A month with SIGMA lenses

A shot in a park.
Overhead shots are popular on Instagram.
The the bokeh around the feet cannot be made without the aperture of this lens.
Unique compositions make shooting more fun.

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F2, ISO125, 1/640s

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F3.5, ISO400, 1/250s

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F4, ISO1250, 1/250s

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 56mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F2.8, ISO1000, 1/250s

The lens works great for tabletop photography, such as flowers. It creates a calm atmosphere.

The SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary can express even the subtle shades of the antique-colored hydrangea.
A bit of front bokeh makes a difference.
I like lenses that can create chic atmosphere with great detail, not just plain dark or bright images.
Front bokeh is good and fashionable, but just one way of expression.
These lenses are must haves for expanding the possibilities of expression.

Flower gardens have become a popular place to shoot photographs.
It was a cloudy day but the lens masterly captured the lively colors of flowers, giving me many options for later processing. This shooting built my trust in the lens.
See how the SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary captured every detail of the petals.

Inside a European style house in Yokohama.
The SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary can capture enough light even for indoor shots that tend to be low light.
Wide angle but with little distortion, the lens allowed me to take a sharp shot that tells the structure of the building with only a little bit of correction.
The strong contrast adds the aura of solidity to the image.

This shot was taken in a car.
SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary can express the glossy and deep colors of autumn.
I recommend it to anyone who loves images with a rich luster.
The back bokeh also effectively presents the flowers.

Lunch at a beach terrace. See the amazing details the SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary captured.
Just looking at the image brings back the taste and smell from the day.

The SIGMA 56mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary perfectly captured a beautiful morning glow.
The glorious light was also reflected on the sea.
It was a great shooting and also a great way to start a day.
The beach in Miyazaki Prefecture is famous for the reflection of sunlight on water.
I take photos of the scenery every time I visit the beach.
With this single-focus lens and its aperture, dusky mornings won’t daunt you anymore!

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 30mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F9, ISO100, 1/640s

This beach is in the walking distance from the one I visited in the morning.
A shot in the daytime.
On sunny days the blue sky extends to the sandy beach with its reflection.
This time I succeeded in taking shots of the beach with clear shadow of clouds.

Here is one of my sons biting into hot hamburgers.
The steam from the hamburgers makes the image very "tasty.”
It’s a unique composition only a lightweight mirrorless camera can create.

Every October, we organize a photo tour to visit the winery by bus, which is hosted as "Pick nick for Adults”. This is the third time.

Everyone enjoys taking pictures and drinking wine and while looking around the winery.
There I give a simple photo lecture while answering their questions about photography.

A compact mirrorless is also useful at such times. Here I photograph and show the difference of the depths and atmosphere the lens makes.
This lens shows the difference of depth and atmosphere of a photograph to show how important a lens is.

There are beginners who don’t even know the difference of angle of view and there are some experienced users as well.

It is no wonder that people of each user type are attracted to images with different atmospheres.

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F5.6, ISO400, 1/100s

Sunbeams through trees after heavy torrential rainfall. Green leaves washed by the rain reflect sunlight beautifully.
Even red, known as a difficult color to work with, is accurately reproduced.

I drove to the Nikko Toshogu Shrine, a World Heritage site in Japan.
The gorgeous shrine has just gone through major renovations. If you have a lightweight mirrorless camera and a set of small yet high quality lenses, you can shoot anything with almost any angle.
When going on a shooting trip I usually carry around two cameras and at least three lenses,the lighter and more compact the better.
That said, I don’t want to sacrifice the image quality, so the high image quality yet small SIGMA lenses are my favorite.
Japanese traditional arts are delicate and made with amazing craftsmanship. You can observe the passion and skills of masters in every detail.
As I developed the images I was surprised how perfectly the lenses captured these details, sometimes better than human eyes.
Small lenses that can reproduce every detail of the Japanese beauty–truly a wonder.

Canon EOS KISS M, SIGMA 16mm F1.4 DC DN | Contemporary, F3.5, ISO3200, 1/400s

I went on a shooting walk to Yanesen, an old Tokyo town. I often go out with a camera to take photos and also to scout new locations for my photography classes.

There are many cool spots in Yanesen.
The town is a mixture of old days flavor and modern cafes.
Sceneries, foods, shop interiors.
With the three lens set, you won’t miss a shot!

I spent a month in the summer with SIGMA lenses. At first I found the SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Art handy for my EOS R. So I made heavy use of it even for my professional work.
It worked particularly well for studio portrait shooting. I once loaned it to a friend who forgot to bring a wide angle lens. Surprised by the rich effect it created, she is now planning to buy one for herself!

I usually use full size lenses, so at first I felt a bit awkward at using the set of three small lenses. After a while thanks to the light weight, I started carrying them around wherever I go.

Nowadays, you can shoot anything with your smartphone cameras. But they can’t create front bokeh yet, let alone the crisp shutter sound of "real” cameras. So if there is an option of using a light weight mirrorless camera, I would choose it over smartphones.

I enjoyed one month of exciting shooting experience. It was also an opportunity to reconfirm the power of photography. Photography has the allure that no smartphones can match, no matter how sophisticated they are. The camera market is shifting from single lens reflex to mirrorless and mirrorless cameras are getting better and better as new lenses enter the market. As a user, I welcome their ongoing evolution.
My expectation for SIGMA: please keep developing lenses only SIGMA can make.