Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Preorders Start June 22, 2017

[SecureGSM]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

1. Sigma 35 Art, 50 Art AF misbehavior: unfortunately, the issue is due to the lens AF module design shortcomings, less evident in good light situation, with centre AF point selected and AF priority set to accuracy rather than speed. Far from being perfect though.
Sigma 85 Art and 135 Art are completely different animals in that regard. AF of these lenses is rock solid or as good as it gets.
2. rings issue: caused by the in camera Peripheral illumination correction enabled. AFAIK, this is more camera firmware than lens related. has not been fixed to date.I have heard of Tamron primes being also problematic in that regard.

3. depending on your shoting style and if you can afford an odd missed shot or two out of 10 , I would argue that Sigma 50 Art is a very good glass. Shooting in Live View mode takes care of the issue nicely of course.
There are other options: Tamron 45 VC is one of those. Not a bad lens, at all. Many people swear by their Tamron 45 VC glass, I have seen some good reviews. Personally I saw no value in Tamron VC primes being a bit of a uninspiring, ordinary glass for my personal taste ( I am going to get flamed for this heresy pretty badly).
There is some nice Zeiss options but those are all manual focusing glass. kind of defeat the purpose for me.
you can source virtualy unused and still under warranty Sigma 50 Art these days at around A$650 on Gumtree in
Australia. I see them poping up quite regularly.

Cory, I have own(ed) more than 20 Sigma Art and Sport lenses in total, and helped many other photographers in getting their Sigma Art and Sport lenses AFMAed right, I can attest that there is not a single chance in the world that any given Sigma Art or Sport lens may be absolutely "spot on" out of the box on Canon 6D unless you shoot in live View mode exclusively, be prepared to invest some time in AFMA calibration. You do need the Sigma USB dock to achieve a solid result though.

Are Sigma Art lenses often good-to-go on something like a 6D without any adjustment?
Thanks.

I have two issues that have held me back from the Sigma Arts, so I'm keen to hear your take on them.

1. I had a 35mm ART on my Canon 6D. I did find the occasional complete AF miss (i.e., not just a small miss, in that AFMA would fix this, and not a miss because the AF point accidentally fell on something other than the intended subject). Have you experienced much of this with the lenses that you have and, if so, have you experienced it more with the "older" ones (i.e., 50mm and 35mm)? That is, should I be less concerned about this with the more recent 85mm and 135mm?

2. I shoot RAW + JPEG (for a few reasons, but often because I want to get images out of the camera on the spot and send them to the person in the image, e.g., shots of my extended families when we get together). I know this annoys some people, but it's what works for me. When I changed from a 6D to a 5Ds, there was an incompatibility with the Sigma 35mm Art, in that the JPEGs showed "rings" in the images. Turned out that this was because I had certain corrections turned on, although when I sent the images to the Sigma reps here in Australia, they had no idea what the cause was. I'd prefer to leave this setting on for when I shoot with Canon glass, and I don't want to think about diving into menus to change settings like this each time I change lenses. Do you know if this has been resolved with a firmware update for the older Art lenses? Obviously this is a limitation of buying third party glass.

Essentially, I want to get a fast 50mm lens, and none of the Canon offerings seem worthwhile. I'm waiting just like everyone else for a new release! In the meantime, I'm considering the Sigma 50mm, but given my issues with the 35mm, I'm hesitant. Your thoughts would be appreciated - thanks in advance.

 

[unfocused]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

As for AFMA, some people meticulously micro adjust every lens. Others take a much more casual approach, living within the manufacturerers' tolerances. There isn't a right or wrong answer, just different styles and approaches.

 

[ozwineguy]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Yes I do have a Zeiss 50mm (f2 Macro) which I LOVE, but as you note, MF does have its limitations.

Yes, the rings are firmware related, although the issue doesn't happen with the Zeiss, so it is at least somewhat related to the lens too.

Also curious as to whether the AF misses have improved. That is, if I got a more recently manufactured 50mm Art, if it would be better in this respect than the first few batches of 50mm Arts.

I've seen the Arts on Gumtree too and often come very close to buying one. With any luck, Canon will release a top notch 50mm soon. Again, thanks for your time.

1. Sigma 35 Art, 50 Art AF misbehavior: unfortunately, the issue is due to the lens AF module design shortcomings, less evident in good light situation, with centre AF point selected and AF priority set to accuracy rather than speed. Far from being perfect though.
Sigma 85 Art and 135 Art are completely different animals in that regard. AF of these lenses is rock solid or as good as it gets.
2. rings issue: caused by the in camera Peripheral illumination correction enabled. AFAIK, this is more camera firmware than lens related. has not been fixed to date.I have heard of Tamron primes being also problematic in that regard.

3. depending on your shoting style and if you can afford an odd missed shot or two out of 10 , I would argue that Sigma 50 Art is a very good glass. Shooting in Live View mode takes care of the issue nicely of course.
There are other options: Tamron 45 VC is one of those. Not a bad lens, at all. Many people swear by their Tamron 45 VC glass, I have seen some good reviews. Personally I saw no value in Tamron VC primes being a bit of a uninspiring, ordinary glass for my personal taste ( I am going to get flamed for this heresy pretty badly).
There is some nice Zeiss options but those are all manual focusing glass. kind of defeat the purpose for me.
you can source virtualy unused and still under warranty Sigma 50 Art these days at around A$650 on Gumtree in
Australia. I see them poping up quite regularly.

 

[SecureGSM]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

AF misses have not been improved with more recently manufactured Sigma 35 and 50 Art lenses unfortunately. My understanding is that Sigma would have to redesign the lens and include new higher torque AF motor instead of the old one to address the issue.
Canon will release an awsome 50 mm 1.4 L lens, no doubt. My reservation is, if the earlier released Canon 35 F1.4 L II Australian street price for an authorised lens being A$2,500.00 is something to go by, then I can pretty much forget about it and resort to something more realistic at this stage I am happy to miss one or two shots once in a while. I Cannot afford the richness and awsomeness of the A$3,000.00 50mm prime lens

Thanks so much for taking the time to respond. Yes I do have a Zeiss 50mm (f2 Macro) which I LOVE, but as you note, MF does have its limitations.

Yes, the rings are firmware related, although the issue doesn't happen with the Zeiss, so it is at least somewhat related to the lens too.

Also curious as to whether the AF misses have improved. That is, if I got a more recently manufactured 50mm Art, if it would be better in this respect than the first few batches of 50mm Arts.

I've seen the Arts on Gumtree too and often come very close to buying one. With any luck, Canon will release a top notch 50mm soon. Again, thanks for your time.

 

[SecureGSM]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

to demonstarate what exactly I was talking about I attached my Sigma 120 300 F2.8 Sports calibration table. it is quite self-explanatory though. as you can note there is no a single universal AFMA value that is good for all calibration points (distances to target) and focal lengths. On contrary AFMA correction amount required (variation) from MFD to infinity are quite extreme. from extreme front focusing at MFD (1.5-2.5m) to extrme back focusing at Infinity (50m).
As you can see, if in camera AFMA settings set to correct lens at MFD, then at infinity lens will be out of tune by -25 AFMA point. this is very substantial back focusing. I mean massive one.
I spoke with Sigma service on numerous ocasions and all they can offer is in lens AFMA calibration at x50 and not at entire lens range.

and no, my camera is not faulty or out of tune. all my Canon and Tamron lenses are almost perfect AFMA wise out of the box and across entire range from MFD to infinity. I own 2 Canon 6D bodies and get similar AFMA numbers for the Cam1 and Cam 2.
and no, this lens is not a bad copy, it is insanely sharp when properly calibrated. my other Sigma Art lenses behave in a similar manner. not to that extreme levels like my longest telephoto but AFMA variations from -10 to +10 MFD to Infinity seems to be a norm for the modern Sigma glass.

A percentage of all manufacturers' lenses and all manufacturers' cameras when combined can have unsatifactory autofocus "out of the box". Cameras (lens mounts) and lenses are made to very tight tolerances, but there is still a small range of "acceptable" dimensions achieved in mass manufacturing. If your specific camera is right in the middle of size variance and your specific lens is right in the middle of intended size variance for that camera system mount, then things will work "out of the box". If you have a camera and lens pair that are at the same end of the allowable range (both short or both long), you will need to make a microadjustment to your AF system.

My 6D gets on just fine with the AF on my Sigma Art 35mm f/1.4.

 

[canonrumorsbug]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

Cory, I have own(ed) more than 20 Sigma Art and Sport lenses in total, and helped many other photographers in getting their Sigma Art and Sport lenses AFMAed right, I can attest that there is not a single chance in the world that any given Sigma Art or Sport lens may be absolutely "spot on" out of the box on Canon 6D unless you shoot in live View mode exclusively, be prepared to invest some time in AFMA calibration. You do need the Sigma USB dock to achieve a solid result though.

Are Sigma Art lenses often good-to-go on something like a 6D without any adjustment?
Thanks.

Can you please make a youtube video. I got the dock and the 35mm ART was still not fixed. I kept missing focus and I just couldnt find it consistent. And so I finally got the Canon 35mm and my hit rate it way way up and I feel confident. I am a big fan of the ART lenses but somehow they need to figure a way to improve their autofocus. I like the dock idea. I think it should be free. Also once someone uses it it should work.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I've just launched the first episode of a three part series on AFMA. What it is, how to do it, how to use software like Reikan FoCal, Sigma USB dock, and Tamron Tap In, and how to do manual calibration.

The playlist is here: http://bit.ly/AFMAPlay

The second episode in the current series goes live tomorrow.

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

Cory, I have own(ed) more than 20 Sigma Art and Sport lenses in total, and helped many other photographers in getting their Sigma Art and Sport lenses AFMAed right, I can attest that there is not a single chance in the world that any given Sigma Art or Sport lens may be absolutely "spot on" out of the box on Canon 6D unless you shoot in live View mode exclusively, be prepared to invest some time in AFMA calibration. You do need the Sigma USB dock to achieve a solid result though.

Are Sigma Art lenses often good-to-go on something like a 6D without any adjustment?
Thanks.

Can you please make a youtube video. I got the dock and the 35mm ART was still not fixed. I kept missing focus and I just couldnt find it consistent. And so I finally got the Canon 35mm and my hit rate it way way up and I feel confident. I am a big fan of the ART lenses but somehow they need to figure a way to improve their autofocus. I like the dock idea. I think it should be free. Also once someone uses it it should work.

The 35 ART, 50 ART (and, worse still - the 18-35 ART) may have problems that cannot be fixed with calibration in some cases. The problem is in autofocus inconsistency, where you don't get either a consistent front focus or backfocus. Some people report great results with the 35 ART, but that was not my experience. In controlled tests I found focus inconsistencies when I reviewed it. The 18-35 was even worse for me. The USB dock unfortunately did not fix this problem, as it was related to focus inconsistency.

I'm currently testing the 100-400 C, and there my experience is just as SecureGSM is describing. Yes, there are quite different values for different focus distances, but, once calibrated, the lens is giving me consistent focus results.

 

[bereninga]

I've just launched the first episode of a three part series on AFMA. What it is, how to do it, how to use software like Reikan FoCal, Sigma USB dock, and Tamron Tap In, and how to do manual calibration.

The playlist is here: http://bit.ly/AFMAPlay

The second episode in the current series goes live tomorrow.

Thank you, Dustin, for all of the work that you do. Your reviews are so helpful, informative and thorough.

As for AF issues w/ the Sigma 50mm Art and 6D, I've had no focusing problems and I've had mine for two years. Maybe I just happened to get a good copy or there is a focusing issue that I just haven't experienced yet. I haven't thoroughly tested it or done any AF adjustment, but just from everyday use I haven't experienced any AF problems.

Anyone who does experience an issue though, I would try the Sigma dock or contact Sigma for some sort of resolution.

 

[albron00]

If any chance Canon is going to produce f2.8 with IS ?

 

[ashmadux]

Re: Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 OS Art Pricing & Availability to be Announced Shortly

Cory, I have own(ed) more than 20 Sigma Art and Sport lenses in total, and helped many other photographers in getting their Sigma Art and Sport lenses AFMAed right, I can attest that there is not a single chance in the world that any given Sigma Art or Sport lens may be absolutely "spot on" out of the box on Canon 6D unless you shoot in live View mode exclusively, be prepared to invest some time in AFMA calibration. You do need the Sigma USB dock to achieve a solid result though.

Are Sigma Art lenses often good-to-go on something like a 6D without any adjustment?
Thanks.

This, this and more this.

My 6D has never been as good with AF even on my canon lenses, I cant imagine what sigma's lenses would have to go through. This camera has the worst Af system of most any camera of the last 10 years. That's for in the field/outdoors...For studio, it generally works great with those big packheads because theres can be so much light, its hard to fail.


My 2c

 

[ashmadux]

Instead of harping on what needs AMFA : :-\ and what doesn't ("mine works, your should too :'( "), why don't EVERYONE here that thinks they know something, barrage canon with requests to add auto AFMA to their cameras already.

AFMA is the single biggest time waster with new lens. It's sucks to have to be able to do it at all. Don't just yap about it...send in those requests to canon. Demand better.

Nikon has it now, why cant we for the thousands we spend on canon gear?


Forest/Trees

 

[Mistral75]

(...)
*UPDATE*
Preorders for the Sigma 24-70mm f/2.8 DG HSM OS Art will begin at 1:00AM, Thursday, June 22. Pricing is not currently known.

Same for the Sigma 14mm f/1.8 DG HSM Art:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1321306-REG/sigma_14mm_f_1_8_dg_hsm.html

 

[BeenThere]

I've just launched the first episode of a three part series on AFMA. What it is, how to do it, how to use software like Reikan FoCal, Sigma USB dock, and Tamron Tap In, and how to do manual calibration.

The playlist is here: http://bit.ly/AFMAPlay

The second episode in the current series goes live tomorrow.

I watched your first video. Very thorough.
A question:
If you perform a full sigma dock cal on a particular Sigma lens and Canon body, will the lens cal still work on a different Canon body by just doing one off-set with the in body AFMA?

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

I've just launched the first episode of a three part series on AFMA. What it is, how to do it, how to use software like Reikan FoCal, Sigma USB dock, and Tamron Tap In, and how to do manual calibration.

The playlist is here: http://bit.ly/AFMAPlay

The second episode in the current series goes live tomorrow.

I watched your first video. Very thorough.
A question:
If you perform a full sigma dock cal on a particular Sigma lens and Canon body, will the lens cal still work on a different Canon body by just doing one off-set with the in body AFMA?

That's my experience, yes. The USB dock/Tap In can compensate for LENS focus biases at certain distances. A subsequent AFMA on a different body will compensate for that CAMERA'S focus bias. My 5D Mark IV, for example, has a front focus bias, so almost all lenses need + values for AFMA.

 

[Hector1970]

Talking of Sigma, has there been any update on the 14mm 1.8?

 

[SecureGSM]

Yes, please note the link just a couple of posts above:

https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/1321306-REG/sigma_14mm_f_1_8_dg_hsm.html

Talking of Sigma, has there been any update on the 14mm 1.8?

 

[Jopa]

They need to make a blind pre-order. Do not announce the price at all. The customers will see their bank statement later and they will be surprised!

 

[SecureGSM]

Here, my friend. As you wish @$9,999.00 surely is a pure bargain.

https://www.camerasdirect.com.au/sigma-24-70mm-f-2-8-art-lens-for-nikon

They need to make a blind pre-order. Do not announce the price at all. The customers will see their bank statement later and they will be surprised!

 

[TWI by Dustin Abbott]

The next episode in my series on how to do focus calibration is now live. This one deals with using Reikan FoCal to automate the process and also how to use this in conjunction with the Sigma USB dock or the Tamron Tap In Console.

http://bit.ly/Calibrate2