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The Sigma rumors

Christoffer Glans

Christoffer Glans

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There are rumors about Sigma making Cine-lenses out of their ART-series. If this is true, how do you think these will make it on the cine-market? The ART series is among the best still lenses around, so compared to the lesser optical quality of Rokinon they might create a tough match against higher priced cine-lenses if they manage to keep the price lower than what Canon did to it's cine-lenses.
 
Christoffer Glans said:
There are rumors about Sigma making Cine-lenses out of their ART-series. If this is true, how do you think these will make it on the cine-market? The ART series is among the best still lenses around, so compared to the lesser optical quality of Rokinon they might create a tough match against higher priced cine-lenses if they manage to keep the price lower than what Canon did to it's cine-lenses.
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Sigma ART Cine? That would be awesome. But as you said, their success depends on the price-tag.

They will, for sure, be successful if the price isn't much higher than their photo-versions. But if you look at the optical performance, they would even be successful if they're targeted against the CP.2 (or 3) and Canon CN-lenses, with a much higher price.

Whatever they do, they need to add more lenses first. :)
 
If they only get a 24mm a 35mm a 50mm and a 85mm I would be happy. Would like a 16mm as well, but a set of those would be awesome. I hate pulling focus on my 35mm ART, but the images are so freakin good from that lens.
 
They are very good BUT it is a tricky market and sigma is not the right brand... Because of that they will (unlike leica) just end up competing on price...

If they got the basic mix right and they cost less than $5k ea I'd be interested.. Cam based focus...

Ps I'd bet a lot of money they don't get the mix right... And your average punter won't pay the correct price
 
I really like the Sigma Art Prime series. They are not on Otus level, but very close (which is relative and subjective)

A cine version -- well that is a wide term. Take only breathing while rack-focusing. None of the Samyang/Rokinon has an improvement over their Still siblings here.

Yes, the Art series as it is now, is difficult to focus manually, and the autofocus, well a mixed story here. That would be already a welcomed improvement.

If they manage to get a prime rehousing under $2K I think it could work nicely. Anything else, e.g. over $3K, I do not see a market here.

However, I'm not really certain if that is not wishful thinking, nothing shows up on http://sigma-rumors.com
 
You can get them rehoused by GL Optics now and for the price you honestly cannot beat these lenses for sharpness, chromatic aberration performance, FF coverage, speed, and distortion. GL sells them for $3,500 with a 300 degree focus throw and complete rehouse. I don't care about brand, these lenses blow away every other lens set under $100,000 on the market right now. Otus in all the tests are definitely not a $3,000 better lens but they do have that Zeiss name and therefore everyone claims superiority. From what I can tell CA is identical, falloff is slightly better on the ART series (according to DPReview,DXOMark, and others), Sharpness is almost identical with Otus maybe taking the edge sharpness wide open, contrast is won by the Otus by a small amount and distortion is even. These are sourced from multiple reviews. For 8K Weapon these lenses will become a big deal, especially in a rehousing. I'd take these lenses rehoused over anything else under $100k right now. The only cine lenses that compare are The high end $100,000+ lenses and only one set (Summicron C's) will cover full frame. So to say the brand is important doesn't hold much weight in my eyes. Trust me, these lenses will become HUGE in the next couple years and a very good investment for Vista Vision. Now we just need the rest of the set to be filled out. These are the best value lenses available and they are far superior to CP.2's, Canon Cine Primes, and Xenons which are the budget full frame cine lenses and still cost more than the rehoused Sigmas.
 
I'd be surprised if Sigma was able to do as well as GL Optics to create a cinema version of their Art lenses. So therefore, I can't see them charging the same price or more for their cinema lenses. If they were to do this I would think they would have to keep the price somewhere in the $1500-2500 range. But will enough people buy them to make it worthwhile. Rokinon kind of makes sense based on how many people were using their still lenses for filmmaking. Sigma, I'm not sure. The 18-35 has been popular. Not sure yet how much traction their Art primes have yet. Of course, this is just a rumor anyway. Maybe they are testing the waters.
 
No reason Sigma can't do it - Token started making cine versions of their lenses after companies like Duclos did very well with the rehoused version of the 11-16. The EF version of the cinema 11-16 is $1599 at b&h. The 16-28 ef or pl versions are $3999.00. Development of the glass was already paid for many times over by the large volume of SLR lenses sold, so just a matter of the cinema style gearing and markings. Seems like no 3rd party could do a good job at any where near the price point since they have to pay the price for the original slr lens, then take it apart, then rebuild it - in low quantities. The manufacturer gets to start from scratch.
 
GL does nice work. I have come to rely on my GL 18-35 300 deg on every shoot. It's not 6K but it does cover from 22-35 deg. The sharpness, oh, the sharpness. I've had it up on two different projectors and edge-to-edge, it's really impressive. The build quality is solid though I would love to see serviceable internal components in any Sigma produced lenses. The question would be whether Sigma would put in a professional focus direction, throw, damping and housing.
 
Matt Ryan said:
You can get them rehoused by GL Optics now and for the price you honestly cannot beat these lenses for sharpness, chromatic aberration performance, FF coverage, speed, and distortion. GL sells them for $3,500 with a 300 degree focus throw and complete rehouse.
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On the GL's cinemaglass.com website I only see a 160 degree focus throw. Do we have to special order the 300 degree version?
 
I hope they do it for around $2k like Zeiss ZF or better so it is light.
BUT they must be busy with 14-24 and 24-70 now..
 
Honestly, I would be happy if they cinevized their zooms more than anything, and if they offered them at like, double the price of the stills versions (after all, it'd be a quantity game for them anyway). Realistically, there shouldn't be too much additional cost to adding proper/uniform gearing, proper/uniform front diameter, 300deg focus throw, and PL mount.

They have a 50-150 f2.8 with internal zoom and non-rotation front... Update that to Cine ART, and add a cine-18-35, and you have pretty decent s35 coverage. I just hope they don't go all Tokina on us, and MSRP them at $5500...
Jiri Vrozina said:
BUT they must be busy with 14-24 and 24-70 now..
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You mean the 24-70 f2.0 that's been rumoured for years...
 
With the Sigma naming structure the new series will be on its own - e.g. "Sigma Cine", just like Sigma Art, Sigma Sport and Sigma Contemporary. The problems is the Sigma is using one-letter nomenclature which will make Cine's "C" clash with already existing Contemporary's "C" - so the name would need to be different. I would personally like to see Sigma Kino or Kine... ;o)
What ever the name - they are coming. And they are sure to rock this market segment. I have started to dispose of my trusted Canon glass in preparation for these...

:sifone: Peter
 
Peter Majtan said:
I have started to dispose of my trusted Canon glass in preparation for these...

:sifone: Peter
Click to expand...

Isn't it a bit early for that, or have you heard someone whisper a release date? :wink5:
 
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