Sigma - 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Standard Lens for Canon - Black

This reviewer visited Best Buy today looking for a Canon 35mm 1.4 L II lens. The store representative who was very knowledgeable tried to steer me to the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 DG HSM Art Lens telling me that it was so much better than the Canon. It isn't. The Sigma lens is a nicely built lens, small, tight, and quick to focus EXCEPT, that every picture taken under an f-stop of 1.8 had a gray, semi-transparent, circular Bull's-Eye in the photo. The more open the f-stop, the more compact the target. The camera used was a Canon 5d4. We reset the camera settings to factory, no change. The glass looked clear but the photos were defective. At f-1.8 and above, the pictures were clear, tack sharp and the lens operated as expected. What's the purpose of buying a more expensive f1.4 lens if the lowest useable f-stop is 1.8? The store employee blamed Sigma's calibration but that hardly seems to be the issue. A calibration problem issue won't paint a picture with a grey bull's-eye in most of the photo. Something is clearly wrong here. This is a great lens wide open if you want to use the pictures for target practice but that's about all it's good for. It seems that Sigma has a different idea about what "Shooting" means. Avoid this lens at all costs. Needless to say, I didn't buy it. I'll save a few more dollars and order the Canon version instead. I appreciate the Best Buy staff for letting me try this lens in store. Saved me from a disastrous purchase. This is my second bad experience with Sigma. Regretfully, I purchased the last lens and inherited lots of focusing problems. That lens is still unusable. Fortunately, I was spared from a repeat experience. When I got home, I checked online and found reports and pictures of what I saw in the store. It seems that this Sigma Lens doesn't play nice with the 5d4. This photographer is not risking any $ on a product that behaves like this even if the company claims that firmware fixes the problem. It's not worth the risk. It is ridiculous that a clear lens should photograph or paint grey circles that don't exist. That is a major fail.

While this lens is "expensive," prohibitively so for most amateur photographers, I cannot recommend it enough. The complaints I have about this lens, namely chromatic aberration when fully open on high-contrast areas, as well as some slight barrel distortion and not quite as much bokeh as I would like on subjects not quite close to the camera/lens, are all pretty much issues that come with the territory on a lens of this focal length with this large an aperture. I can't fault the manufacturer for physics, and they've done an incredible job keeping these aspects' impact to a minimum. When the pictures I take are viewed at 100% on a monitor, I am blown away by the detail and clarity. Tack sharp even at 1.4, even the edges are incredibly well-detailed when stopped down to the f/8 range (I've been using this for a lot of nighttime HDR shots). The color reproduction and contrast and saturation are beautiful. Many times I wouldn't even need to process images in post as I've set the white balance appropriately for the shot, but I do anyway for aesthetic. Still, the pictures this lens can capture for you are second to none. It's every bit as wonderful to use as my Sigma 85mm f/1.4, which was the lens I always kept attached to the camera until this one swooped in to replace that spot. My 6D has never been happier. Thanks, Sigma!

This is my third Sigma lens I have purchased and I have no regrets. This lens is simply a dream to use and the results are nothing less than outstanding. The build quality of these Art lenses is superb, and your results will show it. I used this lens to take several pictures during a Halloween event. Because this event was in low light I thought I would have issues using it. My Canon EOS 6D and this 35mm never missed a beat and performed flawlessly in these conditions. The results were spectacular! The image quality is stunning with accurate color rendition and image sharpness. When the lens is wide open, the corners are a bit soft. However, the center of the image is tack sharp throughout range of the aperture. Vignetting is a little more pronounced wide open with obvious darkening of the corners, but this tends to get better by f/2.8 and gone by f/4. Images sharpness is best between f/4 and f/11, as the whole frame is tack sharp. The price point of this lens was also a huge factor for me when compared to native Canon lenses. It’s half the price and has as good if not better performance as that lens. It’s simply a great lens that anyone will enjoy using, especially when viewing the results. This lens is highly recommended.

If you are looking to make the jump from basic lenses to pro level equipment, this is THE lens to start with. The 35mm focal length is versatile for so many applications, and in terms of picture quality, Sigma knocks it out of the park. But don't rely on the lens to make you a good photographer either. The lens can only take the picture beautifully. But it can't tell you what picture to take. So I wouldn't recommend this if you're still in the learning stages. But if you've learned the to an intermediate level and are ready to take the next step, this is it. Only issue I had was a pretty severe front focus tendency in the default autofocus. But using the USB dock (sold separately) fixed that right up and now it's a tack driver.

This is the most expensive lens I've ever purchased and it did not disappoint. It focuses on a level beyond any other lens I own (no L glass, yet). I read countless reviews online before deciding to make this splurge, and I'm glad I did. It's on the heavier side. But the quality of the photographs it captures outweighs its actual weight. I have not experienced any issues some customers have complained about. Well, sometimes it has difficulty focusing in really dark situations, but I can't compare that with any "L" glass-- I can tell you it focuses a lot better than the Cannon 50mm and 85mm lenses.

I spent many hours researching this lens before purchasing. I had read about people having issues with the auto focus, but was determined to get it anyway. I even purchased the sigma dock to make sure it was calibrated correctly with my canon 6D. Unfortunately I had to send this lens back. Focus is not consistent (especially at longer distances) I'm bummed cause when it was on, it was sharp! I just can't spend this kind of money and get a lens I can't rely on...so onto finding another lens!

After researching for a great 35mm Lens it boiled to either this or the Canon L 35mm which costs a thousand more, if weather sealing isn't a matter of life or death to you there is no reason to buy the Canon, the build quality, the sharpness of the image is right on par with the Canon. I'll be getting the 24mm sigma as well, these are workhorses that will pay for themselves.

I love this lens for wide shots and even some portraits. Depending on how close you are to the subject you get nice bokeh. The only thing is if you use this lens for video, be sure to have a seperate mic because it can be a bit loud when it is focusing and your camera's mic will definitely hear it.