Sigma 16 mm f/1.4 (C) AF DC DN Lens for Canon EF-M X Mount, Mirrorless

Product Information

The SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary features SIGMA’s inner focus technologies, while lighter lens elements in the focus lens group make possible a more compact actuator. Moreover, this lens offers outstanding stability whether the photographer is shooting handheld or has the camera placed on a surface. Structurally, the lens features materials and parts that contribute to its compact, lightweight structure. In summary, this is an unprecedented lens that combines outstanding optical performance with exceptional portability and usability. All SIGMA lenses come with a 4-Year Warranty in the US, but only if you buy from SIGMA America directly or a SIGMA Authorized Dealer. Gray market importers undercut legitimate retailers, deceive well-intentioned customers, and sell products that are ultimately not eligible for warranty service. Make sure you are buying from a trusted source so your lens is covered!

16mm F1.4 DC DN | C - SIGMA Corporation of America 16mm F1.4 DC DN | C - SIGMA Corporation of America

With 16 elements in 13 groups, the optical system features a multitude of high-tech and high-end components, including three FLD glass elements, two SLD glass elements, and two moulded glass aspherical elements. This optical system minimizes optical aberrations and ensures outstanding resolution at wide-open aperture and throughout the aperture range. In particular, the two aspherical lens elements have ultra-high-precision surfaces polished to tolerances under 10 nanometers, minimizing the onion ring bokeh effect that some aspherical elements produce and ensuring clear image quality throughout the frame. In addition, the structure of the optical system gently bends light to minimize sagittal coma flare and deliver optimal optical performance from the center of the frame to the edges. The result is a smooth, round bokeh effect with ample light volume throughout the frame. Sigma’s approach to mirrorless lenses (DN) has come in two distinct phases. Sigma first released a series of three budget primes with moderately wide apertures (19mm, 30mm, and 60mm f/2.8 DN lenses). I’ve tested all of these, and they are actually surprisingly good little optics, with nice color, quiet focus, extremely compact size, and a bargain price. Though they look nothing like the other ART series lenses, they were, ironically, badged as ART lenses. In 2016 Sigma launched a new mirrorless lens, the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DN DC. Though it shared a lot of design elements with the SLR ART series primes (similar body style and materials), along with the wide maximum aperture that ART primes are famous for, it was, ironically, badged a “Contemporary” lens. As a result, Sigma’s approach to mirrorless branding is a little like Alice’s “Through the Looking Glass”, where everything ends up somewhat upside down. The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DN lens certainly looks very much like an ART lens! This trio of affordable, ultra-fast prime lenses are of particular interest to Canon APS-C shooters because Canon have released so few native lenses for the EF-M mount - just 8 since the system was launched 8 years ago in 2012, with half of those being slow zoom lenses. These lenses provide an angle-of-view equivalent to a 24mm, 45mm and 84mm lens in a 35mm system. Each one offers a very bright f/1.4 maximum aperture and an iris diaphragm with nine rounded blades for excellent low-light and shallow depth-of-field shooting. SIGMA's DC DN lenses are made exclusively for mirrorless, and are designed primarily for use with crop sensor cameras. All DC DN lenses are available for Sony E-mount, L-Mount and FUJIFILM X systems, while our 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary lenses are additionally available for Nikon Z, Canon EF-M, and Micro 4/3.

Internal conversations with Sigma insiders reveals that the popularity of Sony’s E mount (and its evolution to the more premium a6xxx series) caught Sigma a little by surprise, and this second wave of lenses (and their more premium nature) makes for a better match with Sony’s own evolution. Having owned and used the 30mm f/1.4 DN lens, I was excited for the release of the new Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary as a reasonably priced, premium wide angle option. If you own Micro 4/3rds or Sony APS-C E-mount, the 16mm DN should be a serious interest to you. Thanks to the M50’s exceptional Dual Pixel Auto Focus mode, focus speed and accuracy was exactly the same between the two lenses. I thought that the Canon might have a slight edge over the Sigma (because third party lenses sometimes don’t perform as well), but thankfully that wasn’t a problem. Depth-of-field One nice touch that I’ve seen on some of the ART series lenses and that is included on the 16mm DN lens is a rubberized transition zone on the included lens hood right where you would grip the lens hood to loosen or tighten it. It’s that kind of small attention to detail that impresses someone like me who sees a lot of lenses. In our view, their efforts have been very successful, even with the 16mm wide-angle lens - see the examples below. Bokeh - Sigma 16mm F1.4 DC DN C

Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens Through Putting the Sigma 16mm f/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens Through

For many, the Sigma 16mm should fill a huge need for filmmakers and photographers looking for a relatively affordable, high-quality, semi wide-angle prime lens for their Canon EF-M cameras. But let’s take a closer look at the Sigma 16mm compared to the Canon 11-22mm to see how it performs. Low-light performance I ran the Sigma 16mm and the Canon 11-22mm lens through a low-light test to see their relative ISO performance. I set the Canon M50 to Auto ISO, then slowly opened-up the aperture. By the time I reached the Sigma’s maximum aperture of f/1.4, ISO had dropped all the way down to 200 — far lower than what the Canon 11-22mm could ever dream of achieving. The result? Far less noise, soft depth of field, and a surprisingly sharp image with superb highlight roll-off and color. Autofocus performance The 16mm DN is a very strongly performing lens, with a lot of resolution available even at wide apertures. In real world shooting I was very happy with the results, with a lot of good detail showing up at a pixel level. The sharpness is also nicely even across the frame, with fairly good edge performance (important for landscape photographers). Wide open (f/1.4) the center performance is stronger than the corners, but neither are the corners mushy, either. There is a bit of veiling (lower contrast) wide open that I traced to a fairly common problem with wide aperture lenses – some axial (or longitudinal) chromatic aberrations. Unlike lateral chromatic aberrations, which often appear near the edges of the frame as green and purple fringing on both the top and bottom of things like, say, tree branches or other high contrast subjects, axial CA (LoCA) occurs when not all colors focus equally. It typically appears as purple fringing before the plane of focus and sometimes also with some green fringing after the plane of focus. Lateral CA is mostly unaffected by aperture, and will appear at most aperture values. Axial CA is often “fixed” by stopping the lens down to smaller apertures, as the depth of field increases and there is less variance between the focus of the colors. So when Sigma announced a new 16mm prime EF-M lens with a large f/1.4 aperture, I jumped at the chance to review it. Is it worth buying? Read on to find out. Sigma 16mm f/1.4 EF-MThe Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F1.4 DC DN C for Canon EF-M lenses are exactly the same in terms of their design, construction and features as the versions for Sony E-mount and Micro Four Thirds, just with a change of mount. The lens hood cuts harmful rays that can negatively affect photographs while also minimizing reflectivity within the hood itself. The hood also features a rubber construction and a non-slip groove to make it easy to hold in a variety of shooting situations. Visit us and you'll always find a friendly welcome. Our policy is to treat our customers as we would like to be treated ourselves, a simple ideal that we try hard to live up to. The Sigma 16mm, 30mm and 56mm F1.4 DC DN C are three new, affordable compact standard prime lenses for Canon's APS-C sensor mirrorless camera range. The 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary is the world’s first interchangeable lensfor Micro Four Thirds offers a 32mm focal length (35mm equivalent) with the same bright F1.4 aperture. This is the large-diameter wide-angle lens for which mirrorless camera users have been waiting.