in post due to the good dynamic range from the FP-L.

As is typically the case, I found that I had greater success in recovering shadows than I did highlights.  I was able to easily recover four stops of shadow information with very little negative impact:

When going the opposite direction, however, I started to get a few hotspots even at two stops of overexposure.

If we compare the three stop highlight recovery with the correct exposure, we find that the recovered image doesn’t look “right”, with a lot of information lost.

This is a good dynamic range performance, though I would say that it lags slightly behind the Sony a7RIV in overall performance (perhaps a stop of DR).  There’s enough DR here though to make sure that you can get balanced results in shadow and highlight areas with most scenes.

All in all, the Sigma FP-L has a strong sensor that is competitive with some of the best options out there.  I’m not sure there is any area where it bests them, but there’s no reason you can’t get highly detailed, great looking images out of this camera. You can see more samples by checking out the lens image gallery here.

Conclusion

The Sigma FP-L is a very quirky little camera.  It is incredibly small and light for such a high resolution instrument, but the modular design also means that by the time you add on some of the basic accessories built into most competing cameras that advantage is lost.  The same applies to the price point, making it hard to justify simply from a value perspective.  You would have to really want what this camera offers to choose it over a Sony a7RIV, which is currently retailing for a similar price to the FP-L + EVF-11 combo.

Autofocus issues and a lack of IBIS are two significant drawbacks for me, as I feel like these limit the applications of the camera and detract from its “pocketable”/run and gun attributes.  

I see two potential audiences for the FP-L.  The first is a group who want the absolute lightest high performing camera and don’t need to use the accessories.  They will use the FP-L in its bare form and with the light, compact lenses that will allow it to behave like an APS-C sized camera but with more imaging potential.  Backpackers and travelers could enjoy this scenario, so long as they choose their lenses wisely.  I had the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN lens on hand for my review, and it’s just too big for a camera like this.  

The second case group is for videographers who like this small, vented form factor and who tend to accessorize in cages, for example.  A fixed screen is no big deal if you use an external monitor, and having a squared off body without a grip is perfect if you don’t plan on holding the camera directly.  The FP-L runs cool, can produce nice footage, and is optimized to pair with other cine cameras like Arri, Sony, Red, etc…in their director’s view finder and custom frames.  There’s a wide variety of color looks, too, if you want to stylize your footage without a lot of grading later on.

The typical market that has come to expect their cameras to do everything well might be less than impressed with the FP-L, however.  It’s modular design is far from mainstream, and there are a few key weaknesses that mean that it won’t impress you with its specs or performance in key areas.  This is a specialist tool for a niche audience.  Sigma hopes you are a part of that niche, I’m sure, but it looks like they will keep producing quirky cameras even if you aren’t.

Pros:

  • Smallest and lightest high resolution full frame mirrorless camera
  • Integrated heat sinks make overheating a non-issue
  • Long format video recording 
  • Webcam ready
  • Quality construction
  • Native .DNG file format
  • Lossless video cropping
  • Option to externally power
  • Reasonable base price
  • Good dynamic range and ISO performance
  • Low moiré 

Cons:

  • No IBIS
  • No integrated viewfinder
  • Grip on bare camera essentially nonexistent
  • Useless flash sync speed
  • Fixed LCD screen
  • Erratic autofocus accuracy
  • Video AF isn’t reliable
  • Value is lost once you add viewfinder
  • Shallow buffer

 

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sigma FP-L @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sigma 24mm F3.5 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada Amazon UK | Amazon Germany 

Purchase the Sigma 65mm F2 DG DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase the Sigma 35mm F2 DG DN @ B&H Photo  | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
Visit Dustin’s Amazon Storefront and see his favorite gear

Purchasing your gear through B&H and these links helps fund this website and keeps the articles coming. You can also make a donation here if you would like.  Visit my Amazon page for some of my gear of choice! Thank you for your support.

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Purchase the Sigma FP-L @ B&H Photo https://bhpho.to/3rjeLPc | Amazon https://amzn.to/3slIRTx | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada https://amzn.to/2PtQmsI | Amazon UK https://amzn.to/3ske2yD | Amazon Germany https://amzn.to/3cgzgaX

Keywords: Sigma FP-L, Sigma, FP, FP-L, Sigma FP-L Review, Leica, L-mount, Sigma 28-70 DN, Sigma 28-70 F2.8, Sigma 24mm F3.5, Sigma 35mm F2, Sigma 45mm F2.8, Sigma 65mm F2, Review, Sony a7C, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Sensor Performance, ISO, Dynamic Range, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Leica L

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN Review

Dustin Abbott

February 24th, 2021

Sometimes lens makers surprise you.  Most “connected” photographers have their own ideas of what a lens maker should do, and, as a gear reviewer, I typically hear most of those suggestions.  But clearly lens makers often have a different roadmap, and Sigma’s latest lens release is clearly one that no one expected.  I hear a lot of clamor for Sigma to release a 50mm F1.4 DN lens in the vein of their excellent 85mm F1.4 DN that I reviewed last year.  Sigma has already released a 14-24mm F2.8 DN lens (my review here), a 24-70mm F2.8 DN lens (my review here), so the logical lens that most have expected is a 70-200mm F2.8 DN lens…but that’s not what we’ve got here.  Sigma has instead chosen to release a second standard zoom for Sony FE (full frame E-mount) and Leica L – the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN.  Sigma asked if I wanted to test a new lens without telling me what it was, so, when the 28-70DN (as we’ll call it for brevity) arrived, my surprised expression looked pretty much like this:  

I spent my first little while after opening the lens trying to wrap my mind around Sigma’s logic in releasing this particular lens…now.  It’s only been 13 months since the release of the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN, a lens I felt was a strong alternative in both performance and price ($1099 USD) to the much more expensive Sony G Master version ($2198 USD).  The 28-70DN comes with a Contemporary badge rather than an ART designation, has a smaller size and zoom range, and also comes with a smaller price ($899 USD).  We all like a lower price, sure, but it feels like you are giving up a lot for that $200 in price difference, including losing a significant 4mm off the wide end (24mm vs 28mm), trading a full dust and splash proof design for a one with minimal weather sealing (a gasket at the lens mount), and the loss of a focus hold button and zoom lock.  Sigma is obviously banking on successfully addressing two different markets, and there’s no question that they have Tamron’s wildly successful 28-75mm F2.8 RXD in their sites (my review here).  The Tamron has been the best selling lens in the world since its release a couple of years ago, and it is different enough in kind from Sigma’s 24-70mm F2.8 DN that Sigma clearly felt a more direct competitor was warranted.

I’ll bear this in mind in my review, and, since I own the Tamron (I use it regularly for my channel and also for its general purpose flexibility), I have the luxury of being able to do a number of direct comparisons to help you make an informed decision if you are deciding between the two lenses.  You can see from the photo above that the Sigma manages to be smaller even than the Tamron (though it does give up 5mm of focal length on the zoom end), so that helps open up another potential angle of Sigma’s logic.  We’ve seen Sigma dive into the more compact lens market in the past year with the i-Series (24mm F3.5, 35mm F2, 45mm F2.8, and 65mm F2 lenses, all of which I’ve reviewed and you can find in this playlist).  These lenses addressed the reality that most of Sigma’s recent lenses have largely been well, large.  Certain people love Sigma’s large aperture ART series lenses and their highly corrected optical performance, but others find them unnecessarily large and heavy.  Sigma’s focus recently seems to be on addressing the secondary market of those who want good optical and build quality but want smaller, more compact lenses to pair with smaller cameras like the Sony a7C, the Sigma FP, or Leica SL2-S .  The 28-70DN seems to be a zoom lens to compliment the compact prime lenses of the i-Series.  

While the 28-70mm F2.8 DN has a smaller zoom ratio than competitors, there’s no question that this is still an incredibly useful zoom range…particularly in such a compact lens.  You can shoot wide angle landscape shots like this:

…but you can also zoom in to short telephoto range to isolate subjects and create shallow depth of field photos like this:

That versatility is what makes such a lens so useful for so many things, and helps explain why the Tamron has sold so well at this same price point.  Sigma clearly wants a piece of that success…but they’ll need to provide some compelling reasons to the choose the 28-70DN over the Tamron or their own 24-70mm F2.8.  So join me as explore the highs and lows of this compact standard zoom for Sony or Leica.  If you prefer to watch reviews, you can choose either the long-format definitive review or the shorter standard review.

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Sigma 24-70DN Build, Design and Handling

Part of Tamron’s success on Sony (particularly with their zooms) has come by choosing a slightly unconventional route.  They’ve designed lenses that often have slightly reduced zoom ranges and eschew a lot of features in order to allow them to produce smaller, lighter, cheaper lenses that are still optically competitive (and sometimes better) than the much more expensive first party Sony lenses.  Sigma has adopted a similar philosophy here, recognizing that by eliminating the traditional need for a standard zoom to go to 24mm, Sigma’s engineers would be freed to not only create a much smaller lens (the Sigma 24-70 DN, at 835g, is nearly 78% heavier than the 28-70DN!) but also to eliminate some of the frankly massive amount of barrel distortion we saw on the 24-70mm.  Here’s a look at how the 28-70DN compares to some competing options (I’ve manually added the information for the 28-70mm since it isn’t available to retailers yet).

Up front we have a 67mm filter thread, which is much smaller than the 82mm filter thread we see on either the Sigma or Sony 24-70mm F2.8 lenses.  This is a reflection of the much narrower 72.2mm diameter of the 28-70mm as compared to the 88mm of the 24-70mm lenses.  The Tamron 28-75mm shares this smaller diameter (slightly larger at 73mm) and the 67mm filter size.  The Sigma’s size advantage is more in the length, where it is a full 14mm shorter than the Tamron (103.5 vs 117.8mm).  That could be the difference between a camera/lens combination fitting or not in your carrying solution if you prefer, say, a compact sling bag.  That smaller size is noticeable even with the lens hood attached.

Both lenses include a plastic lens hood, and neither is particularly special, though I give a slight edge to the Sigma due to it have a little more texture variation (and style).  Sigma has chosen to position the 28-70DN under the Global Vision division of “Contemporary”.  Typically the lenses branded Contemporary carry Sigma’s lowest level of build, with Sport lenses given the most robust while Art lenses land in the middle.  The build here is actually pretty decent, though, and is certainly on the level of the Tamron save that the 28-70DN only has a gasket at the lens mount as opposed to the Tamron’s thorough weather sealing with six internal seal points and a fluorine coating on the front element.  The Sigma feels ever-so-slightly nicer in the hand, however, due to slightly more upscale materials on the barrel.

The 28-70DN loses a few features relative to the 24-70mm F2.8 DN.  There is a single AF/MF switch, and we don’t have either a Focus Hold button or a zoom lock.

I didn’t necessarily miss the zoom lock button, though, as the damping on the zoom ring is excellent.  I didn’t experience zoom creep at all, and zoom action is smooth and precise.  There is no wobble in the inner barrel that extends out about 3cm when zoomed out to 70mm.

The manual focus ring also moves nicely.  The focus ring is a “by-wire” system, meaning that input on the focus ring is electronically communicated rather than through a direct mechanical coupling.  This means that input on the focus ring will not create any physical changes unless the lens is attached to a camera and powered on.  The focus ring has a nice feel to it, and Sigma has done a good job emulating traditional manual focus.  

The aperture iris has 9 rounded aperture blades, and this helps keep the aperture shape fairly circular when stopped down.

Here’s a look the geometry of bokeh highlights at F2.8, F4, and F5.6:

Another area that the Sigma mirrors the Tamron is the dual approach to minimum focus distances.  Increasingly we are seeing a separate MFD distance for the wide and telephoto ends of lenses rather than just one.  In this case, the two distances are 19cm on the wide end and 38cm at 70mm.  The MFD on the wide end is a bit challenging, as it requires getting very close to the subject. Here’s what MFD at 28mm looks like in terms of camera position and then the magnification level:

You get a very high 0.30x magnification on the wide end, though as I often point out, accessing this is a little more difficult due to how close you have to be to your subject to achieve it.  The Tamron 28-75mm shares the MFD but somehow achieves a slightly higher 0.34x, which is noticeably tighter.

What you can see with both lenses is distortion up close is exaggerated and there is field curvature, so you have a “sweet spot” of focus that you have to properly utilize.  The Sigma has slightly more distortion, so this effect is more exaggerated.  The Tamron also shows superior contrast and resolution close up at F2.8.

The Sigma can focus one millimeter close than the Tamron on the telephoto end (38 vs 39cm), but the Tamron has that extra 5mm of focal length, giving it a higher magnification level at 75mm:

In both cases, however, the higher magnification figure actually comes on the wide end.  Sigma’s magnification at 70mm isn’t listed yet, but considering that the Tamron has a 0.25x at 75mm, I’m estimating the Sigma at roughly 0.22-0.23x.  As before, the Tamron gives you better contrast and resolution at MFD on the telephoto end, though the Sigma is perfectly capable of giving you some lovely up close images.

I would have liked a more thorough weather sealing on the lens, but overall I quite like the build and handling of the 28-70 DN.  I think it strikes a nice balance between size, weight, and build quality.

Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN Autofocus Performance

The Sigma 24-70DN utilizes a stepping focus motor (STM) that makes fast, quiet focus changes.  If you watch the video review you can see/hear the focus motor during focus changes in video.  It’s all good news, though, as the focus is quiet, focus pulls are accurate and smooth, and there is little to no hunting or settling.  I saw minimal focus breathing during focus pulls on the wide end, though you can see a bit of size changing at the telephoto end.  Nothing extreme, though.

A lens with a maximum aperture of F2.8 is fairly good in low light, though obviously not as good as lenses with even larger maximum apertures.  In many cases, cameras will focus with the lens aperture wide open and then close it down to the preset aperture choice at the moment of capture.  A lens with a smaller maximum aperture is going to be at a disadvantage in low light conditions because the physical aperture is smaller than alternative lenses, meaning that less light can reach the sensor.  F2.8 is what I would call a “medium” maximum aperture, but it is wide enough that one should be able to shoot weddings or events with the lens and get solid results.

Under normal lighting conditions, though, I had no problems.  I was able to “hit the nail on the head” even with an extremely shallow subject.

Eye AF works fine, too, though increasingly this is a foregone conclusion as the eye detect technology in Sony cameras has gotten so good.

I was fairly impressed with good focus in this up close shot mostly because of how low the contrast was on the subject.

I also had excellent AF even with an extremely strong backlighting to my subject.  Focus locked on without hesitation for this shot.

My general purpose accuracy was also excellent.  In fact, I have nothing negative to report on this front.  Autofocus was fast, quiet, and accurate whether shooting stills or video.  I shot a devotional episode for my church using the lens and didn’t see any hunting or unnecessary focus loss.  Focus was solid in all the situations I shot with the lens…and that’s all you can ask for.

Sigma 28-70DN Image Quality

The optical formula is made up of 16 elements in 12 groups, including 2 FLD, 2 SLD, and 3 aspherical elements.  These more exotic elements help achieve an excellent optical performance.  This is a less complex optical formula than the 24-70 DN (19 elements in 15 groups), and that in itself helps expose the additional challenges of going to 24mm rather than 28mm.  The optical performance (other than the up close performance noted earlier) is pretty strong across the board for most situations, though with a few minor missteps.

All chart tests done with a Sony a7RIII (42Mpx) using a tripod and a two second timer.

We’ll work through the chart results by first looking at distortion and vignette at 28mm. 

The 28-70DN shows the typical shortcomings of a zoom lens.  There is some obvious barrel distortion which is unfortunately not very linear, making a manual correction more difficult.  We should see a profile for RAW images in the next Adobe update, though, and the lens will be corrected in camera for JPEGs and Video footage.  There is considerably less distortion (+13 to correct) than the stronger barrel distortion of the 24-70mm DN (+21 to correct).

The Tamron 28-75mm is our winner here, showing considerably less (and less complex) distortion along with slightly less vignette that moves in a more linear pattern (easier to correct for).  The Sigma needed near max settings (+95) to correct for vignette while the Tamron needed something more like a +50.

Distortion turns to pincushion variety at 70mm, though it’s a more linear distortion that corrects more easily.  I used a -9 to correct the distortion and a +55 to correct for the vignette.

The vignette on the wide end is strong enough to be fairly obvious with the kind of snowy landscapes I have to shoot this time of year!

We can only call this an average performance; nothing to brag about.

So how about resolution and contrast?  Here’s a look at my test chart:

And here are the crops from the center, mid-frame, and extreme corner at 28mm.  Contrast and resolution are excellent across the frame, with no evidence of lateral chromatic aberrations near the edges.

This is obviously a very strong performance, and means that you aren’t really giving anything up optically when compared to the bigger, more expensive 24-70mm DN.  And how about if we compare at 28mm to the similarly priced Tamron?  In the center of the frame, the Tamron sports a little bit more resolution and contrast, but as you move out in the image circle the scenario reverses, with the Sigma being much stronger in the corners.

Stopping down to F4 boosts contrast and resolution, with levels reaching excellent even in the corners.

Here’s a real world test at F2.8 (I did correct for vignette), and you can see that the crops from the center and then the edge show little drop-off in performance.

As you might expect, real world landscape results are very strong.  Good detail and contrast across the frame.

The same trend continues at 35mm, where results across the frame are similarly excellent, though the corners at F2.8 aren’t as good as at 28mm:  Here’s a look at F2.8 and F4 in the center of the frame:

You can see what I mean if we look over at the corners.  They are sharpening up by F4, so at landscape apertures everything will be nice and crisp.

50mm results are pretty much identical to 35mm, so we’ll skip over that and look at 70mm.

At 70mm the lens is weakest in terms of contrast, and the corners at F2.8 are slightly softer.

You can see that the lens doesn’t sharpen up as fast at F4, and it will take stopping down to F8 to see a similar level of performance in the corners as what we’ve seen at F4 previously.  Use F5.6 and F8 at 70mm if you want good sharpness across the frame:

The Tamron at 75mm is slightly sharper and has better contrast in the center of the frame, but the Sigma looks better in the midframe and corner area.  Which lens will perform better for you will really depend on how you use such a lens and how important corner performance at wider apertures is to you.

I was very impressed on the flare front.  The lens’ coatings and optical formula are highly flare resistant, and I saw minimal ghosting and no loss of contrast in any of my tests.  There can be a little prismatic veiling around the sun’s epicenter, but nothing destructive to the image at all.  These shots show both wide open and stopped down performance.  

That’s true even if I pan across the sun while shooting video.  This is definitely a nice performance.

I saw minimal amounts of chromatic aberrations in my tests (either longitudinal or lateral).  The longitudinal CA here is the worst I could find, and that is with bright morning sun shooting through ice crystals!

No one is going to have any kind of significant real-world issue with chromatic aberrations.

Bokeh is generally pretty good.  Best case scenario with lenses like this is when you can get close at 70mm and highly defocus the background, but I thought bokeh looked fairly good at other distances, too.

Obviously you don’t have the same ability to produce massive amounts of bokeh like you would with an 85mm F1.4, for example, but lenses like this thrive by doing a little bit of everything fairly well.  Use the lens to its strengths, and the 28-70DN will give you results you’ll be very happy with.

All in all, this is a strong performance.  The chief competitor (the Tamron), can match the 28-70DN in the center of the frame, but the Sigma rules the corners.  The Tamron gave the Sony 24-70mm F2.8 GM a pretty good run for its money, so that tells me that you are getting a strong performance out of this lens.  It won’t be hard to get images you can be proud of out of this lens.  You can see more by checking out the lens image gallery here.

Conclusion

The Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN is another solid lens from Sigma.  No one has been quite as prolific as Sigma in producing new lenses for Sony and Leica over the past 24 months as Sigma.  I’ve reviewed about a dozen new designs from them during that time, which is an average of a new lens every two months.  They’ve built a Sony/Leica catalog in a hurry!  I’m still not sure that I would have prioritized producing this particular lens when the audience is clamoring for other areas of greater need, but clearly Sigma saw things differently.  I still want a 70-200mm F2.8 DN along with a 50mm F1.4 DN, but I suspect we will still see those in time.  Meanwhile, those whose priority is to travel small and light and who want the flexibility of a zoom have gotten just that.

The 28-70DN is a jack of all trades, and does most things quite well.  It has a nice build (though light on the weather sealing), great autofocus, and excellent image quality.  It can shoot up close (like above) or you can step back and shoot the bigger scene:

There’s some give and take in performance between the Sigma 28-70DN and the well received Tamron 28-75mm F2.8 RXD lens, and the price difference on paper is minimal.  The Tamron will likely benefit from more sales and markdowns, however, given that it has been on the market for a couple of years. so the gap in real world pricing might be more significant…at least for a while.  But my experience says that there are some photographers who will buy a Sigma but not a Tamron and vice versa, so, at the least, this gives a Sigma option for those who want a small, light F2.8 standard zoom and prefer the Sigma brand.  The Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN Contemporary is a compact, competent lens, but it remains to be seen if the market is actually looking for it.

Pros:

  • Compact, lightweight lens with nice construction
  • Includes some weather sealing at mount
  • Fast, quiet autofocus
  • Smooth and quiet video AF work
  • High magnification figure
  • Excellent flare resistance
  • CA is well controlled
  • Excellent sharpness and contrast across the frame even wide open
  • Weight under 500g

Cons:

  • Strong vignette
  • Fairly complex barrel distortion
  • Close up performance isn’t great

 

Gear Used:

Purchase the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Buy DA Merchandise https://bit.ly/TWIMerch

Purchase a Sony a7C @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Sony a9 Camera:  B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7R III Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK  | Ebay
Peak Design Slide Lite:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
Sony a6500: B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | Ebay
Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
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Keywords: Sigma 28-70 DN, Sigma 28-70 F2.8, Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN, 28-70 DN Review, Review, Sigma 28-70 DN, DN, DG, 28-70mm, F2.8, Review, Tamron 28-75mm F2.8, Tamron 28-75, Review, Sony a7C, Review, Hands On, Dustin Abbott, Real World, Comparison, Sharpness, Bokeh, Flare Resistance, Autofocus, Image Quality, Sample Images, Video, Photography, Sony a9, sony a7III, sony a7RIII, a7R3, Leica L

DISCLAIMER: This article and description contains affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I’ll receive a small commission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN Image Gallery

Dustin Abbott

February 24th, 2021

Sometimes lens makers surprise you.  Most “connected” photographers have their own ideas of what a lens maker should do, and, as a gear reviewer, I typically hear most of those suggestions.  But clearly lens makers often have a different roadmap, and Sigma’s latest lens release is clearly one that no one expected.  I hear a lot of clamor for Sigma to release a 50mm F1.4 DN lens in the vein of their excellent 85mm F1.4 DN that I reviewed last year.  Sigma has already released a 14-24mm F2.8 DN lens (my review here), a 24-70mm F2.8 DN lens (my review here), so the logical lens that most have expected is a 70-200mm F2.8 DN lens…but that’s not what we’ve got here.  Sigma has instead chosen to release a second standard zoom for Sony FE (full frame E-mount) and Leica L – the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DG DN.  Sigma asked if I wanted to test a new lens without telling me what it was, so, when the 28-70DN (as we’ll call it for brevity) arrived, my surprised expression looked pretty much like this:  

I spent my first little while after opening the lens trying to wrap my mind around Sigma’s logic in releasing this particular lens…now.  It’s only been 13 months since the release of the Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 DN, a lens I felt was a strong alternative in both performance and price ($1099 USD) to the much more expensive Sony G Master version ($2198 USD).  The 28-70DN comes with a Contemporary badge rather than an ART designation, has a smaller size and zoom range, and also comes with a smaller price ($899 USD).  We all like a lower price, sure, but it feels like you are giving up a lot for that $200 in price difference, including losing a significant 4mm off the wide end (24mm vs 28mm), trading a full dust and splash proof design for a one with minimal weather sealing (a gasket at the lens mount), and the loss of a focus hold button and zoom lock.  Sigma is obviously banking on successfully addressing two different markets, and there’s no question that they have Tamron’s wildly successful 28-75mm F2.8 RXD in their sites (my review here).  The Tamron has been the best selling lens in the world since its release a couple of years ago, and it is different enough in kind from Sigma’s 24-70mm F2.8 DN that Sigma clearly felt a more direct competitor was warranted.

I’ll bear this in mind in my review, and, since I own the Tamron (I use it regularly for my channel and also for its general purpose flexibility), I have the luxury of being able to do a number of direct comparisons to help you make an informed decision if you are deciding between the two lenses.  You can see from the photo above that the Sigma manages to be smaller even than the Tamron (though it does give up 5mm of focal length on the zoom end), so that helps open up another potential angle of Sigma’s logic.  We’ve seen Sigma dive into the more compact lens market in the past year with the i-Series (24mm F3.5, 35mm F2, 45mm F2.8, and 65mm F2 lenses, all of which I’ve reviewed and you can find in this playlist).  These lenses addressed the reality that most of Sigma’s recent lenses have largely been well, large.  Certain people love Sigma’s large aperture ART series lenses and their highly corrected optical performance, but others find them unnecessarily large and heavy.  Sigma’s focus recently seems to be on addressing the secondary market of those who want good optical and build quality but want smaller, more compact lenses to pair with smaller cameras like the Sony a7C, the Sigma FP, or Leica SL2-S .  The 28-70DN seems to be a zoom lens to compliment the compact prime lenses of the i-Series.  

While the 28-70mm F2.8 DN has a smaller zoom ratio than competitors, there’s no question that this is still an incredibly useful zoom range…particularly in such a compact lens.  You can shoot wide angle landscape shots like this:

…but you can also zoom in to short telephoto range to isolate subjects and create shallow depth of field photos like this:

That versatility is what makes such a lens so useful for so many things, and helps explain why the Tamron has sold so well at this same price point.  Sigma clearly wants a piece of that success…but they’ll need to provide some compelling reasons to the choose the 28-70DN over the Tamron or their own 24-70mm F2.8.  You can read my text review or watch the video reviews of the lens…or just check out the photos below.

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Photos of the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN 

Photos taken with the Sigma 28-70mm F2.8 DN

Gear Used:

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Purchase a Sony a9M2 @ B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 

Sony a9 Camera:  B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada  | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7RIV Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK | Amazon Germany | Ebay 
Sony a7R III Camera: B&H Photo | Amazon | Camera Canada | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK  | Ebay
Peak Design Slide Lite:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada | Amazon UK
Sony a6500: B&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK | Ebay
Peak Design Leash Strap:  Peak Design StoreB&H Photo | Amazon | Amazon Canada  | Amazon UK
BenQ SW271 4K Photo Editing Monitor – B&H Photo  | Amazon | Amazon.ca | Amazon UK
Adobe Photoshop Creative Cloud 1-Year Subscription
Exposure Software X6 (Use Code “dustinabbott” to get 10% anything and everything)
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