Sigma 40mm f1.4 DG HSM Art Lens L Mount First Impressions:
The L mount Alliance has, in my opinion, really been one of the best ideas in recent photography because it essentially allows three camera brands to increase versatility by working together, and sharing lenses. As some of you know, I’ve always been a huge fan of Sigma products, and when I first heard that Sigma was joining the L Mount Alliance, I was thrilled as a Leica SL owner. In fact, I’ve been going through each L mount version as they are being released, and reviewing them. Recently, I’ve been shooting with the Sigma 40mm f1.4 DG HSM Art, and here are my first impressions of it.
So, first impressions wise, this is definitely a larger lens than I expected. As some of you know, I use my Summilux-SL 50mm f1.4 ASPH like 99% of the time (see my Instagram for all my portrait and boudoir work), and when I first took the 40mm out of the box, I was a bit surprised to find that it is actually a little larger. It also uses the same 82mm filter thread as my Lux, and at 1.2 kg, it’s actually a little heavier. It’s even slightly heavier than the sigma 35mm f1.2 that I reviewed a while back.
↑ The Sigma 40mm f1.4 Art on the Leica SL2.
↑ Here’s another shot of the Sigma 40mm f1.4 on the SL2.
With all that said, build is exemplary; this is a true professional lens in every sense of the word. It feels impressively solid and dense. The Sigma 40mm f1.4 DG HSM Art is also weather sealed. It’s worth mentioning that while it’s definitely not a light weight, I found it balances quite nicely on my Leica SL2 as well. I simply love the feel of it on my camera.
↑ This was taken at f1.4, and 50 ISO.
↑ This was taken at f5.6, and 1250 ISO.
Plus, you have to remember that these Art lenses put image quality first, and so while the Sigma 40mm f1.4 DG HSM Art will give you a work out, it certainly does not lack in the image quality department. In fact, this lens has been downright impressive so far. There’s a reason why I love Sigma lenses in general. These Art lenses are just incredible, and I’m happy to say that the 40mm f1.4 is no exception. The 40mm f1.4 is extremely sharp even at f1.4, and I haven’t experience much of anything that is negative so far.
↑ Here’s a shot taken at f1.4 and 200 ISO.
↑ Here’s another shot taken at f1.4 and 100 ISO.
I also love the fact that this is a 40mm lens. It’s a focal length that I’ve always been a fan of, and to have one with a maximum aperture of f1.4 just increases the versatility of this lens quite a bit. Yes, you can definitely get some shallow depth of field, and the quality of the bokeh is nice and smooth too! As some of you know, I’m primarily a portrait and boudoir photographer, so of course, I’ve been using the Sigma 40mm f1.4 DG HSM Art for environmental portrait shots. I love the results that come out of it. This is a loaner but truthfully, I’m tempted to buy one already even though I haven’t finished reviewing it. It’s either this, the 35mm f1.2 or the insanely huge 105mm f1.4 :).
↑ Here’s a shot taken at f1.4 and 50 ISO.
↑ This was taken at f4, and 400 ISO.
As for the autofocus, I need more time to evaluate it, and I will go over it in detail in my review. So far, I found it to be fairly quick and silent. However, it does not feel as quick as the 35mm f1.2 I reviewed a while back.
↑ Here’s another shot taken at f1.4 and 100 ISO.
↑ This was taken at f6.3 and 400 ISO.
So, that’s about it for my first impressions. If you have any questions, you can either comment below or message me on my Instagram. Thanks for stopping by, and stay tuned for the review!
For those interested in purchasing the 40mm f1.4, you can check out the link below:
