Conclusion

The 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM Art is a surprising, but very welcome, addition to Sigma's ever growing Art range of premium lenses, offering a faster aperture of f/2.8 at the expense of 2mm in focal length when compared to the very similar Sigma 12-24mm F4 DG HSM Art lens, whilst being cheaper than it's slightly older sibling (at least in the US anyway) and additionally offering much better weather-sealing. Nearest rivals include the 10-year-old Nikon 14-24mm f/2.8G ED, Canon EF 11-24mm f/4L USM and the Canon EF 16-35mm f/2.8L II USM, and the Tamron SP 15-30mm f2.8 Di VC USD.

Image quality is excellent. Chromatic aberrations are very well controlled, bokeh is surprisingly good despite the ultra-wide-angle nature of the lens, barrel distortion is impressively well controlled, and the Super Multi-Layer coating successfully prevents contrast loss attributable to flare. The only real optical issues are some obvious vignetting and a slight lack of sharpness when shooting wide-open at f/2.8 throughout the zoom range.

As with all the other recent Art lenses that we've tested, the Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM Art's build quality is once again reassuringly excellent, although it's also one of the heaviest wide-angle zooms that we've ever tested. Auto-focusing is quiet and quick, with the ability to manually override it and focus manually if required proving a nice touch, and the focusing ring is thankfully a lot wider than the slim one on the Sigma 12-24mm F4 lens.

Overall, the Sigma 14-24mm F2.8 DG HSM Art concedes a couple of mm in wide-angle focal length to its 12-24mm sibling, but gains a faster f/2.8 aperture, better weather-sealing, wider focus ring, less barrel distortion, and, somewhat surprisingly, a lower price-tag, making it worthy of our highest Essential! accolade.

Ratings (out of 5)
Design	4.5
Features	5
Ease-of-use	5
Image quality	4.5
Value for money	5