Perfect for portraits
This short telephoto crop-sensor prime delivers superb image quality and an ultra-wide F1.4 aperture in a very portable body. Weighing less than 300g, it’s ideal for photographers who need both performance and portability from their kit. When used on an APS-C sensor camera, the lens offers an equivalent focal length of around 85mm, and when used on Micro Four Thirds, it’s around 112mm. This makes it ideal for portraits, weddings, travel, street and pet photography, and thanks to its fast AF is also perfect for video.

The wide F1.4 aperture delivers a shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds, which is particularly useful when photographing portraits as it helps the subject to stand out against the background. The fast aperture also makes it easier to achieve blur-free shots when working hand-held in low light. The lens is available in a range of mirrorless mounts including Canon RF, Fujifilm X, Micro Four Thirds and Nikon Z Mount. The SIGMA 56mm F1.4 is part of a series of portable crop-sensor primes with an F1.4 maximum aperture, ideal for photographers who prefer to work with a set of lenses from the same range.

Features and build
The 56mm is constructed using a strong and light polymer that ensures a robust build while keeping the lens extremely small and light. At 59.5mm in length it is the smallest optic in the F1.4 DC DN range. A large, rubberised focus ring makes manual focusing highly intuitive, and a petal-type lens hood helps control flare in bright sunlight.

The durable brass mount is surrounded by a rubber seal to help keep out dust and moisture. The lens benefits from inner focusing technology, with a stepping motor that delivers smooth, fast and accurate AF for both stills and video. It has been designed with lighter glass elements in the focus lens group, which ensures responsive autofocus that is fully compatible with all the latest AF camera technology.

High-performance optics
The lens has an advanced optical design made up of 10 elements in 6 groups, including 2 aspherical elements and 1 SLD element. These ensure razor-sharp results and help to eliminate common optical issues such as chromatic aberration, flare and vignetting. The lens also utilises in-camera digital correction to fine-tune the final result.

Chromatic aberration is very well-controlled around areas of high contrast, and vignetting is minimal even wide-open. The lens has advanced optical coatings which reduce flare and ghosting when working in bright direct sunlight.

Superb low-light performance
The lens has a very bright maximum aperture of F1.4 that allows plenty of light through the lens – four times more than an F2.8 optic. This is useful when working the lens hand-held in low-light, such as at night, because it helps eliminate camera-shake.

A fast aperture also means a shallow depth-of-field for blurry backgrounds. It enables photographers and film-makers to isolate their subject and create more impactful images. The bokeh is smooth and attractive, so doesn’t distract from the in-focus subject.

Excellent for urban
Street photographers favour fast, sharp, portable lenses with a robust build, and the 56mm ticks all these boxes. Its mid-telephoto focal length is perfect for picking out small vignettes in cluttered environments, and its F1.4 aperture ensures fast shutter speeds in all conditions.

Two portable F1.4 options for crop-sensor cameras
The 56mm F1.4 is one of the lightest lenses in the Sigma line-up, weighing just 280g. It’s also one of the smallest at less than 6cm in length (without hood and rear cap). It is virtually identical in weight to the 30mm F1.4, but is significantly shorter. Both lenses are ideal for portrait and street photography, and both have a similar look and feel.