Sigma 23mm F1.4 DC DN Contemporary lens for L-Mount 

Designed for crop sensor mirrorless cameras, the 23mm has an equivalent focal length of 35mm, making it a versatile wide-standard prime that is well suited to street photography, landscapes, wider-angle portraits, weddings and travel.

Its F1.4 aperture ensures fast shutter speeds for working hand-held in low-light conditions, and also provides a very shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds.

• APS-C Format
• f/1.4 to f/16
• 35mm (Full-Frame Equivalent)
• Excellent Low-Light Performance
• Fast Internal Focus System
• Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
• Dust & Splash-Resistant Design

Despite its very fast aperture the lens weighs only 340g, so it’s easily light enough to carry around all day, and the build is sleek yet robust.

Optical performance is exceptional, with very sharp results across the whole frame at all aperture settings.

Inner Focusing Technology

The lens benefits from inner focusing technology, with a stepping motor that delivers smooth, fast and accurate AF for both stills and video. It has been designed with lighter glass elements in the focus lens group, which ensures responsive autofocus that is fully compatible with all the latest AF camera technology.

High-performance Optics

Despite weighing only 340g, the 23mm F1.4 DC DN | C delivers outstanding optical quality across the whole frame, even on high-resolution sensors.

Its advanced optical design is made up of 13 elements in 10 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and 3 SLD elements. These ensure razor-sharp results and help to eliminate common optical issues such as chromatic aberration, flare and vignetting.

In-Camera Digital Correction

The lens also utilises in-camera digital correction to fine-tune the final result.

Important for a wide-angle lens, optical performance is maintained across the whole frame, meaning fine detail is captured perfectly right into the corners.

Chromatic aberration is very well-controlled around areas of high contrast, and vignetting is minimal even wide-open. The lens has advanced optical coatings which reduce flare and ghosting when working in bright direct sunlight – important on a wide-angle lens.

Excellent low-light performance

The lens has a very bright maximum aperture of F1.4 that allows plenty of light through the lens. For astrophotographers, this ensures lots of sky detail in shorter exposures, and for photographers using the lens hand-held in low-light conditions, such as at night, it helps eliminate camera-shake.

A fast aperture also means a shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds. This allows photographers to isolate their subject and create more impactful images. The bokeh is smooth and attractive, so doesn’t distract from the in-focus subject.

Compact and lightweight

The 23mm F1.4 and the 18-50mm F2.8 are both excellent options for photographers who need a standard crop sensor lens that is both sharp and portable. The 23mm is slightly heavier and longer and doesn’t have zoom functionality, although it does have a faster aperture of F1.4, which lets in four times as much light and creates a shallower depth-of-field.

Build

As with the other optics in Sigma’s F1.4 DC DN range, the 23mm F1.4 is constructed with a strong and light polymer that ensures a strong build while keeping the lens portable. A large, rubberised focus ring makes manual focusing highly intuitive, and a petal-type lens hood helps control flare in bright sunlight.

The durable brass mount is surrounded by a rubber seal to help keep out dust and moisture (except EF-M mount).

Made in Aizu

All Sigma cameras and lenses are designed, manufactured and assembled at their sole factory at Aizu in Japan. This domestic production model is unusual in today’s industry, with most imaging companies opting to outsource to other countries to reduce costs. But SIGMA believes that keeping virtually all manufacturing, processing and assembly in Aizu is essential for creating innovative, carefully thought-out and impeccably constructed products that meet the high standards demanded by professional photographers and film-makers around the world.

Sigma chose Aizu as its main production base in the early 1970s. Situated at the base of Mount Bandai in the Fukushima Prefecture, about four hours’ drive north of Tokyo, Aizu has an abundance of very clean water from mountain streams, which is essential for grinding and polishing lenses. Sigma’s founder, Michihiro Yamaki, was also drawn to this area for its workforce, who have a reputation for their craftsmanship, work ethic and attention to detail. Mr Yamaki’s son, Kazuto Yamaki, now the owner and CEO of SIGMA Corporation, has the same unwavering commitment to keeping production in Japan.

Today Sigma’s factory is more than 50,000 square feet in size, and packed full of some of the most advanced optical manufacturing technology in existence. So when you buy a Sigma camera or lens you can be sure that virtually every single component part has been manufactured and assembled by SIGMA, in Japan, with the greatest level of care and attention.