Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II Art Review: Return of the King

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Sigma created an art form out of its Art series of lenses. They are beautiful, professional, and often chosen over OEM options. But there is always room for improvement, and the Art series has been on the market for a minute, so new technology inevitably leads to new updates. It could be argued that the Sigma 35mm F/1.4 Art is one of the most popular primes in the Sigma arsenal, and now we have a successor.

A Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art camera lens stands upright on a brown surface with a light gray, textured background. The lens is black with visible markings and adjustment rings.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II Art Review: How It Feels

I took the new $1,059 Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG II Art on the streets of Calgary to see what the latest technology brings to the table. From a size standpoint, the new version is slightly smaller than before. It still retains the 67mm filter diameter from the first version, but the weight drops to 18.7 ounces (530 grams). The manual focus ring is smooth and easy to find; there are multiple customizable buttons, and a true aperture ring can be found. I like that there is an AF/MF switch, and the aperture ring can be set for de-clicked functionality.

Close-up photo of a black camera lens showing detailed focus and mode switches, a focus distance marking of 0.28m/0.92 feet to infinity, and the words "MADE IN JAPAN" engraved on the lens barrel.

A black camera lens with a visible green reflection is placed on its side on a brown surface, next to a detached lens cap, with a textured gray and white background.

Close-up of a camera lens showing a large ribbed focus ring, a circular button labeled "CLICK" with positions for "OFF" and "ON," and two small switches above it with white markings.

Like all Art series lenses, the housing is sealed against most splashes and dust. You get a hood included with the lens, which clicks in place with a locking mechanism. As usual, the new 35mm f/1.4 Art II feels like a high-quality optic, despite its smaller and lighter proportions.

A close-up of a black camera lens with focus and aperture adjustment dials, labeled markings, and textured grip panels, placed on a smooth surface with a blurred gray background.

A close-up of a Sigma camera lens with a lens hood attached, placed upright on a smooth surface against a light, textured background. The lens features focus and zoom rings and labeled controls.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II Art Review: How It Shoots

Flare is incredibly well-controlled with minimal ghosting at tighter apertures, and almost no loss of contrast. The shallow hood can block any extraneous light. I was also impressed with the sunstars at the tightest apertures. You will get distinct star shapes with long tines and good definition. There was also very little LoCA, or longitudinal chromatic aberration. The first version had issues with LoCA and would often show green and magenta color fringing in out-of-focus areas. This new version handles LoCA much better, and although it was present, it was minor.

A modern office building with glass windows reflects sunlight, creating wavy light patterns on its facade. The sun is partially visible behind the rooftop, and a blue sky is in the background.

Two side-by-side photos of a chair base on a yellow surface outdoors, with buildings and the sun in the background. The left image is blurry (f/1.4), while the right image is sharp and clear (f/16).

A chain-link fence casts shadows on pavement lit by strong sunlight, highlighting a bright yellow painted line on the ground. The scene appears to be part of an industrial or parking area.

The bokeh has a bit of a soap bubble halo around specular highlights, but I like the cat’s eye swirl at f/1.4. Otherwise, the highlights are smooth and clean, and the backgrounds look soft and without distractions. I especially like faster 35mm lenses because I can get a natural separation between my subjects and the background. This latest lens does a really nice job of rendering smooth backgrounds and transitions of focus.

Side-by-side portraits of a man with short hair and a goatee, wearing a dark jacket, standing outside near a brick wall. The left photo (f/1.4) has a blurrier background; the right photo (f/8) is more in focus.

A person with bright red hair, wearing a black jacket and blue jeans, walks on a sunny sidewalk next to a modern glass building, carrying a black and pink bag over their shoulder.

A man with short hair and a goatee looks seriously at the camera in a black and white portrait. He is wearing a dark jacket and standing against a dark, blurred background.

The older lens naturally used a slower stepping motor to perform autofocus. Now that we have a new version, we also get the latest dual high-speed linear motors that we have in the new 35mm f/1.2 Art lens released last year. Focusing is quick and effortless now, and you should be able to handle anything you would need it to. Any street photography, low-light concert shooting, or action work is easily doable with the fast focusing motors. I also checked the lens for breathing issues. This is where the field of view can change dramatically while focusing the lens, and it can be very distracting when recording video. The new Sigma has almost none, which is a very impressive upgrade from the first version.

A person in dark clothing walks along a sidewalk beside a brick wall with graffiti. The wall casts a shadow from a streetlight, and a "No Loitering" sign is visible. The street is muddy with puddles in the foreground.

A yellow fire hydrant surrounded by snow is on a city sidewalk. In the background, a security guard in black uniform walks past a red brick building.

A person in a red safety vest and cap walks past the entrance to LEWIS LOFTS, with sunlight casting strong shadows on the building’s red brick and tan walls. The person appears to be looking at a phone.

Sharpness is something that I fully expected the new 35mm lens to excel at. Sigma has been on a roll, making excellent lenses with amazing clarity. However, this new 35mm was even more impressive than expected. At f/1.4, the center of the image is razor-sharp with decent contrast. When I stopped down the aperture, I noticed a little more overall contrast, but it was already an excellent result. What most impressed me was the excellent corner sharpness, though. Corners are something that usually become a secondary thought, but the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II has amazing clarity in the corners at the widest apertures. Basically, this lens is sharp right from f/1.4, anywhere you decide to focus the lens.

Side-by-side comparison of two camera test charts labeled f/1.4 (left) and f/2.8 (right), showing color strips, grayscale bars, resolution patterns, and currency images to test lens sharpness and color accuracy.

Two test charts labeled "f/1.4" and "f/2.8" show a Canadian one-dollar bill at the top, large black triangles, a resolution chart, and various alignment marks on a white background.

A person in silhouette walks in front of a parking garage exit. The garage exterior features a colorful, abstract mural with leaves and geometric shapes. A bright EXIT sign is visible above the entrance.

Sigma 35mm f/1.4 II Art Review: Near Perfection

This is an easy lens to review because it’s almost perfect. Sigma corrected every issue we had with the first version of the lens, which was a great optic in its own right. But this time around, the incredibly popular 35mm focal length gets a big update and is still reasonable at the price of $1,059.

In L-Mount, this is the obvious choice for the best 35mm lens available. Sony does make an incredibly good 35mm f/1.4 G Master lens, but it is six hundred dollars more and gives comparable image quality results. V

Viltrox makes a LAB series 35mm f/1.2, and of course, Sigma has a new 35mm f/1.2, too. However, both lenses are heavier and have some image quality compromises to accommodate the wider f/1.2 aperture. I don’t personally think it’s worth it, and would probably go for this latest Art series lens if I wanted a 35mm focal length. 35mm might not be my favorite focal length, but it is very popular with many photographers, and you cannot go wrong with this latest addition to the Sigma Art line of optics.

Two people stand and talk on a snowy sidewalk between parked cars, with dramatic shadow patterns cast on the street and building behind them; scene is in black and white.

A person’s legs wearing gray socks and black-and-orange Nike sneakers are visible through the glass of a modern building or vehicle, with sunlight reflecting on the glass.

Gold numbers "323" are displayed on a dark wooden surface, with a slightly blurred background showing rows of colorful objects behind a glass window.

Are There Alternatives?

Panasonic only makes a 35mm f/1.8, which is definitely more affordable, but doesn’t have the optical sophistication of this lens. Sony offers a far more expensive version of this lens with almost the same image quality results. Might as well save some money.

Shadowed alleyway with concrete and brick walls, a yellow railing on the right, and sunlight illuminating part of the ground. A small puddle reflects light near the alley’s entrance, with a white building visible in the background.

Sunlight casts shadows on tiled steps, with the number "224" clearly visible on the middle step. A blurry reflection and handrail are seen in the foreground.

A black and white photo of an urban alleyway under an overpass, featuring a chain-link fence, brick walls with vents, and a diagonal beam of sunlight cutting through the shadows.