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Micro Four Thirds - Black
SLRgear Review
March 24, 2016
by Andrew Alexander
Sigma released the 60mm ƒ/2.8 DN "Art" lens in 2013, as part of their "Art" line of lenses. With this lens, the mirrorless subset of Art line (at the time of writing) offers a 19mm lens, 30mm lens, and now the 60mm lens. The 60mm lens is available for mirrorless cameras only (as indicated by the "DN" specification) in either Micro Four-Thirds mount or Sony E-mount.
The lens provides a 120mm equivalent field of view on Micro Four-Thirds, or 90mm on the Sony E-mount: we were provided with the MFT lens to test on our Panasonic GX1 body. The Sigma 60mm ƒ/2.8 DN "Art" lens ships with a hood, accepts 46mm filters, and is available now for just over $200.
Sharpness
In a word: sharp. The lens isn't complicated, with just 8 elements in 6 groups, and the product is sharp images pretty much straight out of the gate at ƒ/2.8. According to our test results, it actually does get fractionally better at ƒ/4, but I can't imagine you'd see the difference unless you looked very closely indeed. It's sharp all the way through to the point where diffraction limiting starts to become present, at ƒ/11, but even then it's barely an issue. More noteworthy is the generalized softness that occurs at ƒ/16 and ƒ/22, which are best avoided if you can help it.
Chromatic Aberration
Chromatic aberration is extremely well-controlled on this lens. The only place you'll notice it is wide open at ƒ/2.8, and where CA is visible, it shows up in the extreme corners only in areas of high contrast, as magenta fringing.
Shading (''Vignetting'')
There is little to worry about for corner shading with this lens: at ƒ/2.8, the extreme corners are a quarter-stop darker than the center. At any other focal length, however, it is negligible.
Distortion
There's almost no distortion to speak of when using the Sigma 60mm ƒ/2.8 DN. There is some very slight pincushion distortion visible, but it's barely noticeable, and if you truly need your straight lines to be straight, it's uncomplicated distortion which is easily correctable in post-processing.
Autofocus Operation
The Sigma 60mm ƒ/2.8 DN "Art" lens isn't particularly fast to focus, taking about a second to slew from close-focus to infinity; it's not particularly slow, either. Attached 46mm filters won't rotate, making life that little bit easier for polarizer users. It uses a linear AF motor, which is quiet in operation.
Macro
With a maximum magnification of just 0.14x, and a minimum close-focusing distance of 55cm (around nineteen inches), this isn't the lens you want to go to for your macro needs.
Build Quality and Handling
Sigma's taken an interesting approach with this lens: its design is about as basic as it comes, featuring a glossy finish (in black or silver) with absolutely no external controls: there is no distance scale, no depth of field indicator, no switches or buttons. The only control feature is the focusing ring, which is essentially the main body of the lens.
The texture of the focusing ring will be an acquired taste: rather than having a segmented texture for extra grip, the ring is smooth metal, cold to the touch, but otherwise fine for manually focusing. As with most mirrorless lenses the focusing action is not mechanical, so the ring will turn forever in either direction without letting you know you have reached closest-focus or infinity.
The lens ships with the LH520-03 hood, a bayonet-mounted round hood that can be reversed for storage on the lens. The hood is 7/8" long.
Alternatives
Olympus 60mm ƒ/2.8 M.Zuiko Digital ED ~$550
Olympus' 60mm is built for macro use, and is substantially more expensive, but you get a lot of features for the premium price. Macro shooters will enjoy a four-point focus limiter, a magnification scale, and an excellent manual focus ring. Optically, the lenses are very similar. The Olympus version also offers a dust- and splash-proof construction.
Sony E 50mm ƒ/1.8 OSS ~$300
It's not exactly the same focal length, but the Sony 50mm offers a significantly faster maximum aperture, for not a whole lot more money. Optically, the Sigma is slightly better than the Sony, but stopped down to ƒ/4, either lens is fantastic.
Panasonic 42.5mm f/1.7 ASPH POWER OIS LUMIX G ~$350
Not quite the same focal length, but it's the longest lens Panasonic offers in a prime. It's small, light, and affordable, as well as sharp. The aperture is quite a bit brighter on this lens, but you don't get as much reach.
Conclusion
Sigma has rounded out its Art lineup with an excellent telephoto lens in the 60mm ƒ/2.8. For the money, you really can't beat the performance, and given that there aren't a lot of options in this category, Sigma has once again forged ahead into new territory and produced a winner.
Product Photos
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Sample Photos
The VFA target should give you a good idea of sharpness in the center and corners, as well as some idea of the extent of barrel or pincushion distortion and chromatic aberration, while the Still Life subject may help in judging contrast and color. We shoot both images using the default JPEG settings and manual white balance of our test bodies, so the images should be quite consistent from lens to lens.
As appropriate, we shoot these with both full-frame and sub-frame bodies, at a range of focal lengths, and at both maximum aperture and ƒ/8. For the ''VFA'' target (the viewfinder accuracy target from Imaging Resource), we also provide sample crops from the center and upper-left corner of each shot, so you can quickly get a sense of relative sharpness, without having to download and inspect the full-res images. To avoid space limitations with the layout of our review pages, indexes to the test shots launch in separate windows.
Sigma 60mm f/2.8 DN Art
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Micro Four Thirds - Black
Sigma 60mm f/2.8 DN Art User Reviews
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Sharp. Good bokeh quality. Ok speed aperture in M4/3 terms. Focus ring smooth to turn. Tight and firm mounting fit. AF speed is very fast just like a native lens. All functions as native as it gets. Nice to look at from the front at f2.8.Focus ring is very smooth externally. No ribs on focus ring bad for sweaty fingers/hands. No OIS. This is 120mm FF equivalent. Slow aperture in FF at f5.6 equivalent.
Okey so the lens has some rattle inside due to the internal AF motor. Stop with all the shaking of the lens already. You might damage something.
reviewed March 24th, 2021 (purchased for $100)
Lens is sharp. Gives really good bokeh and the focus ring is smooooooooth and easy to turn, perfect for focus racking in videos.
Too smooth on the barrel in fact that if your fingers gets sweaty, fingers slips and hard to turn focus ring.
A pro tip is to use some rubberbands around the focus ring for good grip.
I use this with a couple panasonic cameras, GH4, GX80 and G7.
It still deserves the ART logo. No its not that fast in MFT terms being 2.8 F stop. And the weired decision of make the focus ring a smooth barrel rather than the traditional ribbed style giving us manual focus mongers a hard time when our hands gets slippery.
The image quality is really REALLY good for the money spent used for a mere 100 USD that came with everything except for the small bag and carton.
Manual focus overide is possible by having the shutter halfway held in and turning focus ring.
Lens functions just like a native panasonic lens.
Id just wish this lens had OIS, id happily pay 100 dollars more.
Overall id rate this an 8 just because i wished it had OIS built in. This is 120mm equivalent in FF.
Id rate the build quality as 8 aswell since it doesnt feel robust even though the barrel is made of thin aluminuim sheet. Then im not hard on my gear either so it works for me.
Image quailty is a 9 of 10 for its color rendition, resolution and sharpness for this price its hard to beat. -
Outstanding optics.There aren't any important ones, really, but I'll try. It doesn't focus extremely close, and you might or might not want this focal length on M4/3. The manual focus ring is of polished metal and takes up most of the body of the lens. I didn't find the len
Flawless optical design. Ludicrously sharp across the board, even at maximum aperture. In terms of optics, this is definitely one of the the sharpest lenses I've used on M4/3.
reviewed September 20th, 2020 (purchased for $160)
The floating element design (like an IS lens without IS, but even more rattly) is odd, but hey, when something delivers the optical results like this one does, ultimately who cares, if it keeps doing it?
Great for portraits, and great for general use if the focal length is suitable. -
Sharp, sharp, sharp Bokeh quality is decent Very inexpensiveBuild is light and unsubstantial Sigma should reserve "ART" branding for lenses of highest build, not just performance
On first acquaintance the build quality is a bit iffy and the lens rattles with what sounds like autofocus mechanism (not the motor) but that reduces as soon as the lens is mounted and the activated.
reviewed April 29th, 2017 (purchased for $200)
When it comes to optical performance when mounted on my A6000 this lens is simply out of this world and is capable of resolving photographic detail that eludes much more expensive lenses of German heritage. There is little to no distortion, little vignetting and even the bokeh is smooth. At F2.8 it is flat sharp across the entire frame: the peak appears to be between F4 and F5.6 and then declines fairly gracefully but is perfectly usable at F11. This is the sharpest lens in my bag which also contains 2 Zeiss branded full frame lenses and a full frame Nikon 50mm 1.4 which I use on my A7R. -
Lightweight Compact Excellent optical performanceNone really
Just received a fresh copy in March 2017. What can I say that hasn't already been said? This lens has the widest range of usable f-stops of any lens I own.
reviewed March 11th, 2017 (purchased for $239)
The smooth metal clad focus ring doesn't get much use with me - I just swap AF settings for different subjects/situations. Mine mounts up almost too snugly but that beats slop any day. AF single shot and tracking performance is as good as any of my Sony/Minolta glass - and quiet enough for video. To preserve IQ, I invested in a pricier B+W UV filter.
The pouch is a bit of a joke - they stuffed a lined 'pillow' into an oversize pouch that was meant for another lens? No biggie.
Sigma is producing a quality lens in the 60/2.8. Time will tell on durability but it is all plastic essentially and requires appropriate care. This will be part of a three-lens hiking kit including its 19/2.8 DN Art sibling and a 50mm Takumar macro. -
-High image sharpness to the corners at most stops; Lack of CA problems in both in and out of focus areas; Low price; Versatility (excellent for macro with added achromats, and also excellent for infrared photography)- The slippery focus ring (solvable)
From http://www.david-ruether-photography.com/MFT-Lenses.htm#N (photo samples are also there) --
reviewed March 24th, 2016 (purchased for $229)
I had seen a couple of positive reviews of the Sigma 60mm f2.8 lens (which is offered in both Sony NEX and Panasonic/Olympus MFT mounts, with electrical contacts for AF, AE, and EXIF) and also the sample photos that were included, but they did not prepare me for what this relatively inexpensive lens can do! I have many Panasonic (and also some Olympus, Voightlander, Tamron, Nikon, and Rokinon) lenses that work well on my Panasonic MFT bodies, but this lens beats almost all of them for optical quality. It is sharp to the corners wide-open at f2.8 (and it's also good even when well stopped down); it does not flare; there are (so far) few observable ghosts from strong light sources being either within or outside of the frame edge; there are essentially no CA problems, even under very difficult conditions, which normally result in noticeable CA problems with most other lenses (and which do show prominently with the two shorter FL Sigma f2.8 lenses in the same line-up, the 19mm and 30mm lenses); there is very low linear distortion; this lens remains sharp over a wide range of focus distances (which is not true for all lenses); this first sample I tried appears to be well-aligned optically and mechanically, something that is all too rare (lens samples often do vary, sometimes considerably, regardless of brand or cost); AND, this is also one of the sharpest lenses I have yet found for shooting infrared photos (about half of my lenses are not very good for infrared photography). I - am - impressed! Its minor irritations: a slippery-smooth focus ring makes the lens somewhat awkward to focus manually and also to hang onto securely; there is no internal stabilizer; it doesn't mount onto the camera as smoothly as other lenses and adapters that I have; it doesn't focus very closely (but I have some good achromatic close-up lenses that fit on its front to cure that shortcoming); the included shade is at best just OK (so I use a different shade); the internal focusing section rattles fairly loudly unless the power is on (but this is normal for this lens); and the plastic front doesn't even pretend to speak "quality-construction") - but all of this becomes meaningless when one sees what its image-quality is like, even from wide open, even to the corners (on MFT). I use a wide rubber band on the focus ring to "cure" the most important deficiency/quirk in the design, and this works well enough. I LIKE THIS LENS! -
Very sharpBit slow to focus on an OLympus E-P2 in low light but that is the Oly I think.
Great lens, pin sharp on portraiture, excellent value and they include a hood and pouch which is a nice touch. Is very good at showing fine detail in the face. Get one!
reviewed December 7th, 2013 (purchased for $211) -
EverythingNothing
I echo the sentiments of the two posters below. Sharp and contrasty corner to corner with fast focus and excellent color wide open on an m4/3 size sensor. Even at the 120mm length, it makes an outstanding "across the street" walk-around lens if you like to see the world this way. The bokeh is a bit less creamy than my Pentax DA 70mm 2.4 with adapter, but is still quite good. If Sigma keeps this up, they could put a bit of a bite into the other lens makers' prices. Competition is good for us consumers.
reviewed September 22nd, 2013 -
Size, weight, excellent image quality, fast silent autofocus, metal barrel, outrageously low priceNone
Updated: 2014/10/22
reviewed September 13th, 2013 (purchased for $120)
Excellent lens for the price! It's super sharp with great contrast, the bokeh is good, CA is low, it doesn't flare easily, it focuses fast and accurate, the build quality is great and the price is outrageous. Sigma even included a lens hood and a sturdy pouch.
With the camera turned off, a lens element moves freely inside the barrel. This makes a soft clunking sound. That's normal and part of the design. It's not broken. As soon as you turn on your camera, the element stays in place.
There are some things that I don't like about this lens and that's the smooth shiny metal barrel. It attracts fingerprints, it looks stupid and it provides almost no grip. Also, the aperture rattles on my camera like the Panasonic 25mm f/1.4 and the AF system is slightly nervous and constantly (but softly) audible.
If you don't need the special Olympus 75mm f/1.8 or the 60mm f/2.8 macro, this is the lens to get. It really is as sharp and contrasty, you won't miss out on anything. It's also sharper than the Olympus 45mm f/1.8. Again, this is amazing at this low price point. You should be able to find a like new second hand 60mm for about 120 dollars. That's a steal!
I never liked the Sigma 19mm and 30mm (the new and old versions are optically identical). This 60mm definitely is something else! A gem and highly recommended. -
OMG. Really for EU 169 it is rediculous what Sigma has done.You are kidding
BUY THIS LENS FOR YOUR NEX! The greatest bang for the buck for NEX. Sharp as it gets.
reviewed May 15th, 2013 (purchased for $199)
