Sigma 50-100mm F/1.8 DC HSM Art Review

Sigma’s latest “Art” lens, the 50-100mm, offers the widest aperture of any zoom lens on the market, giving you f/1.8 throughout the focal length. At 100mm, it’s also faster than an equivalent prime lens.

As it is a “DC” lens, this means it has been designed to be used with crop (APS-C) cameras. This gives it an equivalent focal length of 80-160mm on a Canon, or 75-150mm on a Nikon or Sony camera. You can mount it to a full-frame camera, but you can expect to see heavy vignetting in the corners of the frame if you do so. 

The Sigma 50-100mm F/1.8 DC HSM Art lens is designed to help minimise chromatic aberration, flare and ghosting through its use of FLD and SLD glass, as well as a high-refractive index, and super multi-layer coating. It also features a newly designed Hyper Sonic Motor, and has a redesigned diaphragm unit. 

Other features include a tripod socket, internal zooming and focusing, and compatibility with the Sigma USB Dock. 

Ease of Use

At nearly 1500g, the Sigma 50-100mm F/1.8 DC HSM Art is by no means a lightweight lens. As such, it has a tripod mount directly on the lens itself which you can use to help keep it more stable if you need to. It’s worth noting that the lens itself does not have optical image stabilisation so if you intend to use it in lower light conditions at narrow apertures, you may have to make use of a tripod or monopod to get sharp shots.