| sent on September 29, 2025
Pros: Very light, compact optics, excellent rings, very precise manual focus, excellent aperture ring with beautiful clicks, very pleasant feeling, excellent colors, the bokeh I don't find bad, flare resistance, fast silent AF, f1.4 brightness, astro coma, night photos, star effect with closed apertures, 9 blades, dust seal, made in japan.
Cons: Strong distortion with raw files, lateral chromatic aberrations visible with Fujifilm 40MP system where the contrast between dark and very light is strong. It lacks manual ring for astro photography to be perfect for astro but perhaps ask too much for a cheap lens.
Opinion: Advantages: very light compact optics, excellent rings, very precise manual focus, excellent aperture ring with click, very pleasant feeling, excellent colors, I don't think the bokeh is bad, interesting brightness f1.4 bokeh really a nice difference with f1.4 vs 2.8 wide aperture resolves the foreground well with the sigma 12 1.4. Cons: strong distortion in RAW files, visible chromatic aberrations, loss of contrast in backlight, perhaps AF firmware problem? What I think: lens optimized for interiors thanks to the f1.4 brightness, for astro excellent behavior also thanks to the very precise manual ring. Unfortunately this Sigma 12 1.4 is part of the budget version, where you can hardly ask for more, a manual MF ring system would be ideal for astrophotography, but non-existent. Note: For night astrophotography, I find the ideal lens with great behavior to be a very suitable lens for these reasons, even better than any other APS-c lens. Conclusion: Despite some critical points, aberration in certain situations a real shame, I would say a successful lens, although I see it as a specialized lens, ideal in low light, also interesting, chromatic aberrations are low at very wide apertures, so the opposite of what is expected from a lens. The advantages of the new Sigma 12 1.4 are remarkable if you think about the price: it offers a lot, marked aperture ring for the Fujifilm system, compactness, very light, extremely bright, perfect construction, AF, very quiet, excellent performance even at full aperture, f1.4 blurred bokeh. A lens highly recommended for indoor use at full aperture when low light is available. A good appearance also considering the price, the extremely compact and light construction, but with some compromises, lateral chromatic aberrations. |