SIGMA 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art for Sony E-Mount – Today Only $579 at B&H

Special Deals

by Omri Keren LapidotDecember 4^th, 2023

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SIGMA’s 24mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art lens, among the fastest modern lenses around, is on sale today at B&H for only $579. As part of B&H daily deals, this professional fast prime’s price is cut by $270 from the regular $799. If you’re in the market for this kind of lens, then this option is worth considering.

Originally announced on Feb 10th, 2015 for Canon EF and Nikon F, later joined by an E-Mount version, the SIGMA 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art is still an impressive performer. SIGMA has recently announced a “true” mirrorless successor to this lens. Though the new lens is smaller, lighter, and has different optics, the older version is still an incredibly capable tool. It is also significantly cheaper than the newer 24mm DG DN. Today, the “old” SIGMA 24mm f/1.4 is on sale.

The SIGMA Art series

The lens is part of SIGMA’s influential Art series, part of the Japanese manufacturer’s global vision. It almost seems weird today, but back in the day, high-end fast prime lenses weren’t so easy to come by. Common practice took a softer image at the fastest aperture as a given. This kind of design usually maintains a level of compactness for most prime lenses at the cost of wide-open sharpness.

When SIGMA launched its Global Vision, starting with the SIGMA 35mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art, many thought such lenses were overkill. The photography world did just fine with traditional primes, soft at a fast aperture setting and super-sharp when going down to f/2.8-f/5.6, so why should someone mount such a beast to their camera?

Spoiler alert – SIGMA was right

Well, we all know how things have turned out. SIGMA’s new Art lenses became an almost instant success. Their extreme clinical sharpness in every setting made them a welcome addition to many photographers’ (and videographers’) kits. Build quality and reasonable prices also played their part. The last piece of the puzzle may be attributed to the rise of high-resolution full-frame cameras, such as Canon’s 5Ds R, Nikon’s 800D, and Sony’s a7R series. These fine sensors exposed the caveats in traditional optics, benefiting greatly from the modern, corrected, and refined SIGMA glass.

Who is it for?

Fast, wide primes find their place in many different scenarios. The excellent sharpness at f/1.4 serves the documentarists, be it on a wedding or a photojournalism assignment. The lens enables some extreme available light shooting scenarios. The wide aperture can also isolate close subjects from the background and is excellent for astronomy photographers (although they’ll probably go for something wider). The 24mm will also work for landscapes, cityscapes, and more.

Alternatives

As mentioned – The SIGMA 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art has an official successor, which is probably your closest alternative. It’s lighter, arguably better optically, and has some neat ergonomic upgrades such as an aperture ring, func button, etc. As a Sony user, one can also spoil oneself with the exquisite Sony FE 24mm f/1.4 GM Lens at more than twice the price (as long as the sale lasts). If you want the compact size and excellent image quality, SIGMA offers the very nice 24mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary

Price and availability

Just in case you jumped right here – the SIGMA 24mm F/1.4 DG HSM Art for Sony E-mount is now offered for only $579 at B&H. The offer ends today.

Is a fast, wide prime on your holiday wishlist? Did you manage to grab one in this sale or any other worth telling us about? Please let us know in the comments.