Unlock the special viewing angle Sigma 15mm F1 4 DG DN DIAGONAL FISHEYE Art review

Review preface & product introduction

With its unique ultra-wide-angle angle of view and strong distortion effect, fisheye lenses bring new possibilities to photographic creation. Fisheye lenses are undoubtedly an attractive option for photographers who enjoy shooting landscapes, architecture, and street photography. It is able to capture details and scenes from a unique perspective that we would normally find imperceptible. And at the beginning of 2024, Sigma brought us an "over-spec" fisheye lens - 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |Art, today, we're going to review this high-profile fisheye lens and take you through its unique charm.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye | art

According to Sigma's official introduction, the 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART is the world's first team with an F14 diagonal fisheye lenses with a wide aperture 180° viewing angle. This lens is a subversive of traditional fisheye lens image quality, and is crystal clear over the entire 180° viewing angle. It is very suitable for astronomy, landscape, architecture and other subjects, before officially introducing this lens, let's take a look at the parameters of this lens.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye | art

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART Lens Parameters:

Lens focal length: 15mm

Aperture range: f14-f16

Aperture blades: 11 (circular diaphragm blades).

Lens construction: 21 elements in 15 groups (including 4 low-dispersion glass elements for FLD and 3 SLD-specific elements, and 2 aspherical elements).

Lens angle of view: 180°

Minimum focusing distance: 385cm

Maximum magnification: 1:16

Lens drive system: HLA high-speed linear motor.

Lens size: 1040mm x 157.9mm (L mount), 1040mm x 159.9mm (E-mount).

Weight: Approx. 1,360g (L mount, E mount)

Mount type: L mount, E mount.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The ART adopts 15 groups of 21 optical elements in the optical structure, including 4 FLD and 3 SLD special low dispersion glass lenses, and 2 aspherical lenses. In addition, this lens uses 11 circular diaphragm blades, with a minimum aperture of f 16 and a minimum focusing distance of 385cm with a maximum magnification of 1:16. In terms of size, this lens has a volume of about 1040mm x 159.9mm (E-mount), weighs about 1360g, and in terms of mount, it is available in two versions: L-mount and E-mount, and this time we reviewed the E-mount version.

Exterior details

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The overall look of this lens is the same as the Sigma 14mm f/1 released last summer4 dg dn |The ART is still very close, and it is obvious that this lens still continues the high-spec design standards of the previous Sigma ART series lenses.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART paired with Sony A7 IV

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART "A" logo

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |Like Sigma's previous lenses, the ART has a silver "A" logo on the lens body to indicate that this is a lens belonging to the ART series. The lens is made of delicate matte material, which increases the visual appearance and can effectively prevent fingerprints. Metal components are used in key parts of the main body of this lens to ensure that it can firmly support the optical system, as well as improve overall durability and reliability. In addition, TSC (Heat Stabilized Composite) is used in the appropriate position of this lens to effectively reduce the weight of the lens.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART function switch

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART stepless aperture lever

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART Auto Iris Locking Lever

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART Aperture Ring

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |There are still many functions and button switches on this ART lens, such as the conventional manual AF switch lever, AFL button, MFL lever, CLICK stepless aperture lever, auto aperture lock lever, etc. Although it has a large number of function levers, the entire lens is not complicated to handle.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART front lens group

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The coating color of the front lens group of ART is dark green and pale yellow. With a waterproof and oil-repellent coating, you can shoot without worries even in harsh outdoor environments. This lens is equipped with a lotus-shaped lens hood, which is still very effective for such a fisheye lens, which can effectively avoid harmful light that affects image quality. In addition, since the front lens group is a bulb design, this lens cannot use a round filter.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART heater fixing trough

Photographing the stars is a long battle that tests patience. However, sometimes the drop in temperature at night often causes the lens to fog up, which affects the shooting effect. Compared to the previous Sigma 14mm f14 dg dn |ART is the same, Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The ART lens still has a heater mounting slot at the front of the lens. This design not only ensures that the heater is installed without protruding from obscuring the lens, but also avoids the resulting vignetting around the edges of the frame.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART lens caps

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The lens cover of the ART is designed with two filter storage slots, so photographers can store two rear filters according to their needs. The design avoids scratches or dirt on the surface of the filter, while ensuring that the filter can be found quickly when needed, avoiding the embarrassment of picking it up or missing it by mistake.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART rear mirror group

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART uses a very precisely crafted metal mount, the position of the lens mount is equipped with a sealing rubber ring, which means that this lens has a certain ability to prevent dust and water drops, and there is also a special filter mounting card slot at the rear of the lens, in addition, Sigma also provides DIY filter molds in the packaging of this lens, and users can buy third-party gelatin filters to cut and use by themselves.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART tripod rings

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART minimum focusing distance indicator

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART Origin Mark

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The ART comes with a detachable tripod ring that is compatible with ARCA-Swiss head. In addition, the side close to the lens mount is marked with the lens minimum focusing distance mark, the origin mark, and the direction in which the lens is removed.

Comprehensive test: real resolution shooting

The Sigma 15mm f1. we reviewed this time4 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART is a diagonal fisheye lens with a 180° angle of view, and for such a lens, I believe everyone must be very concerned about its resolution performance. In the resolution test part, I used the camera body Sony A7IV, here my test method is: use aperture priority mode, turn off body image stabilization, ISO fixed to 100, JPEG+RAW dual format shooting, adjust the aperture step by step shooting, and 100% capture the center and edge area of the frame, so that you can see the actual image quality performance of this lens more intuitively.

The red box is the 100% screenshot area

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART resolution test

Through practical testing, it can be found that the Sigma 15mm f14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART is slightly loose at the edges at wide open aperture, reduced to f 2 at apertureAt 8 o'clock, there are basically no problems with the edge quality, while the center quality is at f 1Image quality is fairly good in the 4-f 11 range, with a slight drop at the minimum aperture of f 16, but overall it's generally within acceptable ranges.

Comprehensive test: dispersion ghost glare comb

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART dispersion test

With the above test, we can see that the Sigma 15mm f14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The control of chromatic dispersion is still quite good! It is almost impossible to detect traces of dispersion.

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |ART glare test

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |I personally think the ghost flare control of this lens is also quite good, and after the actual shooting, you can find that there is a certain flare phenomenon in this lens, but the ghost phenomenon control is still quite good.

Focal length: 15mm Aperture: f 14 ISO sensitivity: 8000

* Time: 10s **Compensation: 0ev White Balance: Manual.

The red box is the 100% screenshot area

Through practical testing, we can find that the Sigma 15mm f14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The coma control of this ART lens is still quite good, and it can basically perfectly restore the point light source at the edge of the picture.

Actual samples

Sigma 15mm F14 dg dn diagonal fisheye |The ART is a diagonal fisheye lens with a 180° angle of view, which has a very wide field of view, which is very suitable for shooting architecture, landscapes, starry skies and other subjects. (The following dailies only lightly grade the image, interested users can click on the dailies to view a larger image).