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/
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.
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.
I am in the process of purchasing a new Canon 50 D. 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. 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). Hence my attraction. May I take it that the Sigma 30/1.4 will do the job of a 35mm 50mm? 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).
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.