Catching up with Sigma's news

[DPNow]

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Sigma was the star of last month's PMA trade show at Anaheim, California. The company unveiled five exciting new lenses covering the whole focal length range. If that wasn't enough Sigma revealed two revised Foveon X3 sensor DP compacts and finally announced that the long-gestation Sigma SD15 DSLR is just about ready to ship. We spoke at length with Sigma UK's general manager, Graham Armitage, about the Sigma's news.

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[Ian]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

I'm showing my age a bit, but I can remember Sigma back in the late 70s - their lenses were ambitious back then, but usually disappointed when it came to image quality. That was in the days of 3rd party lens brand dominance of Tamron and, of course, Vivitar (what's happened to them!?).

These days Sigma is a highly respected leader of the independent lens manufacturing industry and while they continue to innovate, their lenses usually delivery very good image quality. Not bad for a company that used to be a bit of a joke and that is still privately owned by the family that originally set it up.

Ian

[peter]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

I do like sigma and have two in my bag. one is the older 70-200mm f2.8 and a 24-60mm 2.8. Both work really well. Nice to see to see they are making the new 70-200mm with os now. If it is good that should give canon a run for their money .

[Stephen]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

I do like sigma and have two in my bag. one is the older 70-200mm f2.8 and a 24-60mm 2.8. Both work really well. Nice to see to see they are making the new 70-200mm with os now. If it is good that should give canon a run for their money .

Apparently Canon are having great difficulty keeping up with demand for their latest version of their 70-200f2.8L IS and that's when it costs over twice as much as the previous version It must make the Sigma version an even more attractive proposition

[peter]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

Apparently Canon are having great difficulty keeping up with demand for their latest version of their 70-200f2.8L IS and that's when it costs over twice as much as the previous version It must make the Sigma version an even more attractive proposition

Yes the price for the old one was bad enough but the new one is way out there. Yes I know it is good and you get what you pay for but you are right this will make the sigma one look good to new buyers.

[Bob Ross]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

I'm showing my age a bit, but I can remember Sigma back in the late 70s - their lenses were ambitious back then, but usually disappointed when it came to image quality. That was in the days of 3rd party lens brand dominance of Tamron and, of course, Vivitar (what's happened to them!?).

These days Sigma is a highly respected leader of the independent lens manufacturing industry and while they continue to innovate, their lenses usually delivery very good image quality. Not bad for a company that used to be a bit of a joke and that is still privately owned by the family that originally set it up.

Ian

HI Ian,
Vivitar started out an American company located in Santa Monica. They were an account of mine at work and at home I had and still have many of their products. They sold out to Hanimax in Australia (I lost the account at work), which changed them into a consumer camera outfit. As I recall Hanimax passed them on to some people in Taiwan. They do have some current low price products, but not the blood line to go with them.
Of all the stuff I have, I don't have a single Sigma product nor Tokina. Sigma's unit variations put me off. The new changes in lenses and cameras does show that there is a tight relationship between mfr. and user and that harks back to the days of Vivitar.
Bob

[Ian]

Re: Catching up with Sigma's news

I really like the attention to detail that Sigma have shown; for example although the new 50-500 bigma requires a larger filter thread, they include a stepping ring for users who are upgrading from the old version so they can still use filters acquired for the smaller thread of the original - it only works for non full-frame users, but it's still a nice thought and gesture.

My only dislike about Sigma lenses these days is the matt finish they tend to use on their lens barrels. I do prefer the glossier finish most other lens makers use.

ian