Sigma 35mm f1.4

Vipmediastar_JZ

Alright the order has been placed. Comes with a pro optic filter kit.
It was a tough decision but I may return the Fuji camera. Don't get me wrong that camera is awesome.
I have another street story to tell with an NBA player.
But this thread flickr and PAD convinced me to pull the trigger. Especially after finally holding it in my hand. It was not heavy and that is important because for the last week I have had a pinched nerve and weight is a problem for me on a daily use.

The pic that the french man took of me was great in colors clarity sharpness and my skin tone was great.
If I keep the Fuji it will be with the 35 for street as it is a conversation starter and awesome to work at my people skills.
The sigma will be for the weekly car shows and my random projects and nursery shots as the Fuji struggled in low light once again to auto focus.
The great thing with the d800 is that you can crop to dx and square format.

Golf007sd

Vipmediastar_JZ: Welcome to the Sigma 35 1.4 family

CEBlueclouds

Can't agree any less...took a snap shot out of an airplane window @f/14 whilst landing over the weekend and was quite impressed with the output

From bb

Rx4Photo

@ PitchBlackPolo, may I ask what aperture were you at with that photo above? Thanks.

To say I'm impressed with ALL of the above photos would be an understatement. This seems to be one amazing lens and it also appears to specifically shine with capturing objects or subjects up close where you want to include some creamy out of focus environment in the background. I know that the Nikkor 85mm f/1.4G is often referred to as "The Cream Machine" but this Siggy is running a close race for the title.

After I return from a family trip I'll be ordering this lens early August for an engagement shoot - my first paid gig! :-w

Vipmediastar_JZ

I came home to two packages. One was delivered by UPS and one by my daughter. Since I was babysitting I had to take care of that stinky diaper first. After I tried to feed her I let her chill in the crib for a few minutes while I took out the sigma lens.
Knowing my daughter I only had a window frame of about 30 minutes to work with. I quickly opened the box half smelled the new gadget scent and half took a deep breath of joy.

I set the camera to A at 1.4 ISO 800-1600. I proceeded to take a few pics of her in the crib and of course she flipped over, fell, rolled over and she did everything possible to not allow a photo to be taken.
The lens didn't have the insta focus like the the 24-70 and 85mm. So I tried to focus on other things at it was more responsive (maybe the xe1 isn't at fault here either) seems like the light doesn't reach quite well inside the crib.

I proceeded to then take my daughter on the walker and she half cooperated and again the focus didn't quite lock on fast enough for me. Maybe it was the wrist strap blocking full use of my finger (odd) so I think I got better results after I took the writs strap off.

But of course what does a toddler do on a walker? haha no dice on taking photos.



I sat her on her high chair and gave her some stuffed animals to play or get her attention. Nope! she is not having it. She throws the stuffed animals on the floor and continues to look at them on the floor. She grabs a cover and covers her face. AHHHH!. Then Throws her pacifier too.



Well grandpa came and took her to the park.

At this point im tired from a long work day and frustrated but not at her just in general. I wen't outside in the hot and humid weather took some pics of the flowers but missed the good light especially since today we had the dark storm clouds ..AHHH! I went to the backyard and took pics of some boring backyard trees.

Looks like my D800 does suffer with the highlights so i set the camera to -.7 and that seems to do the trick and depending how the scene is (sky or no sky) the metering has to be either matrix, spot or average. ( its much easier on the Fuji ).

Well I didn't get to really use it today but overall I liked it. The caps are awesome, the hood is awesome, the feel is awesome. An extra point for the hood that when it is reversed it will fit nicely in my bag.

Oh and no distortion. Plus i updated the firmware last night that was posted on the front page here and yes I did see a diffrence in the before and after shots using the 24-70 at 24mm.

I'll post another photo to the pad tomorrow but I beleive my copy has CA just like my 85mm 1.8g. You can notice on her right strap in the walker pic. Also visible in the eye catchlights in some pics.

Golf007sd

@Vipmediastar_JZ: Congrats. The more you work with the lens the better your technique will become.

As for CA, I really don't see any much in the pic's...and if it is there it is not that noticeable or bothersome.

With respect to highlights, depending on your light source I would recommend you using matrix metering 90% of the time. I use Spot when my subject is in a dark setting while the light around your subject is brighter. I hardly ever use center weighted metering (a.k.a your reference to average). It is worth nothing that if you are getting to much highlights, you should meter away from the subject, then get proper exposure of it, then re-focus on your subject and fire away without changing any of the setting.

Speed wise, well it is not fair to compare any 1.4 prime (by any manufacture) to any telephoto...specially one belonging to the Holy Trinity set. :P

Looking forward in seeing your photo's in a fashion that is acceptable to your liking.

Cheers....

Vipmediastar_JZ

Good info golf.
I'll go ahead and keep it at matrix for next few days.

In some photos . Her eye catch lights are green/purple. A little tweak in LR removed them and but I left the photos OOC with No editing for this purpose to compare to Pitchblack photo a few posts up. My goal is to always have a good photo out of camera and Of course I'll edit to improve it.

I like it so far. I took some this morning with the sunrise and it had a nice warm color on my daughter.

I'm on my way to the city and the first thing somebody says today "is that your profession?" I replied. "just on the weekends"

I kinda missed those conversations the last 3 weeks.

Well I have a 4 generations session this weekend and I'm going to trust the sigma on this one. 50% with the 85 and 50% with sigma and since I always give an extra 20% on customer service I'll close out the shoot with the 24-70mm.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Ok. I went to dpreview and now that I have a copy on me I can compare their review.

Pretty much I see what they showed for CA. The CA is lateral chromatic aberration. Just like my photos and their photos.
It's minimal but it's there.

It just threw me off that I saw it in her eyes.

I will try to use strobes and compare.

I went on a 15 min walk and I Like it. I can now shoot at hip level with ease.
As long as I don't include the sky the meter does a good job.

I set the camera to quiet mode for my daily walk.

Time to hit the art museum once again.

JJ_SO

Today I got the USB-dock. Can't say it's a superplus to enjoy this lens more, because I already had so much fun with it. But it sucks the last 3-5% of quality out of it. After I did the AF-finetuning (the thing Ren Kockwell doesn't need) of the camera, there was a change in quality at infinity and wide open.

Now I have a new firmware in the lens and the corrections are -1, -1, -1, +2 @ 0.3m, 0.4m, 0.6m and ∞ and it does make a difference. What I believe I can see although probably no one else does 8-|

Worth to buy? If the 35/1.4 will stay your only Sigma, clearly NO. For really critical focus stuff there's LiveView. It was interesting to see the correction is not for all focus distances the same: But eventually there's this cute 18-35/1.8 (by the way, less CA than the 35) which needs to jump into my bag later this year and could be a nice decoration of granny D7000.

And one (to me) important thing: Although Sigma says the software needs Mac OS 10.7 or newer - it worked on 10.6.8 as well

@Vipmediastar_JZ there is CA, but only wide open and with high contrast parts, stop down to f/2.8 and it's gone. To get a lens without visible CA you need to put more buying power on the table - and I'm not talking of the Nikkor or the Zeiss 35/1.4, because those both also show CA wide open.

Vipmediastar_JZ

Thanks for the review JJ. Good to know about the usb device.
The 35 for my daily walk was a success. Idk what it was but this time it exposed properly.
The brutal heat did wear me out and I had to stop early in a restaurant for ac and water.
I liked how it exposed the garden in the Art museum. Nicely done.

there was a band/orchestra playing in the loop. I took some pics of the band and several of the singer.
Chicago is full of life except when you go to the south side.
Anyways everytime I handle the cap and hood I'm just amazed how great it feels.

Time to make room for the d800 files ans possibly upgrade Lighroom for the previews and store the images on usb drive.

JJ_SO

After taking some shots this weekend I must say I'm very pleased with the results of the dock/the new adjustment. Maybe it's the firmware, maybe more careful focussing maybe those tiny adjustments or all of it, but it appears I did the right things.



f/2.2, distance 0.45m/1.5ft



f/1.4. distance 0.45/1.5ft. The red rectangles are Aperture's symbols for focuspoints.

Vipmediastar_JZ

So now do you recommend the usb device?
I volunteered at a 50th anniversary yesterday. I took a pic of the couple. Proceeded to compliment her eyes. I showed her the picture not realising how sharp it was at f8. Big mistake haha. It enhance every detail like wrinkles and such. It's is very sharp.

Right now I'm waiting for my four generations shoot to arrive. I took some pics at f/8 using two alien bees and man the details in the dog alone are fantastic. It also isolates the subject very well.

Time to calibrate my other lens.

So far I'm beyond happy with this lens. That is the lens that may stay forever on the d800. As for the 24-70 I'll decide after the Tall Ships show at navy pier next month.

Bye bye Fuji xe1. It's awesome but the sigma weight is acceptable to me and my neck and back.

Aaron

Gotta say I just picked up this lens for a steal off kijiji and haven't been this pleased with a lens since I pulled the trigger on a 300 2.8 vr2.

Very sharp, love the colors and the build quality is very nice and clean. Looks great on a D3s/D4.


Ill have to add a few photos at some point, ill try tomorrow.

JJ_SO

@Vipmediastar_JZ I bought mine last year, the serial number has a lot of zeros and 4 digits, so was pretty sure the firmware has changed since. Also, I believe this quality makes me addict to the new Sigma line and there's this 18-35/1.8 which appears to be fantastic (I don't believe much in dpreview's tests but it can't be completely offside) in a FL-range I often use. So, for me the dock is worth to make adjustments without shipping cam and lens to Sigma and wait until they done it.

As I said, after my first calibration (of the cam's AF) it was very good in close ranges and only good more far away, always wide open. Now it's on my D800 very good in every range. If you're perfectly happy with your copy, you don't need it.

studio460

I just received my USB dock today, and upgraded the firmware in my Sigma 35mm f/1.4. Now it works with my D800E. Before, it was REAL fuzzy. Yeah, I sure wish it were weather-sealed like the AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.4. That alone is probably worth sticking with Nikon for the 35mm. Oh, well, at least it focuses with my D800E now!

Golf007sd

Well given the positive feedback regarding this item...I just placed mine on order (the USB Dock that is). Looking forward in using it to improve this lens performance even further. But so far....I'm have been very, very impressed with this lens and is never staying home. Truly a very flexible lens...I really am enjoying shooting at this focal length as well. Must admit it has pushed the 50mm one or two spot back in my travel gear.

Question: For those that have that the doc....how does it obtain the firmware update. Does it find it via the software provided or does one have do download it first it from Sigma itself?

Ironheart

I don't have one, but my understanding is you connect the doc between your computer and the lens. There is software called "Sigma Optimization Pro" that runs on the pc or mac.

From: http://www.sigmaphoto.com/product/sigma-usb-dock

The Sigma USB dock works in conjunction with Sigma Optimization Pro software in order to connect a photographers lens to their personal computer to update firmware and other parameters such as focus, and for the Sports category: Autofocus speeds, focus limiters, and optical stabilization functionality. Updating the firmware can be done via the internet. Sigma Photo Pro is available for Mac and PC computers.

Photobug

The new Sigma sounds unbelievable. I am sitting on a stash of funds for my new DSLR and you guys are making it difficult to NOT go buy it. Decisions decisions decisions.

JJ_SO

@Golf007sd it finds it without further efforts.

Btw. A couple of hours ago my D800 burst with Sigma to the carpet floor out of my bag which was open. App. 1.4m free fall. I didn't find the monitor cover again, but so far everything else is working fine.

Rx4Photo

OK, I've been pulled into the ranks. I received my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 from Amazon this past Thursday. Everything positive that everyone has said previously is overwhelmingly true. I did have to AF fine tune it to the tune of -16 due to front focusing and because of that I might send it back to Amazon for replacement.

Initial thoughts are this lens seems to be sharper than my Nikkor 24-70/2.8 which does take awesome images. Colors are rich and beautiful. I focused on a wall clock across a dark room and the Sigma not only nailed focus with amazing clarity and detail but it actually "saw" in the dark. The 24-70mm gave a slightly less than accurate image. If this keeps up I just might put the 24-70 in the alternate bag.

I've not concluded what I'm going to do about the front focus issue though. My D800 was adjusted earlier this year at Nikon service in NY because most of my lenses back focused on it. Now that that's corrected "this" lens seems to front focus on it. It's definitely a lens that make you want to shoot everything with it.

Golf007sd

@Rx4Photo: Glad you pulled the trigger in getting this lens. The rewards and joy of shooting with it is only going to get better each time you snap the shutter button. I pulled out this lens as often as I could while in Colorado in order to really push its capabilities, but all it did was put me back on my seat in awe.

I would recommend in getting the USB Doc verses sending it back to Amazon where you could find yourself right back were you are. Personally I'm looking forward in having the power in tweaking this lens as I see fit.

NSXTypeR

OK, I've been pulled into the ranks. I received my Sigma 35mm f/1.4 from Amazon this past Thursday. Everything positive that everyone has said previously is overwhelmingly true. I did have to AF fine tune it to the tune of -16 due to front focusing and because of that I might send it back to Amazon for replacement.

Initial thoughts are this lens seems to be sharper than my Nikkor 24-70/2.8 which does take awesome images. Colors are rich and beautiful. I focused on a wall clock across a dark room and the Sigma not only nailed focus with amazing clarity and detail but it actually "saw" in the dark. The 24-70mm gave a slightly less than accurate image. If this keeps up I just might put the 24-70 in the alternate bag.

I've not concluded what I'm going to do about the front focus issue though. My D800 was adjusted earlier this year at Nikon service in NY because most of my lenses back focused on it. Now that that's corrected "this" lens seems to front focus on it. It's definitely a lens that make you want to shoot everything with it.

Yes, I would say try the dock first before you send it back. Can you try borrowing it from someone who has it already? Or better yet, "try" it at a nearby camera store.

Rx4Photo

You guys are probably right about getting the dock. Just with it doubled as something else more useful - like a teleconverter or something...LOL. Today I had my first official engagement photo shoot and started out with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 on camera. Images were extremely sharp and totally impressed the "groom to be". Still have AF fine tuning at -16 and will work with that until I get the dock. Might post a photo on PAD some day.

Golf007sd

Got the usb doc today. Works like a charm Firmware needed and update however on the lens (thanks for the link Ironheart ). Will take it out in the next day or two and see what the update has accomplished for me.

The Sigma Optimization Pro software is fantastic. Wish Nikon had something of this caliber for us to play/tweak our lenses with.

JJ_SO

Nikon is too busy with wailing about lost market shares, they don't appear to have innovation power...

Also, for everybody who has doubts if the Sigma software supports older Mac OS than 10.7: 10.6.8 is working as well