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Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art
Zeiss ZF.2 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar T*

vs Sigma 135mm f/1.8 Art and Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 FL ED VR: White Flowers (Nikon D810)

This close-range 3-way comparison pits the Zeiss ZF.2 135mm f/2 APO-Sonnar against the Sigma 135mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art and the Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 FL ED VR, focusing on two key areas: sharpness and correction for secondary color, but also comments on breathing.

Close range shooting is often a weakness in many lenses designs, which intentionally or not “game” the lab testing system by not performing nearly as well at close range as at distance.

As another curiosity, improved correction for secondary color usually means superior sharpness, but this is not always so, in part because the corrections for peak sharpness can cause certain types of chromatic differentials between sagittal and tangential rays that show up as faint color fringing— the Otus 55/1.4 is like this in mid zones, and the 135/2 APO-Sonnar MTF chart suggests a similar design choice, as suggested by its slight astigmatism at f/2.8 even near center.

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