What’s Changed? The Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG DN II Art for Sony E offers a few noteworthy updates to its predecessor. It features a revised optical formula for improved sharpness and resolution; faster autofocus performance; a clickable, lockable aperture ring; and a lighter, more compact build.

Flexible Wide-to-Portrait Zoom. This lens’s wide-to-portrait zoom range makes it great for portrait, wedding, and event photography. Its fast f/2.8 aperture lets you shoot in low light and offers excellent focus control when using shallow depth-of-field techniques, while the rounded eleven-blade diaphragm helps produce large, pleasing bokeh. At the wide end of the zoom range, you’ll get a 6.7-inch minimum focusing distance, 0.37x maximum magnification, and 1:2.7 macro reproduction ratio to let you work with close-up subjects in small spaces. Using an APS-C sensor camera? You’ll have a focal-length range equivalent to 36-105mm.

Improved Autofocus System. A linear-motor high-response actuator provides highly accurate, nearly silent autofocus operation at more than three times the speed of this lens’s predecessor, while an optimized autofocus algorithm gives you smooth performance. You can use the dedicated AF/MF switch to toggle between autofocus and manual-focus modes on the fly, and you can program the integrated Autofocus-Lock buttons to adjust additional functions, giving you even more options and capabilities. A dedicated zoom-lock switch keeps the barrel from extending when you don’t want it to.

Revised Optical Formula. This lens’s fifteen-group/nineteen-element optical design includes five aspherical elements, two Special Low-Dispersion elements, and six “F” Low-Dispersion elements to minimize chromatic aberrations, vignetting, and color fringing while facilitating maximum sharpness, color accuracy, and clarity. Super multilayer and nano porous coatings on the lens elements help combat ghosting and produce high-contrast, color-neutral images, even in difficult light.

Strong, Yet Svelte. The Sigma 24-70mm Mark II is dust- and moisture-sealed, so that you can use it in adverse conditions without worry. Its internal structure includes metal parts for zoom extension, and there’s a brass bayonet mount for maximum durability. At 4.8 inches long and 1.6 lb., it’s noticeably smaller and lighter than its predecessor while still including the same number of lens elements.