Stuck on whether to return sigma 35mm for 35mm 1.4L or 35f2 is

[Canon-F1]

sharpness is a result of a properly focused image.

nonsense....
if the lens does not deliver the optical sharpness, no focusing will solve that.

It's nice of Sigma to actually deliver the USB dock, but the fact is Sigma should tighten up its QC process so we don't NEED to use the dock.

well canon should be the first then to make lenses that need no AFMA. :

 

[klickflip]

My copy is outstanding, as sharp at F2 as my 50L at 3.5 and more so generally, and colours are great. Also in AI servo its spot on.. do a lot of skateboarding tracking sequences its actually much much more accurate than my 50L and 85L.
You may have a bad copy then, go back to shop and get them to compare it instore with a couple of other copies.

 

[Krob78]

sharpness is a result of a properly focused image.

nonsense....
if the lens does not deliver the optical sharpness, no focusing will solve that.

It's nice of Sigma to actually deliver the USB dock, but the fact is Sigma should tighten up its QC process so we don't NEED to use the dock.

well canon should be the first then to make lenses that need no AFMA. :

+1 on that, I was thinking the same thing! If Sigma should be tightening up it's qc to avoid needing the dock, how much more at the price should Canon be tightening up their QC so we don't have to spend all that time MFA'ing our lenses? I'm glad I can MFA my lens's. If I had the Sigma, I'd probably be glad to have the dock!

 

[Viggo]

sharpness is a result of a properly focused image.

nonsense....
if the lens does not deliver the optical sharpness, no focusing will solve that.

It's nice of Sigma to actually deliver the USB dock, but the fact is Sigma should tighten up its QC process so we don't NEED to use the dock.

well canon should be the first then to make lenses that need no AFMA. :

Lol, yes I would much rather have a lens that is veryvery sharp but can't focus over a lens that is very sharp that focuses perfectly with very fast
Movement every single time .

 

[Krob78]

Update on Sigma 35mm. I took it in locally and they saw I was AFMA to +10 and they actually put it at about +15 internally so my camera is spot on and I am at 0 in camera. That makes this lens that much sweeter. Glad I took it in. If you buy a Sigma and it seems off send it in is my advise.

Yay! Sounds like you have a keeper now!

 

[brianleighty]

Update on Sigma 35mm. I took it in locally and they saw I was AFMA to +10 and they actually put it at about +15 internally so my camera is spot on and I am at 0 in camera. That makes this lens that much sweeter. Glad I took it in. If you buy a Sigma and it seems off send it in is my advise.

Sounds about right. I rented both a 5D mark III and the Sigma 35 and Focal had me set it to either +13 or +17 (can't remember). I was surprised how big a number it was but I did some shots to confirm both at 0 and the setting it recommended and sure enough it was right. I'm leaning towards buying one of these when I've got the money. I rented the 35L last September and would say this lens is at least the same level IQ wise in shots (probably a lot better I'm just not doing test charts or such). Focus seemed slower but I'm attributing that to the 5D Mark III flash assist issue.

 

[brianleighty]

One other huge improvement over the 35L I forgot to mention is the color fringing. MUCH lower.

 

[funkboy]

It's nice of Sigma to actually deliver the USB dock, but the fact is Sigma should tighten up its QC process so we don't NEED to use the dock.

well canon should be the first then to make lenses that need no AFMA. :

As much as all that would be nice, revamping the production lines to provide this level of tolerance would likely be cost-prohibitive for both companies. Given the choice between having to do AFMA and having 25% more expensive lenses & camera bodies across the board, I'll stick with the AFMA, thank you very much. The fact is that the majority of consumers buying these devices won't notice the difference.

Sigma (& other 3rd party mfrs) likely have an additional issue as they have to make lenses that work with a whole bunch of camera mfrs & not just Canon, and that likely contributes to their lenses being "way off" more often than house-brand lenses.

I applaud their innovation in releasing the DIY AFMA dock so that the customer can adjust lenses even for bodies that don't have AFMA (and for those that do, you don't have to mess with it in the camera).

Given that the AFMA USB dock is probably a single-use device for most people, I believe they priced it accordingly given that it's quite a specialty item and most customers will likely either:

- rent one for a weekend, or

- buy one & return it

BTW it occurred to me that they could have just integrated USB into their lenses, but then everyone gets to pay for the extra rarely-necessary electronics in every lens and drag around the extra bulk & weight. It also adds another point of entry for dust & moisture.

So I'll stick with the dock .

 

[NerdblurbSteve]

If you don't mind carrying two lenses, consider getting the 35mm and the canon 70-200mm f/4 IS. Its not too heavy to carry both and you wont miss the coverage from 35mm-70mm. However, with both lenses in your pack, you're good to go for almost anything unless you need a really wide angle.

Those two lenses are basically my default kit and I love it. Excellent image quality from both and a much better pairing then relying on the 24-105 by itself.

 

[wickidwombat]

Update on Sigma 35mm. I took it in locally and they saw I was AFMA to +10 and they actually put it at about +15 internally so my camera is spot on and I am at 0 in camera. That makes this lens that much sweeter. Glad I took it in. If you buy a Sigma and it seems off send it in is my advise.

thats what my siggy 85 1.4 was like sent it in to sigma and a week later it came back spot on
glad its working for you now
it will be interesting to see how much tweeking we can do when the sigma usb docks come out

 

[Krob78]

Update on Sigma 35mm. I took it in locally and they saw I was AFMA to +10 and they actually put it at about +15 internally so my camera is spot on and I am at 0 in camera. That makes this lens that much sweeter. Glad I took it in. If you buy a Sigma and it seems off send it in is my advise.

thats what my siggy 85 1.4 was like sent it in to sigma and a week later it came back spot on
glad its working for you now
it will be interesting to see how much tweeking we can do when the sigma usb docks come out

it will be interesting to see how much tweeking we can do when the sigma usb docks come out

Please let us know, I'm interested in grabbing this lens fairly soon, I'd like to hear about the dock...

 

[brianleighty]

If you don't mind carrying two lenses, consider getting the 35mm and the canon 70-200mm f/4 IS. Its not too heavy to carry both and you wont miss the coverage from 35mm-70mm. However, with both lenses in your pack, you're good to go for almost anything unless you need a really wide angle.

Those two lenses are basically my default kit and I love it. Excellent image quality from both and a much better pairing then relying on the 24-105 by itself.

Interesting, I actually shot a couple weddings recently with this setup except instead of the f/4 version it was the 2.8 IS L. I'm going to rent the 24-70 II for my next wedding to see if I like it but if it's not much better I'll probably end up buying the sigma.