LensTip.com

Autofocus

According to the producers an original HLA motor (High Response Linear Actuator) is responsible for fast and precise focusing. Indeed, with the lens attached to the Sony A7R IIIa and the Sony A7R V is noiseless and really quick. We haven't noticed any distinct differences in the level of noise and speed between these two bodies. At the shorter end of the focal spectrum running through the whole distance range and confirming the focus takes 0.2-0.3 of a second, for the longer end it increases to near 0.4 of a second. Both these results are really very good.

When it comes to the accuracy we didn't notice any problems either. The lens fared very well both in studio and outside, no matter to what body, used in the test, it was attached.

The lens didn't have any front or back focus tendency. In case of the Sony A7R V at the maximum focal length, you can notice slight shift of depth of field toward the photographer but, fortunately, that DOF still manages to encompass the proper object.

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A7R IIIa, 50 mm, f/2.8

A7R IIIa, 70 mm, f/2.8

A7R IIIa, 105 mm, f/2.8

A7R V, 50 mm, f/2.8

A7R V, 70 mm, f/2.8

A7R V, 105 mm, f/2.8

Focus breathing

Focus breathing tests show reframing images as you oversharp them. We conduct the test by manually passing from the minimum focusing distance to infinity with the aperture stopped down; then we check how the field of view of the lens changed as a result.

A frame change ranging from 0 to 5% we consider to be low. Between 5 and 10% you can speak about medium levels. Usually such values constitute also the maximum efficiency level of any breathing compensation algorithms, present in some bodies. Between 10 and 15% focus breathing is high, above 15% its level can be called very high.

Below we show you the test video of the tested Sigma lens:

On the basis of the recording above, comparing freeze-frames before and after oversharpening, we can estimate that the breathing of the tested lens amounts to about 1.5% at the shortest focal length and is zero at 105 mm. In other words – a round of applause. Exactly such performance you would expect from an universal zoom with a fixed aperture speed so a lens that, most probably, will be a part of an optical arsenal of many filmmakers.