Sigma A 35 mm f/1.4 DG HSM
5. Chromatic and spherical aberration
Chromatic aberration
One glance at the crops below and you see clearly that a big number of low dispersion elements manage to dampen the longitudinal chromatic aberration very well. To understand how painful that aberration can be in the case of fast lenses of this class it is enough to consult the respective chapter of our Nikkor AF-S 1.4/35G test.
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Similarly we can describe the correction of lateral chromatic aberration which never reaches even medium levels. Both on the edge of the APS-C/DX sensor and on the edge of full frame it remains negligible or low, no matter what aperture you use.
How does the Sigma compares here? The Nikkor 1.4/35G is being annihilated as its chromatic aberration reached a very high level, momentarily getting near 0.2%. The duel with the reputable Zeiss 1.4/35 is won by the Sigma as well although its advantage is no longer as obvious here as in the previous comparison with the Nikkor. The cheap Samyang competes with the Sigma on equal terms – its aberration never reached even a medium level. It might seem a paradox but out of the whole group of 1.4/35 lenses we have managed to test so far the cheapest instruments so the Samyang and the Sigma, actually corrected the aberration the best.
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Spherical aberration
The Sigma A 35 mm f/1.4 DG HSM didn’t show any „focus shift” problems so most likely it doesn’t have any significant issues with the spherical aberration. However it is not corrected in a perfect way – the photos of defocused light points positioned in front of and behind the focus are the proof. You can notice small local extremes which have opposite values in both circles.
