Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye Art Lens Is Fast and Unique
Alongside the Sigma 500mm f/5.6 DG DN OS Sports lens, Sigma has announced the 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye Art. The new lens is the world’s first-ever f/1.4 diagonal fisheye for interchangeable lens full-frame cameras.
With a 180-degree field of view, the 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye is designed to capture dramatic, sweeping landscapes. Thanks to its ultra-fast f/1.4 aperture, it also promises to be well-suited to night sky photography. Sigma also emphasizes that a fisheye lens can be an excellent choice for close-up action shots, such as when photographing extreme sports.
The lens features 21 elements across 15 groups, including four FLD, three SLD, and two aspherical elements. It promises to deliver high-resolution photos across the entire image area, even at f/1.4.
Sigma’s engineers also paid close attention to controlling sagittal coma flare, ensuring that the lens works well for astrophotography and renders stars as properly spherical. This is a very challenging aberration to correct, but Sigma has shown its ability to do so with other lenses, like the amazing 14mm f/1.4 DG DN Art released last year. It was PetaPixel‘s pick for the best prime lens of 2023.
Sigma is no stranger to f/1.4 wide-angle prime lenses, although the 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye is the widest of them all, at least in terms of field of view. The new 15mm f/1.4 joins the 14mm f/1.4 DG DN, plus the 20mm f/1.4 and 24mm f/1.4 DG DN primes as great candidates for low-light wide-angle photography, including astrophotography.
The new fisheye lens has some interesting tricks up its sleeve. The lens includes a lens heater retainer, a small step at the front of the lens to prevent a belt-shaped heat strip from protruding over the front element. The heat strip helps prevent condensation from forming inside the lens when the ambient temperature drops.
The lens also includes a unique cover lens cap with two slots to securely store rear filters — the lens has a rear filter holder to use sheet-type filters — and a locking mechanism.
Like many other Sigma lenses, the lens has an Arca-Swiss compatible tripod socket. The detachable tripod foot is designed with the lens heater in mind.
With a High-response Linear Actuator (HLA) autofocus system, the new fisheye lens promises high focusing speed and exceptional precision. The lens can focus as close as 15.2 inches (38.5 centimeters), resulting in a 1:16 maximum magnification ratio.
Unsurprisingly, the fast fisheye lens is not exactly small or lightweight. It weighs 1,360 grams (48 ounces) including the tripod foot and is 6.2 inches (157.9 millimeters) long. The maximum diameter is 4.1 inches (104 millimeters).
Modern mirrorless camera systems have a surprising lack of fisheye lenses, so it is terrific to see Sigma fill the void.
Sample Images
Pricing and Availability
The Sigma 15mm f/1.4 DG DN Diagonal Fisheye Art lens will begin shipping in mid-March for $1,999. It will launch in E and L-Mount versions.
Image credits: Sigma
