Sigma Announce RF Mount Lenses

[BTM_Pix]

Sigma have announced that they are releasing a range of RF mount lenses, indicating that Canon have softened their “no 3rd party lenses” stance.

I say softened rather than abandoned as, whilst these lenses are fully licensed by them, they do not include any full frame lenses.

At least for now.

The initial offerings are the two f2.8 zooms and four f1.4 primes from Sigma’s Contemporary range that have been available in other mounts for a few years now.

The 18-50mm is the first one that will be available but it is not until July and the others will follow in the Autumn.

No word on prices but they are usually similar in different mounts so you can take that as a rough guide, although maybe there will be an additional cost on top for the official licensing from Canon.

Good news for owners of crop RF cameras to have different options and also for people using the KOMODO (or maybe we should call it the NIKOMODO now).

Full details here 

https://www.sigma-global.com/en/contents/sigma_rfmount_lenses/

[Andrew Reid]

The 18-50 will be a really nice run and gun lens on the R7 for not too many pennies

Exactly what the cheaper Canon bodies needed, as the full frame RF lenses are completely wasted on them.

Small, cheap, fun, yet high quality - that is what the Sigma APS-C lenses bring to the table.

The 23mm F1.4 looks like one to get as well.

Will be interesting to see if this paves the way to full frame Sigma RF releases and if Canon have decided that their too big, too expensive and too clinical technically perfect full frame RF lenses are tanking the system, as I have heard the RF lens sales are going a bit iffy.

Also with Nikon and the Z8, Sony and their successes, and Fuji taking a slice of the take with GFX, I think the high-end of Canon's line-up will need some Sigma help pretty soon.

[Al Dolega]

Don't the Sigma Arts tend to also be large and fairly clinical? Just cheaper. Maybe that's what Canon is counting on.

[MrSMW]

My personal preference is the Contemporary line from Sigma.

I think these are great for photo and video users with manual aperture rings and a convenient AF on/off switch.

Mostly f2 primes plus compact f2.8 28-70mm.

All that is missing for me is something like a 70-180/200 under 1000g.

If this line was available in Canon RF and they made that compact sub 1kg longer zoom that I need, I’d buy up some used R3’s (which are finally coming down in price) and happy days would follow.

 

[gt3rs]

17 hours ago, MrSMW said:

My personal preference is the Contemporary line from Sigma.

I think these are great for photo and video users with manual aperture rings and a convenient AF on/off switch.

Mostly f2 primes plus compact f2.8 28-70mm.

All that is missing for me is something like a 70-180/200 under 1000g.

If this line was available in Canon RF and they made that compact sub 1kg longer zoom that I need, I’d buy up some used R3’s (which are finally coming down in price) and happy days would follow.

 

Canon RF 70-200 f2.8 is 1070g and 70-200 f4 is 695g

[MrSMW]

6 hours ago, gt3rs said:

Canon RF 70-200 f2.8 is 1070g and 70-200 f4 is 695g

Well that is pretty decent.

In that case, I might look even harder at the system next year…

The R3 is for my needs the best body currently on the market.

A Nikon Z6iii with additional battery grip is probably going to beat it…maybe…for me and as someone now 50% invested in Nikon, almost certainly where I will be going.

But at the end of every season, I review my needs and Canon could be an option, especially now that Sigma have joined the party, but would need to have brought out a pretty extensive FF line by next Spring.

I think Canon really do need to lighten up on their lens stance though or it will bite them in the arse. If it is not already nibbling…

[Django]

Tamron is also putting out an RF-S (APS-C) zoom lens (11-20mm F2.8).
 

Makes sense as Canon have barely developed any RF-S lenses (not a single prime or fixed aperture lens). So this will surely help sell crop bodies.
 

So yeah while this is great news for APS-C Canon owners, I really don’t see this as a solid indicator Canon will open third party FF RF lenses although one can hope!

[kye]

19 hours ago, Django said:

Tamron is also putting out an RF-S (APS-C) zoom lens (11-20mm F2.8).
 

Makes sense as Canon have barely developed any RF-S lenses (not a single prime or fixed aperture lens). So this will surely help sell crop bodies.
 

So yeah while this is great news for APS-C Canon owners, I really don’t see this as a solid indicator Canon will open third party FF RF lenses although one can hope!

Maybe Canon are thinking that they'll keep their exclusivity on the super-sharp super-expensive lenses, but let the third-parties develop lower cost less technically perfect lenses?

It would make sense and make the system a lot more accessible and attract a lot of new customers that wouldn't want to spend top dollar on pristine lenses.  Their success on the EF line and how ubiquitous it was must have been a critical factor in their earnings over the decades, so making RF a new default standard is very much in their interests.

You might be right about the split between FF and APS-C lenses though - that's still a strategy in a similar direction.

[eatstoomuchjam]

My guess is that Sigma and Tamron paid Canon to license the mount.  They have enough profit margin that they can afford to give either a single pretty big upfront payment to Canon or to pay them a royalty/percentage on each lens sold.  Canon makes a lot of money selling lenses and know that over time, they'll fill in any existing gaps in their lens lineup - but if they can also make money through licensing (with no need to even build/ship a product), why throw away the chance?