Sigma dives into the cinema lens market with a splash, announcing no less than eight new lenses

posted Thursday, September 8, 2016 at 12:30 PM EDT

For quite a while now, it's been clear that Sigma isn't content to be seen as anything less than the equal of first-party lenses from the likes of Canon and Nikon. The company has been launching some seriously impressive products, and backing them up with top-notch support to boot, including a lens mount conversion service and a groundbreaking USB dock which allows users to upgrade lens firmware, and to tune the capabilities of their lenses to their subjects and shooting style. Now, Sigma has announced a plan to enter the cinema lens market, and it seems no less committed to this endeavor, announcing plans for a whopping eight cine optics.

Of course, preparing so many lenses takes time, and so Sigma won't be launching all eight optics at once. The first two Sigma Cine lenses are slated to arrive towards the end of 2016, with the remaining eight optics following from 2017 and onwards. The new glass will initially be offered in Canon EF and Sony E-mounts, with Arri PL-mount versions following later for some optics. Common features of Sigma's Cine lenses will include weatherproof designs, luminous paint markings, long 180-degree, cam-controlled focus throws, 82mm filter threads and 95mm front diameters for matte boxes. They'll also all be Japanese-made, and will include both electronic mounts for camera metadata, as well as manual linear iris control and support for follow-focus accessories.

The initial two lenses, which will ship first in the Japanese and US markets, will form the new Sigma Cine High Speed Zoom line. They'll be an 18-35mm T2 and 50-100mm T2 respectively, and as well as sporting constant-aperture designs, they'll also provide resolution sufficient for 6K or even 8K video capture. These two optics will have Super 35mm (or in other words, APS-C) image circles, giving them 35mm-equivalent focal ranges of around 27-53 and 75-150mm, respectively. Both will provide apertures from T2.0 to T16. The 18-35mm T2 will focus to as close as 11 inches and weigh around 3.2-3.3 pounds, depending upon the mount. The 50-100mm T2, meanwhile, will focus to around 3.2 feet, and weigh 4.2 to 4.3 pounds.

One further zoom model is planned, a full-frame 24-35mm T2.2 FF optic. This will focus to 11 inches, and weigh around 3.2-3.3 pounds, depending upon the mount. The remaining five lenses are all full-frame T1.5 primes, with focal lengths of 20mm, 24mm, 35mm, 50mm and 85mm respectively. The 20mm T1.5 FF will focus to 11 inches and weigh 2.9-3.1 pounds. The 24mm T1.5 FF will focus to ten inches and weigh 2.5-2.6 pounds. The 35mm T1.5 FF will focus to one foot and also weigh 2.5-2.6 pounds. The 50mm T1.5 FF will focus to 1.3 feet and weigh 2.9-3.0 pounds. Finally, the 85mm T1.5 FF will focus to 2.8 feet and weigh 3.3-3.4 pounds.