cheap lowlight 30-35mm for APS-C

[sootzzs]

Hi friends,

I've become a father few weeks ago and looking for a new lens for my 60D to shoot my baby boy. I have a Canon 501.8II but feel it is to tight on my crop and the AF is too slow (babies seem to move a lot ).

So...my budget is no more than 500$ and I was pondering what is a better buy:

* Old Sigma 30 1.4 (cheap ~300$, nice but not great (?) pics, especially wide open).

* New Sigma 30 1.4 (not the new 35 Art); 500$, better build and picture quality than the old 30, better AF (?), sharp wide open (?).

* Samyang 35 1.4; ~450$, very good quality (both image and build), FF compatible (for the future). It is MF, which is generally is OK for me, but wide open in low light? How will it work?


To summarize:
1) I never used any of this and all the aforementioned is from the web. I would really appreciate first hand advice on these lenses. Do you think the new Sigma 30 is 200$ better than the old?

2) Generally, is 30-35mm (48-56mm on crop) is a good choice to shoot a baby indoors (or low light photos in general).


P.S I don't have the money for the 899$ 35 Art or Canon L glass ( ).


Thanks a lot!

 

[bseitz234]

I can't shed any light on your situation, but I can add more confusion, because I'm in a similar boat (looking for a fast, normal prime for APS-C). Canon's EF 28 f/1.8 is 2/3 of a stop slower, but a bit wider, and still faster than f/2, which I consider to be fast enough. Some people love it, some people hate it. You can get it used for around 300-350, there are a few available on POTN right now I believe.

Will definitely be following this thread to see what people recommend this time...

 

[KyleSTL]

I don't have any experience with the lenses you mentioned, but you have essentially outlined all the available lenses available in the Canon mount (except 35mm f/1.4L, which is clearly outside the budget) at f/1.4. I would also consider the original Canon EF 35mm f/2. It has a fairly high maximum magnification (0.24x), it is small, light and cheap, however, you sacrifice quiet and quick focus and 1 stop of light. On an APS-C sensor, the 35mm f/2 performs quite well (not so much on FF). Also, the 28mm f/1.8 USM might also be a good choice, as mentioned in the previous post.

 

[Random Orbits]

Happy fatherhood!

Take a look at the LensRentals comparison of the Sigma 30s. The new one is better into the corners, but the center remains largely unchanged.

http://www.lensrentals.com/blog/2013/04/sigma-30mm-f1-4-dc-hsm-vs-sigma-30mm-f1-4-ex-dc

I haven't tried any of the lenses you're considering, but I would suggest the new sigma 30. If you think the 50 f/1.8 has slow AF, MF is not going to be fun either. The new sigma 30 is slightly better than the old one but the think that would make it more valuable to me is the ability to dock it. You'll be able to customize your lens better and hopefully it'll provide more "insurance" via firmware updates in the future if Canon changes its communication protocols.

 

[Vossie]

Congratulations with the birth of your son.

Fstoppers have a review of the sigma that is quite positive: http://fstoppers.com/fstoppers-reviews-the-sigma-30mm-f1-4-dc-hsm-prime-lens

As one of the downsides they list inconsistency of AF, which is an often heard complaint for third party lenses.

Have you considered the Canon EF 28mm 1.8 as a possible alternative? I saw some pleasing results from this lens on Flickr.

 

[bvukich]

If you think the 50 f/1.8 has slow AF, MF is not going to be fun either.

I was going to mention this, but Random Orbits beat me to it.

It bears repeating though, so it's not missed, the Samyang the OP mentioned is MF.

 

[mrzero]

The 28/1.8 would probably be right up your alley. I have one and I really enjoy it. For my baby pictures, though, I pretty much always had the 20mm 2.8 on my t1i, and I never regretted the extra space. If you have a bigger home, you can always use the 28 and back up, but we have a small condo. Once they start crawling (sooner than you think), they'll be crawling towards you and the camera, meaning wider is better.

 

[CanNotYet]

The new Sigma 30.
Get the dock too for tweaking AF.
At 1.4, you're gonna need it.
And when you get that AF right, you'll love the pics you can get.

 

[tpillars]

Congratulations on the birth of your son! And welcome to the roller coaster ride also known as fatherhood.

I was in the same boat - plus we just moved from a house into a apartment that is 1000 sq ft smaller - so the nifty fifty was doing more headshots than anything. Still getting great shots but really tight.

I ended up choosing the Canon 28mm 1.8 after doing some of the same research you're doing now plus looking at the user group on Flickr. It also has a rebate on it - which puts it well within your budget.

I've had it for about a week and and shot with it a few times. I'm crazy about this lens. Extremely happy with it on my 7D. Light and quiet, too. Any focusing misses are user error.

Attached is one of the first shots of my 2 y.o. right after taking it out of the box. Early evening 1/60 f1.8 IS0100

 

[sootzzs]

Thank you all for your replies and warm greetings!
I didn't thought in the direction of Canon 28 1.8. Thank you all for pointing it out. Sounds interesting. It is quite an old lens though. How does it fares against the new Sigma? Also, I;ve never used a f1.4 lens. Is significant over the 1.8 Canon? AF and bokeh mostly I guess.

I don't have a problem with MF. I use it quite often when doing macro on tubes or using vintage glass. That is why I still consider the Samyang 35 1.4. My top priority is image quality.

 

[preppyak]

I don't have a problem with MF. I use it quite often when doing macro on tubes or using vintage glass. That is why I still consider the Samyang 35 1.4. My top priority is image quality.

The IQ on the Samyang lens is great, and, aside from the 28mm f/1.8, it's the only lens that would also work on full-frame if you moved that way. But, it doesn't seem like you are moving that way. Seeing as there are plenty of AF options in the same price range, I think the Samyang is just adding an extra hassle. Especially when you're kid gets moving around a lot faster in a couple of years.

That said, the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 is 2/3 stops, so, it's a noticeable difference, but, I haven't had issues shooting at f/1.8 indoors at all. If you're in a place where f/1.8 and ISO 1600 don't cut it, you either need a flash or to get out of that cave.

I think either the 28mm f/1.8 or the new Sigma 30mm are your best options. Do you have a kit lens you can set to 30mm to see if that focal length works for you?

 

[paul13walnut5]

EOS M + 22mm f2.0 kit?

More than usable at f2.0. Great at up to ISO3200, good at ISO6400 with RAW tweaks.

I used to have the 30mm f1.4. My copy was way way out focus wise, great for video in MF, not much use for anything else, especially with such shallow DoF. I could get it to work on my 7D with AFMA, if you don't have AFMA I would avoid, it was horrible on my T3i.

 

[sootzzs]

That said, the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 is 2/3 stops, so, it's a noticeable difference, but, I haven't had issues shooting at f/1.8 indoors at all. If you're in a place where f/1.8 and ISO 1600 don't cut it, you either need a flash or to get out of that cave.

I think either the 28mm f/1.8 or the new Sigma 30mm are your best options. Do you have a kit lens you can set to 30mm to see if that focal length works for you?

I've read some reviews on the Canon 28 1.8. It seems that most complaints are about the softness at 1.8-2.8. I don't want to buy a 450$ lens and use it at f2.8. I have good enough 28 vintages (MF) which shoot great at 2.8.

 

[verysimplejason]

That said, the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 is 2/3 stops, so, it's a noticeable difference, but, I haven't had issues shooting at f/1.8 indoors at all. If you're in a place where f/1.8 and ISO 1600 don't cut it, you either need a flash or to get out of that cave.

I think either the 28mm f/1.8 or the new Sigma 30mm are your best options. Do you have a kit lens you can set to 30mm to see if that focal length works for you?

I've read some reviews on the Canon 28 1.8. It seems that most complaints are about the softness at 1.8-2.8. I don't want to buy a 450$ lens and use it at f2.8. I have good enough 28 vintages (MF) which shoot great at 2.8.

You can look at a lot of my shots using Canon 28mm F1.8. Yes there are lots of complaints but I'm certainly very happy with the results I get from it. F1.8 seems a little bit soft but quite useable especially if AFMA'd. Mine backfocuses a little. I sent it to Canon for repair since my cam doesn't have AFMA and they returned it much better. For most pictures, I'm using 2.0 - 2.8 and 1.8 sometimes. Here are just some samples:

Don't listen much to hear-says... Try it yourself and draw your own conclusions.

 

[jsixpack]

I would stay away from the older Sigma 30mm, mine has never made me happy with the AF performance. at least on my 7d. Since that's probably going to be a priority as the little one gains mobility....

JSP

 

[KyleSTL]

That said, the difference between f/1.4 and f/1.8 is 2/3 stops, so, it's a noticeable difference, but, I haven't had issues shooting at f/1.8 indoors at all. If you're in a place where f/1.8 and ISO 1600 don't cut it, you either need a flash or to get out of that cave.

I think either the 28mm f/1.8 or the new Sigma 30mm are your best options. Do you have a kit lens you can set to 30mm to see if that focal length works for you?

I've read some reviews on the Canon 28 1.8. It seems that most complaints are about the softness at 1.8-2.8. I don't want to buy a 450$ lens and use it at f2.8. I have good enough 28 vintages (MF) which shoot great at 2.8.

I would say most fo the 'softness' complaints are corners on FF. Since you have an APS-C camera, you do not need to worry as much about corner performance.

The Canon 28mm f/1.8 is about on par with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC on an 18MP camera wide open, and falls slightly behind by f/2.8:
Wide Open: TDP Comparison
f/2: TDP Comparison
f/2.8: TDP Comparison

The Canon 35mm f/2 is slightly better than the 28mm f/1.8 wide open and at f/2.8:
Wide Open: TDP Comparison
f/2.8: TDP Comparison

Also, the manual focus primes you are talking about will be more a pain to focus than any of the AF lenses we have discussed, and will likely result in more OOF pictures. Sharpness isn't everything, accuracy should be considered as well. The sharpest lens in the world will produce awful results if the subject is not in focus, and it is even more true with faster apertures.