While not as new or celebrated as its bigger sibling, the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art lens, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens seemed like a worthy candidate to test with my new Nikon D850. After using it off and on for a few weeks, I’m impressed with its combination of features, image quality, and value. It delivers excellent results for a value-price of $849 from B&H, compared to $2,000 for the Nikon AF-S 24mm f/1.4G ED Lens.

Filoli Garden courtyard, Woodside, California.
Nikon D850, Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, 1/350s @ f/6, ISO 200

Build and Features

Like all of Sigma’s Art and Sport lenses, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens is very-well built, with a pro-quality finish. The lens has 7 ED elements among its 15 elements, arrayed in 11 groups. Two of them are aspherical, and specialized multi-coatings are used to reduce ghosting and flare. It includes a high-speed focusing motor and has manual focus override. It also features a blissfully-standard 77mm thread for filters. Like the other Art lenses, it can be used with Sigma’s unique USB dock, that can fine-tune lens settings and upgrade firmware if needed.

Filoli Mansion Pool, Woodside, California.
Nikon D850, Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, 1/90s @ f/8, ISO 100

Image Quality

As tested by DxOMark, the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens was a top performer among alternatives when paired with the (then) top-of-the-line Nikon D810 body. It did a great job across the board in DxOMark tests comparing it to the Zeiss and Nikon versions:

If you want to see how well the lens would perform on your camera, or check out its detailed test results, they’re online on DxOMark’s website. Numbers aside, I certainly couldn’t find anything to complain about in the image quality from this lens. It did well in a variety of tough lighting conditions, with very limited flare, and provided all the detail I could hope for.

To give you an idea of how little distortion this lens has, I turned off the Lens correction feature of Adobe Camera Raw when processing it. Even with no correction distortion is barely visible. Once you turn on correction, it disappears completely (of course perspective issues and volume deformation don’t magically disappear – here I’m talking about barrel & pincushion distortion):

Nikon D850, Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, 1/6000s @ f/16, ISO 12800
This is with Lens Correction turned off, and also provides an excellent example of the D850’s high ISO performance

Nikon D850, Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens, 1/750s @ f/6.5, ISO 400

Sample Image Gallery

I’ve been testing my Nikon D850 with both the Sigma 24mm f/1.4 Art lens and the Sigma 85mm f/1.4 Art lens. I’ve posted a gallery of sample images from the two lenses. Some are original JPEGs and some are Raws that I saved from Adobe Camera Raw (Lightroom and Optics Pro don’t yet support RAW from the D850) as sRGB JPEGs, resized for easier web viewing, and with screen sharpening applied:

Sigma 24mm F/1.4 Specs

Performance

Focal Length
24mm
Comparable 35mm Equivalent on DX Format Focal Length: 36 mm

Aperture
Maximum: f/1.4
Minimum: f/16

Camera Mount Type
Nikon F

Format Compatibility
Nikon FX/35mm Film
Nikon DX

Angle of View
84.1°

Minimum Focus Distance
9.84" (25 cm)

Maximum Reproduction Ratio
1:5.3

Elements/Groups
15 / 11

Diaphragm Blades
9, Rounded

Features

Autofocus
Yes

Physical

Filter Thread
Front:77 mm

Dimensions (DxL)
Approx. 3.35 x 3.55" (85 x 90.2 mm)

Weight
1.46 lb (665 g)

Packaging Info

Package Weight
2.15 lb

Box Dimensions (LxWxH)
5.7 x 4.9 x 4.6"