Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM + Sony A7IV Photo Samples + a7SIII Video Examples

The 105mm focal length is really interesting to me and I personally love what it looks like. I have used the Sony 100mm f2.8 lens before where I also enjoyed the focal length, but it's nice having the option for a shallower depth of field with this Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM. For this photoshoot, I knew I wanted a really dreamy look to the photos so I organised this photoshoot for the late afternoon so we could have that nice, soft sun for our lighting. I also chose this location so we can capture as much bokeh as possible!

The Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM is available in 5 different mounts including 2 mirrorless options: Sony E-mount and L-Mount (Leica, Panasonic Lumix, Sigma) as well as 3 DSLR mounts: Sigma SA, Canon EF and Nikon F. There is no Nikon Z or Canon RF mirrorless version of this lens and there won’t be however you can adapt Canon EF to RF and Nikon F to Z. Since the MC-11 and MC-21 exist, you can also adapt EF to E or L mount.

Extra piece of fun info if you are still reading: You can also adapter any Sony E-mount lens to Nikon Z, yep! And yes, E-Mount lenses pretty much work like native lenses when used on Nikon cameras such as the Z6III, Z8 or Z9.

It’s important to note that the Sigma 105mm f1.4 is actually marked as discontinued. We’ve recently seen Sigma release the Sigma 28-45mm f1.8 DG DN ART as a sort of Full Frame replacement to the legendary 18-35mm f1.8 DC HSM ART which is an APS-C lens with a cult following especially in video or the less popular 24-35mm f2 DG HSM ART full frame lens. Both of which can be adapted to mirrorless cameras, work well and are quite well priced on the used market as long as weight isn’t an issue as they are not small or lightweight lenses.

So what I am getting at is: While there’s lots of rumors about other new lenses coming soon, could we see a newly designed-for-mirrorless 105mm f1.4 DG DN ART some time soon?

In this blog post I share my thoughts and experiences on the Sigma 105mm f1.4 bokeh, lens flare and performance.

All photos edited with my Amalfi Lightroom Preset Pack

SIGMA 105MM F1.4 Video examples

You can see how this Sigma 105mm f1.4 performs for video with lots of examples in my review video above.

SIGMA 105MM F1.4 Bokeh

The bokeh from this lens is absolutely stunning - it is HUGE, super round and very clean. And I just LOVE what the bokeh looks like in all the images we shot today. One of my favourite aspects of this lens though is the background to foreground separation. This is such a great lens to be able to melt the background away.

One last thing that really stood out to me is the out of focus transition of this Sigma 105 - it’s one of the smoothest I’ve seen! You can especially see it in the extreme closeup photos we took.

SIGMA 105MM F1.4 Lens Flare

Okay so let’s talk about lens flare for a minute - if you love dreamy, soft looking photos you are absolutely going to love this lens for it’s flaring, but I do think there are some good and bad things about it.

This Sigma 105mm has a LOT of ghosting when shooting backlit images. As you can see I was using a lens hood throughout this entire photoshoot and still the majority of my backlit photos have a huge amount of ghosting. I personally LOVE what this looks like, mix in the bokeh and depth of field with this ghosting and you can create the dreamiest looking photos. But at the same time, I do sometimes like having the option to capture backlit photos where my subject cuts through the light a little more.

I was able to minimise the ghosting when I took portraits with Berry being more side-lit rather than completely backlit as I did want to have some higher contrast photos to be able to share.

SIGMA 105MM F1.4 Performance

While the Sony E Mount version I am using essentially has a adapter built into it compared to the older DSLR mounts, it still felt like it performed native when using it on my Sony A7IV. Eye AF was strong the entire time throughout the photoshoot which you can see in the Picture in Picture in my review video. Autofocus performance was great as well - even through the extremely strong backlight and all the lens flare and ghosting, I was able to capture so many tack sharp images on Berry’s eyes.

Note: The Sigma 105mm F1.4 DG HSM has a Filter Diameter of 105mm. While quite large and not as common, there are plenty of filter options these days from most filter manufacturers including the UV filter by Urth or my preferred UV filter by B+W