Sigma C 28-70 mm f/2.8 DG DN review

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Sigma C 28-70 mm f/2.8 DG DN

24 March 2025

Maciej Latałło

1. Introduction

Less than half a century ago the photographic market saw first journalistic 35-70 mm lenses with the fixed f/2.8 aperture. With the development of optics and technical possibilities the focal range of such instruments was enlarged to 28-70 m and then to 24-70 mm.

Simultaneously journalistic zoom lenses with even wider angles of view have been developed, and they offered a greater diversity, because their focal ranges started from 15-20 mm and ended at 30-40 mm.

Sigma C 28-70 mm f/2.8 DG DN - Introduction

The result was such that many owners of 24-70 mm f/2.8 instruments decided to add also a 16-35 mm f/2.8 model to their photo bag; as a result they had to carry around two lenses of significant physical dimensions and weight and, additionally, their focal ranges overlapped.

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Some producers hit upon an idea to make a small step backwards and allow photographers to reduce the weight and dimensions of their bags, not to mention saving their budgets. They used a universal 28-70 mm zoom and complemented it with an ultra wide angle model which focal length started at 16-17 mm and ended at 28 mm.

Tamron, Nikon and lately also Canon followed that path; Sigma also decided to take a leaf out of their book, by presenting in February 2021 the Sigma C 28-70 mm f/2.8 DG DN, and several months later complementing it with the C 16-28 mm f/2.8 DG DN.

I admit the situation is rather strange: even though I had an opportunity to use both Sigma instruments very intensively during my my Lofoten trip, somehow I failed to put them through our test procedures. I decided to fix it and this way the Sigma C 28-70 mm f/2.8 DG DN landed in our editorial office to be examined thoroughly.

You are also invited to get acquainted with our test procedure, described in the article "How do we test lenses?" If you feel it’s still not enough, please go to our FAQ section where you can find some further explanation.