The folks at Midwest Photo Exchange have published a review of the yet-to-be-released Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG Art series lens and they came away extremely impressed
Here are some of the highlights from the review written by Tim Neumann.
Autofocus
I found the autofocus system to not only be accurate, but surprisingly fast, with pretty quick focus acquisition, even in less than ideal contrast situations. The surprise really settled in when I realized that it is pretty consistently beating the focusing speed of my 85mm f/1.2, that’s my normal street shooting lens. A lot of times, street shooting requires, quick stealthy shooting, so that you can catch that decisive moment exhibited by your subjects. As a back button focuser, I really appreciated the ability to quickly acquire focus, lock it in, and move the camera into the desired position for the shot.
Image Quality
Sigma’s 135mm f/1.8 Art Series lens features two SLD (Super Low Dispersion) glass elements and two FLD (Fluorite Low Dispersion) glass elements. The purpose of these glass elements is to help minimize chromatic aberrations, especially in out of focus areas, within portraits, that capture bokeh, or in slender objects and fine tree branches. The net effect is to provide a lens that results in high resolution, sharply focused images, throughout the entire aperture range of the lens.
Summary
Well you have probably figured out by now I like this lens and really, image wise, what’s not to like? The results I am seeing, represent their original scenes well, hold details in shadows nicely, provide lifelike colors with pleasing warm tones and the bokeh, well not much more can be said about that. For portrait style images and narrower field of view images, this lens is a strong tool to have in the kit. So strong in fact, my order has been placed. Read the complete review at MPEX.
Preorder the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG Art Series Lens at MPEX