The Sigma Corporation is a Japanese company established in 1961. The company deals with the production of cameras, lenses, flashlights, and other photography accessories. They are well known for manufacturing high-quality lenses that are compatible with cameras manufactured by other companies, such as Sony. The Sigma Corporation is the world’s largest independent lens manufacturer.
The Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro lens is the first macro lens from the Sigma Corporation. This lens is one of the best macro lenses for the Sony a6500 camera. It’s a high-quality zoom lens with exceptional image quality, compactness, and performance. The latest technology makes the Sigma 70mm lens extremely lightweight compared to previous Sigma lenses.
The lens features a minimum focusing distance of 25.8cm and 1:1 magnification, which enables it to shoot at a small distance from the subject. The Sigma 70mm lens captures the smallest of details without compromising on quality. The image quality and compactness that this lens has to offer to give you a lot of flexibility in what you can shoot.
The Sigma 70mm is a must-have for macro photography. It’s also a great lens to shoot high-quality portraits, wedding photos, and magazine covers with. This lens is a popular choice among video directors as it captures shots and scenes that smoothly portray every tiny detail and thus are able to attract public attention.
The lens also allows beginners and professionals to explore photography from a new macro perspective. The smooth and rhythmic zoom will enable photographers to quickly take pictures with the right focus and perfect timing. Hence, the Sigma 70mm lens makes capturing precise and sharp photos easy.
The Sigma 70mm holds a great reputation among photographers, directors, and videographers due to its excellent features. Below, we’ve given a detailed review of the Sigma 70mm lens to allow you to learn more about its general specifications and functionality.
Performance And Functionality
- Lens Type: MacroFilter size 49mm
- Focal length 70mm
- Magnification 1:1
- Format: full frame
- Minimum aperture f/22
- Maximum aperture f/2.8
- Minimum focusing distance 25.8cm/10.2 in
- Number of blades: 9
- Lens construction: 13 elements in 10 groups
- The angle of view: 34.3 degrees
- Weight: 515g/ 18.2 oz
- Compatible with the Sony E-mount cameras
- Dimension: 95mm x 76mm / 3.7 in x 3.0 in
First Macro Lens In The Art Line
The Sigma 70mm is the first macro lens from Sigma, manufactured with the art badge. The lens is designed to prioritize optical performance, fulfilling any demanding image quality requirements you may have. The incredible resolution and clarity provided by the Sigma 70 mm exceeds the expectations for a macro lens.
The coreless DC motor further improves the quality of images while offering exceptionally smooth autofocus output for a high-resolution lens with an optimized algorithm. Professional photographers call the SIGMA 70mm macro lens a legendary, razor-sharp macro lens.
This macro lens is well suited for close-ups since it is able to define plenty of details and focus on the smallest of things, which can be easily neglected by other lenses. This function ensures that macro photography is done with ease, and you get the most detailed shots possible.
Optical Performance
The Sigma 70mm features an extending, floating, two-group focus mechanism that results in top-level output at any shooting distance. At any focus distance, this mechanism will minimize aberration to produce an optimal result.
The optical system includes two FLD glass elements, two SLD glass elements, one anomalous partial dispersion, and one element with a high index of refraction in order to minimize both spherical and chromatic aberration and produce high clarity, sharpness, and color accuracy.
To increase the resolution of images at any shooting distance, two aspherical lens elements are incorporated in the Sigma 70mm. A razor-sharp in-focus area free of color streaking is made possible by this optical system.
Minimizes Flare And Ghosting
The Sigma’s multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting. This ensures that the images you take with the Sigma 70mm are sharp and high contrast images, even in strong lighting conditions. The lens hood, which comes with the lens, can be attached to block out any extra light that can lead to flare, ghosting, or shadows in images.
Focus-By-Wire System Provides Comfortable And Precise Focusing
The focus-by-wire system helps get rid of the direct mechanical contact between the focusing ring and the focus drive system. The coreless DC motor of the Sigma 70mm adjusts the focus with optimal speed and low noise.
Along with autofocus, a manual focus is also there, allowing you to make minute focus adjustments by simply rotating the focus ring. The focus ring’s large angle of rotation is also ideal for the extremely precise focusing requirements in macro photography.
The autofocus and manual focus capabilities of the Sigma 70mm are impressive. The focus limiting setting also works quickly and allows you to focus on small moving objects.
Compatibility With Sony E-Mount Cameras
This version of the lens is also compatible with E-mount mirrorless cameras that were initially designed for SLRs. You don’t need a Sigma Mount Converter MC-11 to use this lens. The Sigma 70mm performs the same function as the converter, along with in-camera image stabilization and in-camera lens aberration correction.
Even if you don’t need the MC-11 to work this camera with the a6500, you can still use it if you wish to. The Mount converter MC-11 allows you to use SIGMA SA mount and SIGMA EOS mount interchangeable lenses with the Sony E-mount camera body.
Sharpness
The Sigma 70mm is the best macro lens for the Sony a6500. It is best known for its macro shots that are consistently sharp and provide extreme clarity. The reason the Sigma 70mm is able to perform so well is that it is specially designed to capture tiny details with high clarity.
Compatible With Canon Lens Aberration Correction
The Canon mount version of this lens is compatible with the canon lens aberration correction functions. This function performs in-camera correction of peripheral illumination, chromatic aberrations, distortions to further improve the quality of an image.
Magnification
The Sigma7 0mm offers 1:1 magnification, which is full-size magnification. This makes images more visible without interfering with quality. A 1:1 magnification ensures that photos don’t come out blurry and dull, but with plenty of contrast.
The Sigma 70mm has been reviewed by many users online. Many different photographers and videographers have analyzed different features of this lens, which can give you a clear idea of how the lens performs.
User Interface And Control System
The overall size of the Sigma 70mm lens makes it super easy to hold. The lens comes with a large lens hood that protects the lens from dust, moisture, and sunlight. Since it is super easy to carry, you can easily travel with it.
It consists of the following parts:
- Focus ring
- Depth of field indicator
- Lens specifications marking
- Distance indicator
- Wide angle side setting
- Focus/ zoom index
- Zoom ring
- Focus switch
- Lens hood
- Lens Mount
- Diaphragm control ring
- Macro switch
- Aperture scale
- Image stabilization controls
Focus Rings
The Sigma 70 mm lens has an autofocus and manual focus mode. The autofocus works automatically. When you switch over to manual focus, you’ll need to rotate the focus ring present at the side of the lens. On rotating the focus ring, you won’t experience any stiffness or irritating noise. The focus system is quick, silent, and reliable.
Rounded Diaphragm
The 9 blade rounded diaphragm creates an attractive blur in images. These round blades can go down to a minimum aperture of f/22. The resulting effect is a beautiful bokeh, which is excellent for macro pictures.
The aperture control buttons are present on the camera body, and the aperture can be adjusted using camera control. The aperture range is from f/2.8 to f/22.
UV Filter
The lens comes with a Sigma WR UV Filter (49mm). This prevents any bluish tone that may appear in your photographs, especially when you’re photographing under sunny conditions. The filter itself is colorless and doesn’t affect any color reproduction.
Build Quality And Design
The Sigma Corporation is best known for producing highly durable lenses. The lens hood that comes with the 70mm is durable and does a good job of protecting it. The lens hood can be easily removed when not in use.
The Sigma 70mm lens is small and compact, weighing around 515g and measuring 10.6cm in length. It’s also extremely easy to set up on a tripod.
The lens has 13 elements in 10 groups. The angle of view is 34.3 degrees and the filter size of the lens is 49mm.
Lens Mount
The lens comes with a rubber sealing that protects the lens from dust, moisture, and water droplets, all of which can damage the lens. The lens mount protects the lens from the surrounding light as well, which can affect photo quality and cause flare and ghosting.
The brass mount has a rugged construction. The surface of the lens and the enhanced strength contribute to the exceptional durability of the lens.
Thermally Stable Composite Material
The Sigma 70mm lens is constructed using a thermally stable composite (TSC) material and traditional metals. TSC is used for greater precision and wide temperature variations. The optical elements are made using a high-grade glass and consist of a non-rotating 49mm filter thread.
Structural Parts
Two major structural parts constitute the overall structure of the Sigma 70mm lens – the front and the rear. The front part of the lens moves in and out of the rear section while zooming. The zoom ring is present on the front part and is smaller than the focus ring, which is present on the rear part.
The rear part moves during focus. Focus rings are present at the rear end and can be rotated manually when in manual focus mode. You can easily switch from autofocus to manual focus with the help of a switch.
Lens Handling
The Sigma 70mm lens is not resistant to extreme weather conditions. However, it comes with many accessories that will help you take care of then lens while traveling.
When you wish to clean the lens, use soft cotton or silk cloth, and wipe it in a circular motion to prevent scratching. Both the front and the rear part of the lens should be taken proper care of.
Conclusion
The Sigma 70mm f/2.8 DG Macro is the best macro lens for the Sony a6500 is. It attracts a user’s attention due to its striking features. It’s a great option for anyone who is passionate about photography, and it can be used to cover weddings, take high-quality portraits, magazine shoots, or food photography.
Lens contribute a lot to the quality of an image. They capture all the details, and the sharpness and contrast of an image are dependent on the lens. Sigma is well known for producing high-quality lenses. The Sigma 70mm is the first macro lens by Sigma that commands attention due to the sharp, clear, and high-quality photos it produces.
One of the top features of this lens is its autofocus capability. Its autofocus can easily switch over to manual focus, and you can adjust for minor details in no time and with no hassle.
The Sigma 70mm is an excellent choice for anyone looking to take macro shots. This is because the lens is able to focus on all the tiny details of an object and accurately depict reality in images. Close-up shots and ring shots are easy with the Sigma 70mm lens.
The Sigma 70mm lens will save your time and reduce any problems of flare, ghosting, and vignetting. These issues can make photos blurry and dull but are adequately dealt with by the lens.
The build quality of the Sigma 70mm lens is amazing. The lens is lightweight and compact, making it easy to carry. The Sigma 70mm allows you to focus with accuracy and gives you perfect shots. The bokeh produced by this lens is also exceptional.
The Sigma 70mm is widely used by many photographers and holds an exceptional reputation in the industry. Its range of features makes it a go-to for macro photography as well.
