12 lenses of Christmas: June 2023 saw Sigma break the world …
It's summer and, while Sigma[1] isn't heading to the Bonneville Salt Flats, the company is nevertheless celebrating a world speed record. The new Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG DN Art[2] becomes the fastest ever 14mm ultra-wide-angle prime lens, available for shooters with Sony E or Leica L mount cameras. Heck, this lens might even make it worth buying one.
More good news in June for Sony[3] photographers was that the acclaimed Irix 15mm F2.4 Dragonfly[4] and Irix 150mm F1.8 Macro Dragonfly[5] were to be relaunched in Sony E-mount editions.
They're both manual-focus lenses but with a lovely look and feel, catering to wide-angle and macro photography respectively.
The only other lens-based news in a hot June month was the rumor that Canon[6] might be developing an RF-mount fisheye zoom[7], some 13 years after the EF 8-15mm. We'd expect to offer the same dual benefit of being a circular fisheye at the short end of its zoom range, and a diagonal fisheye at the long end, effectively being two fisheye lenses in one. Our June review schedule kicked off with the Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR.
We paired the lens with a Nikon Z 30 and found the combination perfect for vlogging, as advertised.[8]
Going from the little DX lens to large and larger, we also reviewed the brand new Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG DN Art[9] and found it to be every bit as good as the press release claimed it would be. For 'larger', we also reviewed the new mirrorless edition of the Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports[10] for Sony E and L-mount cameras. It's a bit of a beast at almost 2.5kg but combines impressive performance with a 10x zoom range, stretching from standard to super-telephoto lengths.
We also took pleasure in reviewing the new Sony E-mount edition of the Irix 150mm Macro 1:1 F2.8 Dragonfly[11], as reported earlier in June, in our news piece.
It has a useful telephoto focal length for shooting macro images of bugs and is a joy to use.
On a shoestring budget, we also found that the Pergear 35mm F1.4[12] had something to offer, especially for street photography.
References
- ^ Sigma (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG DN Art (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Sony (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Irix 15mm F2.4 Dragonfly (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Irix 150mm F1.8 Macro Dragonfly (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Canon (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ RF-mount fisheye zoom (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Nikon Z DX 12-28mm f/3.5-5.6 PZ VR (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG DN Art (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Sigma 60-600mm F4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Irix 150mm Macro 1:1 F2.8 Dragonfly (www.digitalcameraworld.com)
- ^ Pergear 35mm F1.4 (www.digitalcameraworld.com)