56mm F/1.4 DC DN Contemporary Lens for E-Mount Mirrorless Cameras (APS-C Format, Black)

Amazing lens. If one did their research, they’d know that this is the one and only go-to and budget portrait lens for APSC right now. I won’t write about the features here as it’s all there on multiple YT videos. I’m instead going to focus on who should get it and why one should get it over/along the kit lens – because I’m not a professional and have spent quite some time wondering whether I should shell my money on extra lenses as an enthusiast. Who: Doesn’t matter if you’re a professional or an enthusiast. If you take a lot of portraits, or like street photography, or mostly go out shooting in evening/low-light conditions, go for this lens. Why: 1. If you’ve spent your money on expensive cameras like a6400/a6600, you’re not doing them enough justice with the kit lens. I have the 18-135 kit lens and although it’s an amazing all-rounder, it just falls short in certain areas. Kit/zoom lenses are engineered to accommodate a range of focal lengths and that is achieved with some trade offs like vignettes, softness over the higher focal lengths, significant barrel distortions at the narrow and wide end, etc. 2. The F1.4 aperture of Sigma is wide enough for low-light photography and beautiful portraits with good subject separation. If you’re pulling your camera out at an event, those pictures better be good :) Cons: 1. There is a slight barrel distortion but it’s a little trade off for what this lens has to offer at this price. 2. Focal length difficult to work with in tight spaces like rooms, etc. — I have attached full/cropped pictures for side by side comparison of images taken on the sigma and the kit lens to give a perspective on the differences. The pictures have been taken at minimum focal distance possible and I’ve tried to keep the images similar for better comparison. Update (after few months of use) ———— In love with this lens! I must admit that it’s a little difficult to work with in tight spaces (indoors in general) but I keep finding my self reaching out for this instead of the kit lens whenever I’m heading out. This one’s a no brainier for portraits, food, and objects in general given you have a little space to shuffle around. It’s even good for street photography if you want to keep a safe distance from subjects and don’t want to stick your camera into people’s faces. Attached few more pictures from the lens.

Best lens you can buy for Sony A6XXX cameras. It's so sharp that I had to take away the sharpness and clarity in Lightroom. 10/10 price to performance. You can't get a better quality lens than this at this price point

EDIT (11-Apr-2021): Added some more sample shots I just got this yesterday so I haven't used the lens much and can't comment on every aspect of it but I've attached 2 photos of a table fan along with 100% zoom/crop of certain regions from those photos. As you can see, this lens is tack sharp, even at the widest aperture of F1.4. At F2.0, the image looks the sharpest to me but I haven't shot many photos to be able to judge this. In my sample shots, you can see every little speck of dust and tiny little cloth fibers as well. These are pretty much invisible to the naked eye unless you look really close at the thing you're shooting. The images have some barrel distortion but I could hardly notice the difference even after correcting the distortion in Lightroom, except on some images where I took pictures of geometric objects. Be sure to capture RAW or RAW+JPEG with this lens because the lens profile is embedded into the RAW files so you can correct lens distortion and chromatic aberrations with two clicks in Lightroom using the embedded profile. This is not available if you shoot only JPEGs. Speaking of chromatic aberrations, I noticed some purple fringing on the edges of object outlines on a couple of photos that I took with flash enabled. It's not too bad and Lightroom can correct it if you shoot RAW but honestly, I think the fringing just makes since images look better but that's subjective. Video autofocus is alright. Good even, but definitely not like a native Sony lens. I think my 16-50mm kit lens does better autofocus. It worked fine for me most of the times but sometimes it'll just take way too long to focus. One minor downside (for me) is that the focus ring is very smooth and because of that, while screwing the lens onto the lens mount, it'd slip and I'd have to hold the non movable parts of the lens to screw it on. It's a minor gripe and I'm sure it'll get easier the more times I do this. Another downside is that it doesn't have OSS but you knew that already. If you have steady hands, you're good. If not, just get a gimbal or a tripod. DJI Ronin SC should have gotten cheaper now. I don't have steady hands but I was still able to take sharp photos most of the time, even while focusing manually. I'm using this with a Sony A6400 and I own the Sigma 16mm F1.4 as well. They're both great lenses and the 16mm even got a firmware update that makes manually focusing a whole lot easier. I might update my review after I've used the lens more but don't count on it. Cheers! 20/10 would recommend

oh man using it by 2 months in my sony a6400 amazing sharp lens as always from sigma. i have sigma wide angle 16 mm too that's why i can't stop my self buying this one too, if you are into portrait photography just go with this lens no regrets - i have done a full unboxing review and test video of this lens on my youtube channel- " Nitin Tns Green " just go and watch i'm sure my video will help you more to make your choice to buy or not and yah thanks me later there :)

SIGMA 56mm F1.4 prime lens is one of the best lenses out there for sony APS-C series. The image quality this lens delivers is truly remarkable. The sharpness and clarity of the images it produces is fantastic, with stunning bokeh effects in my portraits. The low light performance is also great, especially for outdoor nigh-time street photography. I've tested this lens in various environments, including rain and wet conditions, and it has consistently performed without any issues. Its build quality and weather sealing makes it reliable and durable. I've attached a few sample images to this review to demonstrate its capabilities. You can see more of these images on my Instagram (i_aakashahuja). Cheers!

plus -super scherp -heel lichtsterk -compact -goede bouwmaterialen min -geen stabilisatie dussss geweldige lens voor de prijs

Everytime i take a photo - it’s fantastic. I do not regret my purchase.

Unfortunately amazon is notorious for the fake reviews so reading that some received used lenses was not very encouraging even though i bought that Sony 35mm f1.8 back in 2013 from Amazon when Amazon didn’t have other retailers and there was less fake Chinese products around. Anyways, back to the Sigma 56mm f1.4, this lens was as stated sold as new and it was easy to judge since i bought Sigma 16mm f1.4 from a local store and could easily compare to check if anything was off or fishy. This is just first impression since i bought this Sigma 56mm like 3 days ago and used it briefly with the Sony A6400 so tested the AF-C, AF-S and there is no sound from the motor when compared to the God father Sony 35mm f1.8 which has a very slight motor sound when AF-S. Snapped a couple of portraits at 1.4 and i was blown away. The definition of sharpnesses is this Sigma 56mm f1.4 CN for the Sony APS-c primes yet. Will be updating this review after having more time to test this new favourite lens. Bought this lens without any deal at 3 988,06 SEK while Sigma had it on offer on their website at 404$ (down from 479). Highly recommended even at full price whether that on Amazon, local store or from Sigma.

The Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary is an absolute gem for APS-C shooters. I use it on my Sony FX30, and the results are stunning—especially from f/2.8 onward, where it becomes insanely sharp across the frame. Even wide open at f/1.4, the center sharpness is impressive, and by f/2.8 it reaches a level of clarity that rivals much more expensive glass. The lens delivers beautiful, creamy bokeh that makes it ideal for portraits, interviews, and cinematic shots. Autofocus is fast, silent, and accurate, even in low light. Despite its compact size, it feels solid and well-built, with a metal mount and smooth focus ring. It’s lightweight enough to stay on the camera all day, and its 85mm full-frame equivalent focal length makes it perfect for isolating subjects while maintaining a natural perspective. There’s minimal chromatic aberration, excellent contrast, and no noticeable distortion. For the price, this lens is unbeatable. If you shoot with Sony E-mount APS-C cameras and want professional-level image quality in a small package, the Sigma 56mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary is a must-have.

Not a lens I use a lot but wow when I do it's stunning!