Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG Sets New Benchmark for Excellence

[YuengLinger]

We should ALL be grateful to Sigma for making such great lenses at half the price of Canon. Competition is good for putting a little price pressure on Canon, and it should push them to work harder on quality too.

I always carry a two gallon Ziploc in case of rain, and it's big enough to hold my 5D3 with a 70-200mm 2.8 IS II. Weather sealed or not, I ain't shootin' in the rain, thank you. Singin' maybe, but not shootin'.

Now, Canon, please stop worrying so much about lenses and give us a new flash commander that has radio and optical and AF, and some alternatives to the lovely but massive 600ex-rt.

 

[RGomezPhotos]

This is great! It's great to have these great lenses coming out by 3rd party to compete with Canon. Competition is excellent. I think Canon products have been overly-pricey and they need to come down a notch.

If I didn't have my Zeiss 50mm f1.4, I would totally consider this lens...

 

[BruinBear]

I tried two copies and on both autofocus was accurate and pretty fast (5D II / 7D) - nothing to complain about.
Optical the lens is perfect to me, never saw such a great performance at 1,4.
The first copy had a squeaking HSM so I returned it. The second one ist much better in terms of squeaking )
I heard that HSM sometimes can be "squeaky".
Some samples if you like: http://www.flickr.com/photos/62909363@N02/sets/72157632986987422/

My sigma 35 doesnt squeak but i have a 17-40 that sounds like there's a small mouse inside operating the AF. Works perfectly otherwise though.

 

[wickidwombat]

warning the sigma 35 has a major problem!



... it makes all your other lenses look bad

but seriously it's an amazing lens fast and accurate AF
the best AI servo performance i've seen from a sigma lens
razor sharp wide open and just gets sharper when stopping down

I'm really looking forward to seeing what they release next I hope they upgrade the already great 85 optically as from f1.4 to f2 it could use some improvement and it's AF in servo mode could do with an improvement

 

[RS2021]

Sorry, couldn't resist...

My sigma 35 doesnt squeak but i have a 17-40 that sounds like there's a small mouse inside operating the AF. Works perfectly otherwise though.

Did I hear "there is a small mouse inside operating the AF???"

 

[BruinBear]

Sorry, couldn't resist...

Did I hear "there is a small mouse inside operating the AF???"

How long have you been waiting for a chance to use that picture hahaha. ;D

 

[RS2021]

Sorry, couldn't resist...

Did I hear "there is a small mouse inside operating the AF???"

How long have you been waiting for a chance to use that picture hahaha. ;D

Bwahaha...that's why I couldn't resist! It was a discard from some time ago...and I was dyin' to put it to some use. LOL

 

[Axilrod]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

 

[verysimplejason]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

Most probably. Here's the extended version using a D700 comparing it with the 5D2 version for Canon.


http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/%28lens1%29/1056/%28lens2%29/797/%28lens3%29/1057/%28brand1%29/Sigma/%28camera1%29/483/%28brand2%29/Canon/%28camera2%29/436/%28brand3%29/Sigma/%28camera3%29/441

You'll notice that almost all characteristics are the same except the sharpness. Camera resolution have an effect to the lens performance. Lens sharpness for a D700 is 10 but for a D800, its 23. But this doesn't discount the fact that the lens outperformed the Canon 35mm considering that its price is lesser.

Sharpness scores:
Sigma 35mm + Canon 5D2 (21MP) = 17
Sigma 35mm + Nikon D700 (12MP) = 10
Sigma 35mm + Nikon D800 (36MP) = 23
Canon 35mmL + Canon 5D2 (21MP) = 14

It seems there's a correlation between MP and sharpness.

 

[infared]

I'm really thinking about picking one of these up. As far as primes go, the 35mm range would be a pretty attractive addition to my prime kit (currently have the Sigma 50mm, Canon 85mm and 135mm). I was going to go with the Canon 35mm f/1.4L, but after reading a bunch of these reviews that praise Sigma's 35mm, for a 50% cost savings and performance boost it almost seems stupid to not go for the Sigma.

Perhaps I can get some hobby paint and put a red ring on it. ;-)

Red pinstriping tape..it's a LOT easier... :
http://moreinstore.ecrater.com/p/12753234/1-8-red-pinstripe-tape-for-model-cars-r-c

 

[Stuart]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

Thank goodness someone else (and another after you) actually went and read the article, its not just the lens and unfortuantly its not as good on a canon body

 

[Albi86]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

Thank goodness someone else (and another after you) actually went and read the article, its not just the lens and unfortuantly its not as good on a canon body

I think we can assume that the Canon version is optically identical. Take this information as a confirm that this lens is a good investment for the future, when all FF bodies will likely be in the 30-40 MP range

 

[captainkanji]

Would the Sigma be noticeably better than the 24-105 on a 6D? Most of my photos of cosplay are between 24 and 35mm. I'm very happy with the 105 so far. I already have a 40 2.8 and a 50 1.4 so maybe I'm getting too redundant. Something about primes intrigues me though. I think I have this desire to take the sharpest photo ever ;D. I'll consider renting one for my next event.

 

[Albi86]

Would the Sigma be noticeably better than the 24-105 on a 6D? Most of my photos of cosplay are between 24 and 35mm. I'm very happy with the 105 so far. I already have a 40 2.8 and a 50 1.4 so maybe I'm getting too redundant. Something about primes intrigues me though. I think I have this desire to take the sharpest photo ever ;D. I'll consider renting one for my next event.

Yes, I think the Sigma would be noticeably sharper especially in the borders and at large apertures.

 

[Malte_P]

man... this is messed up........ mt spokane writes just bull......

 

[Malte_P]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

Thank goodness someone else (and another after you) actually went and read the article, its not just the lens and unfortuantly its not as good on a canon body

of course a higher MP body will achive better resolution results then a lower MP body.
are you really suprised about this? ???

the sigma for canon cameras is as good as the nikon model.
but the combination of canon camera and sigma lens is not that good.
no wonder, as canon has no 36MP body yet.

 

[dstppy]

For me, the lack of weather sealing by Sigma is the lost opportunity here.

Yes, I know the Canon 35mm f/1.4 L is not weather-sealed. But the lens is old enough where it makes sense to me to wait and see if they release a weather-sealed update any time soon. If the Sigma had been, I'd not hesitate for a second to pick up a lens with better IQ at a significantly lower cost regardless of what Canon has up its sleeve.

So if Canon comes out with a new version that costs $2000 but with weather sealing, you're ready to pay more than double? Good job.

Canon has a LONG history of making $2000 lenses that don't out-resolve their predecessors by a long shot and only carry weather-sealing. Good job.

 

[ddashti]

How sure can one be that the performance for the Canon mount is very similar to the Nikon mount?

 

[RS2021]

How sure can one be that the performance for the Canon mount is very similar to the Nikon mount?

Optical design is identical...only the tail end, the mount, is different.
But clearly the camera system including sensor resolution will alter what comes out of the lens' native IQ.

 

[brad-man]

Canon version didn't do as well...Is the D800 making the difference here?
http://www.dxomark.com/index.php/Lenses/Compare-Camera-Lenses/Compare-lenses/(lens1)/1056/(brand)/Sigma/(camera1)/483/(lens2)/797/(brand2)/Canon/(camera2)/436

Thank goodness someone else (and another after you) actually went and read the article, its not just the lens and unfortuantly its not as good on a canon body

Don't know why this is so confusing. The Sigma is by a fair amount the better lens in most, if not all, measurable categories. It is simply more evident on a higher resolving camera. It has nothing to do with the brand of camera or the mount or anything other than the resolution of the camera...