Sigma’s refreshingly outspoken CEO Kazuto Yamaki sits down with Sigma UK’s Tim Berry for a nearly 30-minute interview to discuss Yamaki’s favorite photographer and why Sigma remains a ‘Made in Japan’ brand. , and talked about a variety of topics including the upcoming brand. lens.
Near the end of the wide-ranging interview, Berry asks: Can you give us a teaser of something coming up? I know you can’t say too much, but can you tell us about what we can look forward to in the coming weeks?”
“Okay, that’s the hardest question you’ve asked me today,” Yamaki replied with a smile. “In fact, we are currently working on a number of projects and are very excited about all of the new products we are currently working on. Basically, all of our customers are looking forward to new announcements from Sigma. I am very happy.”
“But one of the products that is really exciting to me is a telephoto lens that has never existed before,” Yamaki continues.
“Really?” Berry interjects excitedly.
“Well, sports photographers and wildlife photographers might be very excited about this lens.”
Mr. Yamaki did not say when the new telephoto lens would be announced, but the Camera and Photo Imaging Show 2025 (CP+) is just around the corner and will be in Yokohama, Japan in late February to early March 2025. It is worth noting that it will be held. Sigma, along with many other major camera and lens manufacturers, has been confirmed to be exhibiting at CP+ 2025, so an announcement there shouldn’t be a surprise in the least.
PetaPixel’s opinion
The possibilities are nearly endless as to what the teased telephoto lens could be. A telephoto lens that never existed before sounds exciting, but it excludes certain focal length and aperture combinations.
Over the years, Sigma has produced many excellent telephoto lenses, including prime and zoom lenses for mirrorless cameras. The recent Sigma 500mm f/5.6 DG DN OS Sports is a standout, with PetaPixel calling it “amazing.” Sigma may be considering a longer or faster prime lens, but they don’t necessarily have a lot of space to manufacture a completely unique prime lens.
There is even more untapped potential in the area of telephoto zoom. Sigma’s 60-600mm f/4.5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports lens is a very versatile zoom, and the slightly lower zoom 150-600mm f/5-6.3 DG DN OS Sports at the beginning of this article is one of those lenses. Best value among all telephoto lenses. Sigma has some very exciting lenses in its cupboard for professional photographers. It’s a 120-300mm f/2.8 DG OS HSM Sports from over 10 years ago. This lens is still available for DSLR cameras, but has not yet been introduced to mirrorless cameras.
Sigma could make another move with a super fast telephoto zoom lens for mirrorless photographers, perhaps a little wider at the wide end, like the excellent (and expensive) Canon RF 100-300mm f/2.8 L I wonder? Sigma may be able to utilize improved optical technology and design to create an f/2.8 zoom that is slightly longer than 300mm at the telephoto end. That would be incredibly exciting.
As Yamaki explained to PetaPixel at CP+ 2023, the company uses three sources of inspiration when designing new lenses. First, the product planning team makes suggestions, but since the employees themselves are photographers, they know which lenses can actually be used. Mr. Yamaki’s ideas are added to this. That’s the second source. Finally, the third source of lens ideas is optical engineers. Like product planners, they are also photographers, but with a better understanding of what can be achieved with specific price targets and the latest optical technology.
Sigma, which moved into a beautiful new headquarters several years ago, encourages a very open exchange of ideas. Although Mr. Yamaki is the CEO, he works in the same space as other employees, including engineers, so ideas are constantly flying around. Whatever Sigma’s next lens will be, the concept has certainly been discussed over the past few years among product planners, designers, engineers, and the CEO himself.
Sigma has been releasing excellent lenses one after another at breakneck speed, releasing six new lenses in 2024 alone. It looks like 2025 will also be a successful start.
Image credit: Sigma
