Sigma Lens Price Increase Coming For Europe

Sigma has been putting out rather good lenses for the last few years. In particular, their Art line of prime and short zoom glass are very good value for the money.

They have also gotten into Cine High Speed zoom lens and Super Zoom lens as well. As my readers know, Sigma and Tamron are third party lens manufacturers. They 'reverse engineer' Canon and Nikon cameras and manufacture after market lens that fit these models. However, sometimes there can be minor hiccups and Canon and Nikon keep trying to outsmart the 'imitators'.

For those who want to save some money and perhaps get a lens that has different focal length from what Canon and Nikon offer, Sigma and Tamron may be a good alternative. For those into wildlife photography, there is a good deal on eBay for the Sigma 150-600mm f/5-6.3 lens.

Many Sigma lenses sold in Europe will go up in price rather substantially at the beginning of 2017. The list above shows the old and new dealer prices for some lenses. Check the latest EU prices on Amazon.de or Amazon.fr. Price increase for Tamron lenses will not be far behind either. If you are planning to buy one, better hurry up.

Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 Art Lens Coming to CP+ Show

Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens

Sigma is planning to announce their 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art lens just before the CP+ Show on February 25 in Yokohama, Japan. This will be another interesting and fast zoom lens in the highly successful Art line coming from Sigma. The new lens is designed for APS-C cameras.

Sigma 50-100mm f/1.8 DC HSM Art Specifications (Google Translated)

• Lens construction: 15 group 21 sheets – three FLD glass. 
• One SLD glass. 
• One High refractive index, high-dispersion glass 
• One High refractive index SLD glass
• Filter Size: 82mm
• Minimum shooting distance: 95cm
• Maximum magnification of 1: 6.7
• Total length: 170.7mm
• Maximum diameter: 93.5mm
• Weight: 1490 g
• Aperture blades: 9
• Ultrasonic motor of the new development that has been thinned
• Inner focus, inner zoom
• Suggested retail price is 167,400 yen (including tax)
• Mounts for Canon, for Nikon, for sigma
• Scheduled release date - February 22

Interview With Sigma Corporation CEO Kazuto Yamaki

Sigma 200-500mm f/2.8 EX DG APO zoom lens

Sigma is one of the most innovative lens manufacturers in the last few years. Rumor has it Canon wanted to purchase the company but could not agree on the price so it was abandoned. Sigma's line of Art HSM prime lenses have won many praises and is giving much more expensive lens makers, like Zeiss a real competition.

The interview below is of Sigma's CEO, Mr. Kazuto Yamaki. He is the son of the founder and talks about future plans and goals for the company and the photographic industry.

Canon Seeking To Acquire An Image Company?

Canon headquarter building in Tokyo, Japan

Canon is the largest photographic equipment manufacturer in the world. They have been ranked 40 out of 100 in a survey of the world's most valuable brands and have celebrated EF lens and EOS camera production of 110th and 80th million unit recently. However, their profits have dropped in the most recent quarter because camera sales have been down in the last few years, primarily due to changes in consumers' taste and the advancement in the cameras of many smartphones.

No camera manufacturer has not been affected by the recent downturn and Canon remains a blue chip, profitable company on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. Samsung has already shut down its camera sales operations in Germany and the United Kingdom, two of the largest economies in Europe. Sony is in the process of acquiring Toshiba's sensor manufacturing business. Lately, there are rumors Canon tried to acquire Sigma Corporation, a family owned business specializing in after market lens for other brands of cameras. This is hardly earth-shattering news in the business world. Businesses merge or get bought out all the time and the camera business is no different.  

Canon is a conservative company and although they have 'kicked the tires' in checking out other companies, including Hasselblad, they rarely overpay and prefer to buy on the cheap. Although the photography market is not expected to experience sales like it did 5 or 6 years ago, it is not expected to collapse either. 

Recently, at the 2015 Expo Show, Canon showed off a few prototype products with great potential, among them, a 120MP APS-C sensor, 250MP APS-H sensor, EF 600mm f/4 DO BR lens and the ME-20F-SH camera that 'sees in the dark'. In addition, Canon is expected to announce the EOS-1D X Mark II and EOS-5D Mark IV cameras in the first half of 2016. There are many things on Canon management's plate in the next few months, but they are also actively pursuing possible deals in the areas of sensor and lens manufacturing. It could end up in an outright purchase or joint venture with another company. More to come when I receive additional information.     

I have been a wildlife photographer for 25 years using Canon equipment, As an user and observer of the company over the years, I have seen many changes and expect to see much more as they adapt to new challenges and technology. You can see my works on MichaelDanielHo.com