Waiting for the 35 1.4L II

Viggo said:
I had a poor copy of the 35 Art, but I know now they are not all like that, and calibrated with the docking they are very good.

I bought the 50 Art and I had also dismissed Sigma, but the 50 Art is a staggering good lens, and is now my all time favorite lens. And I have owned 90% of the lenses Canon has ever made in EF mount.

Get the 35 Art with the docking, you'll be much happier with money left over for the 50 Art as well. The 35 L II will NOT be cheap.

+1

The Siggy 35 1.4 Art is amazing, and I've used everything.
 
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Viggo said:
I have had 3 copies of the 24 L II and I was very impressed with the feel of the lens and except the lens hood, very nice build quality. But that's it. I didn't like it at all IQ wise and AF was absolutely useless.

May I ask what you did not like about the IQ of the 24 L II?
 
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panicboy said:
Viggo said:
I have had 3 copies of the 24 L II and I was very impressed with the feel of the lens and except the lens hood, very nice build quality. But that's it. I didn't like it at all IQ wise and AF was absolutely useless.

May I ask what you did not like about the IQ of the 24 L II?

Yes you may! Mine wasn't very sharp, both because of AF issues and I didn't have a great copy, it had annoying CA. The things I liked about it was the 1.4 of course, superb color and good contrast. But I always liked the 35 L better for AF and focal length. If I had one with the AF as good as the 35 and sharpness to match I might like better.
 
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Viggo said:
panicboy said:
Viggo said:
I have had 3 copies of the 24 L II and I was very impressed with the feel of the lens and except the lens hood, very nice build quality. But that's it. I didn't like it at all IQ wise and AF was absolutely useless.

May I ask what you did not like about the IQ of the 24 L II?

Yes you may! Mine wasn't very sharp, both because of AF issues and I didn't have a great copy, it had annoying CA. The things I liked about it was the 1.4 of course, superb color and good contrast. But I always liked the 35 L better for AF and focal length. If I had one with the AF as good as the 35 and sharpness to match I might like better.

OK, thank you. I also own a 24 L II and I find the image quality amazing. Admittedly, the AF could be a bit faster, but it focuses very reliably on my 5d, even at f/1.4 without AFMA (which the 5d does not have). I guess I had luck with my copy.
 
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panicboy said:
Viggo said:
panicboy said:
Viggo said:
I have had 3 copies of the 24 L II and I was very impressed with the feel of the lens and except the lens hood, very nice build quality. But that's it. I didn't like it at all IQ wise and AF was absolutely useless.

May I ask what you did not like about the IQ of the 24 L II?

Yes you may! Mine wasn't very sharp, both because of AF issues and I didn't have a great copy, it had annoying CA. The things I liked about it was the 1.4 of course, superb color and good contrast. But I always liked the 35 L better for AF and focal length. If I had one with the AF as good as the 35 and sharpness to match I might like better.

OK, thank you. I also own a 24 L II and I find the image quality amazing. Admittedly, the AF could be a bit faster, but it focuses very reliably on my 5d, even at f/1.4 without AFMA (which the 5d does not have). I guess I had luck with my copy.

Wow...my copy is amazing. The AF is far better than my 35L, which hunts in low light. It's CA is pretty good and it's sharper than my 35L too. I tend to use my 35L more because I prefer the focal length....but the 24IIL is a better lens optically
 
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+1 for the 40 it's a brilliant daytime street lens, no one gets pissed when you point it at them in tight spaces it doesn't get bumped and has little if no theft value
 
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GMCPhotographics said:
dolina said:
Didnt bother waiting and got a 40/2,8

Wow....a completely different lens, even a 24-70L would have been a more versatile alternative
5mm narrower
2-stops slower
95% cheaper
Available, yesterday.
L-like optics

You buy the pancake because you want the following
- prime
- modern design
- tiniest prime
- lightest prime
- under $150
- Available, yesterday

In contrast the 24-70 is a bulky, heavy, unwieldy & pricey mess that's uses a 82mm filter.
 
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Well, it's another one of those impossible questions. But as it involves my favourite lens I will reply. Just get it, there's no way you will be disappointed. It's a 16 year old construction but still performs amazingly well for me on my 5DIII. When the Mk2 comes out you won't have lost much anyway. It has a quality to it, something charts won't show, you'll notice the first time you put it on, feel the balance, snap your first shot and look at it. I love mine and will never sell it. My next purchase is the 50L, no matter how good the Sigma is. I understand the 50L has a similar feel to it as the 35L. But that's only me, that's what photography is to me - feel.
 
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Arctic Photo said:
Well, it's another one of those impossible questions. But as it involves my favourite lens I will reply. Just get it, there's no way you will be disappointed. It's a 16 year old construction but still performs amazingly well for me on my 5DIII. When the Mk2 comes out you won't have lost much anyway. It has a quality to it, something charts won't show, you'll notice the first time you put it on, feel the balance, snap your first shot and look at it. I love mine and will never sell it. My next purchase is the 50L, no matter how good the Sigma is. I understand the 50L has a similar feel to it as the 35L. But that's only me, that's what photography is to me - feel.

The 50 Art has much more of the same feel of the 35 L than the 50 L, because the 35 and 50 Art has way better sharpness and the shots pop more. You can use corners wide open, not so much with the 50 L.

Beyond that, I have owned six or seven 35 L's and I have shot at least 100k images with them, but IQ wise, the 50 Art destroys it. Much sharper all over, veryvery little ca, no distortion, color and contrast are much better than the 35 L. I know what the feel of a lens is, and I absolutely agree that the 35 L has the x-factor, but for a 50, I would never buy another 50 L when the sigma is out and that much cheaper.

Why I want the 35 L II is because it will be weather sealed, it will be sharper in the corners, less distortion, and color and contrast like the 24-70 mk2 or better and it will absolutely 100% sure be the best AF performance of any 1.4 lens.

Here's a recent 50 art 1.4 shot of my daughter. How sharp is that at 1.4 and how lovely bokeh? LOVE this lens!

m2.jpg
 
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Viggo said:
Arctic Photo said:
Well, it's another one of those impossible questions. But as it involves my favourite lens I will reply. Just get it, there's no way you will be disappointed. It's a 16 year old construction but still performs amazingly well for me on my 5DIII. When the Mk2 comes out you won't have lost much anyway. It has a quality to it, something charts won't show, you'll notice the first time you put it on, feel the balance, snap your first shot and look at it. I love mine and will never sell it. My next purchase is the 50L, no matter how good the Sigma is. I understand the 50L has a similar feel to it as the 35L. But that's only me, that's what photography is to me - feel.

The 50 Art has much more of the same feel of the 35 L than the 50 L, because the 35 and 50 Art has way better sharpness and the shots pop more. You can use corners wide open, not so much with the 50 L.

Beyond that, I have owned six or seven 35 L's and I have shot at least 100k images with them, but IQ wise, the 50 Art destroys it. Much sharper all over, veryvery little ca, no distortion, color and contrast are much better than the 35 L. I know what the feel of a lens is, and I absolutely agree that the 35 L has the x-factor, but for a 50, I would never buy another 50 L when the sigma is out and that much cheaper.

Why I want the 35 L II is because it will be weather sealed, it will be sharper in the corners, less distortion, and color and contrast like the 24-70 mk2 or better and it will absolutely 100% sure be the best AF performance of any 1.4 lens.

Here's a recent 50 art 1.4 shot of my daughter. How sharp is that at 1.4 and how lovely bokeh? LOVE this lens!

Tack Viggo,

that's good information, I might just have to take a look at the Sigma 50 then anyway. I definitely haven't shot 100k pictures with the 35L, maybe 10k. I am also only a hobbyist, I am often not sure of what to look at to determine the quality of a picture, but I like what I get from the 35L, it's like you say an x-factor.

That's a very cute daughter you have, I remember those days with my daughters, food everywhere, now we have a dog to mess up the house instead ;D

Thanks for the inside.
 
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Optically, yes there is a little bit of room for improvement on the 35L.
Yes, from a weather sealing and build quality, there is also room for improvement.
Flare control, colour, contrast...ability to render beautiful and stunning photos in the right hands...not much room for improvement.
I've got my 35L very wet from rain water a number of times...no issues. So the weather sealing is a bit of gimmick, it's already very good, although it doesn't have that little rubber gasket on the rear mount. Hey, I've even got my 85IIL soaked with no issues either. I'm a UK wedding photographer...although it's been fairly dry this year and last year. But the year before was astonishingly wet. I've had more problem with the weather sealing on my 5DII / 5DIII than I ever did with my 35L or 85IIL.

it's a few years old, but here's an example of how wet my cams sometimes get:
4494339793_a887b10bf9_o.jpg
 
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I love the 35L on my 5D3. Pretty sharp and enough creamy bokeh if used correctly. Here a shot straight out of cam on f 1.6, not the best shot but still ok to see what bokeh it offers. The version 2 will be priced much higher so i would not wait as the version 1 offers you probably all you need!
 

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Color balance, matching Sigma with Canon

Older Sigmas used to have a slight warm rendering compared to others... which of course can be pleasing but might get you in trouble if you are shooting with different lenses and bodies and want consistent results with as little tweaking as possible in post.

How are the new Sigmas? More netural/canon like or is there still a warm tint that potentially could make images different? And if so, do they respond well with a custom camera profile?

Also, when talking about 50L vs 35L - I am thinking about trading my 50L for the 35L. I know the 35L is sharper but what about AF consistency? The 50L is sometimes nothing but a lottery, especially in low light conditions. And ofcourse the infamous focus shift. Are all these issues gone with the 35L?
 
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GMCPhotographics said:
Optically, yes there is a little bit of room for improvement on the 35L.
Yes, from a weather sealing and build quality, there is also room for improvement.
Flare control, colour, contrast...ability to render beautiful and stunning photos in the right hands...not much room for improvement.

The thing that kills me on the 35L is the straight aperture blades... If only they'd update it!
 
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