Sigma 35mm F1.4

[D&A]

Simply fantastic and hope your own tests confirm his findings (and adjustments). Please keep us posted.

Dave (D&A)

 

[Quentin_Bargate]

Just ordered one. 35mm is the most useful but least exciting focal length. If I had just one lens, I think 35mm would be the one I'd chose.

 

[tashley]

Quentin, it is a wondrous lens, very Leica like, but on a sample of four I know of, they have all had a degree of asymmetry. Test carefully!

 

[Shashin]

If I had just one lens, I think 35mm would be the one I'd chose.

Can I interest you in an RX-1?

 

[Guy Mancuso]

Quentin, it is a wondrous lens, very Leica like, but on a sample of four I know of, they have all had a degree of asymmetry. Test carefully!

My skew is fixed on mine but I am still having a issue at 1.4 and distance shots. The repair shop is waiting on a Nikon firmware to load than test again. They where not happy nor was I with 1.4 past 15 ft. Up close at 1.4 I'm nailing everything. Personally itching the first shipping batch was messed up in production, the second batch to dealers has been a long wait and I think they are trying to get this firmware solved first. My opinion

The weird thing is at 1.6 everything is good and F2 outstanding

 

[tashley]

Just an update from my end - my second copy is in the repair shop at the moment but in the meantime I got a 24-70 F2.8g for testing and review, and I can happily report that it can get me the sharp edges that the Sigma has so far failed to deliver, even at F2.8 and with no real 'tricky' behaviour - so it is my New Best Friend at 35mm even though it sucks at 24mm. It's also pretty good at 28, amazingly good at 50 and pretty darned useful at 70...

 

[Quentin_Bargate]

I've had variable results focus wise. One was way off, next nailed it. This at F1.4. Odd....

 

[tashley]

I've had variable results focus wise. One was way off, next nailed it. This at F1.4. Odd....

Interesting. Mine does (did) that a little bit but no more than I'd expect working at f1.4 and in fact it was one of the least troublesome aspects. Have you done a fine tune?

 

[Quentin_Bargate]

Interesting. Mine does (did) that a little bit but no more than I'd expect working at f1.4 and in fact it was one of the least troublesome aspects. Have you done a fine tune?

No fine tune yet. I need more time to experiment but I'm off on business next week so it will have to wait. Generally though its is incredibly sharp, challenging my Zeiss 21mm and probably edging it against the 85mm sibling that I think is a fantastic lens on the D800e. Just concerned about inconsistent focus.....

 

[D&A]

My skew is fixed on mine but I am still having a issue at 1.4 and distance shots. The repair shop is waiting on a Nikon firmware to load than test again. They where not happy nor was I with 1.4 past 15 ft. Up close at 1.4 I'm nailing everything. Personally itching the first shipping batch was messed up in production, the second batch to dealers has been a long wait and I think they are trying to get this firmware solved first. My opinion

The weird thing is at 1.6 everything is good and F2 outstanding

Guy, is your lens misfocusing (front or back focus) at distance (at f1.4) or simply soft and lacking detail and bite at that aperture? Two different things.


Dave (D&A)

 

[D&A]

Just an update from my end - my second copy is in the repair shop at the moment but in the meantime I got a 24-70 F2.8g for testing and review, and I can happily report that it can get me the sharp edges that the Sigma has so far failed to deliver, even at F2.8 and with no real 'tricky' behaviour - so it is my New Best Friend at 35mm even though it sucks at 24mm. It's also pretty good at 28, amazingly good at 50 and pretty darned useful at 70...

Tim, you know what's interesting (or odd depending how you look at it)....the 24mm focal length setting in zooms seems to be a Nikon weak spot, regardless if's it's on the short or long end of the zoom. The Nikon 14-24 is weakest at 24mm. The current batch of 24-120 f4 VR lenses are at their worse at 24mm and a you noted, the Nikon 24-70 f2.8 is also weakest at 24mm.

Dave (D&A)

 

[pophoto]

Just an update from my end - my second copy is in the repair shop at the moment but in the meantime I got a 24-70 F2.8g for testing and review, and I can happily report that it can get me the sharp edges that the Sigma has so far failed to deliver, even at F2.8 and with no real 'tricky' behaviour - so it is my New Best Friend at 35mm even though it sucks at 24mm. It's also pretty good at 28, amazingly good at 50 and pretty darned useful at 70...

Does this mean it's better than the 24-120mm (good copy) ?

 

[tashley]

It is better by a long margin at 28,35, 50 and 70. At 24mm it's a toss up but it is weak as hell at anything over about 10-15 feet at any aperture up to f8 but at least it is weak on both sides and a lot of that is down to field curvature (actually it has a sort of 'folded' field)!

 

[mattpallante]

I like my 35 sigma. I've only had it out twice, but I like it's sharpness and rendering. I like the results I get @ f16 when I need it, and the contrast wide open. I'm not a pro and don't shoot many planar objects. I think I got a good lens/camera/sensor match as my first quick AF micro adjustment was 0.:clap:
These are all handheld....just getting a feel for the lens...

Oh, left to right

1) f2 @ 125th @ iso 100
2) f11 @ 80th @ iso 1250
3) f9.5 @ 80th @ iso 1100
4) f16 @ 125th @ iso 100

No issues with AF yet........Matt

 

[mattpallante]

Here's 3 more...


Left to right......

1) f1.4 @ 500th @ iso 100
2) f16 @ 80th @ iso 4000
3) f1.4 @ 250th @ iso 100

All on D800. I'm happy, so there!

 

[tashley]

A further update: my second copy of the Siggy 35mm F1.4 Art, which I sent for repair, was replaced without my requesting such, with yet another copy - and again it requires a +20 and is very soft on the right until F8 where it just about gets itself together. I think I will honourably give up and cash in, on the 'three strikes and you're out' principle...

 

[Quentin_Bargate]

Greetings from Moscow. I wonder, Tim, if it might be the Camera and not the lens? +20 is ridiculous. There must be a fault somewhere. Unfortunately I won't be using mine until I get back to Blighty on Sunday.

 

[Tex]

Quentin, Tim says his 24-70 works great on the same camera body

 

[tashley]

That's true Tex - and I have a some twelve lenses and have had about eight more, and some have been soft on the left, some on the right and some have had no asymmetry. The camera has recently been checked by Nikon too, not that that is any guarantee...
Also, of the three copies of the Siggy I've had, two were soft on the right and one on the left. Also, Guy has had the same problem as has Lloyd Chambers... as for the AFFT, my lenses generally need between zero and ten, though there are a couple of outliers on the plus side... but I'd love to hear how yours tests Quentin. On the other hand, being less selfish, if you like it 'as is' and haven't noticed a problem, then don't test it!

 

[Lars]

DxO test results on this lens are in.

Exec summary: Wow.

DxOMark: the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM lens sets a new benchmark for optical performance | Nikon Rumors

DxOMark - Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM Nikon Mount: the definitive high-speed 35mm wide-angle lens for DSLRs?