Deal: Sigma 20mm ART on sale at B&H

[chrysoberyl]

$100 off. I'm intrigued.

Owners - do you recommend this lens?

 

[Random Orbits]

How often do you use your 24L?

It's a nice lens, big and heavy. Doesn't AF as well as Canon lenses. If you get one, you'll need a dock to update the firmware periodically.

 

[chrysoberyl]

I never use my 24L wider than f/4. I'd like something sharp that I can use at f/1.4. And the dock is included.

Thanks for your feedback!

How often do you use your 24L?

It's a nice lens, big and heavy. Doesn't AF as well as Canon lenses. If you get one, you'll need a dock to update the firmware periodically.

 

[Random Orbits]

I never use my 24L wider than f/4. I'd like something sharp that I can use at f/1.4. And the dock is included.

Thanks for your feedback!

My main issues with the lens are AF and size. Out of the box (5D3), the focus plane with center point AF was off a bit. Adjusting the AFMA to get the center accurate caused the outer points to be off (in all four quadrants the plane of sharp focus was in front of the target). The default value was actually a decent "compromise" that balanced the center and outer point AF performance.

This is my only non Canon lens, and I found AF not to be as precise as native lenses (except the 50L, whose flaws have been discussed often). I had originally gotten the lens for astro. Yes, I knew it had coma wide open but it's a trade and shooting at f/2 is still better than f/2.8 or f/4 with other lenses (i.e. 16-35). That was my original intent. I have recently printed a photo of the milky way that I took in the motel parking lot in Glacier National Park. It was not taken with the 20A; it was taken with the 16-35 f/4 IS. Why? It was not planned. Hiking/walking with a backpack full of gear was not appealing. I had brought the 16-35/24-70/100-400/1.4x and 2.0x with 2 bodies. I never carried all the stuff on a hike. I took what I thought I needed on a given trail/excursion and left the remainder in a second camera bag that stayed in the car. The 20A never left the house.

The 20A is a nice lens. I found TDP's review of it to be accurate, and there is softness into the corners wide open. The question comes down to defining a use case for it, especially when you have other options available.

 

[chrysoberyl]

This lens will do some things that my other lenses will not, but you're right, I just can't put my finger on a use case for it. I'd be better off putting my money into that RRS TVC-24L that I would really use. BTW, do those ever go on sale?

Thank you.

The 20A is a nice lens. I found TDP's review of it to be accurate, and there is softness into the corners wide open. The question comes down to defining a use case for it, especially when you have other options available.

 

[snappy604]

I pair my 20mm ART with a canon 80d for indoors low light shots (bands) and get stellar results (needed wide angle given I have a crop camera). I imagine it kind of depends on what you need it for, for me it met my requirements pretty much perfectly.

Some things to note

- On a crop camera the distortion given it's a wide angle isn't too noticeable, it's well controlled
- its very sharp.
- have not had focus issues.. firmware was updated, but focus has been fine. As always a bit slower to focus than the canon lenses, but still quite usable.
- its a heavy lens, you feel it after an hour of taking shots continuously
- The lens front bulges out (half sphere) and can't use regular filters (no threads or space) and has a permanent lens hood
- Because it's got a half sphere front (sorry not sure the technical term) lens flare in sunlight can crop up from time to time, but it isn't often.

let me know if you have other questions.

 

[Random Orbits]

This lens will do some things that my other lenses will not, but you're right, I just can't put my finger on a use case for it. I'd be better off putting my money into that RRS TVC-24L that I would really use. BTW, do those ever go on sale?

Thank you.

The 20A is a nice lens. I found TDP's review of it to be accurate, and there is softness into the corners wide open. The question comes down to defining a use case for it, especially when you have other options available.

RRS stuff doesn't really go on sale. They might throw in a freebie or free shipping. Free shipping is less of an incentive now that they sell through one (or both?) of the NYC superstores.