Prime lens

mjb123

mjb123

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Hi, I'm after a prime lens for my 60d I've had a 50mm but found it a bit restrictive on a crop sensor so I'm thinking of going down the route of 24mm f2.8, does any one have any experience in the older sigma lens seems to be cheaper than the canon! Would prefer not to have to spend to much!! Would be grateful for some advice
 
mjb123 said:
Hi, I'm after a prime lens for my 60d I've had a 50mm but found it a bit restrictive on a crop sensor so I'm thinking of going down the route of 24mm f2.8, does any one have any experience in the older sigma lens seems to be cheaper than the canon! Would prefer not to have to spend to much!! Would be grateful for some advice
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If you're talking about the old Sigma 24mm f2.8 it probably wont auto focus on your DSLR. The newer Sigma 24mm is a modern f1.8 and should work well on your DSLR.

I have their 20mm f1.8 and it's worked well on my 20D and 5D and I believe that the 24mm is a similar design. Personally for APS-C I'd go for the Sigma 30mm f1.4, and I did :D

If you're happy with manual focus the old Sigma 24mm f2.8 will probably be ok.
 
woof woof said:
If you're talking about the old Sigma 24mm f2.8 it probably wont auto focus on your DSLR. The newer Sigma 24mm is a modern f1.8 and should work well on your DSLR.

I have their 20mm f1.8 and it's worked well on my 20D and 5D and I believe that the 24mm is a similar design. Personally for APS-C I'd go for the Sigma 30mm f1.4, and I did :D

If you're happy with manual focus the old Sigma 24mm f2.8 will probably be ok.
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Thanks for your input, the 1's I have seen say ef/eos fit and that they have AF!
 
mjb123 said:
Thanks for your input, the 1's I have seen say ef/eos fit and that they have AF!
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They will, on a film body. But not on a modern digital body, unless the lens has been re-chipped by the previous user.

Edit: The bigger problem with the old Sigmas is not that they won't AF, but that you won't be able to change the aperture from wide open. And the camera may error a lot. I had that with the older Sigma 28/1.8.
 
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As far as I know Sigma are still selling new 20, 24 and 28mm f1.8's and I'm sure that these new lenses will work on a digital body, older ones... it's a gamble... but anyone selling on ebay will hopefully be honest and say what they've been using them on and dealers should obviously be ok too.

These are all full frame lenses and so are larger, they also lack HSM so personally I'd be more tempted to go for the 30mm f1.4 which has HSM and is quite compact compared to the larger full frame lenses. Note that the 30mm is APS-C only and costs a bit too.

I like HSM as you can adjust the focus manually even when the lens is set to auto focus.
 
Good advice thanks will stay clear of those older lenses!! Why do you prefer 30mm is it purely down to it being a faster lens
 
mjb123 said:
Good advice thanks will stay clear of those older lenses!! Why do you prefer 30mm is it purely down to it being a faster lens
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I like more compact kit and the 30mm is a lot smaller than the 24mm f1.8. HSM (or Canon's USM) is lovely and a big plus in my view as it allows you to adjust focus manually even when the lens is set to auto focus.
 
Bear in mind as focal length decreases, so DoF increases. With a 14mm lens on a 1.6x crop body, even at f/2.8 everything from 6.5ft to infinity would be sharp when set to the hyperfocal distance (12ft in that case). So focus might not be of such a concern.

I'm interested in the comments above about the earlier Sigma lens not AF'ing on digital bodies - seems odd since all Canon EF lenses (that are AF capable) will do so.
 
pearce_jj said:
Bear in mind as focal length decreases, so DoF increases. With a 14mm lens on a 1.6x crop body, even at f/2.8 everything from 6.5ft to infinity would be sharp when set to the hyperfocal distance (12ft in that case). So focus might not be of such a concern.

I'm interested in the comments above about the earlier Sigma lens not AF'ing on digital bodies - seems odd since all Canon EF lenses (that are AF capable) will do so.
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Yes that's what I thought, may be I'll message 1 of the sellers to find out!!
 
pearce_jj said:
Bear in mind as focal length decreases, so DoF increases. With a 14mm lens on a 1.6x crop body, even at f/2.8 everything from 6.5ft to infinity would be sharp when set to the hyperfocal distance (12ft in that case). So focus might not be of such a concern.

I'm interested in the comments above about the earlier Sigma lens not AF'ing on digital bodies - seems odd since all Canon EF lenses (that are AF capable) will do so.
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The reason is quite simple. Canon make camera bodies and lenses and they know exactly how their own focus system works and they don't tell Sigma. Sigma have to back engineer the Canon system and make lenses that'll work on Canon bodies. However, at some time in the past Canon shifted the goal posts and a load of Sigma lenses that worked with Canon film bodies of the time suddenly wouldn't AF on new Canon bodies.

Sigma offer (or offered) a service by which they'd rechip old lenses but it cost money, possibly more than these old lenses are worth. Dunno if the service is still offered but personally I wouldn't bother.

I'd keep clear of Sigma film era lenses and just buy one of the new lenses which will work with current Canon DSLR bodies, or buy a Canon lens.
 
Thanks for your input, thing is I don't even no if this is a focal length that I want to pursue I just no that I like using a prime lens! With that in mind I don't really want to spend 2 or 3 hundred pounds on a lens if I can by 1 for £40 to have a play with! As it happens I have messaged a seller and he says it works fine on a 20d does this not mean it would work fine on my 60d??
 
I don't know.

I know that there was a 24mm f2.8 in the film days but I don't know if there was/is a DSLR compatible 24mm f2.8. Maybe it's a film lens that's been rechipped?

Maybe someone else will know the history of this lens or maybe you could Google it?

It's up to you if you want to try it out but I'd want some assurance that the seller will give you a refund if the lens wont work reliably on your camera.
 
...or look at eBay completed listings to see what they sell for, so you know how much you can pass it on for...
 
Just looking at the Sigma UK site... but I can't see anything about old lenses and compatibility. Maybe it's worth giving Sigma a call to see what they say?
 
Errr... Dunno about old Sigma lenses being poor quality. I have a manual 50mm f2.8 macro and it's so sharp it'd cut your eyes out :D
 
manualfocus-g said:
If it works on a 20D then it *should* work on a 60D. The older film lenses generally only work properly on the really old Canon EOS D30 and D60. The other thing to remember is that most of the older Sigma lenses were of poor quality anyway.
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What I have read about them there sharp as a tack but the AF is a tad noisy! That's not a problem I've had a nifty fifty!!😀
 
Ok I've decided to ignore the old sigma lens, so what are your views on the best out of the sigma 30mm 1.4 and the canon 28mm 1.8 was also considering the cheaper canon 28mm 2.8!!
 
I recently got the 30mm f1.4 and have been delighted with it

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