The Sigma 14mm F1.4 DG DN is a fast, ultra-wide angle lens designed specifically for astrophotography. However, it will also provide excellent performance for landscape and architectural photography applications.
Consistent with its purpose as an astrophotography lens, the Sigma 14mm F1.4 is optimized to give its best performance wide open. That’s a big deal for night sky photographers as it’s 2/3 EV faster than Sigma’s own 14mm F1.8mm and delivers up to 1.6X the amount of light to the camera’s sensor. However, based on our initial testing, the lens remains sharp even when the aperture is closed down a few stops. This gallery includes a couple of aperture progressions to allow for comparison.
The Sigma 14mm F1.4 is optimized to give its best performance wide open
Additionally, the lens is optimized for infinity focus, ideal for capturing night sky photos or other far away subjects like landscapes. It’s not optimized for close focus situations, particularly at a distance of less than two meters. In fact, Sigma specifically warns against judging the performance of this lens based on test chart results as they would almost certainly need to be shot within this two meter range. We’ve included a handful of photos in this gallery with relatively close subjects so you can judge the results for yourself.
Based on our initial testing, the Sigma 14mm F1.4 is a great option for astrophotographers. Comatic aberration is well-controlled; it’s not completely immune from ‘angel wings’ on point sources of light, like stars, in the extreme corners, but overall performance is very good. (Some of the sample photos suggest our copy of the lens may be a bit soft in the upper right hand corner.) Ghosting and flare seem well controlled, allowing it to do double duty as a landscape lens.
Note that the astrophotography photos in this gallery have been subject to minimal post-processing in order to focus on lens performance.
Author:
This article comes from DP Review and can be read on the original site.
