vdo1 wrote:
In my book 35 is the least bad choice if you decide to travel with just one prime. Enjoy the GM, it's a fine lens.
Thank you - I expect it to produce good pictures. It still has to fight its way to a travel bag against CV APOs 35 (Leica and Sony), Loxia 35 (don't like image quality wide open but most beloved handling-wise), Zony 2.8/35 (which I still want to give a chance due to its compactness and non-obtrusiveness).
This is a great informative thread! So much info on this lens. I知 in the process of building a 3 lens kit for my A7C and have chosen this as my mid, with the 20mm and 90mm being the wide and tele. Order placed with Adorama for the low low price of $229.
Thanks to all those who posted details and experiences with this lens. I hope I can make it work.
Orev wrote:
This is a great informative thread! So much info on this lens. I知 in the process of building a 3 lens kit for my A7C and have chosen this as my mid, with the 20mm and 90mm being the wide and tele. Order placed with Adorama for the low low price of $229.
How has the AF-C been working with this lens and the A7C? I知 wondering if this combo would be adequate for getting toddler shots or if I壇 be better off with the Samyang. I do like the rendering of the Sigma best.
AF-C is a no go for me with this lens. AF-S is fine, in most situation I may take 2-3 shots just to make sure.... Picking a lens for a paid job I would look elsewhere, for candid shots you'll be fine
HueyFC wrote:
How has the AF-C been working with this lens and the A7C? I知 wondering if this combo would be adequate for getting toddler shots or if I壇 be better off with the Samyang. I do like the rendering of the Sigma best.
Originally (a couple of years ago), I was unhappy and outspoken about the focus performance of the Sigma 45/2.8 on my Sony bodies when using AF-C. But for whatever reasons, I now find it fully acceptable, and I really don't think about it any more. The Sigma 45 is almost constantly mounted on one of my cameras, often the A7C.
It may be that I am now using lens with the A7C, the A1, and an A9 instead of with the A7III--the cameras I am using now all have autofocus that is quite superior to the A7III. It may be that Sigma has tweaked the autofocus algorithm in its firmware updates, though there is no evidence for that. Or it may be that I have gotten better at adjusting my shooting to the lens. (For example, I think some of my early dissatisfaction was from my own user error in using too low a shutter speed with a moving two-year old.
In any case, I now regularly use the A7C with the Sigma 45/2.8 in a variety of circumstances, including toddlers and travel, and I am very happy with my results. The lens has very special rendering and it is a perfect size and weight for the A7C. I think the lens is a great choice for that camera (which has a very strong autofocus implementation).
HueyFC wrote:
How has the AF-C been working with this lens and the A7C? I知 wondering if this combo would be adequate for getting toddler shots or if I壇 be better off with the Samyang. I do like the rendering of the Sigma best.
I used this lens exclusively in AF-C with A7iii and found the AF to be excellent, not really any different to other non-Sony lenses. Maybe a bit less of a hitrate but not hugely so. This is with all updates applied to body and lens, perhaps they've improved both over the years to the point it's now pretty good.
I find its performance in AF-C visibly less consistent than other lenses, but I think you need to pixel peep in most cases for it to bother you. 45/2.8 at "normal" distances (let's say around 1m and upwards) gives you some leeway in regard to nailing focus...
Just realised I posted this in the wrong thread, so re-posting here:
Inspired by this thread I took my Sigma 45mm out for a spin once again. Careful to update to the latest firmware version 0.4 released in January 2023. The lens certainly takes nice pictures. But the AF was awful in both AF-S and AF-C -- missing focus on nearly a third of the shots, sometimes several shots in succession would be in focus followed by a near identical shot that did not seem to focus anywhere.
I don't remember it being this bad when I first purchased the lens about a year ago. Maybe the upgrade has made things worse?
PS using an A7R4a, all shots in good lighting
PPS I already have a response from J4NU saying the lens may be faulty. Before I chase up Sigma, I just want to check if others have had similar experiences. Thanks
Yes, the autofocus of the 45 is not very good and updating the firmware will not help because it (the update) has nothing to do with improving autofocus. Apparently the problem is technical and it is no longer worth waiting for an improvement in autofocus. 90mm will be better, but I wouldn't say that it's straight fast / accurate. ) I am satisfied with both.
rob_ww wrote:
Just realised I posted this in the wrong thread, so re-posting here:
Inspired by this thread I took my Sigma 45mm out for a spin once again. Careful to update to the latest firmware version 0.4 released in January 2023. The lens certainly takes nice pictures. But the AF was awful in both AF-S and AF-C -- missing focus on nearly a third of the shots, sometimes several shots in succession would be in focus followed by a near identical shot that did not seem to focus anywhere.
I don't remember it being this bad when I first purchased the lens about a year ago. Maybe the upgrade has made things worse?
PS using an A7R4a, all shots in good lighting
PPS I already have a response from J4NU saying the lens may be faulty. Before I chase up Sigma, I just want to check if others have had similar experiences. Thanks...Show more →
I think it would help if you shot some flat and contrasty object in AF-C and AF-s from various distances (at low ISO for better visibility) and post the results. We could then tell if it's the typical AF-C inconsistency that's "built-in" in this lens or something else is at play...
I posted similar shots long time ago and in my case AF-S is nearly always more precise than AF-C on this lens...
I think hypothesis is that the (deliberate) undercorrection of the spherical abberations (in favour of better bokeh/OOF rendering) somehow interferes with the autofocus.
I must say I've always had super autofocus with this lens on a variety of bodies. I'm using it currently on the a7iv and it's fantastic, no complaints here, even keeping up with a rapidly moving toddler!
Thanks all. When I first purchased the lens in May last year I don't think it ever mis-focused on my (then) new A7R4 either. I was very surprised when using it over the last week that it failed so often and unexpectedly. I will try it again this weekend and post some examples if I get the chance. But there is nothing really to see. One shot is in focus as normal, the next is blurred all over with no obvious point of focus. I have been in contact with Sigma and likely will send it to them to check.
The good news is, it still takes lovely pictures when it is in focus!!
