The Sigma 16mm f/1.4 has been the bestselling APS-C mirrorless lens of all time, and Sigma just replaced it with something smaller, sharper, and better built. Whether the new Sigma 15mm f/1.4 is actually worth picking over the Sony or the budget Viltrox is a more complicated question than it might look.
Coming to you from Mark Bennett's Camera Crisis, this thorough comparison video puts the Sigma 15mm f/1.4 head-to-head against the Sony 15mm f/1.4 G, the outgoing Sigma 16mm f/1.4, and the budget Viltrox 15mm f/1.7. Bennett weighs each lens, examines build quality hands-on, and shoots real-world comparisons across sharpness, bokeh, autofocus, sun stars, flare, chromatic aberration, and distortion. The new Sigma comes in at 215 g with a weather-sealed mount, an aperture ring with satisfying clicks, and a petal hood, all for $579. The Sony 15mm f/1.4 G sits at $898 and offers a de-clickable aperture ring, an AF/MF switch, and a focus hold button that the Sigma lacks.
On sharpness, the Sigma and Sony are essentially tied, both razor sharp from center to corners even wide open at f/1.4. The Viltrox holds up surprisingly well at f/1.7, especially in the center. Where things get more interesting is bokeh balls: the Sigma 15mm produces the cleanest, roundest results of the group, beating out the Sony, which shows some artifacts in the center of out-of-focus highlights. The Sigma 16mm, despite being a 2017 lens, actually trails the Sony by only a small margin there. Bennett also walks through focus breathing, where the Sony 15mm f/1.4 G is nearly flawless and works with Sony's built-in focus breathing compensation, while the Sigma 15mm shows a small but real amount of breathing on extreme focus pulls without access to that compensation feature.
Flare handling is one area where Bennett gives a clear edge to the new Sigma. The coatings Sigma uses on its contemporary lenses control ghosting and contrast loss better than the competition here, including the Sony G glass, which is itself excellent. The Sigma 16mm, being older, predictably falls behind. The Viltrox, though, punches well above its $239 price tag in flare performance, which Bennett calls out as genuinely impressive. Longitudinal chromatic aberration is a real issue across the board at these focal lengths shot wide open, but the Sigma 16mm is the worst offender by a noticeable margin, something Bennett says was always his biggest frustration with that lens. The new Sigma 15mm is a meaningful improvement there.
Bennett's overall verdict is that the Sony 15mm f/1.4 G is still the best lens of the four, particularly for its focus breathing performance and extra physical controls. But at $319 less, the Sigma 15mm f/1.4 matches or beats it in most categories, making it the stronger value pick. The Sigma 16mm at its current retail price of $539 is hard to justify when the 15mm exists, though used copies around $350 to $400 are a different conversation. Check out the video above for the full rundown from Bennett.
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