Sigma’s Two Lenses We’re Excited About

What’s more exciting, a lens built around one perfect look or a lens that goes everywhere with you?

Sigma knows. Back in February at CP+, Sigma promised an 85mm F1.2 by September. They hit the window. And they brought a friend, a compact 20-60mm zoom that will probably end up being the most-used lens in a lot of camera bags.

The specs are good news for Sony E-mount and L-Mount shooters alike.

Pricing and Availability

• 85mm F1.2 DG | Art – $1,599
• 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG | Contemporary – $849
• Mounts – Sony E and L-Mount for both
• Global availability – September 30
• US availability – October 6 at authorized dealers
• Preorders – open now at major retailers

So if you see two different ship dates floating around, both are right. It depends on where you live.

The 85mm F1.2 DG | Art

Why F1.2 is exciting?

An 85mm at F1.2 exists for one reason. The picture at wide open – a crisp eye, with a fast drop into soft focus.

Moving from F1.4 to F1.2 gathers about 36% more light, a little under half a stop. That’s helpful in a dim reception hall. But the bigger payoff is the bokeh rendering, the way the blur begins, how highlights take shape, and how the focus plane holds up at maximum aperture. 

What Sigma packed inside

• 13-blade rounded diaphragm for smooth, round out-of-focus highlights
• Two SLD elements plus aspherical and anomalous-dispersion glass to fight color fringing, spherical aberration and coma (the smeared, comet-shaped points of light you see at wide apertures)
• Dual HLA linear motors that drive two focus groups on their own, which should help eye-AF keep up with super razor-thin depth of field
• Reduced focus breathing for video, so the frame stays same as you pull focus

Built as a working tool

This lens is ready for a long wedding day. You get an aperture ring with a lock and a de-click switch (silent aperture changes for video), two assignable AFL buttons, an AF/MF switch, dust and splash resistance, and a water- and oil-repellent front coating.

Some caveats

Sigma calls this the smallest and lightest autofocus 85mm F1.2 for full-frame mirrorless. That’s true. It still weighs 905g, almost two pounds, with an 82mm filter thread.

For comparison, Sigma’s own 85mm F1.4 DG DN Art weighs 625g in E-mount. That’s roughly 280g extra for half a stop. If you shoot portraits at F2.8 and up, or hike for miles, the F1.4 still makes sense.

Who should be excited?

• Portrait, wedding and fashion shooters who work in low light and want strong subject separation with great AF
• Filmmakers who want a fast short telephoto with a de-clickable aperture
• L-Mount owners in particular. Panasonic, Leica and Sigma users now get a native autofocus F1.2 portrait prime for about half the roughly $3,000 you’d spend on Canon’s or Nikon’s first-party 85mm F1.2 lenses

Landscape shooters, it’s a specialist buy for us, but a fun one.

The 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG | Contemporary

A standard zoom that starts wide

Here’s something I love about this lens. Most standard zooms assume you need 70mm more than 20mm. Sigma flipped that idea.

Think about it this way. The jump from 24mm to 20mm is huge in a tight interior, a foreground-heavy landscape, or a narrow city street. You gain real room in the frame. And you give up only 10mm at the long end.

Small enough to live on the camera

• Weight – 375g in E-mount, 385g in L-Mount
• Length – about 86-88mm
• Filter thread – 67mm, a friendly and affordable size
• Autofocus – HLA linear motor with minimized focus breathing
• Build – dust and splash resistant with a protective front coating
• L-Mount bonus – selectable linear or non-linear manual focus on compatible bodies

Close focus that opens creative doors

Minimum focus is 15.8cm at 28mm. Maximum magnification hits 1:2.3 at 35mm, and even 60mm reaches 1:2.9.

That’s short of true 1:1 macro, but it’s plenty for wildflowers, lichen, frost patterns and the textured foregrounds that make a wide landscape sing.

Some caveats

The name says F2.8-4, and the aperture goes up fast. 

• F2.8 at 20-22mm
• F3.2 at 23-28mm
• F3.5 at 29-37mm
• F4 at 38-60mm

So treat this as a compact wide-first zoom and keep your constant F2.8 24-70mm for events and zooming video shots with locked exposure.

The barrel also keeps things simple. No aperture ring, no AF/MF switch, no custom buttons. And expect to rely on lens profiles at 20mm, which is common for compact wide zooms. Check that your raw converter supports it before a big trip.

Who should be excited?

• Landscape photographers who want 20mm, light weight and close focus in one hiking lens
• Travel and street shooters who want architecture, scenes and quick portraits without the bulk of a 24-70mm F2.8
• Hybrid and video creators who shoot handheld, in interiors or on their own
• Minimalist packers who’d love to leave the separate ultra-wide at home

Two Lenses at a Glance

Why This Is Good News

The 85mm will steal the launch photos. The 20-60mm may be the lens that lives on your camera.

And that’s what makes this release fun. Sigma understands that serious photography comes in different shapes. Sometimes it’s two pounds of glass chasing the last half stop of light. Sometimes it’s a 375g zoom that reaches 20mm and leaves room in your bag for a sandwich.

We can’t wait to get both out in the field. Until then, ask yourself one question. Does F1.2 change the photograph you want to make, or does 20mm change where you can go? 

Additional Reading

• Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG | Art – Official Product Page – Full specs, optical design, controls and MTF charts
• Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG | Contemporary – Official Product Page – Full specs, close-focus figures and dimensions
• Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG | Art – Official US Announcement – US pricing, availability and design priorities
• Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG | Contemporary – Official US Announcement – US pricing, availability and key features
• Sigma 85mm F1.2 DG | Art – Global Product Page – International specs and September 30 launch details
• Sigma 20-60mm F2.8-4 DG | Contemporary – Global Product Page – International specs and features

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