Sigma 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens (Nikon)

I already own the 50mm Art and 35mm Art. I decided to buy a second hand 24mm. These are precision optical instruments. Don't bother to do in body focus adjustments; you won't get it right. You need a Sigma USB dock and a dedicated lens focus tool like a Spider Lens Cal. It isn't as difficult as it sounds to get the focus absolutely perfect at varying distances - close up to infinity. I love the fact that the lenses are heavy and well made. I've given 4 stars because of an issue with the lens hoods. They don't click into place as nicely as they should and in the case of the 24mm, wear means it doesn't lock in place at all, necessitating a new lens hood. Otherwise, these lenses are optically stellar and can't recommend them highly enough, especially at half or less of ... MoreI already own the 50mm Art and 35mm Art. I decided to buy a second hand 24mm. These are precision optical instruments. Don't bother to do in body focus adjustments; you won't get it right. You need a Sigma USB dock and a dedicated lens focus tool like a Spider Lens Cal. It isn't as difficult as it sounds to get the focus absolutely perfect at varying distances - close up to infinity. I love the fact that the lenses are heavy and well made. I've given 4 stars because of an issue with the lens hoods. They don't click into place as nicely as they should and in the case of the 24mm, wear means it doesn't lock in place at all, necessitating a new lens hood. Otherwise, these lenses are optically stellar and can't recommend them highly enough, especially at half or less of the equivalent OEM versions.

I didn't know what to expect when buying this lens, and honestly debated heavily back and forth before deciding to purchase at all after reading about autofocus issues with the Sigma Art lenses. So far my copy of the 24mm had exhibited none of these issues at all; it required a small AF fine tune correction in my camera body, and has been dead-on after that. Not quite as fast AF as my native Nikon lenses, but more than snappy enough for most uses (including many/most sports).Lens is fairly heavy, and a little larger than I expected, but that comes with the territory of a wide-angle lens with such a large aperture. Because of the weight, the balance of my camera becomes a bit front-heavy, but this will vary widely depending on the camera body being used.And ... MoreI didn't know what to expect when buying this lens, and honestly debated heavily back and forth before deciding to purchase at all after reading about autofocus issues with the Sigma Art lenses. So far my copy of the 24mm had exhibited none of these issues at all; it required a small AF fine tune correction in my camera body, and has been dead-on after that. Not quite as fast AF as my native Nikon lenses, but more than snappy enough for most uses (including many/most sports).Lens is fairly heavy, and a little larger than I expected, but that comes with the territory of a wide-angle lens with such a large aperture. Because of the weight, the balance of my camera becomes a bit front-heavy, but this will vary widely depending on the camera body being used.And finally, sharpness... The sharpness!! I still can't quite believe it, but this might be the sharpest lens I've owned, and I've owned quite a few. So sharp it almost feels like it it's increased the resolution of my sensor, even out to the corners. Get your hands on some sample photos if you can, probably have to see it to believe it.My only real negative point so far is the lack of weather resistance, and I suppose the size/weight. If I really had to nitpick, the AF/MF switch is fairly stiff. Focus ring is very, very nicely dampened, though; manual focus is great.Highly recommended overall.

This lens is a phenomenal performer: sturdy build, nearly optically perfect, and as fast as you can get for this wide a focal length. Here's the rub: at f/1.4 the depth of field is tricky, and there's no vibration control/vibration reduction to enable slow shutter speed at stopped down apertures. Once I acquired my Tamrom 15-30 mm f/2.8 VC lens, I have scarcely touched this optical marvel. I can just do so much more with the zoom: go wider; go longer; and use vastly slower shutter speeds handheld. And I still stop THAT zoom down if I want super deep depth of field. That is to say for most of my uses most of the time, I'm much more likely to want to shoot at f/5.6 or f/8 at 1/2 to 1/10 than to shoot anything at 20mm at f/1.4 at nothing less than 1/20 second. If you ... MoreThis lens is a phenomenal performer: sturdy build, nearly optically perfect, and as fast as you can get for this wide a focal length. Here's the rub: at f/1.4 the depth of field is tricky, and there's no vibration control/vibration reduction to enable slow shutter speed at stopped down apertures. Once I acquired my Tamrom 15-30 mm f/2.8 VC lens, I have scarcely touched this optical marvel. I can just do so much more with the zoom: go wider; go longer; and use vastly slower shutter speeds handheld. And I still stop THAT zoom down if I want super deep depth of field. That is to say for most of my uses most of the time, I'm much more likely to want to shoot at f/5.6 or f/8 at 1/2 to 1/10 than to shoot anything at 20mm at f/1.4 at nothing less than 1/20 second. If you need a virtually optically perfect piece of glass for this specific focal length, and will use a tripod for anything low light, then this is awesome. But I suspect many folks will discover what I did: that this has little use if your collection also includes Tamron's 15-30mm f/2.8 VC or Nikon's 14-24 f/2.8 VR lens.