Amazon.com: Customer reviews: Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art DG HSM Lens for Canon, Black, 3.7 x 3.03 x 3.03 (340101)

Reviewed in the United States on May 30, 2013

My Background
I shoot with a Canon 7d and prime lens only(35mm 1.4, 50mm 1.4, 85mm 1.8). I have had this lens for 2 months. Since then I have used this lens for prom shoots, portraits, indoor volleyball games, Landscape, and a lot of day and night street photography.

Thoughts
This lens is everything I needed from a 35mm. I decided I needed, not wanted(for all you fellow gear lusters out their) this lens because I started to feel limitations of my 50mm on my 7D. Just in case you did not know, 7D is a 1.6x crop sensor camera. On this camera, 50mm = 80mm and 35mm = 56mm focal length. I realized that I needed to get closer to my subject in my my street photography and it was impossible with my 50mm. There truly is a substantial difference in the feel of street photography pictures when you're farther away from your subject. Sigmas 35mm is stunning. Jaw dropping sharp wide open. The focus is fast and accurate. Construction of this lens looks beautiful and professional. This lens does not have weather sealing, but I did not need it. Balanced well on a 7D and felt commanding on a rebel body.

In Use
It was great for group prom shots, wide enough to get everyone in the shot and still created smooth bokeh for great isolation. Did a fantastic job in portrait shots for added context. I had a photo shoot for a family with children and it was fast enough to capture them running around. Very useful for full court shots with the team and fast enough to capture the quick movements in the game. Beautiful sublime color rendition in landscapes. And finally, it has made all the difference in the quality of my street shots. This lens has delivered and has be come my standard lens.

Conclusion
This lens is fantastic. Everything about it is so desirable for just about any photographer. I am glad I added this to my collection as it will still be a great investment when I move to a full frame. Get out and shoot! I hope this review was helped. Fell free to ask any questions

13 people found this helpful

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Norman

Best lens I ever bought

Reviewed in the United States on October 26, 2013

Verified Purchase

As a filmmaker/photographer I shoot most of my projects on my Canon 5D Mark III. While traditionally it is best go for lenses that offer full control (full time manual iris and focus) I personally find it best to search for lenses that can accommodate both cinematography and photography. I need manual focus for shooting video but I also want auto focus for photos.

This lens does it all.

The build quality is fantastic. It's metal body gives a sense of sturdiness that's hard to find in most other lenses. It's enough of a step up from say the Canon 35mm 1.4 L lens (which feels more like plastic) to make you forget that the lens isn't weather sealed. Then again nether is the Canon L lens so it's not really an issue for me.

The auto focus system is quick and silent. It's so quiet that you might even forget that it's on. Also, the switch from AF to MF has a fool little white indicator when it is in Auto.

The picture quality is very beautiful. The colors are lovely and kind of contrasty, the sharpness is great and even the bokeh is buttery smooth. Given that the lens has a nine blade iris this is to be expected.

Image quality remains stunning even all the way open at 1.4 with pretty much no issues like chromatic aberration, ghosting or other such things that come with shooting wide open. And even if they do appear they are easily fixed in post.

Even when shooting video with this lens I was very impressed with the quality that the glass was putting on my sensor. It gives the video a kind of expensive look as if you were shooting with a Zeiss or even a Cooke lens.

I can't recommend this lens enough. Rather you do photos and video as a hobby or as a pro this lens is a must own. And for the price it is most defiantly worth it.

3 people found this helpful

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Michael J Boyle

A gorgeous, sharp, well-made lens.

Reviewed in the United States on May 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

Like most photographers who have been paying attention for a while, I was a little nervous about buying a Sigma lens. I needn't have been. This new Sigma seems to be the real deal and this lens is their star performer.

I'm using it mounted on a Canon 7D. That's a crop sensor camera, so the lens performs as a slightly narrow standard, a critical niche to fill. While the 7D is a crop (APS-C) sensor camera, it is a large one, so the weight and size of the lens matches very well, providing a balanced package. I have had no trouble with focus accuracy or performance compared to Canon lenses. It is quick and quiet and no more likely to misfocus on my body than the Canon lenses I own (including a couple of the premium "L"s).

I only have a couple minor complaints.

I was a little surprised at the degree of vignetting at f/1.4 considering the sweet-spot effect of the crop sensor. That said, it is still very minor, easy to correct for, and can be hard to spot or desirable depending on the condition. But do be aware that when shooting wide open a significant portion of the field will be a tiny, but noticeable, bit darker than you might have expected. I'm not sure any lens would do better, though, as wide lenses all suffer from this.

Longitudinal chromatic aberration (bokeh fringing) is also fairly severe at f/1.4. If you shoot a bright white object on a dark background (such as a cat's whisker in the sun against black fur) even slightly out of focus (easy to do at f/1.4) there will be a very noticeable purple or green fringe. You can get the same thing (though harder to spot) shooting a dark object like a tree branch against bright sky. This is usually something you can correct for and is, again, a general feature of large aperture lenses.

On the petty side, while the lens cap and end cap are perfectly functional, they don't live up, aesthetically, to the standard of the rest of the lens. The rest of the lens is gorgeous, including the hood and case that come with it.

So, in short, don't expect miracles, but this is every bit the great lens people have been saying it is, and it works great mounted on a Canon 7D.

6 people found this helpful

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michael paniagua

Hesitant Purchase - Gamble

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2013

Verified Purchase

I have had previous Sigma lenses (50 f/1.4, 10-22) that I have used on a Canon 7D. Both lenses were never sharp and seemed to always have questionable focus. The 50mm works great on my old Canon 1D Mkii though, tack sharp every time, which tells me that Sigma has had problems with the Canon focus algorithms. Even with micro focus adjustment my previous experiences made me very leery, especially given that I had rented the Canon 35mm f/1.4 and had great shots and consistently sharp auto focus.

When the lens arrived it came with the traditional black sigma padded case, which in my opinion is better and more useful that the Canon L series leather pouch. When the lens was opened I was surprised at the feel of the lens, all metal, heavy and focus was smooth and had a quality feel to it. My older Sigma's felt fine but not the same quality as canon L series.

I am now shooting with a Canon 5D Mkiii, so I took this lens out for some shots. I hear some people complain about vignetting when shooting fully open. There is some but nothing that is terrible or any worse than what I experienced with the Canon 35 L. Images were sharp, focus was consistent and shot fully open gave some great bokeh for a 35mm focal length. I will admit that it seemed the focus was a hair slower than the Canon 35L but nothing that was a deal breaker for me.

Overall I am very pleased and saving 400 dollars from the Canon version what can I really complain about?

11 people found this helpful

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PureClassA

Best Prime Lens. Period.

Reviewed in the United States on June 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Prior to this, I purchased the 30mm Sigma EX (APS-C lens) and the 18-250mm Sigma DC OS. Like many, I had the litany of focusing issues that not even a -20 Micro focus adjustment on my Canon 7D could correct all the way (though it came close). I was a skeptic like most others when the NEW line came out, but after reading several reviews ( Digital Picture, DP Review - Gold Award, Amazon, Adorama, BHPhoto, Amazon) I said "Ok I'm in"

To date my personal reference for prime glass is my trusty old Tamron 90mm Macro - the 172E. Yes. The 14 year old original, slow as molasses focusing 172E. If you're shooting close up portraits, who cares how fast it is. But the image quality and sharpness is sublime.

HELLO Sigma 35mm ART! Sweet Lord does this thing deliver. And though I'm still playing a bit, I haven't felt like I've need to move my 7D Micro Focus adjust off one tick. However, the USB adapter was JUST released yesterday for these new Sigmas, so if adjustment is a must, voila! No need to send it off with your body.

Center sharpness is tack on wide open at 1.4 and can yield amazing bokeh results in front and behind your target at close range. Stop it down to 2.8 or 4 and the entire field opens up.

So far as lenses go, this SHOULD be your prime, no hesitation. Build quality is solid. Put a quality B&W MRC UV filter in front of this and you'll knock your own socks off.

Gear: Canon 7D. Tamron SP 90mm Macro, Tokina 11-16mm ProDx, Tamron SP 70-300mm Di VC USD, Sigma 35mm ART. B&W MRC Filters

UPDATE: 10/25/2013

I have since added a Canon 85mm f1.8 Prime and a Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS Mk II to my line up. I am now firing this tele for closeup portraits and using the 35mm Sig for full body. It really makes for a gorgeous and highly versatile portrait duo. Although the Canon 85mm is still after 20 years a damn near unbeatable fast prime for next to nothing in terms of cost. I do use it with the 35mm sometime when I need to be less obnoxious than the air traffic controlling 70-200

One person found this helpful

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FreddieMurry

1 Star OR 5..No In Between

Reviewed in the United States on October 30, 2014

Verified Purchase

While this lens is sharp, for me anyway, depended on a few factors. 1.) which focus point i used 2. lighting conditions. let me first say that I own two sigma lenses: the 10mm 2.8 DC fisheye for my 60D as well as the 17-50 2.8 OS. i love both of those lenses. The best sigma lens i ever shot was the 50-150 2.8 OS that i sold when i upgraded to full frame. no issues what so ever with that lens, it was perfect. Since getting the 6D and the Sigma 35 1.4 Art I was at first impressed like everyone else with its sharpness. I was using it indoors with indoor lighting and sometimes flash. i was usually within 6 feet of my subjects (my cats) and getting tack sharp images after a -5 AFMA. I went on a few outdoor portraits sessions and used outer focus points for the majority of the shots and a couple I used the center focus point. Upon getting home and reviewing the images I discovered every single shot taken with the outer focus points was out of focus while the center focus points where sharp. After reading some reviews and doing a few test I have decided to return the Sigma and try to find a Canon 35 1.4L on eBay used for a couple hundred more. To me the reliability with a canon would be worth the extra price tag. I may even buy it new or refurbished from canon if one comes in. Sharpness isn't everything for me, the shot has to be in focus for a paying client, no excuses. I still respect Sigma, and will continue to shoot my other two sigma lenses (unless i need to sell one to fund the canon).

Update:
I found the canon 35L on eBay used usually sell for around the same price as a new 35mm siggy. After using the canon I have noticed 3 things. 1. The focus is quicker 2. The colors are better and last but not least (and most important) my shots are in focus. I love the canon 35mmL it is not that sharp wide open at 1.4 but stop it down to 1.8 and its razor sharp. I wanted to love the sigma and it was built nice and looked like a work of art. The canon is lighter and feels better on my camera. Maybe my copy was bad, but I don't have time to play lens swap. I'm very happy that I sent the sigma back. I still respect sigma

14 people found this helpful

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Zaib

Very good lense and well liked by receiver

Reviewed in the United States on December 9, 2023

Verified Purchase

I was told the lense had very good aperture and was very sharp, I don't know what that means but she loved it and is a photographer so I will take her word on it.

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caniac90

Optically Outstanding, But Hope For A Good Copy, Microadjustments With The Dock Are Likely Necessary (UPDATE BELOW)

Reviewed in the United States on April 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

I just recently purchased this lens as my first step into "pro level" glass. Optically, it is outstanding, but there a couple issues that I have with it, although not enough to keep me from liking it a lot. This is my initial review, and I plan to update it later after I take more pictures with it.

Optics
Sharp. Holy crap it's sharp. When it nails focus, it gives you contrasty, crispy images. You can zoom way in 2:1 or even 3:1 and still get great detail. I've heard from many reviews from great sources that this the sharpest 35mm money can buy apart from Zeiss and Canon's 35mmL mark ii, both of which are way more expensive. Even wide open at f1.4, it's as sharp or sharper than other lenses at f2.8. It is incredibly helpful to have a sharp lens that can open up to f1.4, because it really allows you to lower your ISO, raise your shutter speed, or both. The f1.4 aperture also makes backgrounds really melt away, even on my crop sensor Canon 70D. The backgrounds will be even more buttery on a full frame camera. Most of the other lenses I own have an aperture of f2.8; this lens is a full two stops faster. Meaning instead of shooting at ISO 3200, I can shoot at ISO 800, for example. I haven't gotten to test the performance in backlit situations or other tough scenarios, but I will update later.

Build
It's really solid, and quite heavy for a prime lens. There's a lot of glass in there. You can really tell that Sigma has upped their game with the ART line. It's probably heavier than I'd like but it balances fine on my 70D, and probably even better on a full frame camera. The manual focus ring is very large and has some resistance to it. I don't manually focus often, but I found no issue when I needed to.

Autofocus
Here's where things get a little tricky. Yes, it probably depends on the copy of the lens. I've heard some who got great results, and some who couldn't get the lens to focus at all. I tried to use the Reikan Focal program (it helps with AFMA) with this lens, but it gave me some results that actually made the focus worse. I believe that because the aperture is so wide (1.4), Focal does have some issues really nailing the focus automatically. I had no issues with Focal on any of my other lenses, although none are as fast as this Sigma. I ended up attempting to manually test and adjust the AFMA myself, but found that different focus distances gave me different numbers. For example, leaving the AFMA at 0 gave me good results at a couple feet, but was terrible at anything further than that. Huh. Frustrating that I couldn't get this lens to work great right off the bat. Enter the Sigma Dock, which you can use with their software to calibrate the lens AFMA at four different focus distances. I got the dock, and after some lengthy manual testing, I believe I have finally found the sweet spots for the AFMA at all four focus distances. I do wish the four different focus distances were adjustable, as my copy had some weird focus issues between 6 feet and infinity, but after tinkering with the settings, I think I have it down anyways. The lens does miss focus sometimes (not terribly often, but you'll definitely notice when is misses), especially wide open. It isn't so often that it is a problem to me, but if I were photographing a wedding, for example, I'd be nervous that I'd miss that one important moment that I can't get back. I do wish it would nail focus every time, but maybe I'm just being too demanding.

Value
While this is an expensive lens, you're getting phenomenal image quality and build. The autofocus issues are the only gripe I have with this lens. I think if you have patience with microadjustments and are willing to get the dock, it's a great value.

I plan to keep this lens on my camera to see what I can get out of it. I am also planning to do a newborn shoot in a couple months, and I will probably use this lens for most of the shots, if I find the focusing trustworthy with further testing.

I will add more to this review in the coming months.

UPDATE:
Unfortunately the autofocus issues continue to present themselves. The lens focuses extremely well inside of the 3 feet. But between 3 feet and infinity there are some spots where the autofocus is way off. The adjustments I made on the dock cover most focus areas but there are a few key distances where it continuously refuses to focus. My copy was back focusing mostly, but would front focus badly a few areas in that 3 ft. to infinity range. We're talking like more than a few inches of front focusing. This especially seemed to occur in lower light situations, but happened even in good lighting, where I got maybe an 80% hit rate, even at f2; very disappointing. I confirmed this with the Reikan Focal AFMA system; I tested it at one foot increments from 3 feet all the way out to 10 feet, and got wildly different results at a couple focus ranges. I have a Canon 70D which has good cross type focus points across the board so it didn't seem to be a camera issue. The lens is extremely sharp when it does nail focus though. It makes beautiful images with great blurry backgrounds/bokeh, but I really need that reliability with the autofocus. I am more of a spontaneous/candid/street shooter so I would take slightly less sharpness for the autofocus accuracy. If you can take your time to find a good copy, I'd say go for it if ultimate sharpness is your goal. But not for me; I don't want to be taking gambles at getting a good copy and I don't want to send my camera/lens in for adjustment. I am going to return this lens and try out the Canon 35mm f2 IS, a lens renowned for outstanding AF accuracy and very good sharpness at all apertures. Sure, it's slower and not quite as sharp, but it's $300 cheaper, is only about 2/3 of a stop slower according to DXOMark (Sigma has a T stop of 1.6, the Canon's is right at 2.0), plus I get IS and the much smaller size/lighter weight. I wish you the best of luck if you decide to get this lens; if you can get a copy that autofocuses well, I guarantee you won't be disappointed.

27 people found this helpful

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Greg Farrall

Beautiful Bokeh and Clarity

Reviewed in the United States on October 29, 2023

Verified Purchase

I do not own to the Canon 35mm 1.4 nor have I tried it. I was deciding between the Canon 35mm 1.4 or the Sigma. I decided to bite the bullet on the Sigma because the price point. My biggest concern when purchasing was how quickly the Sigma focuses compared to the Canon. Every review I read said that the Canon was much faster. Well, I mainly do posed portrait work so I figured it wouldn’t be too much of a difference to me. I got the Sigma in the mail and instantly fell in love. The bokeh and the lens flare I get when the sun is just right is beautiful! The clarity of my images is 10x better. I cannot say enough good things. I highly recommend if you’re considering it.

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John

So close to perfection (Different preformance on different camera bodies)

Reviewed in the United States on February 25, 2013

Verified Purchase

The pictures that come from this lens are the best I've taken, every time I upload new ones, Its like Christmas. The colors it renders are truly amazing and compared to other lens, its like the people in my photos look 3D. I love that I hardly have to do any editing. The photos have such a depth and richness, kinda of like a Gourmet feast compared to a microwave dinner. Its so exciting to be able to take really sharp pictures at 1.4, I didn't even know that was possible! 35mm is a wonderful width on a full frame and the Photos in low light a really good too. From another review here, I learned if I slightly reduced clarity in Lightroom, it improves the bokah on some shots, and this has made the photos all the better.

But sadly my copy has some issues while using it on my Canon 5d, if the object I am trying to focus on is, say 10 or more feet away, the AF always shoots infinity; so the background is in focus and the object I was trying to focus on is slightly out-of-focus. At this distance this happens no matter what Aperture I have it set on. This is surprising due to it being a high end lens, I've not had this problem with my other cheapies. So all in all, as a portrait lens, its simply phenomenal, but it has not been completely reliable as a general use lens, which is quite disappointing. But I've learned to make due, I now manually focus if the object is in-between 10 feet and infinity.

I don't know if this is a common problem with these lens, or if I just got one with this quirk, but I decided not to return it, for when the subject is in focus, the quality of the images are incredible. And whats the alternative to this lens...? the more expensive Canon 35L? From the many reviews it sounds like you really have to cherry pick Canon 35L's to get a good one and I am not in the mood of going through all that. From looking through images on Flickr, I think I prefer the ones taken with the Sigma 35mm.

UPDATE: I've have since upgraded from the Canon 5d to the 5d mark II and now I have absolutely no problem with the lens. I find it interesting how I tried this on lens on a rebel body and it wouldn't right at all. On my old 5d, like I mentioned it only worked well within a certain range. But now on the mark II, it is a dream come true. So indeed it's preference varies on different bodies.

11 people found this helpful

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