Alongside Sigma’s announcement of the new Sigma BF (an all-new full-frame camera), a new 16-300mm super-zoom lens, and a new 300-600mm f/4 telephoto zoom lens, Sigma also revealed that they have stopped development of new DSLR lenses. This was part of the announcement of new mirrorless lenses, which have dropped the “DN” designation. This ‘DN’ designation was used to show that the Sigma lens was designed for mirrorless. Sigma say they no longer need this, as all new Sigma lenses are for mirrorless cameras only.
DSLR manufacturing has been in decline ever since major DSLR manufacturers Nikon and Canon introduced full-frame mirrorless cameras in 2018. You can still find some DSLRs on the market from Nikon and Canon, but the last models introduced were the Nikon D780 (and D6) in 2020, and the Canon EOS 1DX III in 2020.
DLSR lenses have also started to disappear from shelves and on-line catalogues, meaning that if you’re looking to buy a DSLR lens, then you’ll need to look at the second-hand market. It all makes a lot of sense for companies to focus resources on developing new lenses for new cameras, as the potential market continues to grow.
The optical design of mirrorless lenses is also significantly different from DSLR lenses, as the distance between the rear lens mount and the sensor (known as the flange distance) is significantly different, due to DSLRs needing a flapping mirror-box in between the two.
This leaves very few manufacturers still making new DSLR lenses, with even Zeiss announcing new mirrorless lenses, with no sign of DSLR versions. In fact, there’s only Pentax left making new DSLR cameras, with the last new Pentax DSLR being the Pentax K-3 Mark III Monochrome, released in April 2023 (a monochrome update to the K-3 III released in 2022).
However, despite the increasing focus on mirrorless lenses from all companies, there are still those that feel like more APS-C lenses are needed, especially for the Nikon Z series.
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