Sigma 18-35 T2 Blind Cine Lens Test
A few years back Sigma released their amazing 18-35mm 1.8 Art Series Lens, then the 50mm 1.4, 24mm 1.4, 35mm 1.4, 50-100mm 1.8, 85mm 1.4
The 18-35mm was so good I ditched all my Canon L Series Prime glass for it.
The only lenses that could beat it was the Zeiss Otus range, due to look and proper focus throw.
NOW, Sigma have their new cine Lenses with 180° focus throw and 160° zoom rotation.
For my test, I knew it would be tricky as a great short film has already been shot with the Cine Lenses called 'Blur' - available to watch on the Sigma site below:
http://www.sigma-global.com/en/cine-lenses/
So I thought, people already know what they look like from this film....plus they are identical to the current Art Series
Amazing contrast, saturation, sharpness and unique look
All honesty.... I wrote a short film but trying to source locations & actors during the xmas period is tough :(
Here is a look/Parfocal Test between the Art 18-35mm 1.8 and the 18-35mm T2 Cine Lens:
https://vimeo.com/195814825
For people wondering the difference between F-Stops & T-Stops, is the Cinema Lens slower/darker being T2
Basically, hopefully I'm correct..haha
F stops is a calculated aperture done mathematically
T stop is measured light through the lens
So as you can see in my test above, there is no light loss difference between the two.
Funny enough, the Cine Lens on my Ursa Mini 4.6K shows up as 1.8
So, why choose the Cine version over the Art Version?
The weight difference between the two lenses is hardly anything... Making them nice to carry around.
Art Series 18-35mm 1.8 Weighs 810g / 18-35mm T2 Cine Lens Weighs 1445g
A much easier focus throw of 180° and zoom rotation of 160°
If you are used to the art series then you will be fine....but as you know, focusing from a close distance to infinity is a short throw and can be sometimes tricky to nail shots following a subject from these movements.
As you can see from the picture above, having markings on the Cine Lens helps make those shots easier. Even if you didn't measure the distance, after a take...you will roughly know the distance to pull focus by having the help of these markings on the lens.
The line is catering to Production use, Less Run N Gun type shooters and more towards a crew, focus pullers, matte box etc.
But this is also what sets the Sigma Cinema Lens line up apart from the rest, it has threads on the front allowing you to still use screw on ND filters, rather then only having to use a Mattebox with drop in ND's.
You won't find many other Professional lenses with threads on the front allowing you to screw on ND Filters.
They are available in EF, PL and E mount
This is awesome news as I don't like using a matte box or drop in ND's.
So for my tests I used my 82mm Formatt Hi-tech IRND filters and they worked great.
Since this new Sigma 18-35mm T2 lens is a Cinema Lens, my test involved focusing blind.
Why Did I do this?
well.....
Cinematographers that don't pull focus themselves on bigger productions, have focus pullers.
They either use wireless monitors with wireless focus or some focus pullers are so talented they can pull focus just by using the markers on the side of the lens.
So....All I did was bring tape measure with me, made sure it matched the markings on the lens, set exposure, shut my screen and then focused blind.
Here is the test:
https://vimeo.com/196097658
Track used in the video is available below, part of my Commercial Song pack:
Hope this helps people out