Sigma’s 18-35mm F1.8 lens, launched a decade ago, gained a loyal following, especially among video enthusiasts. Even users of full-frame cameras opted for it to counteract crop factors due to its impressive zoom range and quick maximum aperture. Last year, Sigma introduced the 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | ART lens, which I praised highly for its unique qualities. However, this was a full-frame lens, making it bulkier, heavier, and pricier than what APS-C shooters require. Now, Sigma presents a true upgrade to the 16-35mm with the 17-40mm F1.8 DC | ART lens. This is the first APS-C lens in the current mirrorless era to earn the ART designation (excluding a few early primes that didn’t deserve the title back in 2012 and 2013 when mirrorless was still getting established). Has Sigma successfully recaptured the magic of the beloved 18-35mm F1.8? Is this lens a good deal at $829 USD ($1249 CDN)? I will delve into this in my video review below and in the following text review.
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Thanks to Sigma Canada (Gentec) for providing a review sample of this lens. As always, this review is entirely independent. *The evaluations and the majority of images I share during my review process come from using the APS-C mode of my Sony a7RV.
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AI SUMMARY: The Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 DC | ART lens is a well-designed update to the acclaimed 18-35mm F1.8, specifically created for APS-C mirrorless cameras. It offers a wider zoom range and modern features while delivering image quality akin to prime lenses, featuring excellent sharpness in the center and mid-frame, though it suffers from some edge softness and fringing in full-frame mode. The construction is professional with weather sealing, a smooth focusing system, and utility in video applications, making it apt for both photography and videography. Overall, it presents an appealing mix of optical performance, improved usability, and portability, albeit with some limitations in extreme corners and aberrations.
Strengths:
- Outstanding optical quality resembling prime lenses.
- Highly durable construction with weather resistance and flexible video capabilities.
- Compact and lightweight compared to full-frame alternatives.
- Efficient autofocus powered by a silent HLA motor, making it ideal for photos and videos.
Weaknesses:
- Not parfocal; focus may shift when zooming during video recording.
- Chromatic aberrations and distortion necessitate corrections.
- Larger and heavier than ideally suited for APS-C cameras.
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This lens offers a slight alteration to the original zoom range, going slightly wider (17mm vs 18mm) and marginally longer in the telephoto spectrum (40mm vs 35mm).
Due to the APS-C crop factor of 1.5x for Sony E, Fuji X, or L-mount systems (this review is based on the Sony system, but I anticipate seeing this lens on all these systems and potentially Canon RF as well), the 17mm effectively translates to a full-frame equivalent focal length of 25.5mm, represented as follows:
On the other hand, the 40mm end corresponds to a full-frame equivalent of 60mm, depicted here:
*Canon’s RF-S has a crop factor of 1.6x, so the effective focal range shifts to 27.2-64mm.
The benefit of utilizing an APS-C specific lens is that Sigma could design a broader zoom range (25.5-60mm) compared to the 28-45mm full-frame lens released last year, which can be advantageous for various purposes.
The 28-45mm was quite large, measuring over 153mm in length and weighing 950g. In contrast, the 17-40 ART, which is still sizeable, is significantly more compact and lighter than its full-frame counterpart… and even the earlier DSLR lens that it follows in spirit.
This lens concept operates like a collection of prime lenses, featuring varying focal lengths and excellent optical performance while maintaining a competitive maximum aperture similar to prime lenses. It offers focal lengths of approximately 24mm, 35mm, 50mm, and even a 60mm equivalent that leans towards the telephoto range. This versatility is incredibly beneficial. In typical Sigma fashion, the 17-40 ART lens impresses with its optical performance, whether shooting from a distance or up close.
This isn’t a flawless lens (some fringing exists and it is not parfocal), but it offers an exceptional shooting experience.
Since the start of Sigma’s mirrorless line in 2018, we have noted a significant distinction between the full-frame lenses (ART and Sport series) and the APS-C variants, which have primarily been available under the Contemporary label. The latter usually offers fewer features, lighter construction, and minimal weather sealing—generally just a mount gasket—but the 17-40 ART is different. It embodies the characteristics of recent full-frame ART series lenses in terms of appearance, handling, and feel, combining all the contemporary features expected from modern lenses.
This begins with the aperture ring, designed for smooth functionality, allowing for precise adjustments in 1/3rd stops when in clicked mode, and smooth transitions throughout the full aperture range when in declicked mode.
I’ve heard that the Canon RF version will feature a control ring instead of a traditional aperture ring, whereas the Sony E-mount version I tested includes the standard aperture ring.
By the way, I find Sigma’s updated fonts and logos really appealing. They look modern and premium, and it’s great to see the ART branding on this lens.
On the bottom left of the lens, there is a Click/Declick switch, allowing you to toggle between these two options.
In declicked mode, I was able to perform seamless aperture transitions without noticeable steps, making this lens particularly appealing for videographers.
The lens features an iris lock on the right side, which allows users to lock the aperture ring in place. This feature is great for those who want to use the aperture ring intentionally and avoid accidentally switching to camera-controlled aperture settings. If you prefer not to use the aperture ring, you can switch the lens to the A position for camera-based control, ensuring the lock prevents any accidental adjustments.
Additionally, the lens has an AF/MF switch on the left, which is always a nice feature! There are two customizable (Fn) buttons: one on the side and one on the top, making them accessible in both portrait and landscape orientations, allowing for personalized functionality through the camera settings.
This lens employs an internal zoom mechanism, eliminating the need for a zoom lock. While internally zooming lenses tend to be larger compared to their externally zooming counterparts, this design comes with several advantages.
- The lens length remains constant, facilitating gimbal use without weight balance shifts.
- The risk of zoom creep is nonexistent, as it maintains a steady construction.
- No external elements are influenced by gravity.
- The zoom function operates with greater smoothness and accuracy.
- There’s a reduced chance of dust or moisture entering the lens since nothing moves in and out.
- Overall handling is improved.
In my opinion, Sigma’s updated fonts and logos have refreshed an already sophisticated design. This lens exudes elegance with its shiny sections contrasted by ribbed textures on the rings. If viewed from the rear or side, you can spot an additional ribbed section in the middle purely for aesthetics, creating a consistent look across the rings.
The zoom ring is located closer to the camera body, while the manual focus ring is positioned further out. The manual focus ring is well-designed, featuring wide ribbing and good resistance, making for an effective focusing experience. However, similar to most mirrorless autofocus lenses, it operates via focus-by-wire, meaning adjustments are processed through a focus motor, and there are no hard stops at the minimum focus distance or infinity.
This leads into the lens hood, which features a locking mechanism, a rubberized area for a comfortable grip, and ribbed sections to aid with attaching or detaching. Sigma’s lens hoods are known to be superior compared to others. A padded nylon case is included as well.
While I haven’t come across a diagram showing the weather sealing features, Sigma claims that this lens is built with professional-grade weather resistance. It includes a gasket at the lens mount, a special coating on the front element, and internal seals within the lens. The internal zoom and focus also contribute positively to this feature.
The lens measures 72.9mm (2.87”) in diameter and 115.9mm (4.56”) in length. According to my scale, it weighs 528g (18.62oz) and has a front filter thread diameter of 67mm. Though it’s not quite half the weight of the 28-45mm, it is close. Sigma also mentions that this lens is 30% lighter than the older 16-35mm F1.8.
This lens has an aperture diaphragm with 11 blades, which maintains a circular shape even when stopped down. While this doesn’t guarantee round highlights across the entire frame, it does ensure that the shape of the aperture blades won’t be easily noticeable. For instance, here’s an example at F2.8.
The minimum focus distance for this lens is 28cm (11.1”), and it achieves a maximum magnification of nearly 0.21x (1:4.8) at 40mm.
Combining this with the F1.8 aperture produces beautifully blurred backgrounds. The close-up performance is quite commendable, although it tends to be slightly softer compared to backing away by a foot.
It’s exciting to see an upscale APS-C zoom lens, a category we haven’t encountered frequently. This lens seems poised to make an impact across all four platforms. I’m particularly curious to see its performance on a 40MP Fuji sensor, possibly as an alternative to the 16-55mm F2.8 II. What about its performance on Canon RF, where premium APS-C lenses are scarce? With a genuinely practical zoom range and a constant maximum aperture of F1.8, it is definitely compelling.
Sigma has made significant improvements in this area. Initially, their offerings for Sony (and L-mount) included STM focus motors, but Sigma has since…
Sigma has unveiled their newly enhanced HLA focus motor, which stands for High-speed Linear Actuator. This motor delivers significantly more torque and thrust compared to stepping motors found in older lens models, and I’ve noticed that every lens fitted with the HLA motor showcases exceptional autofocus performance.
The rapid thrust provided by the HLA motor makes it easy to capture fast-moving subjects or candid moments. For instance, while on the golf course, one of my friends was walking through a patch of light along the trail between holes. My camera was stowed away in my golf cart, but I quickly retrieved it and managed to snap a shot before he exited the illuminated area.
Just in time!
The 18-35mm F1.8 lens had issues with autofocus in the past, particularly regarding focus accuracy, but the new 17-40 ART lens excels in this area.
The sound of the focus mechanism is virtually silent. In fact, I even leaned in close to the lens just to confirm it was focusing, it was that quiet. The focus speed is nearly instantaneous in most situations, whether indoors or outdoors.
Focus accuracy is impressive, as I don’t recall missing any shots due to focus issues, even when using smaller apertures.
Video Autofocus
I also experienced largely positive performance while shooting video. The autofocus transitions were quick and confident, with no hunting or hesitation. Focus adjustments felt fast and smooth, with just the right amount of damping. If desired, you can adjust the settings in the camera for a slower, more cinematic pull. Additionally, focus breathing is well-managed, with only minor changes in the size of the subject.
I had hoped for a parfocal lens since the previous 18-35mm was a go-to for many videographers. Unfortunately, it appears that this version does not maintain focus during zooming. For example, if I focused at 17mm (F5.6) and then zoomed in to 40mm, the focus shifted noticeably and became inaccurate.
The rapid autofocus of the HLA motor can somewhat mitigate this issue. However, there will still be instances where the focus becomes slightly off when zooming during video recording.
In my hand test, I alternated blocking my face with my hand and then revealing it, and the autofocus performed well, providing smooth transitions between my eye and my hand. This low focus breathing enhances the overall cinematic feel.
That said, in actual shooting conditions, focus changes were often a bit abrupt, which wasn’t ideal. Despite the significant power of the focus motor, it may have been beneficial to slightly tone it down for video capture, especially since this lens will likely attract videographers.
I found the 17-40 ART lens to be fantastic for creating my YouTube videos, as the focus was consistently sharp throughout, and the wide zoom range offered excellent framing options.
Sigma’s HLA focus motors perform admirably, although they face a slight limitation on Sony cameras, where burst shooting is restricted to 15FPS with third-party lenses. This puts the 17-40 ART at a disadvantage in that specific context – a limitation that does not exist for other camera systems.
This lens represents a remarkable engineering achievement, as Sigma has successfully expanded the zoom range without sacrificing the maximum aperture of F1.8. As is typical, they’ve achieved this in a compelling way. The optical design is complex, featuring 17 elements grouped into 11 assemblies, including 4 SLD elements and 4 aspherical elements. The MTF findings at 17mm are noteworthy; nearly flat across the…
The midframe performance is impressive, with a high-level overview revealing excellent detail in the extreme corners. The 40mm Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) shows a classic “Sigma” character, maintaining consistent performance throughout the frame.
How does this compare with the previous 18-35mm F1.8 lens? Sigma provided some insights.
Interestingly, the two lenses exhibit similar characteristics, with the new lens showing slight improvements across the board.
I believe the 28-45 DN has a unique quality; its colors, contrast, sharpness, and bokeh create images that stand out. On the other hand, the 17-40 ART appears to lack some of that magic, largely due to sensor differences—APS-C isn’t capable of producing the same types of images at F1.8. Nevertheless, this lens can still generate remarkable shots when utilized to its potential.
What about full-frame coverage? There’s no hidden full-frame lens here; coverage is predictably lowest at 17mm.
At 40mm, coverage improves somewhat, but there’s still noticeable vignette that darkens the edges. While you can certainly use this lens in Super35 mode on a full-frame camera, it’s not advisable to shoot in full-frame mode, especially for still photography.
The 28-45mm lens had minimal fringing, but this lens exhibits noticeable fringing. I was surprised to see significant fringing in the viewfinder during my test chart evaluation.
In my real-world SLR tests, I also observed blue fringing on shiny areas, which was quite prominent.
I witnessed no issues with lateral chromatic aberrations (LaCA) near the edges of the frame; all transitions were neutral and smooth.
Sigma expanded the width, which inevitably leads to noticeable distortion.
There is significant barrel distortion that needs a +22 adjustment for correction. The positive aspect is that this distortion is quite linear, making it easy to fix without creating a mustache pattern, which I see as a benefit. The vignette isn’t too severe either, only requiring a +38 adjustment.
At the middle of the zoom range (28mm), the distortion changes to a pincushion style, but fortunately, it corrects linearly once again.
I had to apply a -6 adjustment to correct for the distortion and a slight +29 adjustment to manage about a stop of vignette. It’s manageable.
As expected, the pincushion distortion increases at the 40mm range, requiring a larger adjustment of -11, but it still corrects easily. The vignette remains impressively low, needing only a +23 to correct.
I’ve noticed some longitudinal fringing that I’m not particularly fond of, but everything else appears pretty solid.
Now, let’s discuss resolution and contrast. My testing was performed in APS-C mode using the 61MP Sony a7RV, which, at 26MP, represents the highest resolution available for APS-C on Sony. The Fuji’s 40MP sensor may present more challenges.
The MTF chart suggests that this lens is quite sharp in the center and mid-frame at 17mm, F1.8, but there is a noticeable drop-off in the corners. Do my results align with this? Here’s a look at the test chart used for my crops.
My observations are quite consistent with the MTF predictions, showing a sharp center and mid-frame while corners appear noticeably less sharp, although contrast still holds up well. The crops showcasing these areas are displayed at 200%.
In practical use, the results follow a similar trend, looking excellent in the center and mid-frame but noticeably softer as you approach the edges.
The contrast increases slightly at F2, highlighting the lens’s strengths. At F2.8, corner performance sees improvement, but they still don’t quite achieve perfect sharpness. By F5.6, corner sharpness is acceptable, though not matching the clarity found in other parts of the image.
This image taken at 17mm and F5.6 reveals excellent detail in the center and decent clarity at the edges.
As is often the case, the sharpness is greatest at F5.6 to F8. At smaller apertures like F11 and F16, you might notice a slight decline in detail and contrast attributed to diffraction.
When examining performance at 24mm, it remains quite similar to that at 17mm, though corners appear to have better sharpening potential. Here’s a look at the center at F1.8 and F2.8:
The upper left corner shows that while it remains soft at the edge, by F2.8 it’s fairly sharp in the middle section.
While the sharpness never fully reaches perfection in those last minor details, this 24mm image still looks impressive overall, aside from the extreme corner, which is unlikely to be a point of focus for most viewers.
At 35mm, this lens appears to be slightly less sharp in the center and mid-frame compared to previous settings.
Keep in mind that this is a relative comparison; it remains a very sharp lens for practical use at 35mm, F1.8.
This image is clearly sharp and features attractive bokeh.
This next picture taken at 35mm, F2.2, showcases good detail and contrast, accompanied by a pleasantly blurred background.
The results at 40mm are quite similar, showing good sharpness and contrast, which improve when you adjust the aperture slightly.
The lens performs reasonably well in the corners, although they are not outstanding. Overall, far corner sharpness may not be this lens’s greatest feature.
I found myself generally quite satisfied with the real-world images taken at 40mm.
The global contrast appears impressive at 40mm and F1.8.
Using 45mm will deliver a striking mix of sharpness and bokeh. This lens offers a beautiful balance of clarity and softness.
Overall, I think the bokeh is quite appealing. There is a smooth transition from focus to blur, giving photos a lively feel. This image demonstrates a good sense of depth.
Getting close to your subject can really enhance the background blur, although the detail and contrast up close may not be ideal.
The lens also shows impressive resistance to flare. In this morning shot, with the sun just beyond the frame, you’ll notice that the contrast remains strong.
In another shot, with the sun slightly out of the frame, there is no noticeable glare entering the scene.
This lens has many appealing optical qualities. While it’s not without its flaws, it consistently delivers images with a captivating “sparkle.”
Sigma continues to excel at pushing the limits of what’s achievable at specific aperture and focal lengths. Their engineering efforts remain impressive. For more images, be sure to explore the lens gallery available here.
Sigma has impressively modernized a beloved classic for mirrorless systems. The Sigma 17-40mm F1.8 DC | ART surpasses the old 18-35mm F1.8 I reviewed over a decade ago in almost every aspect. It’s more compact, lighter, offers a broader zoom range, features enhanced autofocus, and improved optics. There’s not much to critique.
It’s interesting to note that this undeniably superior lens might not achieve the commercial success one would expect (though I hope to be proven wrong). The selection in the market has narrowed, and numerous high-quality alternatives are available today. Sigma has notably reduced the size of the lens, yet some users may still find it too large. Although they’ve increased the zoom capabilities, I often hear critiques about it not reaching 16mm or 50mm. In this age of abundant options, consumers seem harder to impress than before.
However, if you take a moment to truly evaluate this lens, you will see that, despite its flaws, it represents a distinctive option that will appeal to many users. Its zoom range is versatile, and the F1.8 aperture significantly enhances the quality of images compared to a standard F2.8 aperture (which is 1 1/3rd stops slower). This allows for lower ISO settings, making it a must-have for those shooting weddings or events on APS-C cameras. The 17-40 ART effectively combines the capabilities of multiple prime lenses into one, and at a price of $829 USD, it offers excellent value.
Advantages:
- Enhancements over the 18-35mm F1.8 in all aspects
- Highly practical zoom range
- Superb construction quality
- Loaded with features
- Internal zoom and focus lead to fantastic handling
- Comprehensive weatherproofing
- Declickable aperture
- Silent and powerful HLA focus motor
- Aperture racking functions effectively
- Outstanding focus accuracy
- Minimal vignetting across the frame
- Incredibly sharp
- Gorgeous bokeh
- Good resistance to flare
Drawbacks:
- Not parfocal
- More color fringing than desired
- Significant barrel distortion at 17mm
- Extreme edges seldom achieve sharpness
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