We sat down with Paul Reynolds from Sigma UK to discuss the new Sigma 85mm f/1.4, 12-24mm f/4 and 500mm f/4 lenses that have just been unveiled at Photokina.

The 85mm f/1.4 Art lens will retail for £1199.99 RRP, and be available from the end of October in Canon, Nikon, Sigma mounts (no Sony Alpha A-mount). It features exactly the same optical design as the recently announced 85mm Cine lens, and will replace the current 85mm f/1.4 lens. The 85mm f/1.4 Art is a no compromise lens – it's a big lens, with image quality put first before size and weight. The Zeiss Otus 85mm is the benchmark, with Sigma claiming that the 85mm Art offers the same image quality whilst being cheaper and also featuring autofocusing. There is an O-ring sealing on the rear element to stop dust and water and it uses an 86mm filter thread.

The 12-24mm f/4 Art lens will retail for £1649.99, and be available from the end of October in Canon, Nikon, Sigma mounts (no Sony Alpha A-mount). It has a fixed petal type hood, so it will only third party dedicated filter systems from the likes of Lee Filters that have yet to be developed. There is an O-ring sealing on the rear element to stop dust and water and it replaces the exisiting 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 lens in the range. It features the largest aspherical lens that Sigma have ever made and has almost zero distortion at either end of the zoom range.

The 500mm f/4 Sports lens will retail for £5999.99 RRP, and be available from November in Canon, Nikon, Sigma mounts (no Sony Alpha A-mount). It replaces the current 500mm f/4.5 lens which will gradually be phased out. The weathersealed 500mm f/4 Sports lens features a magnesium alloy body, carbon fibre lens hood, optical stabiliser worth up to 4 stops, and can autofocus 1.3x faster than the older lens. It also offers focus memory and focus recall, full time manual focus override, and works with a 1.4x teleconvertor and also a 2x teleconvertor on some lenses. The 500mm f/4 Sports lens has aspecial water-repellent coating on the front optic an On/Off switch on the tripod bush, just like the current 150-600mm Sports lens.

So in summary, Sigma have launched a professional sports telephoto lens, almost distortion free super-wide-angle zoom lens, and a classic portrait lens that's said to be the equal of the acclaimed Zeiss Otus 85mm.

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