Update on opinions of Sigma 30mm 1.4?

I've read here some initial feelings about the new 30mm 1.4 Sigma on a

DSLR. Now that you've had the lens for awhile I wonder if those

feelings are the same or has the initial love worn off or increased.

I have a 35 F2, some more speed wouldn't kill me, maybe another lens

would though. Thanks

Well, I'm a Canon user, but I still use the Sigma 30/1.4 and have loved ever since I got it. The lens of near-equivalent focal length which I use when shooting film is a Nikkor 55mm/2.8 AIS Micro (on a 35mm film SLR) is only a touch sharper, and that's saying a lot, because that Nikkor is one d@mn sharp lens.

 

Seriously, the Sigma 30/1.4 is really sharp when wide open, and seems to be tack sharp from f/2 onward. I heard of some people complaining of odd shaped bokeh, etc, and I've had no such problems' in fact, my copy renders OOF areas very smoothly.

I love it more every day. My collection of photos with it and the D70s has 78 pictures in it at

the moment in a wide variety of situations (including a few recent ones in EXTREME low light):

http://flickr.com/photos/carpeicthus/tags/sigma30mmf14dc/

What Ryan said. I haven't used my 35/2 since I bought the Sigma.

 

Carsten

What about hunting for focus issues? I've read about those here and elsewhere.

Neil,

 

no focusing problems that could be blamed on the lens. IMO focusing works better (faster and less noisy) than the 35/2 Nikkor.

 

Carsten

Absolutely none at all. HSM is great. I really think a lot of the complaints can be chalked up to

user error.

How is the color compared to the 35/2? Looks like it has a different cast than your typical nikkors.

From what little I've seen of the 35/2, the color seems identical. Remember that my pictures,

though taken in a wide variety of situations, were all taken by me, and I very likely have a

different take on what color cast pleases me than many other photographers.

Steve, I don't know, but in a digital world, who cares, right? Unless you have a D1/D2 series that does external white balancing, your camera is "seeing" any color cast and accounting for it. Even barring this, I always have to tweak WB a bit in post anyway.

 

I too have found the lens very sharp in the Center, even wide open. Corners can be soft (though only in certain instances is it really a problem). I've heard both this and the 35 f/2 described as "PJ-style" lenses -- a little softness, a little vignetting in the corners to highlight the central object. Yes, there is that weird bokeh if you happen to have bright things align against you -- I've seen it with this lens from the guy who sold the lens to me, but I've not had the problem (yet). If and when I do, I'll probably be doing some blurring in Photoshop, as it is bad looking. I'll try to post some sample photos at some point.

<img src="http://www.photo.net/shared/portrait-bits.tcl?user_id=417348"></a>

 

very nice lens

<p>I am in the process of purchasing a new Canon 50 D.<br>

Have pretty full complement of L series lens. But given 35 mm appx equivalent to range of human eye, would like a cropped lens that does that.<br>

Have Canon 50/1.4 , but cropping takes that into the territory of the excellent Canon 80 /1.8 which I still use of mint AE1 manaul focus ( nice to use camera and body combo that is this small).<br>

Hence my attraction.<br>

May I take it that the Sigma 30/1.4 will do the job of a 35mm 50mm?<br>

BTW: after reading my bank statements and reviews of Sigma and Tamron 24 - 70 /2.8 IS compared to Canon L offering, borrowed Sigma demo from usual camera store. Top lens and I could just could not justify the additional cost of the Canon L 24 -70 IS ( which I really don't need).</p>

<p>Robert, you might get more relevant replies on the Canon Forum, since the crop/magnification factors are slightly different between the Canon 50D and Nikon DX format dSLRs.</p>