Well it is Sigma new lens release day And they are launching three lenses Today so that means I'm making three Videos and posting all of them on the Exact same day and out of the three Lenses that they are releasing today This is perhaps the weirdest one the Hardest one to understand because it's a 17 millimeter Prime it's an F4 dgdn for Full frame Sony mirrorless this is an i Series lens now with the I series if you Guys don't already know you get all Metal construction made in Japan a Really great design uh it's awesome an Awesome lineup from Sigma so I know what To expect with this lens however I have The 20 millimeter F2 which I'm using to Record this video on my a7c love that Lens highly recommend it It's just weird that they're coming out With a 17 millimeter that's a prime but It's an F4 why it comes in the same Style white box that any Sigma comes in Nowadays albeit this is a very small box Inside there are manuals plastic front And rear lens caps a metal magnet front Lens cap and a nice metal lens Hood the Lens itself is incredibly light and Small for being an all metal lens it's About two inches in length and weighs 220 grams which is not much there's a Metal Mount at the rear electronic Connections a rubber gasket here for Dust and moisture resistance but the
Rest of the lens is not weather sealed From what I can tell the design is Typical I series stuff that is good lens Spec's contemporary C logo autofocus Manual focus switch 023 for the 2023 Release minimum Focus distance of 0.12 Meters which is impressive made in Japan And sigma logo the aperture ring is nice And clicky moving from F4 to F22 and Then a longer click into a it's very Well executed it feels refined in front Of that is a very smooth and nicely Damped manual focus ring which is Electronic and it's compatible with the Sony e-mount MF assist function around The front there is a compact front lens Element with no writing nice and clean Design overall inside there are nine Elements in eight groups and a seven Rounded blade diaphragm the lens is Compatible with high speed autofocus by Way of a stepper motor all of this Focusing is done internally and sigma Says this lens has minimal Focus Breathing but we will test that later This is a very small and lightweight Lens if you're carrying around or want To carry around a very compact Full-frame setup so if you have Something like the a7c pop this thing on It and you can walk around and do street Photography with very minimal gear at Least in weight without really Sacrificing build quality because it's
All metal but I don't think that you Would necessarily want this focal length For street photography you work I might Be wrong anyway I did take this out with My a7c and I took a couple of samples All of these are straight out of the Camera no Corrections no editing let's Take a look at those and the results are Very good as you might expect from a Modern Sigma lens especially an F4 Images are nice and sharp from the Center to the edges and the corners Great contrast and colors with minimal Distortions vignetting is very slight Not super noticeable Barrel Distortion Looks good as well the only thing that Is a noticeable issue is chromatic Aberration which is a bit of a surprise I expected to see less of it since this Is again an F4 lens but there was plenty Of it in my samples even on an overcast Day I didn't get a chance to test flare Performance so I won't comment on that But the bokeh performance is pretty okay Given that this is a very wide F4 lens The ability to focus super close to the Front of the lens is a big benefit if You are trying to create some dramatic Wide angle shots and and in terms of Autofocus it was great Ultra wide angle Lenses are inherently easier to focus And I found the stepper motor in this New lens is more than adequate and very Quick and Silent really from an optical
Standpoint the only issue that I see is The slightly higher than expected Chromatic aberration if you are planning On using this lens for video the focus Breathing is well controlled not the Best I've ever seen but pretty good Performance for an ultra wide and again On the plus side this is a very compact Ultra wide angle lens if you're going For small size this is definitely a lens That will fit the bill but I cannot help But continue to compare it to the 20 Millimeter F2 that I know and love so Much because yes the 20 millimeter is a Little bit longer it weighs maybe an Extra 100 grams or so but it's an F2 Lens versus this F4 and it's only a Hundred dollars more than this lens Which in my eyes is kind of a no-brainer I'd go with the 20 millimeter lens but I Think that there is a market for this 17 Millimeter the real problem with this Lens is that kind of weird focal length It's not Ultra wide enough to be used as A real estate photography lens you Really want to be at 14 millimeter on a Full frame for that and it's not really Optimized for street photography which Is more like a 35 millimeter focal Length it's a decent Vlog setup though And I think that's where Sigma is going With this if you were to pair this lens On a full-frame Sony camera body that Has active stabilization and you have a
Slight crop this 17 millimeter would Turn into about 20 21 millimeter which Is nice and wide for vlogging if you are Into vlogging and if you are vlogging F4 Is perfectly adequate you don't really Need an F2 because you're holding the Camera two feet from your face So that might be the target market for This lens it might be an ultra compact Ultra wide angle lens designed to be Used with electronic stabilization with The crop and that would make a whole lot Of sense but for me I don't see myself Ever giving up my 20 millimeter F2 for This 17 millimeter even though it's Wider and in theory can be used for more Applications so I think this could be a Very popular lens we'll see how it does Out in the market let me know what your Thoughts are down in the comment section Below are you excited to see a 17 Millimeter F4 Prime do you wish this was An F2 I will say though two this is the Now widest lens that's available in the I series lineup and I think based on how Sigma is releasing lenses that are F2 And F4 I think this lens means they're Probably working on an ultra wide lens That's wider than this one that's an F2 I'm hoping for something like a 14 Millimeter F2 or 13mm F2 that would be Pretty exciting especially For Real Estate photography thank you guys so Much for watching stay tuned for more
And have a nice day bye
