Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Review

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 vs Nikon 35mm f/1.4G

Let’s take a look at how the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 compares to the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G:

As you can see, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 is much sharper than the Nikon 35mm f/1.4 at the maximum aperture of f/1.4. The difference is significant and something you will easily see in pictures, whether looking at the center or corners. The Nikon 35mm f/1.4G gets much better when stopped down to f/2 in the center, but its corners are still rather weak in comparison to the Sigma. When stopped down to f/2.8, however, the Nikon 35mm f/1.4G catches up and shows somewhat similar performance across the frame. The sharpness difference is rather small from f/2.8 onwards, but the Sigma clearly has better mid-frame performance and its resolution is extremely high at f/5.6.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 vs Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4

Let’s compare the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 to the manual focus Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4:

The Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4 has rather poor performance when compared to the Sigma 35mm f/1.4. MTF performance is weak at the maximum aperture and slightly improves at f/2. The center performance improves drastically when the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 is stopped down to f/2.8, but its corners still stay weak in comparison. Only at f/8 the Zeiss more or less gets close in performance. Overall, it is pretty clear that the Sigma is much sharper when compared to the Zeiss 35mm f/1.4.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 vs Samyang 35mm f/1.4

Lastly, let’s take a look at how the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 compares to the manual focus Samyang 35mm f/1.4:

Surprisingly, the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 shows very impressive performance when compared to other lenses (especially the much more expensive Zeiss Distagon T* 35mm f/1.4!). It is weaker than the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 at the maximum aperture, but gets very strong at f/2.8. At f/5.6 and smaller, there is little difference in performance between these two lenses, except the Samyang is slightly better in the extreme corners! Given its price tag of $500, the Samyang is certainly of superb value (compare that to the $1850 Zeiss). The biggest drawback is lack of autofocus, but if you are a landscape photographer and you do not shoot much against the sun, the Samyang 35mm f/1.4 seems to be a great choice.