I've got a trip to Tokyo coming up in literally three weeks and I'm honestly losing sleep over which lens to bring for my A7IV. I want to spend most of my time doing street stuff, mostly candid shots of people and maybe some night neon scenes in Shinjuku but I'm torn between two very different Sigma options and my budget is strictly under 900 bucks since I already spent a fortune on flights.

Basically I'm stuck between the Sigma 35mm f/2 DG DN Contemporary (the I series one) and the 35mm f/1.4 DG DN Art. I keep reading reviews and watching videos but it's making it worse lol. The Art lens is supposed to be the gold standard for sharpness and that 1.4 would be killer for those low light rainy nights but man it looks huge and heavy. I'm gonna be walking like 10 miles a day and I'm worried it'll just end up staying in my bag because it's such a brick to carry around. I don't have a lot of space in my carry-on either so every ounce kinda matters.

On the other side there's the 35mm f/2. It’s so much smaller and looks way more stealth for street photography which I really like since I don't want to look like a professional paparazzi guy scaring people away. But then I worry if f/2 is enough? Like am I gonna regret not having that extra stop of light when I'm under the dim street lights at 11pm? Also I keep hearing the Art has better character whatever that means.

I also briefly looked at the 24-70 f/2.8 but I think that's definitely too big for what I want. So it's really down to the compact f2 vs the beastly 1.4. I need to order this by Friday to make sure it gets here before my flight and I am just paralyzed by the choice. Is the weight of the Art lens really that noticeable for a full day of walking or should I just prioritize the portability of the Contemporary series for a city trip like this?