Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 Review

After switching to Sony a few years ago, my first lens purchase was the Sigma 24-70mm f2.8. After hearing many positive remarks from fellow photographers about the product, I decided to give the lens a go myself.

In this blog I will be reviewing the original Sigma 24-70mm f2.8 after a number of years of long-term use, and with it being my main travel lens during that period of time.

I use this lens paired with the Sony A7 IV, which you can read the review of in a separate blog here.

Why 24-70mm?

Regarding the focal length itself, the 24-70mm covers all major bases and other common focal lengths that can be used for various scenarios within the wide angle to short telephoto lens range. The range allows for a flexible approach to your photography, with the lens being extremely versatile to suit all needs, which therefore makes it perfect for those beginners starting out their photography journey and learning their trade.

In addition to this, it acts as the perfect travel lens, allowing you to control and adapt your composition and range in an instant. From landscapes, to city architecture, street photography and then furthermore portraiture, if you’re only going to get one lens, this is the one. Ultimately, it is the ideal one and done lens choice for general purpose photography.

Build Quality

Overall as a whole, most of the Sigma range of lenses these days have a good sustained level of build quality, and this lens is no different. The company pride themselves on being the top third-party lens brand out there for a reason, and this lens is part of their flagship Art series line.

All the aspects on the lens are fit to match, and therefore the various buttons and both the manual focus and zoom rings are easy to navigate and use. The rubber of the rings are perfectly sized and smooth to use and rotate, providing seamless transitions. Then we have the switch buttons of both the Focus and Zoom locks, which are carefully built and integrated into the lens in a way that they don’t interfere or become an annoyance when shooting. The lens has a rugged feel and because of its handy weather sealing, it’s able to be used in all sorts of weather. At the base of the lens, the mount is tough and sturdy, allowing it to withstand any kind of marks when changing lenses on the camera.

One thing to note on the build of all Sigma lenses however is their plastic-like build and feel. Withstanding the mount which is naturally all metal, the matte plastic finish on the rest of the lens leaves it feeling cheap and liable to scuff marks and dirty patches if not careful. Compared to lenses from first party brands such as Sony, this is where the lens will slightly let itself down.

Ergonomics

As with any 24-70mm f2.8 model, this lens is pretty big in size. However when you figure how much dynamic resource goes into a lens of this sort, from a developers point of view, there is no other way round it. When you consider the fact it hosts high quality optics and a metal base framework and exterior, also adding in the fact weather sealing is integrated, all these features naturally equate to a heavier lens. A nice touch is the added inclusion of a Manual/Auto Focus and a zoom lock switch on the outside of the lens’ exterior.

However following on from this, the fact the lens is sizeable and weighted leaves the camera feeling front heavy at the best of times. If you are planning on carrying your camera with this lens attached all day, you’d be wise to make use of the neck strap instead of carrying it around in your hands all day.

A few other points to note, the lens is also notably missing an aperture ring, which these days is a rarity and to some can be an annoyance. Furthermore, for some reason the lens cap on this model seems to fall of easier than most, and at times it looks as though it could fall of at any given moment.

Image Quality

The lens is extremely impressive when it comes to producing clear and purposeful imagery, allowing you to paint a picture with your camera in hand with sharpness and high definition quality. The colour palette it fulfils lending to images straight out of the camera are both dynamic and extensive in range. As a result of this, the Raw images saved on file will give you versatile and flexible control when editing your photos.

Even when it comes to using the lens wide open at f2.8, for example in low light, the sharpness and quality is still visible, and is perfectly maintained. Furthermore, if used between f8-f11 where it performs at its peak, the lens is capable of capturing incredible details within shots such as for landscape photography. In whatever scenario or lighting required, the lens performs incredibly well. Only if you use the lens at its lowest range of 24mm can you see slight distortion of the image.

Below are some of my favourite images that I’ve taken using this lens over the last few years:

Autofocus

The autofocus features this lens brings, especially when combined with an already great camera body such as the Sony A7 IV, makes for an highly impressive piece of kit. The lens can be used in a variety of scenarios, in the dark or light, indoors or out, regardless of the situation or the task at hand, the auto focus performs very well and keeps up with the action with ease. As previously mentioned, the lens performs very well in low light overall and in regards to focusing with the help of its aperture of f2.8. For photography and shooting genres such as portraiture, the autofocus is incredibly responsive and quick to react to facial recognition and the eyes.

Summary

To summarise what this lens brings to the table, it’s carries many positives which heavily outweigh any kind of minor negative aspects it has.

The fact is that the range it has covers such a variety of angles and perspectives, it really is a versatile king and the jack of all trades. As a result of this, it is naturally a perfect travel lens, allowing you to dip your toe in many genres of photography all through using the same lens. Furthermore, this also leads it to being a perfect lens for someone starting out their photography journey as a beginner.

The weight and plastic-type build, plus the lack of a aperture ring are the only minor negatives, and because of the high quality results the lens brings, these few aspects are easily forgettable.

With a retail price point of around £900 or $1,099.00, this lens is cost effective compared to the branded alternatives, and a few hundred pounds cheaper than the updated newly released version, but is still worth every penny. If you’re looking for the ultimate one-and-done lens, then look no further, because this is the one.