Today’s Post by Joe Farace
“Silver-white winters that melt into springs, these are a few of my favorite things”—Richard Rodgers
If you read my review of Canon’s EOS M6 Mark II, you should have at least two takeaways from my field test of this interesting mirrorless camera:
- First, I really like this compact and quite capable little camera. It’s image quality is stunning with the EOS M6 Mark II packing the functionally of many of Canon’s bigger, heavier (and more expensive) DSLRs.
- Second, there are only a few lenses available for the M6 Mark II* and some of the lenses that Canon offers aren’t all that good with the kit lens exhibiting a kind of mustache distortion that I haven’t seen in modern lenses in a long time.
Fortunately Sigma has come to the rescue of otherwise happy EOS M6 Mark II users by offering three useful EF-M mount prime lenses in their Contemporary series with focal lengths of 16mm, 30mm and 56mm. With Canon’s APS-C 1.6x factor, this translates into 25mm, 48mm and 90mm equivalents. And while these focal lengths aren’t the classical 35mm, 50mm and 135mm lens combination, it’s close enough for my photography.
For f/1.4 optics, the prices for these impressive lenses are not horribly expensive and are $374, $264 and $404, respectively as I write this, which is slightly lower than when they were originally introduced. Maybe Sigma read the tea leaves. By comparison, Canon’s slightly smaller EF-M 32mm f/1.4 STM lens is $479. And, these lenses come with nicely made hoods at no additional cost that are a $44.95 option with the Canon lens.
Sigma’s trifecta of Canon EF-M mount lenses feature a control algorithm that is supposed to optimize autofocus and maximizes data transmission speed. In addition, the lenses are compatible with Servo AF and lens aberration correction. Lens design is based on the camera body’s ability to correct peripheral light amount and distortion. The lenses are also compatible with the EOS M6 Mark II’s Face+ Tracking AF.
The build quality of each lens is impressive, rivaling more expensive competitors; these are solidly built, glass heavy lenses. According to Sigma the lenses offer image quality rivaling Sigma’s well-regarded Art Series. The lenses have smooth AF making them useful for shooting video. I would have loved to be able to use the EOS M6 Mark II with any of the Sigma f/1.4 lenses for my new series of Film Friday videos but I had to return the lenses to the manufacturer before I shot the first one. Such is the reality of camera/lens review loans for me, although I suspect that is not the case with all Internet/YouTube personages.
And yes, Sigma is currently an advertiser on this blog but I’ve been using their products since 1972 when I purchased my first lens for my then brand new Nikon F2—the Sigma 16mm f/2.8 Filtermatic lens.
*To be fair Canon offers the Canon EF-M Lens Adapter Kit for Canon EF / EF-S Lenses that typically sells for $189. If that strikes you as expensive, it does me too.
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