Sigma 17mm F 4 DG DN C Review | 54 Data compared

The Sigma 17mm f/4 DG DN Contemporary lens is a "Highly Recommended" ultra-wide prime featuring excellent central sharpness from f/4 to f/16, negligible distortion, and a high-quality metal build at only 225g. Its 12cm minimum focusing distance allows for creative close-up shots, while the 9-element design delivers strong overall performance. Conversely, the lens shows obvious vignetting at f/4 that requires stopping down to clear. Additionally, the aperture ring lacks a lock and is prone to accidental adjustment, though these minor limitations are offset by the lens's overall value and performance.

The Sigma 17mm f4 DG DN Contemporary is an ultra-compact, lightweight wide-angle lens designed for the L-mount system as part of Sigma’s I Series collection. Priced at $599, it features an all-metal barrel, a knurled focus ring, a dedicated aperture ring clicking in third stops, and weather-resistant sealing. Physically, the lens weighs just 225g and measures 64mm x 48.8mm with a 55mm filter thread size, making it a highly discreet, everyday companion for travel, landscape, and street photography. The lens uses a fast, virtually silent stepping motor for reliable autofocusing and features an impressive 1:3.6 magnification ratio that allows it to focus as close as 12cm. Additionally, it comes packaged with a unique metal magnetic lens cap alongside a standard snap-on cap and a reversible metal lens hood. In terms of optical performance, the review highlights exceptional image quality with excellent center sharpness even at the maximum f4 aperture, which improves slightly when stopped down. The lens delivers strong contrast, rich color rendering, great depth, and excellent control over flare and ghosting. When shooting close up at 12cm, it creates...

The Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN (iSeries) is an ultra-compact full-frame wide-angle prime lens designed for Sony E and Leica L mount mirrorless systems. Weighing just 220g and measuring a mere 50.8mm in length, it targets photographers looking for a highly portable layout without sacrificing premium construction. The lens features an all-metal alloy build, including a metal lens hood, and incorporates a tactile, clickable manual aperture ring alongside a useful AF/MF switch. Optically, the lens is exceptionally sharp right from its wide-open F4 setting across the entire frame, boasting strong contrast, vibrant color reproduction, excellent flare resistance, and well-controlled chromatic aberration. Furthermore, its stepping focus motor (STM) delivers fast, silent autofocus tracking, and its incredibly short 12cm minimum focus distance unlocks creative, high-magnification close-up work. Despite its stellar physical and optical traits, the lens suffers from distinct performance tradeoffs due to its extreme miniaturisation. Its most notable cons include heavy barrel distortion that exhibits a difficult-to-correct mustache profile, alongside severe corner vignetting that reaches roughly three stops uncorrected. Because of the tight, compact spacing on the lens barrel, the AF/MF...

The Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN Contemporary is a highly compact, extra-wide prime lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras. Part of Sigma’s I Series, it features a premium all-metal aluminum barrel and a unique magnetic lens cap, weighing only 7.9 ounces. The review highlights its crisp optics and snapping autofocus, noting it reaches "excellent" sharpness from edge to edge when stopped down to f/8 or f/11. It is particularly praised for its versatility in architecture, cityscapes, and vlogging due to its 17mm angle and impressive 1:3.6 macro magnification capabilities. Despite its high performance and "Excellent" 4.0 rating, the lens has several specific drawbacks. It is not fully weather-sealed, featuring only a gasket at the mount, which may deter outdoor nature photographers. Optical flaws include visible barrel distortion—though this is often corrected in-camera or via software profiles—and longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCa), which appears as green or purple halos in out-of-focus backgrounds. Additionally, while the autofocus is quiet, the lens lacks a de-clickable aperture ring, and some focus breathing is present, which may limit its appeal for professional cinema use. Sigma 17mm...

The Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN Contemporary lens is highlighted as an exceptionally compact, lightweight, and well-built I-series lens that delivers outstanding edge-to-edge sharpness from f/4. Key strengths include a 4.25-inch minimum focus distance for a 0.28x magnification ratio, quick stepping motor autofocus, an aperture ring, and a premium metal housing. Conversely, the review notes significant native barrel distortion and corner vignetting that require in-camera or software corrections. Additional limitations include the lack of optical stabilization, limited weather sealing, and the inherent low-light constraints of the f/4 maximum aperture.

The Sigma 17mm f/4 DG DN Contemporary | Series I is a premium, super-ultra-wide prime lens praised for its exceptional metal build quality and ultra-compact, lightweight design weighing just 220 grams. It features smooth tactile controls, a metal lens hood, a unique magnetic lens cap, and a fast, noiseless older-style stepping autofocus motor. Optically, the lens delivers robust performance, maintaining a very good to excellent center resolution and a consistently sharp outer image field from wide-open at f/4, along with very low lateral chromatic aberrations. Additionally, it offers an impressive minimum focus distance of just 12cm, allowing photographers to capture unique close-up scenes with a shallow depth of field despite its slow maximum aperture. However, the lens suffers from notable optical flaws, including a heavy 4.1% barrel distortion in RAW files and severe RAW light falloff peaking at a whopping 3.4 EV, which never entirely disappears even when stopped down to f/11. While auto-correction mitigates these issues, the lens remains noticeably vulnerable to flare and ghosting, making it essential to keep the provided lens hood attached. Furthermore, due to Sigma's...

The Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN Contemporary lens is a highly compact, lightweight, and premium ultra-wide-angle prime lens designed for full-frame Sony E and Leica L mount mirrorless systems. The reviewer praises its exceptional, rugged metal build quality and smooth focus rings, which outclass plastic-heavy competitors like the Samyang 18mm F2.8. Optically, the lens delivers consistently high resolution and contrast from its maximum F4 aperture across the entire focus range, outstanding backlight flare resistance, and beautifully suppressed longitudinal and lateral chromatic aberrations. Close-up photography is a major highlight due to its short 0.12m minimum focusing distance and well-controlled focus breathing. However, its ultra-compact form factor comes with distinct optical compromises, notably heavy vignetting and noticeable barrel distortion that necessitate digital correction profiles and cause significant image cropping. Mechanical and functional drawbacks include a higher price tag relative to competitors, a slow autofocus motor speed, and an aperture ring that lacks a stepless option, making it less ideal for seamless video operation. Additionally, it fails to produce sharp, distinct sunburst rays even when heavily stopped down. Despite these flaws, the review...

The Sigma 17mm f4 DG DN is a highly compact and lightweight ultra-wide prime lens designed for full-frame mirrorless cameras, specifically available in Sony E and Leica L-mounts. Weighing just 225g and measuring 49mm in length, this Contemporary I-series lens features a premium metal body construction with a weather-sealed mount, a physical aperture ring, and a well-damped manual focus ring. Dynamically, it delivers fast, quiet, and reliable autofocus performance via a stepper motor for both stills and video tracking. Optically, the lens stands out for its exceptional corner-to-corner sharpness when shot wide-open or down to f/8, remarkably low focus breathing, and a standout minimum focusing distance of just 12cm that yields dramatic close-up results and an impressive 1:3.6 maximum magnification ratio. However, the lens does present a few notable drawbacks. Its maximum aperture of f/4 is not particularly bright for a prime lens, limiting low-light capabilities. When shot wide-open, it exhibits visible corner darkening from vignetting, though this mostly clears up by f/8. Close inspection of the bokeh rendering reveals less-than-ideal outlining and textures within the background blur blobs. Furthermore,...

The Sigma 17mm F4 DG DN Contemporary is a compact, metal-bodied, full-frame, ultra-wide-angle prime lens designed for Sony E and L-mount cameras, offering excellent image sharpness and snappy autofocus. As part of Sigma's premium I Series, it features a 1:3.6 macro reproduction ratio for close-up shots and is highly suitable for architecture, landscapes, and vlogging. However, the lens lacks full weather sealing, providing only a basic mount gasket, and it suffers from some focus breathing and visible longitudinal chromatic aberration (LoCa) in certain lighting conditions. Furthermore, it does not support clicks-free aperture operation, which may be a limitation for videographers.

The Sigma 17mm f/4 DG DN Contemporary lens is a highly portable, ultra-wide full-frame prime lens built with premium materials. Priced at $599, it features an all-metal construction, grippy knurled rings, a matching metal lens hood, and a zippy stepping autofocus motor. Optically, the lens delivers impressive, consistent sharpness and high contrast across the entire frame from corner to center, even when shot wide open at f/4. It handles flare and ghosting exceptionally well, and its close-focusing distance of roughly five inches allows for dramatic perspective shots. These traits make it an excellent, lightweight 225-gram companion for landscape photographers, backpackers, and travel enthusiasts. However, the lens has several limitations due to its slow f/4 maximum aperture, which automatically rules it out for astrophotography and limits its capability in low-light environments without a tripod or high ISO settings. Additionally, weather sealing is strictly confined to the lens mount, making it less ideal for heavy rain. The physical design also lacks a de-clickable option for the aperture ring. Out-of-focus background areas yield harsh, energetic, and distracting transitions. Furthermore, its specular highlights (bokeh)...