The 85mm f/1.2 Sigma never made
On September 8, 2026, Sigma officially launched the 85mm f/1.2 DG DN | Art, the company’s first-ever 85mm f/1.2 prime lens in a 64-year lens-making history. It will be available in L-Mount and Sony E-mount starting September 30, 2026, with a US price of $1,599.
Digital Camera World, which got hands-on time ahead of the announcement, framed the significance bluntly: “Most people don’t realize this, but Sigma has never made an 85mm f/1.2 lens. The fastest it has ever gone is f/1.4 – until now.” The development was first teased at CP+ 2026 in February, and the shipping version is finally here.
What’s actually inside the new 85mm
Sigma describes the 85mm f/1.2 DG DN | Art as “a large-aperture medium-telephoto lens for full-frame cameras that combines unparalleled rendering power with a compact, lightweight design.” At 85mm, a focal length widely regarded as ideal for portrait photography, the lens achieves Sigma’s brightest-ever f/1.2 aperture while also delivering portability, and ships with the LH878-08 lens hood, LCF-82 IV front cap, LCR III rear cap, and a soft pouch.
Per Digital Camera World’s hands-on, the optical formula includes high-anomalous-dispersion glass to suppress axial chromatic aberration inherent to large-aperture lenses. Their lab manager concluded: “Control over both axial and lateral chromatic aberrations is pretty epic at all aperture settings … Center sharpness is spectacular in the f/2 to f/11 sector of the aperture range and holds up really well even at the widest aperture.” Digital Camera World’s full review — including 28 sample images and lab tests — went live on September 8 alongside the announcement; September 30 is retail availability, not the review date.
The price is the headline
Sigma’s US MSRP is $1,599. For context, Canon’s RF 85mm f/1.2L USM lists at $3,099 directly on the Canon USA store, and Nikon’s Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S runs $2,796.95 at Adorama. Sigma undercuts the first-party f/1.2 portrait primes by roughly 40–48%, putting an f/1.2 portrait prime in a price bracket that, until this week, was strictly f/1.4 territory for third-party glass.
UK pricing lands at £1,299 and Australian retail at AU$2,225 — a similar proportional cut against Sony, Canon, and Nikon equivalents in those regions, per Digital Camera World’s September 8 hands-on.
A busy day for third-party glass
September 8, 2026 was a busy day for Sony E-mount and L-Mount users — the two mirrorless systems that gained the most ground. Sony launched the FE 8-14mm f/3.5 Fisheye G (a first-party first, its first full-frame fisheye in roughly 20 years). Sigma announced two lenses: the 85mm f/1.2 DG DN | Art (covered above) and the 20-60mm f/2.8-4 DG DN | Contemporary, a $849 ultra-wide-to-standard zoom for L-Mount and Sony E that ships September 30. So in total: three new lenses in a single day across two mounts, with Sigma filling focal-length gaps (the 85mm f/1.2 prime, the 20-60mm wide zoom) that first-party lineups have ignored.
My take
I’ve owned the 35mm f/1.2 DG DN Art (first generation) for two years, and I’m watching this 85mm for the same reason I watched that one — pricing changes who can afford an f/1.2 portrait prime. Two reasons it matters. First, the $1,599 price: that puts an f/1.2 85mm within reach of working photographers who’ve been pricing themselves out of Canon's RF 85mm f/1.2L ($3,099) or Nikon's Nikkor Z 85mm f/1.2 S ($2,796.95). Second, the dual-HLA autofocus system (per Sigma’s official spec sheet for the new 85mm) is what Sigma is now standardizing across its f/1.2 Art lineup — the 35mm f/1.2 DG DN II Art switched to dual HLA earlier this year, and now the 85mm is following suit. Whether that holds up in real-world eye-AF tracking is something I’ll need to test before recommending it for paid portrait work. (For context: Canon’s RF 85mm f/1.2L only fits Canon RF bodies, so it isn’t directly comparable to a Sony E or L-Mount lens.)
What we don’t know yet
Speculation: I haven’t seen independent AF tracking tests on a Sony A7R VI or a Leica SL3. Sigma’s official spec sheet describes the lens as using “dual HLA” (High-response Linear Actuator) motors — Sigma’s press release calls this “fast and quiet autofocusing” — but real-world eye-AF performance on f/1.2 subjects is where every 85mm f/1.2 either earns or loses its keep. I’m also watching for any future Sigma L-Mount-only variants — both the 20-60mm and 85mm f/1.2 launch simultaneously in L-Mount and Sony E, which signals Sigma is doubling down on the L-Mount Alliance after Panasonic’s S1II updates earlier this year.
Editorial note (2026-09-10): This article was originally published under the title “Sigma 85mm f/1.2 DG Art Review,” but it is not a hands-on review — no sample images or lab tests are mine. The lens had not been independently tested by LensClear at time of publication. The title has been corrected to reflect that this is a launch announcement based on Sigma’s official spec sheet and Digital Camera World’s hands-on coverage (linked inline). Motor type, shipping dates, and lens count have also been corrected against Sigma’s primary sources. — Leo Liang