[Music] Hi I'm Dustin Abbott Sigma released Their 24 to 70 mm f2.8 DN art lens at The beginning of 2020 and it has Certainly been a success but both Tamron With their 28 to 75 mm f2.8 G2 and Sony With their 24 to 70 mm f2.8 G Master Mark to have since released second Generation lenses that brought new Optical feature and autofocus upgrades To their respective lenses Sigma has Worked to keep their 24 to 70 mm Competitive by bringing out a new Mar 2 Version of the zoom with new features Less weight faster autofocus and a few Optical improvements it remains in that Sweet spot of price versus performance But is the new Sigma 24 to 70 mm F 2.8 Mark 2 the standard Zoom to buy well Find out today in my review today's Episode is brought to you by Phantom Wallet the minimalist modern wallet that Is now even better with the new Phantom X that is crafted from aluminum right Here in Canada it is 22% smaller and 35% Lighter while still making it easy to Access your cards and money when you Need them thanks to their unique Fanning Mechanism you could even customize your Wallet due to its modular design with Accessories like a money clip cash Holder ID display and even chipolo and Air tag tracking integration visit Store. fanom wallet.com to check out
Their unique sizes Styles and finishes That span from aluminum to Wood to Carbon fiber and use code Dustin 15 for 15% off when you're ready to check Out out of curiosity I asked Sigma if I Could have one of the first generation Lenses to borrow to compare to this new Mar I version and so I could really get A sense of what has changed with them Side by side it's allowed me to do some More direct comparisons which I Appreciate so there are a number of Actual new features that are included on This new design there is now an aperture Ring which didn't exist in the Mark 1 Lens there's an additional custom or Function button that is on the top of The lens to allow you to have access to One even when shooting in a vertical Position there is the ability to declick The aperture now which is very very Handy obviously for video work there's An aperture Iris lock that gives you Again a little bit more control over how That aperture ring is going to function You can either lock into it if you Prefer to do manual adjustments or you Can lock out of it if you don't really Like having an aperture ring there is a Redesign to the way that the switches Are handled whereas before there was a Raised Bank of switches that adds maybe Unnecessary bulk to the lens they Streamlined that by now having flush
Mounted actual in the lens Barrel itself The switches and buttons as opposed to Being in a raised bank now the visual Differences are a little bit subtle at First and you can see from different Perspectives that the lens overall if You first look at it they look very very Similar in size and part of that is Because they still taper to the same Large diameter up at front it's 87.8 mm In diameter with a quite large 82mm Front filter thread so that aspect Hasn't changed but what has changed ched Is the actual width of the barrel itself And as mentioned there is the removal of The bulk of the raised bank but also They've just made the actual diameter of The majority of the lens a little bit Slimmer and it's also just a little bit Shorter though you know in my test and Comparing them side by side we're Talking about about a millimeter so it's Not a significant difference in overall Length but the it all adds up to some Definite weight savings and that's where The most noticeable Improvement here is Is the weight has dropped from 835 G Down to 735 G so it's gone on a diet of 100 G that's about 26 o in total weight Here now unfortunately with the second Generation of the Tamron which Admittedly has a different kind of Zoom Ratio 28 to 75 mm is not the same to Design for as 24 to 70 mm because that 4
Mm on the wide end is the real challenge There so it was always lighter and Smaller than what the the sigma was but Sony has done a a better job with their G Master Mark I lens of really reducing The size and the weight and so it now Actually is lighter than what the Sigma Lens is even though the sigma has been Reduced in its overall weight I really Appreciate how well they have integrated Their new aperture ring here the way That they've added it it's not something That adds bulk or size to lens but Really It just fits into a natural taper On the lens and it functions really Really well there are the clearly Defined clicks if you're in the click Mode at the onethird stop points you can Again lock into the a or automatic Position if you so desire and then if You dclick that you can smoothly rack Through all of the uh aperture Possibilities which does give you extra Flexibility for video recording and so Again I really appreciate that well Integrated change there I will also note That the even though the ratio of the The Rings has changed the addition of a Third ring I think that sigma's done a Great job from different aspects of Balancing the lens design I think it's a Little bit more of a comprehensive Design than the older lens again it's Subtle but you can really notice it with
Them side by side and so what has Happened is that both the zoom and the Manual focus rings have become Necessarily Slimmer to accommodate a Third ring on the lens design but even Though it's smaller in its diameter I do Think that this manual focus ring is Better integrated it has a better Damping to it and so it has a lot more Feel on the first lens it was really Light not a lot of feel there whereas This new lens has a better damped Feeling and so it makes for a better True manual focus experience so I also Appreciate that now inside again not Necessarily visible from the outside but If you take a look inside there has been An increase of the aperture blades from 9 to 11 so that has a dual purpose it Number one allows for a more circular Aperture Iris when the lens is stopped Down always appreciated but I also Actually really like the look of the 22 Pointed Sun stars that come off of that As opposed to the 18 pointed Sun stars That the earlier lens had and so again Well implemented there they've made a Few tweaks that allow the lens to focus Even closer than what it could before Now as before we have two different Minimum Focus distances one on the wide End one on the telephoto end so on the Wide end you can get now as close as 17 Cm as opposed to 18 cm before now
Because this is a fairly large lens it Means that that actually falls inside The lens hood and as you can see from This shot to get my my test shot I had To basically be right on top of the Chart so with something that's flat like That it's very difficult to get adequate Light to the subject so not a great Application there maybe a little bit Easier in some kind of uh outdoor or Threedimensional objects where you can Get close to a certain point though note That you really will emphasize things Like you know field curvature and Overall Distortion when you're really Really close to a subject like that However if you can get in the right Conditions you can get as high as 0.37 Times magnification again I don't think That that's as useful as an actual macro Lens that has a decent working distance But it's nice to have that option and Means for video if you're shooting on The wide end basically if you got the Lens hood on you can focus right up Until you're bumping the lens Hood onto Something so that in itself is going to Be useful on the telephoto end the Minimum Focus distance has also been Reduced from I believe 38 CM down to 34 CM so that increas in es the Magnification there from 0.22 times to 0.25 times and so again more useful and With this there's a little bit better
Working distance and so I though that Magnification level is lower practically It's a little bit easier to get shots Like that out in the real world and so Again a a nice Improvement there now Some of you complained about this first Generation lens when it came to pumping Dust inside of it and so I do know that We have a thorough weather ceiling here Hopefully improve in that point I'm sure That Sigma has received that feedback I Don't shoot in a particularly Dusty Environment so I don't always see what You may see in a more Dusty environment And so I mean the proof is going to be In the pudding obviously as to whether Or not the improvements to the weather Sealing have helped with this but Certainly it is something I know that Sigma is continually working on to Improve and some total here we have a Lens that is a little bit shorter it is Slimmer it is lighter but it's added a Number of new features to it so that Obviously is a core Improvement this is A very professional grade zoom lens that Has all the features that Sony's top Tier GM lens does though price point Here is $1,200 as opposed to $2,300 for the Sony so you're getting a Lot of bang for your buck here and that Is certainly very very welcome another Key area of improvement is with the
Autofocus in the last basically year and A half Sigma has developed an allnew Autofocus system which they call HLA Which stands for high-speed linear Actuator and so rather than an STM based Focus motor this is more of a linear Style motor that they say in the proper Conditions can get up to three times More thrust or maximum drive speed Compared to the Focus motor and the Older lens now it doesn't mean you're Going to get three times faster Autofocus it just means that there is More capability there that you're really Probably going to notice less than just The short Focus pools which you know I Didn't have any problem with the older Lens it still does just fine in my test For that but what you will see is near Instantaneous autofocus even in more Demanding situations and so that was Certainly well well appreciated you can See indoors and Outdoors for my test That autofocus is just snapping back and Forth and by the way it is so quiet that Even if I put my ear right up to the Lens Barrel I hear next to nothing Happening inside during autofocus so Great marks on the smoothness and the Quietness of this Focus motor I also Found a definite Improvement when it Came to the Focus consistency when Tracking some action and then this Extended burst of Nala here as I went
Through each one of these frames I found That every one of them was accurately Focused and so that certainly is an area Of improvement there now on the burst Front I do have to raise the the issue That's always there on Sony it's not on L Mount but on E Mount you're going to Face the reality for example I've got This currently mounted on the alpha one The alpha 1 is capable of 30 frames per Second but with third party lenses Sony Limits that to 15 frames per second now If you're shooting a body that is 15 Frames per second or slower who cares But if you happen to own one of the Sports models you're going to have this Artificial limitation with the Sigma Lens that you wouldn't have with the Equivalent Sony lens and so if you're Someone who is a sports photographer Shoot action and doing uh fast Burst is A part of your photography style you may Want to invest in the Sony lens even Though you have to spend a lot more for That simple reason which is the whole Reason why Sony does that unfortunate For Sigma but a reality that we do need To mention on the video side of things I Was very very pleased with what I saw From this lens I found that autofocus For my focus pulls was very smooth very Confident no issues at all with it There's a minimal amount of focus Breathing which is again very very
Welcome I also found that when doing my Hand test good transitions from hand to The eye and vice versa and then went out Shooting real world video shots the Damping in the focus PS is is good it's It's not abrupt and again minimal Focus Breathing helps with that it makes Everything seem a little bit more Cinematic I also found I have you know I Haven't been revealing that I've been Filming with it but I have shot a number Of my YouTube episodes over the past 3 Weeks with this lens and I had zero Issues with Focus confidence staying Locked on my face which is very Important for shooting uh episodes like This so autofocus gets great marks from Me here the only reason I would consider The Sony instead is if you happen to be One of those Sports shooters that needs Maximum Focus speed and more importantly Maximum burst rate with your camera Finally let's get to the optical side of Things now I will do the Deep dive Optical breakdown and also a comparison Not only to the older Sony or older Sigma lens I should say but also a Little bit to the GM and the Tamron G2 Lenses just to give you a little bit of Perspective on that performance what I Found as I begin to dive into this is That we really don't have a new Optical Formula here it's the exact same Optical Breakdown the elements are in the same
Position what is why would consider this More of an optimization of an existing Optical formula optimizing largely Because Sigma is now capable of of Developing thinner aspherical elements Than what we saw on this older lens and Those do have some advantages that will Show up and so as a result we've got Minor tweaks and minor improvements the Optical performance fortunately this was Already a very good lens optically Before and so I didn't see a lot of huge Differences to be frank with the two Lenses side by side I will try to detail Those in the optical breakdown but I'm Just going to give you an overview of What you're going to actually get Optically from this new lens I did find A little bit of longitudinal chromatic Aberration I expected that actually be a Little bit better than what it was it's Not bad but there is stum still still There there is no lateral chromatic Aberration However and so that's not going to be an Issue for your landscape style Shots unfortunately I saw the exact same Vignette and Distortion patterns that I Saw on the previous lens and so that's An area that frankly could have used Some improvement at least on the 24mm Wide angle uh end I found that there's Still a distortion that is quite complex Required a fair bit of correction if I
Tried to manually correct it a plus 24 But I'm not at all satisfied with what I Could get in a manual correction Obviously there is going to be in camera Profiles for jpegs and there will be a Profile available in editing software But it certainly is the the amount and The type of distortion nonlinear Distortion means it's not easily to Correct manually and so it definitely Has both more Distortion than competing Lenses either the Sony or the Tamron and I would say the Distortion is more Complex it also has a considerable Amount of vignette at 24 mm I needed a Plus 76 to correct for it which is about Three stops of of Correction needed in The corner so again a significant amount There that Distortion changes to a pen Cushion style Distortion later on it's Much more linear it's easier to fix Vignette also reduces as you go Throughout the zoom range so it's really Only an issue at 24 mm but just note That it is there and so there's always There's some minor prices to pay when You have to correct a significant amount Of distortion and so that does affect Corner performance a bit on the lens now What I found when looking at the 24 mm End optically as far as sharpness and Contrast is that it is very very good in The center of the frame it is good in The midf frame and it is very very
Slightly better in the corners than what The older lens was again nothing Significant here and both the Tamron and The GM Mark II are a little bit better In the corners though this lens is just As good as either of those lenses in Either the center or the mid frame Peak Sharpness across the frame arrives at f8 Where you're going to get the most Consistent results from corner to corner And then after a f11 you're going to see Some reduced results due to defraction And so on this 61 megapixel camera my A7 R5 which I did the test on I found that F-16 was softer and F22 much softer Looking still and so you're going to Probably want to keep it at F1 and Brighter than that uh if you want to get The optimal results out of the lens I Did find in a some situations where I Was outshooting landscape in Fairly Bright conditions that I could Definitely tell that that sigma's Optical glass was better than a a less Expensive uh lens from another brand That I was shooting at the same time I Had a a prime lens along that is less Expensive and the optical glass Superior Optical glass of the sigma definitely Showed in those situations and I Definitely prefer the images out of the Sigma in more challenging conditions now Moving on to 35 mm I saw a little bit Better performance just a little bit
Better everywhere pretty much at 50 mm The center is a little bit worse and uh The mid-frame and the corners maybe Marginally better but just a little bit Of a different Optical profile there and Then at 70 mm what I did note is Unfortunately the copy I'm reviewing I Think is a little bit desc centered I Got stronger looking results on the left Side of the frame than what I did on the Right side of the frame and so if I was Looking on the left side of the frame it Looks better than the older lens if I Looked at the right side of the L frame This lens look better I repeated my test Three times setting everything up again Just to make sure it wasn't a tilting Issue so unfortunately I do think There's just a little tiny bit of a des Centering issue truth of the matter Though is when I looked at real world Shots where I'm not looking at 200% Magnification everything looked great um Real world sharpness even on a 61 Megapixel body is very very good and on Top of that I found that Boke looks Really good from this lens it's it's Quite soft and pleasing for a zoom lens And so that's definitely a strength I Also found flare resistance was very Strong from the lens I basically could Not induce any kind of flare artifacts And so that's fantastic there it did Work very nicely for portraits again
It's got great autofocus now and that Combination of good sharpness and very Soft bokeh is going to be very pleasing For those of you that are either Shooting portraits or weddings and like Using a standard Zoom for doing that so Optically this lens is very good again It's not significantly improved over the Previous generation lens but it was Already very good and it's gotten just a Little bit better I would say that in Summation that kind of brings together What my view of this lens is it's more Of an evolution but was already a good Lens I certainly appreciate the added Features the improved autofocus the bit Of weight loss that is there is Certainly very welcome to help keep Sigma more competitive with what's Happening on the market right now the Image quality improvements were a little Bit more minimally than what I expected But I understood it more when I did a Little bit of a deeper dive and found That it was more of an optical um Optimization as opposed to a new Optical Design fortunately the previous lens was Already very good and so you are getting A lens that is still very competitive With the lenses that are available on The market I would say that if you are Looking for that solid sweet spot of a Mid-tier priced lens $1,200 here that Goes all the way to 24 mm and kind of
Does all all the things this is still a Very very solid buy and so if you're on The market right now this I think really Is going to hit a nice Middle Ground Tamron's 2875 MIM G2 lens is fantastic But 28 millim is not 24 mm so it's not Going to work for everyone and that Extra 4 mm may be the difference in Needing to buy an additional lens to Cover you know the wide angle of things So I understand the attraction here Sony's GM Mark I lens is still the top Of the Heap lens it's it's a little bit Better you know in most areas a little Bit lighter but it's also $1,100 us more Expensive and so I think for many people They're not going to see enough of a Difference between these two lenses to Opt for the Sony instead of the sigma so That leaves us in a very very good Position and finally I would say that if You already own this first generation Lens I would only do the upgrade if you Need the new features here or if you're Dis satisfied for some reason with the Autofocus performance this was already a Good lens and while is better in the Mark I by the time you sell your old Lens and pay for the upgrade it may not Be worth it for you but of course your Mileage may vary and you can do whatever You want it's your money if you want More information you can check out my Written review that is linked to in the
Description down below there's also an Image gallery link to there along with Buying links as well now if you want Also a deeper dive into the optical Performance jump in with me right now We'll take a look at that together [Music] All right well we'll start with a Comparison looking at vignette and Distortion between the new lens which is Going to be here on the left you'll see The dn2 will always be on the left and Other lenses I'm going to put on the Right so as far as the actual Distortion Pattern at 24 mm you can see it's just Basically the exact same it's a barrel Distortion with a significant amount but It's not linear there's a middle bulge And then it kind of squeezes out on the Edges so with either lens it's you can't Really manually correct it very well Because if you correct the center lines As I've done here you start getting the Bulges out of like a pin cushion Distortion out on the edges same thing That I saw back on the older version so As far as vignette and Distortion goes These lenses are virtually identical now If we compare to a lens like the Tamron Uh 28 to 75 mm of course Tamron just at 28 mm you can see there's a lot less Distortion and it's a much more linear Easy to correct pattern now that's not Not really an Apples to Apples
Comparison because the Tamron is 28 mm Which is much easier to engineer but if We look at the G Master we can see that The G Master at 24 mm has much much less Distortion and again it is it's got a Little bit of that same kind of mustache Pattern but not nearly as pronounced Much easier to correct four now Throughout the rest of the zoom range we Go to a pin cushion style Distortion and Much less Distortion and much less Vignette and you can see even manually Correcting very easy to do no problem at All with that it's basically only like 24 mm you have an issue now if you Utilize the standard correction profile It really isn't a that big of an issue You can see here this is a shot with a Lot of straight lines and you're not Really seeing any kind of bending or Distortion pattern there it looks just Fine now when it comes to the fringing I Was a little bit surprised by how much Fringing Still Remains in this you can See not a lot before the plan of focus But definitely some of this kind of blue Green type fringing and if we take a Look in some of these real world shots I'll just highlight one here I was just Kind of surprised to see this here Because usually Sigma is really really Good at correcting aberration like this And some of them remain now I think it May have a potential positive benefit
That I'll get to in just a moment so Let's dive into the resolution portion Together now I actually went back and Did a few tests here on the alpha 1 as Well as the A7 R5 Alpha 1 at 50 Megapixel because I had tested the GM on The alpha 1 and so I wanted an Apples to Apples comparison so if we look in the Center of the frame here we can see that Looking at the two lenses I would say That the sigma is probably a hair better In the center of the frame although in This Zone I would say there's a little Bit more contrast and detail for the G Master lens now in the middle of the Frame it's pretty obvious that the G Master has the advantage and looking Down into the corner the G Master Definitely has the ad Advantage there Looking over on this side I would say Mostly equal maybe just a little bit More contrast for the G master and then Over on this side we can see that again The G Master is definitely the winner Now to compare with the Tamron G2 lens At 28 millim you can see that in the Middle of the frame it looks really Really good two lenses are roughly equal In terms of performance if we look in The mid-frame the G2 has a just a little Bit more punch than what the sigma does And down here in the corners the G2 is Actually probably the strongest in terms Of the corner performance if we look
Over on this side again it's looking Really really strong there and over here It's this area where I would say the Sigma actually looks just a little bit Better than what the Tamron does so Obviously some give and take so we'll Now switch over to the Sony a7r Mark 5 And I'll do a little bit of a comparison With the older uh 24 to 70 mm Sigma lens Again this is 200% magnification so 61 Megapixels I mean this on full frame is About as much of a torture test as I can Give a lens I would say in the middle of The frame though the new version is Supposed to be a little bit better on The two copies I tested I would actually Give the edge to the older lens which Looks really fantastic in the mid-frame It's mostly a wash to me I don't really See one better than the other now down Here in the corner neither of them look Fantastic as you can see but if you look At the lines in the building here They're definitely more distinct than What were the older lens and so on the Older lens it's a little bit more mushy And so an improvement there switching Over to the left side of the frame side By side I would say that the older lens Has a little bit of an edge there coming Over to this point and you know I'm Hardpressed to really call a winner Neither looks fantastic but again the Lines just look a little bit better for
Me uh with the new lens now if we stop Down to F4 we can see that there is a Bump and contrast in the middle of the Frame definitely a little bit more pop There looking at some of the writing in The mid-frame here you can also see a Bit of an improvement there just the Textures are popping a little bit more Popping over to the left side we can see That you know it's definitely a it's a Mild improvement but a definite Improvement there Corners starting to Look better like here for example at F5.6 but as you get towards the very Edge it's not till f8 that we see a a Real Improvement and so for the chart Test I would say that the corners at 24 Mm never really impressed me that much Now on a high resolution body like this By f11 defraction softens the image just A little bit but it's still perfectly Fine by F22 which is the minimum Aperture though defraction has really Soft in the image and robbed it of Contrast if we go back to this image for A moment however this is f5.6 you can See the detail looks amazing in the Middle of the the frame it also looks Fine here towards the edge of the frame As well even in the corners and so Overall I don't really have a lot of Concern I mean there's still some nice Detail there you know where it's within The depth of field right off to the very
Edge of the frame now if I compare 24 Millim with 35 mm here we can see that In the middle of the frame it's about a Draw with maybe just a tiny bit more Contrast at 35 mm compared to 24 mm Mid-frame also more more similar than Different and a very Mild improvement in The corner performance though not by Much looking over at this side you can See it's a little bit more pronounced There that 35 mm looks just a little bit Better so the I would say that the Higher performance reaches out to the Mid-frame mostly and is only a little Bit more in the corners Now 50 mm is Interesting because it's not as sharp in The center of the frame it's still good But not as you know just bitingly Sharp As it is here but if we look towards the Mid-frame for example you can see that 50 mm is actually better still I would Say it's stronger in the mid-frame than What it is in the center of the frame And if you look towards the corners here It's actually a little bit better at 50 Mm than it is at 35 mm really the Strongest wide open performance we've Seen in the corners so just a slightly Different sharpness profile finally Going to 70 mm you can see that the Center Performance is just it's very Similar I would say there's just a Little bit more contrast at 70 mm if we Look in the mid-frame where this was
Really really excellent we can see it Similarly excellent if not a hair better At 70 mm so if you're shooting in the Rule of thirds you're going to get Really really good results and you can See that corner performance definitely Better the what you can see here is if I Look at the left side it looks great if I pan over to the right side here it Isn't as sharp and that's particular Ally true as we go on down to the Corners you can see that the right side Just doesn't look fantastic whereas here On the left side it's quite sharp even Towards the edge of the frame and so That is definitely and if I compare the Upper left corner definitely looks Better than what the lower right corner So there is a slight centering issue I Redid this test three different times I Got the exact same results now at 70 mm Truth of the matter is is that I was Actually really impressed with a lot of My real world results here you can see Even at a pixel level 61 megapixels There's tons of resolution there so I Think that most people are going to be Happy with real world shots I mean you Can even see this little hair that is Being shed in the air as it floats away Pretty impressive stuff now as noted you Can get really really close so close That it is hard to get sufficient light On your subject this close you know
You're going to lose a little bit of Contrast and detail but you've got a Great deal of magnification there at 70 Mm it's a little bit easier to get Though you can still see that it's Really not a very PL flat plane of focus There's some definite fuel curvature Though I do think that contrast closeup Is a little bit better outside of a Little bit of fringing that we see there I was actually quite impressed with the Bouquet quality and I noted before There's a little bit more fringing than What I like here but often where that Pays off is it makes for softer bokeh And I think that that is the case here You can see that the defocused area is Actually really nice and soft for a zoom Lens uh leaving me just impressed with The look of a lot of shots here pretty Soft and creamy for a lens like this That definitely helps when shooting Portraits you can see that we've got Good detail on the subject I mean I Don't think anybody would ever be Unhappy with that on 61 megapixels but You can see that the fallof focus fallof Is really quite nice here and uh so I Was happy with that going a little bit Wider and again you can see really Really nice detail there no problems With that and the quality of the blur Looks nice Finally talking about flare you can see
Here that wide open that at 24 mm There's just no ghosting artifacts that I can see when I stop down there's a Little tiny rainbow there but and down Here but you're really wouldn't even Notice that if I put it off in the edge Again there's a couple of tiny little Ghosting artifacts but almost nothing to Look at contrast obviously still looks Fantastic um and here at 70 mm again This is you know stop top down I don't See any issue there no artifacts there Putting it up in the corner at 70 mm no Problem a very very impressive flare Resistance performance so hopefully a Deeper look at the optical performance Has helped you to make a more informed Decision as to whether or not this new Sigma 24 to 70 mm Mark 2 lens is for you As always thanks for watching have a Great day and let the light in [Music] F
