Worth upgrading from Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 to Sigma 30/1.4?

[bjscharp]

Bob, Canon doesn't make a better equivalent to the Sigma. It has the `fast standard prime for aps-c' category all to itself...

[yakim_peled1]

>> Bob, Canon doesn't make a better equivalent to the Sigma. It has the `fast standard prime for aps-c' category all to itself...

 

 

28/1.8 USM?

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[bjscharp]

Good point. However, it's just as expensive as the Sigma, is half a stop darker wide open, and it's more like 45mm than 50mm.

 

As I'm not planning on selling this lens as long as I have a crop-factor camera, the lower resale value doesn't really bother me, and the Sigma handles very nice (good MF ring) and is build like a tank... :-)

 

The 28 does have the advantage of working on FF cameras though.

 

It's up to personal preference I guess :-) (isn't everything in photography?)

[yakim_peled1]

>> is half a stop darker wide open

 

Isn't this a third of a stop? Is it meaningful?

 

>> and it's more like 45mm than 50mm.

 

Which is (1) absolutely negligible and (2) can be corrected with half a step forward or backwards.

 

 

>> The 28 does have the advantage of working on FF cameras though.

 

 

Yes, though it's corner sharpness means you would not want to use of FF.... :-(

 

 

>> It's up to personal preference I guess :-) (isn't everything in photography?)

 

 

Absolutely.

 

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[bjscharp]

<quote>>> Isn't this a third of a stop?</quote>

 

<p>Actually, it's <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-number#Typical_one-third-stop_f-number_scale">two-thirds</a></p>

 

<quote>>> Is it meaningful? </quote>

 

<p>I really doubt it, unless you're an enormous fan of limited dof...</p>

 

<quote>>> Which is (1) absolutely negligible and (2) can be corrected with half a step forward or backwards.</quote>

 

<p>I agree on both points. Moving the photographer, the best zoom-lens ever...</p>

 

<quote>>> Yes, though it's corner sharpness means you would not want to use of FF.... :-(</quote>

 

<p>However, on a crop this wouldn't really matter, while the Sigma doesn't really excel at corner sharpness either... </p>

 

<p>Isn't choice a wonderful thing? :-)</p>

 

<p>Happy shooting to you too!</p>

[yakim_peled1]

<p> <ul><i>I really doubt it, unless you're an enormous fan of limited dof...</i></ul> </p>

<p> Actually, <a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/607298">I am</a>ﾅ :-) </p>

<p> <ul><i>Moving the photographer, the best zoom-lens ever...</i></ul> </p>

<p> Yes, but isn't it a pity it doesn't work for upright bird shots? :-) </p>

<p> <ul><i>Isn't choice a wonderful thing? :-)</i></ul> </p>

<p> As Luis Armstrong once put it: Oh yeahhhhhhhhhhhﾅﾅ... </p>

 

 

<p> Happy shooting, <br>

Yakim. </p>

[bjscharp]

<quote>>>Actually, I amïﾾ… :-)</quote>

<p>Bought yourself a noctilux yet? :-) </p>

 

<quote>>>Yes, but isn't it a pity it doesn't work for upright bird shots? :-)</quote>

<p>Never heard of jumping? I heard it works <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Philippe-Halsmans-Jump-Book-Halsman/dp/0810923386">very well</a> with photography ;-)</p>

 

Cheers!

[yakim_peled1]

>> Bought yourself a noctilux yet? :-)

 

No. MF lenses do not interest me. I love AF too much. I have only one (1000/11) but will probably sell it.

 

>> Never heard of jumping? I heard it works very well with hotography ;-)

 

Nah. I'm too lazy for that.... :-)

 

Happy shooting,

Yakim.

[bjscharp]

Well, then there's the EF 50mm 1.0 of course, it's just a bit less of a name, but the effect is the same...

 

Too lazy to jump, too lazy for manual focus. Good thing pressing the shutter isn't that much work :-D

[JDMvW]

Luis Armstrong-- the famous salsa trumpeteer?

 

And I think the 50mm f/1.0 is mostly for collectors. Users will find the current EF 50mm f / 1.2L USM a superior lens optically, to judge from the reviews I've seen.

[bob.velkov]

The newer 50 1.2L is a much better lens then the original 1.0. It is smaller, focuses

faster, is sharper and the difference between 1.0 and 1.2 is, well, alsmost theoretical..

[bjscharp]

We were talking about limited dof, in which the 1.0 will have a slight advantage, though admittedly, not very much...

[richard_crowe4]

The "plastic fantastic" is a very fragile lens which was not built for either quality or for durability but, simply to provide an el-cheapo normal angle lens for the low line Rebel film cameras. Canon took their perfectly good 50mm f/1.8 Mark-I lens and changed it to the flimsy plastic bodied Mark-II without a focusing scale (which to me is important when shooting in low light levels).

 

I broke a Mark-II by simply tapping it against a door frame. This was the only lens of the hundreds of lenses I have used in 50 years of photography. I was a combat cameraman in Vietnam so I put my gear through some pretty hard conditions. Thankfully, I never had to use a Mark-II.

 

When I brioke my Mark-II I decided, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me!" I purchased a used 50mm f/1.8 Mark-I lens which the inferior build Mark-II replaced.

 

A used Mark-I will cost about half again the price of a new Mark-II (which might tellyou something about the relative esteem in which these two lenses are held by photographers) however, the Mark-I will cost less than 1/2 the price of either the 30mm f/1.4 Sigma or the 50mm f/1.4 Canon.

 

The Mark-I might be an alternate choice for photographing your chld. The image quality is similar to the Mark-II but, the build is a lot better.

 

However, the 50mm f/1.4 will often give a more pleasing portrait than either of the f/1.8 lenses because it has better bokeh. On the other hand, for around $130 or so, the Mark-I will give you decent low light performance with a solid build.

 

The really strange thing about prices is that you can sometimes find a used Canon EOS film camera on eBay with a 50mm f/1.8 Mark-I lens that is priced lower than the lens alone. If you buy the camera and lens - you can throw away the camera, donate it to goodwill or save it for an emergency back-up. Just make sure the camera you buy isn't a film version Rebel or you will probably get the Mark-II lens.