Best third-party lenses

[liberace]

Till 30.4 local store got deal offer for Canon 50mm F1.4 30% sale so which one to get Sigma 50mm or Canon 50mm f1.4?
Canon is smaller and bit less weight than Sigma and it's pretty sharp on f5.6 and Sigma is sharpest in f?
Sigma got big plus for inc. lens hood

Which one to get?

You should really go off more than the opinion of a few guys off a forum, but I really prefer the Sigma. I normally use it at f/2.0 on a 7D.

I have LOTS of L glass. The only non-Canon lenses I own are the Tokina 11-16mm and the Sigma 50mm f/1.4

 

[Arkarch]

I got the Zeiss 21mm f/2.8 recently - amazing, sharp, beautiful color, "3D".
With my 5D mark III - Wow!

I want to go out and shoot just so I can play with that lens.

Keep in mind Zeiss is for Full Frame. Its way too much price for Crop if you are not using that awesome sharp edge. Though I may use my 21mm sometime as a "35" on my 7D when needed.

Yes it is manual focus but the camera's Focus Assist beep/flash confirms you are are on target. I actually love that - I can set my focus on what I want in the frame, then frame it up without AF messing it up. Yes, you can switch the AF point or switch to MF, but its just so pure with the Zeiss.

My lens strategy - Canon "L" on the long (got the 70-200 f/2.8 IS USM II for starters - want the 100 Macro and 400 DO). And Zeiss on the wide end (the 15 and 35 are next). And a mix in the middle (the new 24-70 II should be phenomenal, and the 85 is going to be a debate of sharp/microcontrast vs aperture/AF).

Keep in mind you can buy Zeiss in ZF or ZF.2 as a Nikon native F and convert to Canon EF-mount if you are thinking playing both sides of the line. As much as the D800 is interesting to me, I have confidence Canon will match or surpass the resolution in a year so I am sticking with Zeiss ZE and keeping it simple.

 

[digitalninja]

I love my sigma 50mm 1.4. The AF is great. I'm thinking about going for the sigma 85 soon.

 

[FlowerPhotog]

I have two Sigma's, the 70mm 2.8 macro and the 150mm 2.8 macro (non-IS version). Both of these lenses are very sharp, with the 70mm probably being the sharpest lens I own - it is incredibly sharp edge to edge on a full frame sensor. The AF is good on both, but a little slow and noisy on the 70.

The 150 macro has become my favorite flower lens since getting the 5D Mark III - the DOF on the full frame creates a very creamy bokeh that is so much better than on the crop sensor. The ability to use a higher ISO without noise on the Mark III vs my t2i has also let me use the 150 handheld in many more situations by increasing the shutter speed. Had to use a tripod with that lens most of the time on the t2i.

Did a Lens-Align check on all my lenses when I got the 5D Mark III, and both the Sigma's didn't require any adjustment. However, one odd thing with both lenses is using Live View on my t2i works they both work fine, but on my new 5D Mark III they both seem to struggle locking on focus - even in good light. Same shot with normal viewfinder AF they're are right on the money pretty quickly.

Just ordered the Zeiss 50mm 2.0 Makro-Planar ZE lens, so we'll see if that can overtake the Sigma 70 as my sharpest lens.

 

[Dave T]

I'll ask this here since the thread has kind of turned into a "Sigma Talk" thing.

I'm looking very hard at a Sigma 70mm f2.8 Macro for a walk around/almost normal lens on my old 5D. I read great things about this lens but Sigma has a reputation for focusing problems. Anyone have the 70mm who can attest to its focusing qualities?

Dave

 

[FlowerPhotog]

I mentioned in the previous post that I do have the Sigma 70 2.8 Macro. Using normal viewfinder AF it is right on the money, on both my t2i and my 5D Mark III. It does make more noise than any other lens I own while focusing, but it locks right on pretty quickly, espcially with the Mark III's improved AF system. It does, however, have problems focusing with Live View on the 5D Mark III, often taking several runs at it before it finally locks on, but occasionally never getting there. If I'm in a position to use Live View (ie, on a tripod), I will often do manual focusing. No problems using Live View on the t2i, other than taking longer than viewfinder AF to lock on, but that's the case for most lenses. The image quality of this lens is so superb, that I can live with the Live View issue. Given the ability to use the 5D Mark III at higher ISO's (allowing higher shutter speeds) I find I am not using Live View and a tripod nearly as much, so most of the time I use this lens now with normal viewfinder AF which works fine. I have taken some landscape shots with this lens and it is as sharp at infinity as it is close focusing on flowers, so it's a good all around lens regardless of subject being photographed. One minor quibble is the hood is a screw-on type, so you can't easily put a lens cap on and off without removing the hood.