The 40mm Art is dust and splash resistant and feels like it could take a beating. I’ve been impressed with the build quality of Sigma’s Art lenses in the past, and this is no exception. Even the lens hood is solid. It securely mounts to the lens with a button to release it, making sure it doesn’t fly off if you bump the lens.

As usual I’ll have a look at the technical data of the Sigma 40mm f1.4 Art first. I’ve rated the features with a [+] (or [++]), when it’s better than average or even state of the art, a [0] if it’s standard or just average, and [-] if there’s a disadvantage. For comparison I use the Sony 35mm f1.4 ZA and the Zeiss 40mm f2.0 Batis (“Sony ZA” resp. “Zeiss Batis” for short). Instead of summary let me show you a graph comparing the performance in the frame centre of the Sigma Art 1.4/35, 1.4/40 and 1.4/50. Do you need anything more? The Sigma 50mm F1.4 DG DN Art Lens is compatible with all Sony E-mount cameras, including APS-C sensor format models, and it is also available in the L mount (Sigma, Panasonic, Leica). This Sigma 40mm 1.4 Art shows an average amount of optical vignetting in the corners for a lens in this class.

This is your cheapest option when looking for a native 35mm f/1.4 lens with AF, personally I would pay slightly more to get the Sigma 35mm 1.4 Art.

This is the only other 40mm lens with AF available for Sony E-mount. I don’t really like this lens, as I like to decide myself when to stop down.Bright light reflecting off lens elements' surfaces may cause flare and ghosting, resulting in reduced contrast and sometimes interesting, usually destructive visual artifacts. If you are looking for a native 35mm lens with AF but feel the f/1.2 version or the 40mm 1.4 reviewed here are too big, heavy and/or expensive this remains my recommendation.

This Samyang is the cheaper version of the Sony FE 35mm 1.4 ZA in many ways: similar size, similarly high CA, similar questions regarding sample variation. No button or aperture ring and according to some reports the manual focus experience is really bad with this lens.The ALC-SH168's rather rigid plastic build absorbs some impact and adds a layer of physical protection to the camera and lens. Bokeh is a word used for the out-of-focus areas of a photograph, and is usually described in qualitative terms, such as smooth / creamy / harsh etc. In theSigma 40mm F1.4 DG HSM lens, Sigma have employed an iris diaphragm with nine rounded blades, which has resulted in very nice bokeh in our view. We do realise, however, that bokeh evaluation is subjective, so we've included several examples below. This lens's about 3 stops of f/1.4 corner shading are not unexpected, but this shading is noticeable.