The only wide aperture lenses that are designed to be sharp wide open are the Leica and Zeiss lenses. Just about every other lens is designed to be sharpest at about 2 stops from wide open.

I'm not sure if that's the case with Sigma. Worst case you can call Sigma and try to nail down a date with a serial.

I think the new ones (last year or so) have a different finish than the original- it doesn't have the "speckled" coating (grippy is the best way to describe it). New ones are quite smooth.

And I didn't know that about Leica and Zeiss. I guess that's why you pay the premium :hotbaby:

I know its cheaper but I am a little worried about the build quality compared with the tokina. At first I was thinking about the Nikon but review said the bokeh is horrible.
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Nikkor 50mm f1.8G is actually very sharp @ f1.8.

Hey gurus,

I am looking to get a portrait lens for my boyfriend for his birthday. Can you guys suggest a good lens for the Cannon 60D? Also, what's the main difference between the f1.4 and f1.8. The f1.4 is usually more than double the price. Is it just because it offers more depth of field and it is easier to create the bokeh effect?

Will a good 50mm f1.8 do the job, or will he eventually want a f1.4??

Thanks in advance.

Now that's a great idea for a present :) In general though, yes, it does give you a little more depth of field but it also allows him to work with even less light now that he can open up his aperture to 1.4 instead of 1.8 (lower the number, the more capable it technically is in low light). It also tends to be sharper than the 1.8... I guess it depends on whether or not he is really into photography. The 1.8 is a cheap, affordable option and for all intents and purposes is not too bad a lens to start off with. He can then decide whether he even likes the 50mm focal length and if he does, he can upgrade but it is a safer bet to let him try it out.

At the end of the day, sharpness is almost subjective. Are you a pixel peeper or not? Some lenses will give a relatively good amount of sharpness wide open if your focus is spot on. The dof is just extremely shallow when you get into apertures of 1.4 for a 35-85mm lens. Most people will not even notice the difference in sharpness between the Zeiss 50mm F1.4 and the Sigma 50mm F1.4 (all things being equal).

Thank you very much :)

He needs the camera for work sometimes for product photography. He has the zoom lens that came with his 60D. He can't take photos too close up and has to step back and zoom in, which causes some distortion.

So a 50mm fixed focal length lens would work very well. Since those are product shots, they are usually in maximum light ahha.

The 1.8 will do for sure!

Thank you for your input :)



Oh, any suggestions on what's a good one?

I know it's a gift - and you probably feel like you want to buy him a new lens - but this lens goes for about $90-100 on the used market - usually with a UV filter (that could cost you $10-20). If you're cool with it, I'd definitely get a used one. They hold their value quite well, and should he upgrade (either to a new or a used 50 f1.4) he will just be getting "your" money back.

hey guys,

need a new lens. im currently using a tamron 17-50 f/2.8. its sharp but the af isnt the greatest. its a kinda slow and misfocuses quite a lot. i find that i dont need the constant f/2.8. is there a cheaper alternative thats sharper? preferably from nikon?

i need it to shoot pics for nightlife events so i take portrait shots mostly in the dark. so the lens has to be wide too. i found that the kit lens works better in total dark situations but i need something thats sharper cause the kit lens isnt the greatest.

thanks in advance.

Yeah, I was just thinking about that as well. A lens is a lens is a lens as long as it's not damaged.

I suppose I could make my own box for it. I am thinking of getting him something else as well anyway.

Thanks for the tip :) Gonna CL it up.

nothing cheaper than the tamron will has faster AF or be sharper wide open. look into the nikon version of the sigma, it's still a lot cheaper than the nikon 17-55. you can also look at the sigma 30 1.4. shouldn't you be using a flash for your events?

I was also going to suggest the 30 (and also the Nikon 35 1.8), but I don't think that's wide enough for the type of night events I'm thinking of (i.e. clubbing events with tight spaces).

Like ddr said, there aren't any better alternatives at a cheaper price.

i bought a 50mm 1.8 on here for 80$ , im sure you can find one

http://www.revscene.net/forums/66110...8-50mm-ii.html

bam!

yes i do use flash but right now my main concern is sharpness and the autofocus. i had the sigma 17-70 before and the af was more precise however the lens isnt as sharp.

i have owned the 35 1.8 before, i sold it to vdub333. 35 isnt wide enough i need at least 20mm :/

the tamron is sharp when the af is focused
http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...38923217_n.jpg
but half the time its like this and sometimes even completely off which really pissed me off :heckno:
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot...48109537_n.jpg


hmm thanks for the help i guess im just gonna sell it for a sigma version as the reviews do look a lot better
Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 vs Canon 17-55mm f2.8 and Tamron 17-50mm f2.8 « Darwin Wiggett

Just out of curiosity, what body are you using? Also, what focus points are you using? Is your Tamron seeking in the dark, then leading to misfocused shots?

Regardless of that, the Sigma seems to be an excellent lens for the price. I'd buy it in a heartbeat to replace my Sigma 18-50 if I had the funds :(

filled the gap between my 50mm and 400mm.

http://www.epicdevelopements.com/wp-.../lens70210.jpg

I'm using the d90. I'm dying to replace it with a d7k but that's not the smartest choice for my wallet as I shoot for money on the side. Which sigma would you replace your 18-50 with? 30mm? I set the focus points to the center. Not the tiny dot one but just in the middle Haha (don't know what it's called)
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I have a D90 and the Sigma 17-50 f2.8. I haven't shot in total darkness, but I have shot in low light and haven't had problems with auto focus. In a club, it might be easier to shoot with manual focus. Besides, the af light going off in the dark is blinding. Also, the zoom ring is opposite than Nikon lenses so you'll have to get used to that.

yups, bought one on CL for $90.00. Tested it out, it's good!!

Don't know what to do ...

The cost to fix my Sigma 18-50mm F2.8 is going to be around $300 (f-stop is stuck/back focuses). Should I just get another lens or get this fixed? Senna, I think I read that you have a shop, would you be able to get my sigma repaired for me? In addition to the problems I just mentioned, it feels "loose" .. was wondering if you could take care of the "tuneup" I'm looking for :okay:


I don't have any walk around lenses, my sigma was my favourite walk around but since its crippled I just use my 50mm F1.8 for everything, but I miss my Sigma dearly.

Just incase anyone cares, or if anyone searches and comes across this but, do not get your sigma lens fixed locally, or even looked at locally.


I paid $50 to get my sigma looked at locally, and after a day they basically told me "we can't fix it, it'll cost us $250-$300 to fix it and we'll have to send it to sigma". So I believed them and thought I'd just keep my sigma as a low light video lens (stuck at F2.8).

Fastforward to now,
... I PM-ed Senna for advice because I wanted it fixed, he told me to call Sigma myself. I emailed Sigma and got a reply in about 12 hours. It is going to cost me $10 handling + $95 to get my lens fixed, and they'll cover any small parts necessary, I'll only have to pay for expensive parts (if needed).


The vancouver shop charged me $50 to look at it, and for another $250-$300 they were going to ship it to Sigma for me and pay exactly what I'd pay anyways. So they were going to charge me ~$300 for a $115 service. Talk about a profit margin. I'm pretty happy, with the money I saved I'll probably pick up a new camera bag and some batteries for my grip :fullofwin:

Did you go to Vancomp? I was going to actually head there to get my sigma lens looked at... haha. Thanks for the headsup.

You would generally want to send your lens into the manufacturer anyways if you want to have the peace of mind that it is going to get done properly. Sigma is out East in Toronto I believe so it would take about 2 weeks or so to get back to you (I asked the Broadway Camera sales person when I bought my Sigma lens recently).