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LeeG
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Registered: May 11, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 222
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Review Date: Jul 5, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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On a Canon 50D...Beautifully smooth bokeh, fast and dead-on focusing, accurate colors, small form makes for comfortable street and candid shooting. Excellent price for a well made fast lens with a nice hood and case included.
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Cons:
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Only 1..Heavy chromatic aberration in bright light when shooting a very light colored subject against dark background, more so than with the Canon 35L 1.4. It's not often you would shoot under such extreme conditions with a fast lens but if you do, expect the purple fringe.
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I think many people debating a purchase of the Sigma 30mm 1.4 are concerned with getting one with focusing problems, that's why we read these reviews. No focusing issues with my Sigma, fast and accurate right out of the box. I've had this lens for just over 3 months and have been very pleased with the results. A+ product that's fun to use!
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 Jul 5, 2010
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ajt36
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Registered: Dec 15, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 463
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Review Date: May 25, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $385.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, f/1.4, 50mm FOV on 1.6x cameras
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Cons:
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62mm filter thread, a little heavy, HSM not as fast as USM
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From the reviews I read (here and elsewhere), this seem liked a better option than the Canon 28mm/1.4 to have a true "normal" FOV on a 1.6x crop camera... that is, IF I could find one without focus issues.
I really wanted to try the lens before I bought it so I was planning on buying it at my local camera shop. But I found a deal and bought this lens from a FM member on the Buy/Sell forum. He had sent it to Sigma for calibration with his Rebel XSI. Well, it seems to be calibrated quite well for my XSI, because the AF is spot on! It is fast (and quiet), but not as fast as Canon USMs I own. Still, it is a 30mm lens, so it doesn't have all that far to travel... no big deal.
Focusing is much better than my 50mm/1.8 II, which is where I am coming from. It has rarely hunted for me, if at all, in the brief time I've used it. The IQ is very good. Color and contrast are good. A little bit of PP brings things out nicely. It is very sharp, IMO, in the center even at f/1.4, losing only a little bit as you hit the corners. I don't seem to have to stop down much to really bring out the sharpness... maybe f/4... certainly by f/5.6. There is a tad bit of distortion on the corners, but nothing I can't live with.
It is on the heavy side, but it makes up for it in what seems to be a sturdy build, metal mount and additional features such as a usable focus ring and distance window (and remember I'm coming from a 50mm/1.8 II). You get a case and lens hood with it, which is nice too. The 62mm thread is kind of annoying. It is just another set of filters to buy. It seems like this lens could have been designed for 58mm to keep in line with Canon's other compact offerings.
I highly recommend this lens. I use my XSI as a compact and lightweight carry-around, and this lens gives me the FOV I've wanted that the 50mms just don't give you. I suspect I will keep this set-up for quite a few years as it just fills the need of not wanting to cart around my 5D, but not wanting to be stuck with the limitations of a P&S.
Samples from this lens on my XSI here:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthony_t/4629797627/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthony_t/4629797579/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/anthony_t/4630399484/
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May 25, 2010
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packpe89
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Registered: Mar 5, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 484
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Review Date: May 17, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharp, Speed, Size, Build
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Cons:
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Had to tune in AF
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I debated this and the canon 28/1.8 for a while, was just drawn in by the 1.4 and how sharp some of the samples I saw were. I was concerened about the af mis-focus issue, that seems to be somehwat prevelant with this lens, however since I knew I could try to dial it in on my 7d, I gave it a try. I did have to dial it in, so I try to only use it on my 7d and not the 40D, but on the 7d, AF (+6) is great, fast and accurate. It is very sharp, sharper at 1.4 than any 2.8 zoom i've ever had (70-200, 24-70 or 18-50), in fact rivals my 60efs macro wide open and pairs very nicly with this lens for a 2 lens travel or portrait combo. Has easily become my favorite lens.
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May 17, 2010
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rk-d
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Registered: Feb 25, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 109
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Review Date: May 13, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $440.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Exceptional sharpness at wide open - as sharp as any lens I've ever used at f/1.4 Very nice bokeh. Excellent color. Silent motor. Very good build quality. Good focusing accuracy. Includes hood and pouch.
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Cons:
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Not a fan of the satin finish. Focus can sometimes be stubborn to lock in poor light.
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I am shocked by the quality of this lens. Sharpness at wide open is as good as any lens I've ever used. Color and contrast are both excellent. Build quality is very good - though I am not a fan of the Sigma finish on the lens barrel. Weight and size are both ideal.
AF performance is average, but predictable. AF lock could be better in low light - the lens sometimes has a tendency to hunt, but when it locks, it's typically fairly accurate. I am using the lens on a 7D and it's perfect at +/-0. I've noticed no back/front focus issues.
Vignetting is minimal. CA is relatively non-existant for a lens like this. I have not been bothered by distortion.
I have been surprised by some of the test chart reviews of this lens. In real life use, I'm thoroughly impressed. This is a lens with wide open performance at the top tier of prime lenses, IMO. Excellent and highly recommended.
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May 13, 2010
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blassox
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Registered: Jan 31, 2008
Location: Italy
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Feb 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Incredible center sharpness already @ f/1.4, fast autofocus, great bokeh. The only affordable price/performance normal lens (48mm equivalent on canon)
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Cons:
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Too soft at corners, even stopping down. Focus hunts a little bit too often in mid or low light
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As you can read in pro/cons this lens is awesome in 90% shots. The corner softness sometimes is annoying, in the rest of time helps to keep on eye your center subject.
The only real negative aspect is the HSM drive miss the correct focus for few millimeters in mid->low light conditions, but few mm @ f/1.4 with near subject is sufficient to make a wrong shot.
All in all is a near perfect lens.
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Feb 18, 2010
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Paulius
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Registered: Oct 4, 2009
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 17
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Review Date: Jan 18, 2010
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Built, focus, IQ, aperture, focusing ring, nice rendering.
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Cons:
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focus sometimes hunts
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This is my only lens now and by no means i feel "limited". The IQ it delivers - very good. It is nice and clear at 1.4 and at f2.5 in self portraits i can see facial defects that was not aware of...I still have to learn to control it better, due it has a slight learning curve.
For street, portraits and walk around - very good, if you like 50mm perspective 
I still have to learn to control it better, due it has a learning curve.
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Jan 18, 2010
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edwin_ac
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Registered: Dec 31, 2009
Location: Philippines
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Dec 31, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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A great normal lens in low light conditions, without using any flash.
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Cons:
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Dec 31, 2009
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CyranoB
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Registered: Nov 8, 2009
Location: France
Posts: 8
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Dec 12, 2009
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SMP_Homer
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Registered: Aug 23, 2009
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Oct 21, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Light, fast, quiet, nice and sharp wide open
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Cons:
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No complaints here
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I was ordering an 85 1.8 when I noticed I'd get free shipping if I spent a few $$$ more... so I ordered this lens... it then sat unused/untouched for a few weeks. Once I mounted it on my 40D, I fell in love. It's by far my favorite prime, and my most used lens.
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Oct 21, 2009
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gusetee
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Registered: Sep 7, 2009
Location: Spain
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Oct 2, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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low light performance, sharpness wide open, fast and quiet AF, sturdy built, bokeh, low vignetting, price
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Cons:
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extreme corner sharpness, little too much distorsion, coma
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This is a very good normal lens, design to be shooted in poor light conditions, to be better at the center than corners and to last a long time.
I have several lenses than include Nikon 50mm 1.4 AF-D, 50mm 1.8 AF-D, 28-105mm, 80-200 f/2.8 ... and the Sigma 30mm is by far the one I use most. Is better than the two 50mm in the center wide open and a little worst in the corners. Despite of it's defects is a very hard to beat tool in low light and a very good lens used in the rest of situations, perhaps except landscape photography if you shoot at f/5.6 or wider, because of corner softness.
It has neither visible flare or ghosts, nor the typical purple fringe you can find in the Nikon 50mm 1.4 and 80-200 both used wide open.
Color rendition is very similar to Nikon 50mm 1.4, while 50 1.8 shows a soft green cast that dissapears stopped down to f/2.0.
My biggest complaint is related to distorsion. It's, in my opinion, too much for a fixed focal lens. The good news are that is very simple to correct.
I find it a very good value for money, absolutely recommended.
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Oct 2, 2009
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MRS Fotografie
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Registered: Aug 14, 2009
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Aug 14, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Bokeh, contrast, low light performance
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Cons:
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Chromatic aberration, build tolerances (tight lens barrel = friction and AF issues)
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Whether on a day trip or vacation and no matter how many lenses I carry, this lens is always part of my kit. I use it on a 40D and find that as a general purpose and/or low-light prime on APS-C it cannot be beaten. Its unique focal length is just right and the pictures it delivers always have a unique quality to them, regardless of the amount of light available. CA's can be visible and the edges get very soft at wide open apertures but the lens more than compensates for these shortcomings in other areas. This lens really does some fantastic magic with back-lit subjects and delivers superb colors and contrast and the creamiest bokeh ever. Sometimes when I'm stuck in a photographic rut, I'll leave this on and let this lens take me out of it.
I had some focusing troubles with my copy of this lens for a long time until I traced the problem to a too-tight fitting lens barrel. Having found out through the use of MF that it was not an optical problem I eventually (carefully!!!) put a little PTFE lube on the outside of the lens barrel using a cotton bud (the barrel moves in and out a few mm but never touches the UV filter) and this reduced the friction enough to solve the problem. This minor application of PTFE lube also reduced the slight scraping noise the lens barrel sometimes makes and AF is now tack on. I'm glad I endured and didn't swap it for a different lens alltogether because I surely considered it many times.
I would give it a 10 but the lens loses 1 point to the lens barrel friction problem and 1 point to CA's that can be visible in high contrast situations. Considering price, performance and creative potential however, this lens is a jewel.
Finally, consider getting a precision matte focusing screen for use with this and other bright lenses. I just put an EF-S screen in my 40D and found out immediately that it is vital to check DOF and correct focus with lenses f/2.8 and faster, something that will surely add to the enjoyment of my L-zooms and of course this litte 30 mm.
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Aug 14, 2009
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shinji_45
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Registered: May 24, 2009
Location: United States
Posts: 24
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Review Date: Jul 24, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast, light, i like the rubberized finish on the lens, beautiful colors, sharp on the focus area, beautiful bokeh.
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Cons:
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None for me, but for others might have AF issues.
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Got this used from Craigslist. For the price that i paid, this is a superb lens. I love the bokeh and the huge apeture, and most importantly i love the colors that it captures. I have the Canon 70-200 f4 non IS, and i love this lens more that that; dont get me wrong, the Canon lens is also sweet. I like the rubberized finish on the lens as well, but that is just my opinion.
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Jul 24, 2009
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brunyan
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Registered: Mar 29, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 125
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Review Date: Jul 5, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Relatively small for an F1.4 optic. Good contrast and high apparent resolution. 30mm focal length fills a real void for APS sized cameras!
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Cons:
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None so far.
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I bought this lens to fill a void in my arsenal of lenses, namely for something fast that may prove valuable in many shooting situations. Having owned a few third party lenses in my day (but generally preferring Nikon), I was familiar with Sigma and am usually fine with the optical and build quality of their more serious lenses. This lens has not disappointed. I've seen complaints of edge sharpness when shooting wide open. If you're looking for a flat field or copy lens then this one (as nearly all general use lenses) may not be for you. But if you want one that focuses fast, accurately, is tack sharp under intended circumstances, that will allow you to use DOF to your advantage, and is cost effective, then this one should get serious consideration!
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Jul 5, 2009
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zergkind
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Registered: Dec 25, 2008
Location: Russia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: May 19, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $600.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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damn sharp in center at 1.4, very fast and accurate AF, very-very-very strong to flares, low weight, compact size, price tag, versatile FL for indoor shooting, lens hood included
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Cons:
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sharpness quickly falls off to corners - not the best lens for full-length portraits, CA (but not much), DC lens
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That was my upgrade out of 18-55 kit lens for canon crop body: sig 10-20 + sig 30/1.4. I bought it especially for shooting my new-born daughter indoors w/o flash. So the lens justified my hopes in terms of 1.4, AF speed and FL: many times I admited that 50mm would be too long for crop body to make a good shot indoors.
When the word 'strobism' started to sound in my ears, I noticed that 30/1.4 is very strong to optical flare. Many of my shots contain direct sun and look pretty well.
The strongest disadvantage of the lens is it's sharpness fall-off. If you shoot a person and the face is not in center of the frame, be sure, that you are stopped down enough: f/4 or narrower aperture. I also noteced a strong field curvature with this lens: when I was focusing on someone's face with central point and then recomposed my image, I got misfocus in hight percent rate. But when I used perepherial focusing points (on 40d they worked just fine) I had significantly better results.
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May 19, 2009
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rnbc
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Registered: Apr 8, 2009
Location: Portugal
Posts: 32
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Review Date: May 2, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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High contrast, very sharp in the center, easy to focus manually and fast to focus automatically. Nice bokeh.
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Cons:
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Some chromatic aberration. Performance does not improve when stopped down: lens clearly optimized for wide open shooting. Infinity mark is not correct.
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First of all you might want to look at 2 test shots:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnbc/3495743822/in/set-72157603099756613/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnbc/3494928749/in/set-72157603099756613/
So... what do I think? For a f/1.4 lens it performs quite well. It's very sharp and contrasty even wide open in the central region. This is a lens for portraits and street shooting, so corners are not important, but even there the lens performs quite reasonably wide open, as you can see. Please take in consideration I applied no sharpening whatsoever (SPP sharpening = -1).
This lens is optimized for wide open shooting, so the performance will not improve when stopped down. Has some chromatic aberration wide open, gets worse when stopped down. The maximum sharpness all over is probably attained at f/2.0 or so, and from there on it degrades! At f/2.0 the sharpness in incredible, there is moiré all over the central zone, the resolution being well above the sensor.
The build quality is quite decent for a ~€400 lens, but my lens has a problem: the infinity mark is way off infinity. This doesn't affect performance of course, and anyway could easily be corrected be opening the lens and relocating the ring with the marks.
One final comment: this lens requires a well adjusted camera! Otherwise it will backfocus/frontfocus. This is never a problem of the lens, contrary to popular opinions: lenses focus to the position the camera commands them to. The AF sensors must be coplanar with the sensor and the focus screen, this can be adjusted in most SLRs with a few screws inside the mirror box.
Some usual shots with this lens:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnbc/2791575980/in/set-72157606913925164/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnbc/2682807324/in/set-72157606254800656/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rnbc/2682812200/in/set-72157606254800656/
PS: I just did some comparisons and contrary to some reports this lens is really a f/1.4 in the central zone, but there is some vignetting outside the center (normal at such apertures), so the real aperture in the corners is something like f/2.1 or so.
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May 2, 2009
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Carlo L.
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Registered: Apr 30, 2005
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Feb 21, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Great Build and finish! Sharp! Nice size for 1.4!
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Cons:
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Focusing issues right out of the box but eventually resolved by recalibrating.
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Well, I bought this lens from Adorama for $374 which is why I am giving this lens a great review. The focus was OK on my XT but better on my 30D. It had front focusing issues right out of the box so I had to send it back for recalibration. Thats was expected because all four of my Sigma lenses that I have owned all had focusing issues so I was not surprised. No big deal. Anyways, it came back superb of course. It is sharp wide open, even at 1.4! The contrast isn't there wide open of course but hey, you can shoot in the dark with this thing! Colors are nothing short of spectacular! One thing I should mention is that the left side of the lens is not as sharp as the center or right at 1.4, but that's pixel peeping at 200%. It is not noticeable beyond 2.8 and you would never tell on a print. I shot a birthday party entirely at 1.4 and f2 iso 800 with my 30D under fluorescent lights. I barely had to do any post processing, even the whitebalance was right on.
I personally find that I enjoy using this lens much more on my 30D or 40D because the focusing is faster and there are more focusing points to choose from which in turn makes the lens a more accurate when focusing especially at 1.4 or 2 because of the shallow depth of field. I am not going to compare this to L glass because for $374 what more can you want? (Although it is sharper than my 24-105 but thats a zoom) If you buy this lens, be prepared to send it in to recalibrate the focusing. Send it to Sigma New York, the will have it back in less than 2 weeks and you will probably never look back after that. For the price, you simply cannot get a better deal.
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Feb 21, 2009
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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79
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188467
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Feb 16, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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91% of reviewers
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$386.98
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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9.11
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8.85
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8.9
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