According to a recent rumor post from SonyAlpha Rumors & Sony Addict, some newly discovered patents discloses the design of a new 300mm f/2.8, 250mm f/2.0, and 200mm f/1.8 FE lens.
On the one hand, technically speaking, these are NOT just rumors, they are documented facts. Sigma apparently did patent these lenses. On the other hand, many, many optical formulas get patented, but never made. (Did you know Canon patented and began prototyping a 300mm f/1.8 decades ago?) Thus, at best we could hope that just ONE of these lenses eventually comes to fruition; if we ever got two of them it would be a miracle.
Read the patent information below, plus our speculation on what this means:
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A new Sigma patent published today unveils some superb new lenses options for us Sony shooters:
- Sigma 300mm f/2.8 for mirrorless system cameras
- Sigma 250mm f/2.0 for mirrorless system cameras
- Sigma 200mm f/1.8 for mirrorless system cameras
NOTE: “for mirrorless system cameras” definitely means there will be at least both E and L-mount versions, and maybe more!
Sigma has a 300mm f/2.8 DG DN coming that will support ta 1.4x TC. You can read about the patent below.
- [Publication number: publication number]
Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-170066 (P2020-170066A) - [Release date release date
October 15, 2020 oct 15 2020 - [Name of the Invention]
Rear conversion lens - [Application date]
April 2, 2019 Apr 2 2019 - [Applicant applicant]
[Identification number] 000131326
[Name or name]
Sigma Corporation - PROBLEM TO
BEÂ SOLVED:Â To provide a rear conversion lens having a short flange back, corresponding to a mirrorless camera system having a large image pickup element, and having a small size and high imaging performance.
Compact rear conversion lens with high imaging performance for mirrorless camera systems with a short flange back and large image sensor.
There were also Sigma 200mm f/1.8 and Sigma 250mm f/2 patents found and the 250mm f/2 can act as a 500mm f/4 with a 2xTC.
- [Publication number] Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2020-160100 (P2020-160100A)
- [Publication date] October 1, 2020
- [Title of Invention] Imaging Optical System
- [Application date] March 25, 2019
- [Applicant]
[Identification number] 000131326
[Name or name] Sigma Co., Ltd. - PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide an imaging optical system which can be used as a large-diameter telephoto lens in which various aberrations are satisfactorily corrected while achieving small size and lightweight.
As with many of these rumor posts, just because a patent has been filed (and found), doesn’t mean these lenses will make it into final production. But it does make sense from a business point of view since currently there aren’t any affordable telephoto prime lenses available for Sony. Let us know if these lenses are of interest to you in the comments below.
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On the one hand, while a 300mm f/2.8 is a pretty common lens, and certainly plausible or even highly likely, the latter two, a 250mm f/2 and a 200mm f/1.8, seem downright “crazy”, even for mirrorless mounts that are seeing more f/1.2 primes (and other exotic glass) than ever before right now. How enormous would such semi-unprecedented lenses be?
Honestly, considering how large Sigma’s 135mm f/1.8 and 105mm /1.4 lenses are, (and considering that they’re both made to fit the constraints of the narrow, deep Nikon F-mount) …I don’t think either a 200mm f/1.8 or a 250mm f/2 would be considered “unicorn” status nearly as much as, say, either of the 200mm f/2’s that Nikon and Canon made for their DSLRs, more than a decade ago, or even the legendary “unicorn”, Canon’s own ultra-rare 200mm f/1.8 L.
So, considering Sigma’s now eight-year-long “Art” trend of making no-compromises lenses that are getting bigger, heavier, (and faster, and sharper!) …I think that it is almost par for the course to see them make either of these lenses. They may not be as common, useful focal lengths as 35mm, 50mm, and 85mm primes, but they’re still very likely headed our way, sooner or later.
What Sigma full-frame mirrorless lens would YOU like to see someday? I think I could be tempted by a faster-than-f/2.8 wide-angle lens, whether an f/2 or f/1.8 zoom, or an f/1.8 or f/1.4 prime, anywhere in the range of 12mm to 24mm, I’d love to see more lenses for my hobby of astro-landscape photography! However, I’m still very excited at the thought of mounting a Sigma 200mm f/1.8 Art on a tracking mount for some epic deep-sky astrophotography! (Plus, of course, it would be a holy grail for portrait and wedding photographers, indeed.)