Third times the charm, right? This morning I was just about to pull the trigger and try one of these for myself, outside of BH, but figured I'd give this one more go before I hit the order button--not only for myself, but for others who are on the fence about this lens as well. I've been hearing some very positive feedback lately in regards to the focusing issues many have been having. If you vote please try to include the Mfg# (perhaps there was a fix for later lenses (?)) and body on which its used. Thanks for your time, guys
And for those interested in the results from previous threads: pt.I and pt.II
Thanks for the poll..... going to pull the trigger this afternoon..... owned the Canon 50 F/1.4 and never liked/ loved the bokeh from it... from the examples I've seen from the Sigma... the bokeh looks almost identical to my Sigma 180mm macro... and I LOVE the 180.
I thought mine was dead on but I noticed that at really close focusing (like MFD near) it front focuses a bit. Will send it in to Sigma for calibration.
dfresh wrote:
I'm confused what wasn't conclusive or convincing enough in the first two polls...
There were still a relatively high number of affected lenses being reported. Sometimes a lens manufacturer will perform a silent fix depending on how many people report negative experiences--this may be the case with this lens. The last thread was posted in April, now that some time has passed there will be a much larger sample size and a possibility the issue has been dealt with. But since no one posted the mfg# its impossible to determine this, but that was the goal.
I got one, auto-focus was fine close, but it was horrible a long distances.
Sent it in to Sigma mentioning that long range focus was bad.
Came back and then it could focus far, but not close in.
Sent it in again mentioning I needed it to focus at all distances.
Sigma called me and the guy said that lens is not supposed to be a landscape lens(!) and is only made to focus at close distances, he can calibrate it one way or the other but not both. Of course I told him that was BS because every other lens I've ever used could auto-focus fine at any distance, but he didn't seem too smart. And they were unwilling to exchange the lens or attempt any repair, only calibration. So much for Sigma service. (I'm still waiting for it to get back after over a month of being gone...)
Own two copies, one for Canon and one for Nikon. Both tack sharp out of the box and had them for at least 5 months now. Extremely pleased. For what it is worth I recently had my 50-500 Bigma serviced by Sigma and they turned it around in 10 days for a dead autofocus problem. Have used that lens for 4 years now.
Mine seems ok, maybe wide open there's a little bit of front focus near mfd, but it's hard to say since the AF sensors are so large the front of the sensor could have been snagging text well outside the AF rectangle. It seems fine when I'm not at an angle to the text.
I still use MF when shooting f/1.4-f/2.8 especially near mfd to ensure I get what I want in focus.
Mine will be here Wednesday... will test it on the 5d Classic... until the 5D2 arrives. From a lot of the threads I have read about the lens... it might front focus...so... I will be on the look out for it.
Would love to see some f/4.0 to wide open shots from you lucky owners.
I just got mine back from Sigma again for the second time and it's completely unusable.
The repair guy on the phone said they would calibrate it for close distances.
On my 7D at 8ft away it needs MA +17, but then it's way way way way far off for trying to focus at any distances longer than that. In any real world tests even staying at close distances the focus is all over the place, on static objects when I try to focus multiple times it gets it different every time. I'd say less than 20% keepers at most. All my other lenses work just fine (and I'm used to thin DOF, 135mm at f/2 is my most used lens.)
So Sigma won't help and have been rather rude on the phone, and Amazon won't let me return it outside of their 30 day window. (Sigma had it for over a month this last time I sent it in.)
No more Sigma lenses for me, ever.
-2 If there is a widespread issue with any piece of equipment I'm not one to 'take my chances' and deal with the headache of returning, exchanging or sending it in for calibration. I'd rather wait it out until the issue has either been completely solved or until the vast majority are receiving decent performing lenses. Hence the point of the thread and the two prior to it. Clearly I'm not the only one benefiting from it.
mttran wrote:
Best way is trying at local shop. I always do that when buying my 3rd party lenses.
I have (read the OP). In my second thread I posted my thoughts, which weren't very good. However the IQ and positive feedback from photographers who own good working copies is what keeps me on the line.
My experience with a very early copy has been frustrating. Sigma New York couldn't improve the
AF by calibration either. It's now a lens I use only when I can afford to manually focus/bracket.
It's great optically, but does not compare to my Canon 50/1.4 in the AF department.
Sigma is not too smart about how they have dealt with this, in my opinion. If they really have a fix,
they should announce it. They could sell a lot of these lenses to the Canon community.
As it is now, wise buyers are cautious about buying, since the forums are full of negative comments
from users burned by Sigma.
If you are willing to play the copy lottery, there is no better AF 50 value lens for Canon.
Third times the charm, right? This morning I was just about to pull the trigger and try one of these for myself, outside of BH, but figured I'd give this one more go before I hit the order button--not only for myself, but for others who are on the fence about this lens as well. I've been hearing some very positive feedback lately in regards to the focusing issues many have been having. If you vote please try to include the Mfg# (perhaps there was a fix for later lenses (?)) and body on which its used. Thanks for your time, guys 
If there is a widespread issue with any piece of equipment I'm not one to 'take my chances' and deal with the headache of returning, exchanging or sending it in for calibration. I'd rather wait it out until the issue has either been completely solved or until the vast majority are receiving decent performing lenses. Hence the point of the thread and the two prior to it. Clearly I'm not the only one benefiting from it.