Capturing Cosplay with the Versatile SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II Art Lens

The art of cosplay involves embodying the characters in full, from personality to attire – in some cases, even their four-legged companions! I had the pleasure of bringing three beloved stories to life through one single lens, the new SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art.

The updated SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art is lighter and sharper, with even faster autofocus. It’s an outstanding choice for photographing cosplay, as you’ll see below!

Fallout

“You come from a world of rules, of laws. This place is indifferent to all of that.” said Wilzig in the Amazon Prime hit Fallout, based on the popular video game series of the same name.

We traveled far into the wasteland of the Mojave desert for these shots, following the escapades of two former vault-dwellers and post-apocalyptic hound Dogmeat (portrayed by Mikah the Belgian malinois). William Von Hofsten and Ashlynne Dae took to the wastes from their cushy former vault life, with human and canine costuming designed by Ashlynne herself. Dogmeat led the way, finding abandoned studs of a house where we all took shelter.

Beetlejuice

“I’m the ghost with the most, babe,” famously said Beetlejuice, a devious ghoul aiding the recently deceased with their new reality.

Anthony Montemarano took on the role of Beetlejuice (wearing Black Milk Clothing), with Ashley Pagliuso portraying Lydia. Shooting deep into the night at a friend’s home in Santa Barbara, the scene came alive with the addition of colorful lights and the perfect acting portrayals!

Xena: Warrior Princess

“See how calm the surface of the water is. That was me once. And then… the water ripples and churns. That’s what I became.” said Xena in the television series that ran from 1995 to 2001.

With the help of Palomino horse Trinket, who portrayed Argo, Xena’s noble steed, we brought the beloved cult classic back to life. Ashley Pagliuso embodied the strong female presence that had captivated hundreds of thousands of audience members as we rode around the beautiful sunset mountains. As animal lovers, we really wanted to emphasize the relationship Xena had with Argo in the images.

Range, features and build quality

The perfect centerpiece for the F2.8 trio, the 24-70mm focal range is probably the most versatile of the bunch. From a wider 24mm to a portrait zoom of 70mm, this lens really does live up to its “walkaround” adjective.

I found that this focal range was perfect for what I was capturing, helping me maximize the locations within seconds (which means I was also maximizing my time). With two of these shoots taking place during golden hour, you don’t have much time to waste. I quickly snapped portraits and full-body shots before the sun hid behind the horizon for both Fallout and Xena!

But… the 24-70mm is a pretty classic lens type, with many photographers well-versed in this range, so what’s new about this particular lens? The first thing that stood out to me with the 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art is the size and construction. Before I even picked up the lens to use, I could visually see those differences – for the better! The version II is smaller and lighter than its predecessor and features a different construction on its barrel. You now have full aperture control on the lens itself, not just zooming capability (and a de-click for this ring). Two AFL buttons are added alongside the usual suspects (such as the focus mode switch).

Like the previous version, the lens feels solid, well-built, and hardy. I know firsthand how hardy it is. This lens experienced the wasteland dirt and sand, a horse, and a possible bump at the Santa Barbara house (I’m not saying it happened, but it may have happened) and still acts brand-spankin’ new.

Optical performance and autofocus

Of course, the range and construction mean naught if the lens doesn’t produce the desired quality. As I echo in many of my articles about SIGMA lenses, the sharpness and clarity feel unmatched to me. There is a reason that the only lenses I own are SIGMA – there is a level of trust built there that has yet to be broken.

Don’t just take my word for it either – the sharpness charts (see performance data) for the 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art show that I’m not just blowing smoke – there is a factual component to my statement! The sharpness also extends edge-to-edge, rather than just concentrating on the image’s center. For some of those deeper aperture shots, this was very important.

But images being tack sharp are only part of the equation – the focus needs to be there to make it happen. The SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art communicates with my Sony A7R series camera natively, like they’ve always been meant for one another. No matter the conditions I was shooting in, from the windy desert to the chilly nights, autofocus locked on to my subjects with such ease. But not only was the autofocus accurate, but it was also quite fast. This version has an autofocus that is up to three times faster than its predecessor, and you can definitely feel the difference.

24mm, F4.5, 1/160s, ISO 2500 (slight crop)

Regarding the constant F2.8 aperture… I am a shallow depth-of-field photographer for the most part, so this made me exceptionally happy. The bokeh shows just enough of the scene to offer good context but helps separate the subject with its softness. In addition, thanks to the availability of a very large aperture, low-light performance is exquisite.

However, for many of these cosplay shoots, the location itself lent a vital role to the images, so I played around with very deep depths of field as well – lo and behold, the results were stellar.

An ideal lens for any situation (including cosplay!)

While I use SIGMA prime lenses on many of my projects, all of the above combined perks helped me fall back in love with the 24-70mm range. This particular version, the SIGMA 24-70mm F2.8 DG DN II | Art, offers outstanding versatility, adaptability, and creative freedom – perfect for cosplay!