Features

Which One?: Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art vs Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art Comparison

Chris Gampat
No Comments
06/19/2017
4 Mins read
Chris Gampat The Phoblographer Sigma 85mm f1.4 art product photos 3

If you’re a portrait photographer, the question of Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art vs Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art has most likely come up. The two lenses are portrait photography powerhouses designed to be some of the best lenses in the world and have attractive characters to portrait photographers of all types. Typically, choosing one lens over the other has had to do with the amount of space that you’re working in, but with trends in modern photography that can change pretty easily just by switching locations. Both lenses have different image quality characteristics and different body characteristics. So which one is right for you?

For reference, you may want to open up both our Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens review and our Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lens review.

Ergonomics and Build Quality

Both the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art and the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lenses have fantastic build quality and just a little bit of weather sealing. The 85mm tends to be shorter and fatter while the 135mm is thinner and longer. Personally, the 85mm lens is a bit too heavy for me to use for prolonged periods of time despite my natural predisposition to that focal length when working in small NYC apartments. Both lenses have the carbon-plastic-metal-like material on the outside and both lenses also use a big rubber ring to give the user a bit of extra grip when handholding the lens.

Assuming that the reader has a full frame camera in hand, you’d be fine reaching for either lens. When it comes purely to feeling though, the Sigma 135mm f1.4 Art lens wins the round for me.

Winner: Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art

Autofocus

Years ago, Sigma lenses couldn’t focus with Canon and Nikon bodies that well. But all that has changed. Both lenses will focus fuss free with cameras from both manufacturers going back even into the film days. Both are quick; and I’m actually pleasantly surprised as how fast the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lens is to focus. However, due to the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens being a shorter focal length, it’s faster to focus and also more efficient when it comes to ensuring a higher hit rate.

Winner: Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art

Ease of Use

Now here is where things get obviously tricky. The clear winner here is the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens, but here’s why. Location shooting photographers will often reach for zoom lenses just because they’re more versatile. But if you’re shooting with a prime lens then you NEED a larger space to make the most use of the 135mm f1.8 Art. This is because you’ll have to move around to get variety. With the 85mm f1.4 Art, you can do that within a smaller space while still also getting similar compression.

Winner: Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art

Image Quality

In very similar situations, I’m pretty positive that most photographers wouldn’t be able to tell apart the output from the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art and the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens. They’re both damned good. One is better for skin tones than the other is. One is sharper than the other.

Bokeh

Sigma 85mm f1.4

Here’s the bokeh from the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens. As you can tell, it’s very nice.

Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art

Here’s some Bokeh from the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lens. Truthfully they’re both good and if I didn’t tell you which is which, I’m sure lots of photographers would have difficulty figuring it out.

Sharpness

Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art

In my opinion, the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art is slightly sharper than the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lens. Perhaps Sigma did this because they knew it would be more popular.

Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art

Color Rendition

Now here’s where I feel the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art takes the cake. The Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art tends to be a bit more saturated in color than I’d like it to be, but the 135mm f1.8 Art tends to be a bit more muted. It’s the difference between Kodak Portra and Ektar.

Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art
Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art

Sample Images

Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art

igma 135mm f1.8 Art

Winner: My personal choice is the 135mm f1.8 Art Lens

Conclusions

Here’s where I’m incredibly torn. The Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art lens lets me get better photos that suit my personal look more so I spend less time in Capture One Pro. But I need more shoot to shoot with it and so my apartment is tough to work in but outdoors can be alright. On the other hand, the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art is fantastic when it comes to workability, but it doesn’t quite give me the image quality I like. If you’re into the more sterile, character free look that it all the rage with Japanese lens makers these days, then the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art may be for you. But if you like something with a tad more character, the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art could be your choice.

Of course, I could work with the files from the Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art in Capture One to get what I want. But the Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art just requires me to step outside of my apartment in Brooklyn, find a spot, shoot, and then come home happy.

autofocus Bokeh build quality color ergonomics image quality portrait photographers portraits sharpness Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art vs Sigma 135mm f1.8 Art weather sealing
Shares
Written by

Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.