Recently, I was given the opportunity to shoot with one of Sigma’s newest lens releases, the 45mm F/2.8 DG DN, which is part of their Contemporary line. Sigma’s approach with the Contemporary series is to create lenses with superior optics combined with compactness and portability, all while maintaining a strong build and high performance. As a wedding and portrait photographer, these types of features mean the world to me.
As this lens was designed for the Sony E-Mount, I put it through real-life shooting scenarios paired with both the Sony a9 and Sony a7 III full-frame mirrorless cameras. As a photographer who shoots many different genres from day to day, I was able to test this lens across a few different types of sessions, situations, and environments. These included an engagement session at a nearby preserve, a wedding in Central Park NYC, and a lifestyle newborn session at my client’s home.
When I first received the lens, I was shocked by its light weight and extremely small size. This lens comes in just a hair over 7.5 oz (or about half the weight of the Sigma 35 1.4 Art) and is under two inches in length without the lens hood attached. This is significant when paired with a mirrorless camera body as you begin to experience an immediate shift in balance and comfort (in the best kinds of ways) the moment it is attached to your camera. Despite its small size, the build quality of this lens feels top-notch and right in-line with all of my previous experiences with Sigma lenses.
In addition to the actual lens itself, one of my favorite feature is actually the metal bayonet hood. The hood is aluminum, which also matches the same material used for the lens body. I’m used to the rather flimsy plastic lens hoods, that due to heavy use over the years no longer “click” and stay on securely, so this was a nice change. It may sound silly (and admittedly a bit dramatic) but due to the aluminum construction throughout, the sound I kept hearing pulling out this lens from my camera bag reminded me of the sound of a sword being removed from its sheath. To say the least, this lens is well-made and built for battle! In the hectic goings-on of a wedding day, these are the little things that matter to me.
Considered a normal/regular prime, Sigma really did a great job at making this lens practical and useful — and affordable — for all types of photographers from hobbyists to full-time professionals. Thinking beyond the scope of professional use, this would absolutely be one of the first pieces of glass I would consider taking along on a casual walk around the city or on vacation. It allows you to remain a bit more discrete and less obtrusive as you walk through crowds and that alone can make the whole photography experience that much more enjoyable.
A huge part of my success as a photographer often relies heavily on the quickness and accuracy of Auto Focus as important and un-repeatable moments happen in front of me. There’s no excuse for missing these moments that I am being paid to capture. So, I kept a close eye on this aspect of the lens and how well it performed paired with the already amazing focusing systems of the Sony a9 and a7 III. The experience and results did not let me down in any way whatsoever. Auto Focus was super quick, practically silent, but more importantly, accurate! Not much more you could ask for.
Now, if you like to slow things down, get in close, or take full control as you shoot, you will love the full-time manual focus feature paired with a 9.5-inch minimum focusing distance. If you shoot Sony, you can set up one of your many custom buttons to be dedicated to manual focus peaking and you’ve got the perfect setup for any composition that calls for manual focus.
With a maximum magnification ratio of 1:4, in those situations where you may want to get in just a bit tighter to your subject, you shouldn’t have any issues.
My overall experience working with this lens was a positive one. Throughout the course of a wedding day, I most often find myself at the 28-35mm range on one camera and 85mm (or longer) on the other. So, with that said, this 45mm lens was a more middle-ground piece of glass that forced me to consider slightly different compositions. But if there’s one thing that I absolutely loved, aside from the image quality, was the feel of the lens both in my hand and on the camera. It was designed to be the perfect prime for regular shooting and that’s exactly what it is. All this said, if you like a versatile prime (not too wide, not too long) and something that is light-weight and easy to carry around, this might just be the one for you.
Feature photo by Jesse Rinka
