Sigma 28-45mm T2 FF AF Cine Review: Cinema Glass That Focuses Itself

Cinema lenses have always asked you to choose. You get robust build, geared rings, a big front for your matte box and consistent handling, but you also take on manual focus, which means a focus puller or a lot of practice. Stills lenses autofocus beautifully, but they're not built for a rig.

The Sigma AF Cine 28-45mm T2 FF is the first lens in Sigma's new AF Cine Line, and it sets out to give you both. I spent a weekend shooting with it and it's one of the most useful lenses we've used in a while for small-crew commercial, corporate and narrative work.

The short answer: if you shoot on a Sony E-mount or L-Mount camera and want a lens that can live on the body for most of a job, it's easy to recommend. The image is clean with pleasing skin tones and highlight roll-off, the autofocus kept up with our everyday Canon cinema setups, and at around $5,599 AUD it covers several prime focal lengths. The limitation is just as clear: it's only available in E and L mount, and 28-45mm won't cover your tight or very wide shots.

How we tested: this wasn't a lab test. I shot with it over a weekend, mostly filming my family, at different focal lengths and in different light. I was judging how it feels and looks in real use, not measuring sharpness or focus breathing. Check out the video below!

Sigma based this lens on the optical formula of the Sigma 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | Art, a well-regarded stills zoom. The optics are shared. Everything around them has changed for film work:

• T2 instead of f/1.8. A T-stop measures the light that actually reaches the sensor, not just the aperture size, so exposure stays consistent when you swap between cinema lenses.
• 95mm front diameter, which fits many clamp-on matte boxes, plus an 82mm filter thread.
• 0.8 module gears on focus, zoom and iris, so follow focus units and motors fit without adapters.
• A clickless iris ring for smooth exposure changes mid-shot.
• A metal housing and a dust- and splash-resistant design, according to Sigma.

It also keeps the Art lens's autofocus motor, which Sigma calls an HLA (High-response Linear Actuator). So it isn't a manual cine lens with autofocus bolted on, and we'd expect it to focus very much like the stills version.

On paper, 28 to 45mm looks like a narrow range. In use, it covers the focal lengths many of us reach for most. You can go a little wider for a room or a two-shot, then come in to 45mm, close to a natural "normal" perspective that suits interviews and people. I presented this video at around 45-50mm for exactly that reason.

That's also where the value case comes from. One lens replaces the 28mm, 35mm and 40mm-ish primes you might otherwise carry, with consistent colour and no lens changes between setups. For a single-camera crew working quickly, that matters more than the raw range.

We couldn't fault the build. The gearing is smooth, the markings are clear, and it feels like the cinema lenses I use on set as a working DOP. It's not light at around 1.2 kg on Sigma's spec page but it doesn't feel heavy for what it is.

The handling surprised us most. Sigma specifies a 200° focus throw, a 60° zoom throw and a 57° iris throw. In practice, the zoom was smooth enough that I could hand-hold a dolly zoom, a move that's normally hard to pull off without support, and get a believable result even across this short range.

We really like the image. It sits between a clean, clinical look and a more cinematic rendering, with pleasing skin tones and gentle highlight roll-off. If you've used Sigma's cine primes, it's very much in that family: neutral, consistent and ready to take a grade, rather than a heavily characterised lens that bakes in a look.

This is the headline, and it delivered. Day to day, I shoot on Canon's C400, C80 and EOS R5 Mark II, all with very reliable autofocus. On the FX3, this lens felt just as dependable as a native RF lens on those bodies. I didn't feel I was missing anything. In our use it was on par with a native Sony G Master or Sigma E-mount lens.

Because it uses the same focus motor as the Art version, we wouldn't expect a meaningful autofocus difference between the two. That's our inference from the shared design, not a side-by-side test. On Sony E-mount, Sigma lists support for Direct Manual Focus (DMF) and AF Assist.

We'd recommend it to videographers doing corporate and commercial work, and to small narrative crews who want cinema handling without a dedicated focus puller. It works best as the lens that stays on the camera for most of the day, with a wider or longer lens swung on when the shot calls for it.

Some people will see the price and baulk. We think it's fair value, because it does the job of three or four primes, it's built to be used hard, and the autofocus means you'll actually use it on fast jobs. For someone stepping up their work, it's one of the more sensible upgrades you can make.

It's not the right buy if you mainly shoot stills, fly a small gimbal or don't need cinema gearing. The 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | Art gives you the same optical design for less money and less weight. And if your camera isn't E-mount or L-Mount, it isn't an option. That's the only thing stopping me adding one to my own Canon-based kit.

We'd recommend it to videographers doing corporate and commercial work, and to small narrative crews who want cinema handling without a dedicated focus puller. It works best as the lens that stays on the camera for most of the day, with a wider or longer lens swung on when the shot calls for it.

Some people will see the price and baulk. We think it's fair value, because it does the job of three or four primes, it's built to be used hard, and the autofocus means you'll actually use it on fast jobs. For someone stepping up their work, it's one of the more sensible upgrades you can make.

It's not the right buy if you mainly shoot stills, fly a small gimbal or don't need cinema gearing. The 28-45mm F1.8 DG DN | Art gives you the same optical design for less money and less weight. And if your camera isn't E-mount or L-Mount, it isn't an option. That's the only thing stopping me adding one to my own Canon-based kit.

View their specs page

The best way to judge a cinema lens is on your own camera. Visit our video showroom in Chatswood to try the 28-45mm T2 with your rig. Bring your camera body, your matte box or follow focus if you use one, and an idea of the kind of jobs you shoot, and we'll help you decide between this lens, the Art version and other options.