Sigma 50 100mm F1 8 DC HSM Art Review | 54 Data compared

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art is a unique, premium zoom lens designed specifically for APS-C crop-sensor cameras, offering a 35mm equivalent focal range of roughly 75-150mm (Nikon) or 80-160mm (Canon). It is optimized to behave like a collection of fast prime lenses in a single body, delivering exceptional, record-setting sharpness and contrast even when shot wide open at f/1.8. The lens produces beautiful rendering with soft, smooth bokeh, creating a shallow depth of field that mimics the "full-frame look". Unlike some earlier lenses in the Art line, its autofocus performance is fast, quiet, and consistently accurate across multiple camera bodies, making it reliable for events and short-range sports tracking. It also features full-time manual focus override and a robust, professional build quality. However, the lens requires significant trade-offs in size and handling, as it is exceptionally large and heavy at 1490g, resulting in a noticeably front-heavy balance. Its most frustrating design flaw is a non-removable tripod collar that has only 2mm of clearance, frequently interfering with the operation of the zoom ring. Additionally, the lens lacks optical image...

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art is an outstanding mid-telephoto zoom lens designed specifically for APS-C sensor DSLRs, offering a constant f/1.8 aperture across its entire focal range. Equivalent to a 75-150mm or 80-160mm lens depending on the camera's crop factor, it effectively replaces three popular prime lenses (85mm, 105mm, and 135mm) in a single body. A major pro of this lens is its exceptional image quality, delivering excellent center sharpness even when shooting wide open at f/1.8, with optimum performance achieved around f/4 to f/8. Additional advantages include a nearly silent Hyper Sonic Motor (HSM) for quick autofocus, full-time manual focus override, a 9-blade diaphragm for smooth bokeh, and a parfocal design that maintains focus during zooming, making it highly valuable for videographers. Vignetting, chromatic aberration, and distortion are also well-controlled and easily corrected in software. However, the lens comes with several noteworthy drawbacks. Its complex optical construction of 21 elements makes it quite heavy at 1,490g, which can cause smaller camera bodies to feel significantly front-heavy. A significant omission is the lack of built-in optical image stabilisation,...

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens offers a groundbreaking constant f/1.8 aperture for APS-C cameras, delivering exceptional, prime-like image quality and excellent center sharpness across its range. Its robust design features internal zooming, quiet HSM autofocus, and beautiful bokeh, making it a versatile tool for portraits and low-light scenarios. Conversely, the lens is notably heavy, lacks optical image stabilization, and exhibits vignetting at maximum aperture along with slight softness at 100mm. Additionally, its 95cm minimum focus distance restricts close-up shooting, and its 2x zoom range is relatively limited.

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens is praised for outstanding, consistent sharpness, a bright f/1.8 aperture, and low distortion. Its high-level performance is complemented by excellent, well-controlled chromatic aberration management and superb low-light capabilities. ePHOTOzine Cons include a limited zoom range and a heavy, bulky design, along with a slightly restrictive minimum focusing distance. Despite these physical limitations, the review concludes the lens offersexceptional, top-tier optical quality.

The Sigma 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM Art is a premium, high-performance telezoom lens engineered specifically for APS-C DSLR cameras, offering a field of view roughly equivalent to a 75-150mm lens on full-frame systems. Evaluated by PCMag with a 4.0 Excellent rating, its primary pros include exceptional edge-to-edge sharpness that easily surpasses standard benchmarks, nominal distortion across its range, and a highly robust build complete with a rotating tripod collar and internal zoom system. Furthermore, the lens features a bright, constant f/1.8 maximum aperture that provides outstanding low-light performance and precise control over depth of field, comparable to an f/2.8 zoom on full-frame systems. However, the review details several notable cons that potential buyers should consider, most significantly its massive weight of 3.3 pounds and large dimensions, making it unwieldy for smaller, entry-level camera bodies. It also omits optical image stabilization and has a fairly short 2x zoom range, leaving some users wishing for more focal flexibility. Priced high at around $1,099 (MSRP), it can also exhibit dim corners (vignetting) at its maximum f/1.8 aperture and may require fine-tuning focus via...

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens is a fast and unique telephoto zoom designed for crop-sensor (DX) cameras, offering an equivalent focal range of 75-150mm on full-frame bodies. Reviewer Thom Hogan notes that the lens delivers spectacular optical performance, describing it as sharp wide open and "wicked sharp" when stopped down slightly. It features an exceptionally stable, non-removable rotating tripod collar, a near-parfocal design that retains focus while zooming, and highly accurate, silent, and rapid autofocus. Hogan found it highly effective for fast-shutter shooting scenarios like sports and wildlife, where it easily isolates subjects and background bokeh remains pleasant. However, the lens comes with notable trade-offs in size and feature omissions. Weighing 3.3 pounds and forcing an 82mm filter thread, it makes lighter DX camera bodies feel extremely front-heavy. Its biggest performance vulnerability is severe flare, generating unfixable, cross-frame green and magenta patterns when shooting toward light sources. Furthermore, it completely lacks built-in image stabilization (OS), has visible pincushion distortion at 100mm, and exhibits longitudinal chromatic aberration at 50mm. Hogan also found the front lens cap and the...

The SIGMA 50-100mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art is a highly ambitious, short-telephoto zoom lens designed for APS-C format cameras, delivering an angle of view equivalent to a 75-150mm lens on full-frame systems. Reviewer Wataru Nakamura highlights that the lens functions like a collection of coupled F1.8 prime lenses, offering an uncompromising frontier spirit in optical design. Pros include exceptional prime-lens-level rendering and edge sharpness even when shooting entirely wide open. It provides a razor-thin depth of field that creates stunning bokeh and flawlessly isolates mid-distance subjects. Furthermore, it delivers incredible clarity and highly predictable performance under poor light delivery, accurately rendering both the pure light and subtle atmospheric conditions of a scene. However, the lens’s specialized nature brings a few notable constraints. Cons center heavily on its physical limitations and design trade-offs: it is extremely large and heavy, featuring a prominent diameter that mimics the footprint of hefty full-frame gear. The optical complexity restricts its flexibility to a narrow 2x zoom ratio, which can feel restrictive compared to traditional 70-200mm lenses. Additionally, its ultra-thin depth of field demands absolute...

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art is an excellent, premium telezoom designed for APS-C cameras, offering superb, prime-like optical performance with exceptional sharpness and nominal distortion. Key advantages include its bright f/1.8 constant aperture, a useful rotating tripod collar, and full compatibility with the Sigma USB Dock for customization. Conversely, the lens is heavy, bulky, and expensive, with a limited 2x zoom range that only covers a 75-150mm full-frame equivalent. Other notable drawbacks include the lack of optical image stabilization and potential autofocus inconsistency that may require calibration via the dock.

The Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens for Canon is a top-performing telephoto zoom designed for APS-C sensor cameras, providing an 80-160mm equivalent focal length. It stands out for its constant f/1.8 maximum aperture and high light transmission, making it exceptionally strong for low-light photography, portraits, events, and sports. DXOMARK rates it as the sharpest zoom lens tested for the Canon APS-C mount, achieving peak resolution between f/2.8 and f/5.6 and maintaining uniform sharpness into the corners even at f/1.8. Additionally, the lens features internal focusing and zooming systems to keep its length consistent, a Hyper Sonic Motor for quiet autofocus, and solid control over chromatic aberration, vignetting, and geometric distortion. Despite its excellent optical performance, the lens has several distinct drawbacks. Its primary limitations are the lack of an optical image stabilizer and its considerable physical profile, weighing nearly 1.5kg and measuring 171mm in length, which makes it bulky for everyday use. When compared to the discontinued, stabilized Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 OS lens, the Art lens shows only a minor sharpness improvement at f/2.8, and the older lens...

The B&H Explora review highlights the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens as a high-performing, bright constant f/1.8 aperture zoom for APS-C cameras, providing a 75-150mm/80-160mm equivalent range and exceptional low-light performance. The lens is praised for its robust build, premium feel, and convenient 90-degree click-stop tripod collar. However, the review cites a total lack of optical image stabilization (OS) and weather sealing as significant omissions, alongside a small, finicky tripod foot. Additionally, the lens is noted to be large and heavy for its 2x zoom range, which can make smaller bodies feel unbalanced.

This review of the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens highlights its exceptional optical performance and innovative design, tailored specifically as a fast, pro-grade zoom lens for APS-C sensor cameras. The reviewer notes that when the lens is paired with cameras like the Nikon D500, it delivers incredibly sharp images across the frame, especially when stopped down slightly to f/2.8, which significantly improves contrast. Additional pros include its premium build quality, standard Art-line aesthetics, high-grade zoom and focus rings, and minimal barrel distortion at both 50mm and 100mm focal lengths. However, the lens has several notable design flaws and performance limitations. Its most critical design flaw is the non-removable lens collar, which features a small foot placed too close to the thin zoom ring, making it cumbersome to handle—especially for photographers with larger hands. On the downside, the lens is exceptionally bulky and heavy, weighing over 3.5 pounds (1.6kg), and completely lacks image stabilization, forcing users to rely on fast shutter speeds above 1/200s to avoid blurry handheld shots. Optically, there is noticeable vignetting and chromatic aberration wide open...

The Focus Review evaluates the Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens as an optically superior telephoto zoom designed exclusively for APS-C sensors, bridging a 75-150mm full-frame equivalent field of view. The review highly praises its perfect image quality, highlighting exceptional sharpness across the frame even when shooting wide open at its record-breaking f/1.8 aperture. Its advanced optical construction successfully keeps lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberrations practically absent, while managing negligible distortion. Additional major pros include a sublime build quality featuring a solid brass mount, smooth internal mechanics, a bundled rotating tripod collar, and compatibility with Sigma's optional USB dock and mount conversion services. Furthermore, the combination of its telephoto reach and fast aperture delivers a "full-frame bokeh" on APS-C cameras that easily rivals or beats many f/2.8 lenses mounted on full-frame bodies. Despite its triumphant optical performance, the review highlights several distinct compromises that users must consider. A primary con is its limited zoom range, a restriction the reviewer notes was necessary to maintain such elite image quality at a constant f/1.8 brightness. Additionally, for an APS-C dedicated lens,...