Sigma 56mm f1.4 DC DN Contemporary lens for Fuji-X 

This short telephoto crop-sensor prime delivers superb image quality.  It’s perfect for portraits, weddings, travel, street and pet photography, and thanks to its fast AF is also perfect for video.

The wide F1.4 aperture delivers a shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds, which is particularly useful when photographing portraits as it helps the subject to stand out against the background. The fast aperture also makes it easier to achieve blur-free shots when working hand-held in low light.

• APS-C
• f/1.4 to f/16
• 84mm (Full-Frame Equivalent)
• Rounded 9-Blade Diaphragm
• Stepping Motor AF System
• Super Multilayer Coating
• One SLD Element, Two Aspherical Elements
• Weather-Sealed Construction

Stepping motor

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

The lens has an advanced optical design made up of 10 elements in 6 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and 1 SLD element. These ensure razor-sharp results and help to eliminate common optical issues such as chromatic aberration, flare and vignetting. The lens also utilises in-camera digital correction to fine-tune the final result.

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.

Superb low-light performance

The lens has a very bright maximum aperture of F1.4 that allows plenty of light through the lens – four times more than an F2.8 optic. This is useful when working the lens hand-held in low-light, such as at night, because it helps eliminate camera-shake.

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

Excellent for urban

Street photographers favour fast, sharp, portable lenses with a robust build, and the 56mm ticks all these boxes. Its mid-telephoto focal length is perfect for picking out small vignettes in cluttered environments, and its F1.4 aperture ensures fast shutter speeds in all conditions.

Two portable F1.4 options for crop-sensor cameras

The 56mm F1.4 is one of the lightest lenses in the Sigma line-up, weighing just 285g. It’s also one of the smallest at less than 6cm in length (without hood and rear cap). It is virtually identical in weight to the 30mm F1.4, but is significantly shorter. Both lenses are ideal for portrait and street photography, and both have a similar look and feel.

Build

The 56mm is constructed using a strong and light polymer that ensures a robust build while keeping the lens extremely small and light. At 57.5mm in length it is the smallest optic in the F1.4 DC DN range.

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.