What's next
I have been a Sigma enthusiast right from my baby steps into professional photography and use their prime lenses for my professional commitments. When I got the opportunity through Sigma India to try out their Sigma 135mm lens Art Lens, I took it as an opportunity to test both the lens and my limit and the result was very good.
Starting with the lens build, the lens is robust and on a slightly heavier side compared to similar lenses from camera manufacturers. This lens looks like its built to last the rough and tough usage of many of us. It also feels like this will go the distance and last for a long time. The lens mount is also seamless (Canon mount in my case) and is solid. The Manual focus ring is smooth and easy to handle. There is also a rubber sealing at the camera side of the lens that stops dust or water from entering the camera. The front of the lens is heavier with an 82mm filter thread which is bigger compared to the other lenses. We need to invest separately in buying filters for this lens. The outer lens barrel is made of metal and hence makes the lens sturdy to use. This makes it top heavy and while using it for longer hours, it takes a toll on our hand.
Coming to the usage, the best feature of this lens is its razor-sharp auto-focus and the focusing time is lesser compared to other lenses. Its considerably shorter focus distance helps a lot in providing crisp output and this will also help in using the lens as a replacement of similar macro lenses or similar lenses if we use a good full resolution camera. Another feature I loved with this lens is the Bokeh pics. This is among the best lenses I have used for bokeh shots and the effects are mind blowing. I even go as far as using this lens exclusively for Bokeh shots than the original lenses because the effects are outstanding in this lens. Coupled with the great f ranges and the shorter focusing distance, this is a made for bokeh lens.
I used the lens for a wide variety of subjects starting from landscapes to nature to portraits and personally I feel this lens works best for the portrait types. This lens works best when used at f/2.8, f/4, f/5.6 and 5/8 ranges.
One thing this lens lacks is the optical image stabilization. But it is understandable considering that feature is found more in telephoto lenses and not prime lenses of this range. This could be a dampener when using in lowlight and add to that if we keep the aperture down, we can forget using it as handheld. Adding to that the heavy weight and this is not for dim light or twilight photography. But considering there are no prime lenses in the market in the same range that contains image stabilization, it can be overlooked.
To Summarize, here are the Pro’s and Con’s of the lens.
Pro’s:
• Lens Build
• Lens Quality
• Focus – Manual
• Dust & Splash Proof
• Bokeh Effect •
Con’s:
• Heavy Lens
• Not suitable for Dim Light
• Expensive
• 82mm Filter Size
