Who will purchase the Sigma 85mm 1.4 Art and when?

Talley wrote in post #18138461
I agree. But I still gotta try it out!

Haha man you have too much money you should just rent it instead first!

why rent when you can return?

Looks like I'll be the lone wolf on this one....

Talley wrote in post #18138492
why rent when you can return?

You don't realize how lucky you have it in the US. To rent camera gear where I live in Aus, you would pay $99 for a rental period of 2pm to 8am the following day. And if you rented a body like 5d3/5DIV it's $200 for that same period. I'm pretty sure you guys could rent it for a week for that price.

In all honesty I'm surprised how little ths hype is around the 85mm Art. I seen so many people going on about it but now that it's official, I don't see many people talking about it.

Dlee13 wrote in post #18138536
In all honesty I'm surprised how little ths hype is around the 85mm Art.

Just look at the price tag. I can get a used 85mm f/1.2L II for less. Not even interested.

I'm on the fence. I bought the first Sigma 85mm a couple of years ago and it's pretty good. I bought it when the Canadian dollar was about par with the US dollar so bought from B&H at a good price. Well, the first copy I had did this jackhammer autofocus thing so I returned it to B&H. They convinced my to try again. When I think about duds, all of mine have been Sigmas. Never Canon.

Also, I use 77mm filters and almost all my lenses have this size filter thread. I don't want to buy and store two sizes. I already mix up my 4-stop ND with my 10-stop ND.

So it would have to be an awesome performer for me to sell my current Sigma 85mm and buy this new one.

Migebuff wrote in post #18138634
Just look at the price tag. I can get a used 85mm f/1.2L II for less. Not even interested.

Yeah I think size and weight are two big negatives for it. I can't imagine wedding shooters wanting to carry around something so heavy for 8 hours.

I got the current 85mm for only $899 brand new AUD so I'm sure at $1200 US, it will probably be at least $1600 here.

Although not directly related, I'd like to see Sigma release different tiers of Lenses like Canikon. Considering the price and size of the 85mm Art, would be interesting to see them release a cheaper/lighter 85mm f1.8!

I remember seeing the price somewhere in the area of $1600. Considering that, for me to upgrade it would need to be significantly sharper across the entire frame, have faster AF, and far less CA than the 85 1.8. At that price, I would also expect at least some degree of weathersealing. Even then, the Canon 1.8 is easily going to win the size/weight/portabilit​y advantage.

Overall, if you are somebody that had been seriously considering going the 85L route, this should be a reasonable alternative. If you already have the 85L and are disappointed, hopefully the Sigma will be a formidable opponent. For everybody else, I think the 85 1.8 is the right choice.

I can't see any Australian price but B&H have it for $1199. The Art also does have weather sealing so no need to worry about that. Matt Granger has released some test images which are below. The link to all of them are HERE.

Just looked it up at BH, price is 1199 USD, which is about the most I expect Sigma will be able to get for "normal-long" primes and zooms. I suspect they know this through market research and keep these restraints on R&D.

That thing is BIG though isn't it? I thought this might sway me to upgrade my 85 1.8 before grabbing a 135L but I don't see it happening now.

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18138718
Just looked it up at BH, price is 1199 USD, which is about the most I expect Sigma will be able to get for "normal-long" primes and zooms. I suspect they know this through market research and keep these restraints on R&D.

That thing is BIG though isn't it? I thought this might sway me to upgrade my 85 1.8 before grabbing a 135L but I don't see it happening now.

I think it's about 5" in length without the hood. But I can't find the weight listed anywhere. I'd imagine it'll be about 2 lbs. Canon's f/1.8 offering is less than half of that at a much lower price. And very sharp. This could be a tougher sell for sigma than the other primes they've put out.

Interesting lens for sure but the 85L III is rumored for next year. I wouldn't even buy until that drops. In the meantime my 1.8 does just fine thanks.

FarmerTed1971 wrote in post #18138778
Interesting lens for sure but the 85L III is rumored for next year. I wouldn't even buy until that drops. In the meantime my 1.8 does just fine thanks.

And you don't think in your wildest dreams that the pricing wouldn't go up for the III? Every single canon lens has gone up. Currently the NEW price of the II is 1,899. I'm not talking refurb or used pricing but that is the price new. Every single canon lens unfortunately has gone up in price... Sigma knows this and has priced their lens accordingly. Sigma 85 non art was priced at 979 new. Its not like it's dramatically higher. When the Canon III comes out... not sure what the price is but nobody will grip about it even if they price it at 2199.... at which point the Sigma art would be 1k cheaper.

Right now the Sigma 85 non art has the best value on the used market... readily available from 550-650 which is half the price of the Canon 85 II used price. For me if the Sigma 85 doesn't perform well... then I'll rebuy a used Sigma 85 or buy a used 85 II.

Weight?... The sigma 85 non art is substantially the lightest F1.4 option at 27oz w/ hood only 1oz heavier than the Tamron 1.8 VC version which is 26oz. From what I've seen the Tamron is no slouch and if you can get past not needing 1.4 then should be a worthy contender. The Canon tops in at 36oz w/ hood and the OTUS tops in at 45oz w/ hood albeit it has a heavy hood. The sigma hood will end up being right at 2oz lighter than the OTUS hood.... combined w/ the only thing we have to go on which is Matt Granger mentioning the ART is not as heavy as the OTUS leads me to believe the Sigma 85 ART w/ hood will be right in the 39oz department about 3oz heavier than the 85 1.2 II.

But yet we say it's heavy... well sure it is. But it's 100% directly sized compared to the 45oz OTUS... not the smaller Canon II.... oh wait lets think about that... the Sigma 85 non art was sized similar to the 85L II with a larger filter but was 9oz lighter!

What I'm getting at is nobody is really inspecting the lens. Sure it's big... sure it's heavy... but they are going for maximum optical performance. They have done "something" to improve bokeh and I want to know what that is. The OTUS is amazing... if canon gets within 10% of that lens at the 1200 price point I'll be glad to hand over my wallet.

This is my perspective and my analyzing of the current known details.

Sig 85: Approx. 3.73 x 4.97" (94.7 x 126.2 mm) 86mm filter no weight listed.

Canon 135L: 26.5 oz (750g) 3.3 x 4.4" (83 x 112mm) 72mm filter


85mm f/1.2L II USM Lens 36.2 oz (1025g) 3.6 x 3.3" (91.5 x 84mm) 72mm

Canon 85 1.8 15.0 oz (425g) 3.0 x 2.8" (75 x 72mm) 58mm

Hard to say, but I can see this thing being prett darn heavy

Edit: Sig 50A: Approx. 3.36 x 3.93" (85.4 x 99.9 mm)
Weight 1.79 lb (815 g)