Sigma and Tamron managed to reach an agreement with Canon to produce lenses with autofocus support for the Canon RF bayonet mount. At the end of April, Sigma revealed the “roadmap” for the release of optics for Canon mirrorless APS-C cameras. However, most users expected that the company would also introduce lenses for full-frame cameras. Potentially, such a solution could lower the price barrier to entry into the Canon RF system.
Journalists from the foreign publication CineD, during the announcement of the flagship lens Sigma 28-45mm F/1.8 DG DN Art, asked the head of the company, Mr. Kazuto Yamaki, about plans to produce optics for the Canon RF system.
Sigma CEO stated that the main goal is to release lenses for Canon RF APS-C cameras by the end of 2024. These are the lenses:
Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 DC DN | Contemporary
Sigma 10-18mm F/2.8 DC DN | Contemporary
Sigma 16mm F/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary
Sigma 23mm F/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary
Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary
Sigma 56mm F/1.4 DC DN | Contemporary
The company outlined this list at the end of April. However, there is a demand on the market for Sigma optics for Canon full-frame mirrorless cameras. In this regard, Kazuto Yamaki said that the company currently has no plans to release full-frame AF lenses with RF mount, but “they will do their best” to meet customer needs.
With a high degree of probability, the Canon license did not affect this segment of optics (full frame). For this reason, there is still no certainty regarding the future development of Sigma optics for this system. There is a second assumption why Sigma cannot yet release optics for full-frame cameras and does not even have such a solution in its plans. The licensing deal could be multi-stage: first, Sigma and Tamron release optics for APS-C (because Canon has a clear lack of lenses of this format for Canon RF), and only after a while – lenses for full frame.
There is a third option. It’s possible that both Tamron and Sigma looked at Canon’s lens lineup and decided their biggest money-making potential lay in the RF-S lenses.
The Sigma 18-50mm F/2.8 DC DN lens for Canon RF will be presented in July of this year.
A Tamron lens for the Canon system is also expected to be announced. The first will be the Tamron 11-20mm F/2.8 Di III-A RXD. It is intended for cameras with APS-C format matrices, that is, for models: Canon EOS R50, Canon EOS R7, Canon EOS R100, Canon EOS R10, RED Komodo (Komodo-X), Canon EOS C70 and others (including those will be announced later). This is a wide-angle, fast zoom lens that is often used by bloggers. It offers a fairly wide angle, zoom capability, and a maximum aperture suitable for creating dramatic background blur effects.
For Sony E and Fujifilm systems, the lens weighs 335 grams. The weight for the Canon RF system likely won’t be much different.
The latest announcement from Sigma is the fast zoom Sigma 28-45mm F/1.8 DG DN Art . The main concept of the new Sigma 28-45mm F/1.8 DG DN Art lens is the combination of three focal lengths in one zoom lens for different shooting scenarios while maintaining the maximum aperture level of a fixed optics. These are 28mm, 35mm and 45mm, which will make it possible to quickly adapt to changing conditions/situation/shooting scenario.