Sigma 30mm 1.4

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charleyboy14

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Charles
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Just need a quick heads up from any one who owns or has used a sigma 30mm 1.4.
Are they any good?
do they af quick and accurate?
whats it like a f1.4?
when does it start to get sharp, f2.0?
Whats it like for portraits aswell
i'll be using it on a 1d mk3

Cheers in advance

Charles
 
I had a 30/1.4 for a holiday, and if I could afford it I would have kept it. Stunning lens. Mine was very sharp from F1.4. Great portrait lens. The AF motor is HSM so its really fast. If found it extremely accurate on my 450D, but some complain of front focusing so there might be some 'copy variation'. The thing to watch out for is at F1.4 it really is a shallow DoF.

It's quite heavy and at 62mm quite big for the type of lens, but it is built like a tank. Much better than the Canon 35/2.

Although after typing all that. it is a DC lens (equivelent to EF-S) so I don't think it would work on a 1D3.
 
Yeah i seem to have school boy'd that one haha
looks like it's either the sigma 24mm 1.8 or the canon 28mm 1.8
 
I used to have a Sigma 30/1.4 .. I got rid of it because I got a 35/1.4L but it's a good lens except maybe for focus accuracy when shooting close subjects. Which for me was people indoors in available light at f/1.4 and I hated missing some of those shots.. But the DoF is so thin it's a losing battle even with the 35/1.4L ;)

Even though it's a DC lens, it does mount on the APS-H cameras and also full frame but of course vignettes. The surprising this is HOW LITTLE it vignettes on a 1D. This is a test shot I took with the original 1D and the Sigma @ f/1.8:

i-rBwVsTQ-L.jpg


As you can see, there is clear vignetting but only at the very corners. It's a bit worse at f/1.4. The bad news is that the vignetting gets MUCH WORSE when you stop down the lens, another example at f/7.1:

i-cNWmHxb-L.jpg


So yes, I did use the lens in a pinch on my 1D but it's not a real option to buy one specifically for an APS-H :) And sorry about the crappy test pics, I don't have the lens any more and not going to post my family album pics :)
 
I bought this lens from Dave King here and it's absolutelly stunning. Focus is spot on and it's razor sharp at 1.4 at least in the center. Excellent walk around lens for crop camera. I find myself shooting mostly at 1.4 because I like shallow dof and bokeh it produces

F1.4 ISO 100, 1/640
003.jpg


F1.4, ISO 400, 1/125, no flash
Misha%252520and%252520Kolya%252520032.jpg
 
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When I had crop bodies I was desperate to get a good one of these - they are sharp wide open and lovely compact lenses.

I went through 19 copies and found fault with all of them before I gave up.

The copies were tested on one of 4 different bodies - one of the bodies subsequently was found to have an AF fault, but the other 3 were definitely fine. Even on the body with the faulty AF, the Sigma 30's showed much greater errors than other lenses on it.

Every copy focussed fine up to about 5 feet subject distance. Typically at about 8 feet subject distance they started noticeably front-focussing (about 1 foot was typical). The error was worse with distance and I got a six-feet front focussing error on one occasion. In all cases I had focussed very carefully and done repeated test shots on tripods etc.

Lots of people are happy with these lenses & optically they are good, but my experience was dreadful. I'm not a Sigma-hater BTW. I have the superb 50 / 1.4 and 85 / 1.4 and have been very impressed with the 150mm macro in the past.

Phil
 
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vaizki said:
Phil.. 19 copies? You're bonkers :bonk: I gave up after two!
Click to expand...

Probably! But I soooo wanted a compact lens on a body to use as a go-everywhere camera. The Canon 28mm f./1.8 is also a good alternative, but I've now got the Fuji X100 which is a delight!

Phil
 
Loved mine when I had a crop body, was very sad to have to let it go. That and the Sigma 10-20 were two of the best lenses I've owned.
 
I really like mine, it was back focussing when I got it but a quick AF tune on the D7000 and it is super sharp :)
 
I *adore* mine - and it's sad that when I go full-frame (and I do hope to within about six months) that it'll only work properly on my 50D. If I'm going anywhere when I take just one lens with me, it's this one. Makes taking photos at dark gig venues with no real lighting possible!



...and being inconspicuous/inobtrusive at friends/family occasions.

 
When you go full frame you can get the 50/1.4 instead and bump the ISO a stop or two... Good times.
 
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