Sigma 28mm F1.8 Aspherical High-Speed A-mount lens review by Cliff

Cliff#23454 date: Dec-24-2015
sharpness: 4.5 color: 5 build: 5 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 4.5	tested on: film camera: APS-C: 6MP; 10MP; 12MP; 14MP; 16MP; 20MP; 24MP full frame: 12MP; 24MP; 36MP; 42MP; 61MP
ownership:	I own this lens
compared to:	Minolta 50mm f1.7 Sigma 24mm EX DG f1.8 Tokina 28-70mm f2.6
price paid:	$80
positive:	sharp & old Minolta color relatively fast aperture close focus under a foot accurate, quick and quiet AF solid build
negative:	Zen finish
comment:	Nice old lens. All metal construction, sharp, color much like old Minolta, close focus under a foot. Accurate, fast & quiet AF, works fine on A65 and with LA-EA4. Zen finish on this copy was mostly removed. That left a plain gloss black barrel with covered depth of field scale that looks a lot like earlier Minolta lenses. It is about the size of the Minolta 28 f2 when extended, but with a wider, actually usable, focus ring. Works nicely as a fast short normal prime on APS-C, it handles a lot like the Minolta 50mm f1.7 does on FF. I like the warmer color better than that of the newer Sigma 24mm f1.8 EX DG, YMMV. Several reviews of the LW Aspherical ZEN (aka II) version are of this earlier lens. The somewhat newer version has the scale printed on the barrel.