Kazuto Yamaki

CEO (Representative Director / President), Sigma Corporation

Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki Interview: 85mm f/1.2 Art, 20-60mm f/2.8-4, Aizu Primes (IBC 2026)

📅 Oct 14, 2026 Lensvid 12 MIN 165 VIEWS 65 SEGMENTS · 2 SPEAKERS

At IBC 2026 in Amsterdam, we sat down again with Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, at the Sigma booth. We talked about the two new lenses for full-frame mirrorless cameras, the 85mm f/1.2 DG Art and the 20-60mm f/2.8-4 DG Contemporary, Sigma's new filters, the new Aizu Prime LF cinema lenses, the L-Mount Alliance, and how Sigma uses AI and robots. The full article on LensVid: https://lensvid.com/lensvid-exclusive... Where to buy (affiliate links): Sigma 85mm f/1.2 DG Art (Sony E; also made for L-mount): https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/produc... ($1,599) Sigma 20-60mm f/2.8-4 DG Contemporary (Sony...

What Kazuto Yamaki said

Written from the verified transcript and checked against it. Every figure links to the moment it was said.

Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki introduced two new lenses at IBC 2026: the 85mm f/1.2 Art for full-frame mirrorless, available in Sony E-mount and L-mount, weighing 905.5g, shipping end of this month at $1,599 USD; and the 20-60mm f/2.8-4 Contemporary zoom, shipping next month at around $850. Yamaki confirmed plans for an 18mm I-series prime next year, completing the lineup launched last year, with 21mm, 100mm, and 125mm T1.3 lenses added at this show. He said Sigma does not use AI for optical design due to proprietary knowledge, but uses it for research, meeting minutes, and translation. Yamaki discussed the L-Mount Alliance, expressing satisfaction with progress alongside Leica and Panasonic. He also stated Sigma manufactures everything in Japan and increasingly uses collaborative robotics in production.

Key takeaways

85mm f/1.2 Art lens ships end of this month at $1,599 USD, weighing 905.5g.
20-60mm f/2.8-4 Contemporary zoom ships next month at around $850.
18mm I-series prime lens will start shipping next year.
Sigma does not use AI for lens design due to proprietary knowledge not being on the internet.
Sigma uses collaborative robotics in its Japanese manufacturing process, not full automation.

Numbers and commitments

Figure	What it refers to	Type	At
905.5g	Weight of the 85mm f/1.2 Art lens	metric	0:48
$1,599 USD	Price of the 85mm f/1.2 Art lens	price	1:41
around 850	Price of the 20-60mm f/2.8-4 Contemporary zoom	price	3:08

Chapters

0:0085mm f/1.2 Art lens details
2:1020-60mm f/2.8-4 Contemporary zoom
3:31Sigma filters and future plans
4:28I-series primes lineup completion
6:41Lens release pace and innovation
8:06L-Mount Alliance ecosystem
9:18AI in lens development and company use
11:15Robotics in manufacturing

Questions asked in this interview

0:47So, what can you tell us about them?
1:14This is the third of the F1.2 lenses that you have, right?
1:38Yes, and in terms of availability and pricing?
1:50What else can you tell me about it?
3:15What type of filters are we talking about?
3:40And have you thought about also creating maybe VND or ND filters?
3:53So what can you tell us about them?
5:00So have you thought about making lenses for the same category which are zoom lenses?
7:29So how do you see the whole ecosystem developing in the past, I know, one to two years?
8:29Like, it's one piece of magnesium or aluminum?
8:54Now, the first one is: are you using AI to help you with the development of new optical designs for your lenses?
10:18More in general about AI, are you using AI not for lens development, but inside the company for doing other things?

Interviewer 0:00 ↗

Look at what we have found at the Sigma booth at IBC.

Hi, we're at IBC 2026 and we're at the Sigma booth and we are meeting here Kazuto Yamaki, the CEO of Sigma. Hello.

Kazuto Yamaki 0:33 ↗

Hello. It's nice to meet you here again, basically in IBC, and you have here two new interesting lenses. Maybe you can tell us a little bit about them: the 85 1.2 and the 20 to 60 F2.8 to F4.

Interviewer 0:47 ↗

Yeah. So, what can you tell us about them?

Kazuto Yamaki 0:48 ↗

Yes, this is an 85mm 1.2 for full-frame mirrorless cameras. This lens is available in Sony E-mount and L-mount. The highlight of this lens is that it's very compact and lightweight while we achieve very high optical quality. The weight is below one kilo — it's just 905.5g. And we achieve very high optical performance.

Interviewer 1:14 ↗

This is the third of the F1.2 lenses that you have, right?

Kazuto Yamaki 1:18 ↗

Exactly. We have 35mm 1.2, 50mm 1.2, and this 85mm 1.2.

Interviewer 1:25 ↗

So now you have all the — between 35 and 85, you're covering all the focal lengths.

Kazuto Yamaki 1:31 ↗

Yes, and all three lenses have exactly the same concept: high performance and also compact, lightweight.

Interviewer 1:38 ↗

Yes, and in terms of availability and pricing?

Kazuto Yamaki 1:41 ↗

We start shipping this month, end of this month, and the price is 1,599 USD.

Interviewer 1:50 ↗

Okay, fantastic. So that's very, very interesting. Now let's talk about the second lens, which is a zoom lens. This is a Contemporary lens, I think, from the Contemporary series. Okay, and this is the 20 to 60. So in terms of — what can you tell me about the lens itself? It does extend, so that's one thing to know. What else can you tell me about it?

Kazuto Yamaki 2:10 ↗

Yes, this is a very compact — the standard lens for the new era. These days, thanks to the smartphone, people really like the wide-angle focal length. So normally a standard zoom lens starts from 24 or 28, but we implemented a range of 20 to 60. And it has a very fast aperture, 2.8 to 4, but we make it very compact.

Interviewer 2:43 ↗

Yeah, lightweight.

Kazuto Yamaki 2:44 ↗

It's extremely lightweight.

Interviewer 2:45 ↗

I held it in my hand, it's like — yeah, it's perfect, I think, for travel and for walking around, basically like an in-city sort of lens that you can have both very wide, but also go up to 60, which, you know, you can do portraits and stuff like that. So that's great. This is available starting when?

Kazuto Yamaki 3:05 ↗

Next month.

Interviewer 3:06 ↗

Next month. And pricing?

Kazuto Yamaki 3:08 ↗

The price is around 850, I think. 15,000 — something like that.

Interviewer 3:15 ↗

Okay, we'll have it on the screen. Okay, so these are the two lenses. You already have something — you also have something that you don't have here on the table, which is new filters, right? I actually didn't know that you make filters, but you do, so that's interesting. What type of filters are we talking about?

Kazuto Yamaki 3:31 ↗

Basically we have the protector, UV, and the —

Interviewer 3:38 ↗

You have UV and polarizer.

Kazuto Yamaki 3:39 ↗

Yeah, UV and polarizer. Exactly.

Interviewer 3:40 ↗

And have you thought about also creating maybe VND or ND filters?

Kazuto Yamaki 3:46 ↗

Well, we have such a request, but right now we don't have such plans to make such —

Interviewer 3:51 ↗

Okay, maybe in the future.

Kazuto Yamaki 3:52 ↗

Maybe.

Interviewer 3:53 ↗

Now behind us you have all the cine lenses, and I think quite a little bit before the show you also introduced three, I think, new lenses from the I series prime lineup, right? The 21 T1.3 LF, the 100mm T1.3 LF, and the 125, if I'm not mistaken, which is also T1.3, which is very, very fast for such a long lens. So what can you tell us about them? They are basically completing a 12-lens line that you have in the I series primes.

Kazuto Yamaki 4:28 ↗

Actually yes, we actually announced the series of I series primes last year. And they're all T1.3, starting from 70mm to 125mm. And we already started shipping from 25mm to 75mm, and at this show we add 21mm, 100mm, and 125mm.

Interviewer 4:53 ↗

And you're still left with the 18 that you need to announce.

Kazuto Yamaki 4:56 ↗

Yes, actually we'll probably start shipping 18mm next year.

Interviewer 5:00 ↗

Oh, that's very interesting. So in terms of the I series primes, I do have one other question. These are all obviously prime lenses. So have you thought about making lenses for the same category which are zoom lenses?

32 more exchanges in this transcript

Cite this transcript

APA, MLA, BibTeX

APA

Yamaki, K. (2026, October 14). Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki Interview: 85mm f/1.2 Art, 20-60mm f/2.8-4, Aizu Primes (IBC 2026) [Interview transcript]. Lensvid. CEOInterviews.AI. https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3064976/

MLA

Kazuto Yamaki. "Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki Interview: 85mm f/1.2 Art, 20-60mm f/2.8-4, Aizu Primes (IBC 2026)." Lensvid, 14 Oct. 2026. Transcript, CEOInterviews.AI, https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3064976/.

BibTeX

@misc{yamaki2026_3064976,
  author       = {Kazuto Yamaki},
  title        = {Sigma CEO Kazuto Yamaki Interview: 85mm f/1.2 Art, 20-60mm f/2.8-4, Aizu Primes (IBC 2026)},
  howpublished = {Interview transcript, Lensvid. CEOInterviews.AI},
  year         = {2026},
  month        = {oct},
  url          = {https://ceointerviews.ai/interview/3064976/},
  note         = {Speaker-attributed transcript with timestamps}
}

▶

Key Quotes (2)

“We don't use AI yet because the technology or knowledge that is required to make a high-quality lens are not available on internet. All those technology and the knowledge are proprietary to us. So, such information are kept inside the company. So, we don't use AI to develop our products right now, but I don't know the future development of the AI. So, maybe in sometime in the future, but right now”

▶ 9:18

“We still need the people to machine the products or to assemble the products. That because the camera lenses are so complicated and to make it compact. So still we need a very sophisticated people's hand. But still you know we make everything in Japan. So in general the labor cost in Japan are way higher than the countries in Southeast Asia or China. So we introducing more and more robotics in our”

▶ 11:15 POLICY

Mentioned in this interview

Sony None-Sony Group Corporation: 85mm f/1.2 Art lens is available in Sony E-mount

Leica: Yamaki satisfied with progress with Leica and Panasonic in L-Mount Alliance

Panasonic PCRFY: Yamaki satisfied with progress with Leica and Panasonic in L-Mount Alliance

Earlier, on the same topics

“Sigma decided to stay in Japan. First, we wanted to prioritize the quality. Especially in order to create that high quality lens, we did need that experienced workers. So, if we offshore the manufacturing side, we have to start from scratch, which may affect the quality of the products. Second is, a”

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About Kazuto Yamaki

Kazuto Yamaki, CEO of Sigma, made several public appearances in late 2026, including interviews at IBC 2026 in Amsterdam and in Kazakhstan. At IBC, he discussed the company's new 85mm f/1.2 DG Art and 20-60mm f/2.8-4 DG Contemporary lenses, noting the 85mm's compact and lightweight design. He also addressed Sigma's manufacturing approach, stating that while the company continues to produce in Japan, it is increasingly incorporating collaborative robotics into its processes, and he said that Sigma does not currently use AI in product development because its proprietary knowledge is not publicly available. In interviews with Sigma Malaysia and Kazakh media, Yamaki discussed the company's philosophy and long-term goals. He described Sigma's missions as creating high-quality, innovative products and becoming a beloved brand among customers and partners. He reflected on the Foveon sensor project, saying it is moving from the R&D stage to prototype development, though he noted uncertainty about its eventual production. Yamaki also stated that he declined past opportunities to make lens units for compact digital cameras in the 1990s, saying he prioritized innovative product creation over short-term profit. He expressed a goal of making Sigma "the nicest company in the industry" rather than the largest.

All Kazuto Yamaki appearances → Lensvid on YouTube →