Sal, do you have any samples of portraits with this lens? I especially like head shots, and would worry that even on a 20D, 30mm could be too short for this type of photograph. I like the type of flexibility you describe (fast lens), but if it can't do my favorite type of shot, it might be the wrong choice for me. I'm also considering the 17-40L -- certainly slower, but 40mm might be better for the type of portraits I enjoy ... or perhaps 30 to 40 isn't a significant difference ??
I don't have any tight head shots with this lens for the reason you mention. I mostly shoot candids that are not tighter than very loose head and shoulder shots. I use my 50/1.4 or 85/1.8 for head shots. But they need to be at about f/2 - f/2.5 before they have the look of the Sigma at f/1.4, so I use them more outside or with bounce flash.
i just got one of these and love it. 50mm 1.4 had been my favorite lens (ironically, since it's so much cheaper than "L"). now, i have more room to breathe, with 30mm. and same speed of 1.4. another inexpensive lens that rocks. awesome.
Maybe a strange request, but could someone please post a photo of this lens, perferably on a 20D, or next to a Canon 50/1.4, so I can get a feeling for its appearance/size. Thanks.
Talia wrote:
Maybe a strange request, but could someone please post a photo of this lens, perferably on a 20D, or next to a Canon 50/1.4, so I can get a feeling for its appearance/size. Thanks.
loudtiger wrote:
does anyone know how badly the vignetting is on 1.3x crop like 1D? i know it'll vignette too heavily to be used effectively on a full frame camera.
Its not bad on a 1.3 crop. I think I would be hard pressed to notice it in the shots I took at wider apertures.
wd40 wrote:
Mine is winging its' way to Sigma for recalibration. I noticed a few other posters in this thread have gon that route, too.
For those recalibrating the Sigma: What exactly do you have to send to Sigma? (lens obviously but: receipts, warranty, lens box?), where does it go? (address?), how much does it cost (including shipping)? and how long does it take for recalibration? (Time out to time back) I'm seriously considering the Sigma 30mm 1.4 for purchase, but I'm afraid of all the focusing issues i've heard about.
I just put the whole package back in the box minus the lens hood and manual... I sent that to Sigma with dated receipt from an authorized retailer. I also wrote a small description of the problem... inconsistent AF with a strong tendency to front-focus. I shipped mine out November 23, and it arrived back here on December 5. That's a pretty good turnaround, especially considering it spanned Thanksgiving weekend. Calibration was free because it was under warranty. They never even contacted me once the entire time; the lens just arrived back here calibrated.
inorman wrote:
I'm seriously considering the Sigma 30mm 1.4 for purchase, but I'm afraid of all the focusing issues i've heard about.
That's interesting... what focusing issues? I got mine yesterday and noticed that, while it would happily focus on some things (walls, a chair, whatever) it wouldn't focus on a very distinct vertical line (the edge of a door) about three feet away from me.
I didn't do much further testing, but I will do this weekend. Anything I should watch out for?
While I'm here, here's some sample images from this lunchtime (as requested on another post in this forum). Caveats: "happy snaps" taken out on my lunch break today; not scientific tests; all hand-held; converted using DPP with sharpening set to 5 and nothing more than that, so I imagine with minimal Photoshop work these images could look a lot better. Rough-and-ready white balance chosen in DPP by me before export to .jpg, no other colour correction or enhancement.
Full image scaled to 500x333, then a 100% crop (arbitrarily chosen for an area of detail) shown:
(This one repeated from above with the 100% crop)
ISO100, 1/100th, f/2:
I have no AF issues with mine, in fact it is more dependable than my 50/1.4 and 85/1.8 in very low light.
Keep in mind that with 1.6x crop cameras the off-center (left and right) AF points cannot focus on vertical detail, and the AF points above and below center cannot focus on horizontal detail. Only the center point can focus on both.
Some of the lenses do not focus accurately wide open at distances of about 12-feet or more. That is the reason I am sending mine back.
What exactly do you have to send to Sigma?
Sigma asks for: the lens with caps (obviously), copy of the receipt, copy of the warranty card, and a brief description of the problem. I sent it to Sigma in NY.
May I ask if your sigma 30 1.4 is good right out of the box or did you need to send it back to sigma for calibration? The reason for the question is because of the mixed review I've read everywhere. Or are the new batch QC is much better that before. I'm thinking of getting it for my 20d.
Mine has (thus far) been absolutely fantastic right out of the box. It's still a "special use" lens for me, so it doesn't see a huge amount of use, but for the less than $350 I got it for (thank you Dell), it's been great.
I bought a 30 1.4 a few days ago from amazon for what seemed like a fair parice of 379.00...i do alot of low light concert shooting from close distance and was looking for a good performer in low light at about this length....unfortunately it is on its way back to amazon...the low light focus was not up to par and to my eyes at least it was not as sharp as i was hoping for....the lens would achieve focus relatively quickly and i thought that i mihgt have acquired a winner but when i looked at the pictures most of them were out of focus...i have a canon 50 1.4 and im gonna get myself a canon 35l...more expensive yes for sure...but simply better in all ways...ive tried several non canon lenses and have always been disappointed,there always seems to be something that keeps them from being good enough...i think ill stick with canon and save the money needed for the extra cost....
