Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Autofocus Lens (All bodies) $349 + free shipping

Thanks for the info Shnitz

Quote from SSV3NOM : I have a Canon 1.4 50mm USM... but definitely having trouble with it indoors. Maybe I'll sell the Canon and go for this one..

You'd have trouble focusing with ANY lens if it's too dark indoors.

Would I regret it if I sold my Samyang 35 for this? I love my Samyang but it's so big and heavy and as I mostly take portraits of my daughter she never cooperates enough for me to always manually focus. I took my Samyang on a hike one time and hated the extra weight. Would having both be redundant?

I wonder if my Raynox DCR-250 would work well with this lens as well... I currently use the canon 50 1.8 which works great except for the crappy focusing ring.

I'm thinking get this and sell the Samyang 35 and maybe get the 85 eventually. I'm using T3i

Quote from docxbrown : I would also like to know this. I have the 50mm 1.8g for my D7000 and I love it. I can see where the 35mm would be beneficial, I'm just not sure the Sigma is almost 2 times better than the Nikon 35mm 1.8g. Anyone?

technically this lens would give you 2 times more light than the 1.8, also will give you much lower depth of field. The first factor can be overcome (if you want) by bumping up the ISO , so you can still get more light.. but second factor is difficutl to overcome.. so its your decision.

I was also in the fix but after owning 35m 1.8, i doubt I will buy this for double the price.

Quote from sniperruff : You'd have trouble focusing with ANY lens if it's too dark indoors.

That I know, but for me its just the FoV that bothers me, so many shots when in tight quarters that are really annoying to take when you have limited space. I'd like to see a comparison between a 30mm and a 50mm on a crop body..

FML

Deciding if I should hop on this. 24-105L f.4 is so slow, sigh.

I'd still go with the Nikon 35mm 1.8G over this Sigma because of potential AF issues. The Nikon is sharper, has good color and contrast, weighs nothing compared to the Sigma, but has kind of ugly bokeh. I always thought the Nikon 35 1.8G's images looked kind of 'flat' and clinical. Nonetheless it's hard to ignore the large price difference, even with the Sigma at a deep discount.

Was about to jump on this but I am shocked by the reviews....
People love this lens, so I thought the reviews would be awesome. but the reviews are very so-so. Basically, terrible in the corners, soft wide open, and the well know AF issues.

Ken Rockwell's 'Bad News' summary for this lens from back in 2007 - I've always had bad experience with Sigma's on my Pentax DSLRS with severe front focusing problems...the first time it happened, I even doubted my own eye sight:

Bad News:

1.) Design flaw causes the manual focus confirmation light in my Nikons not to work properly during manual focus override. Furthermore, another defect causes my cameras to ignore my manual focus override in AF-C mode and revert to autofocus. These can be worked around by manually setting my Nikons to manual focus, which eliminates some of the usefulness of instant manual focus override.

2.) AF often focused slightly in front of my subject with my D200, potentially significant at the large apertures for which you buy this lens. I worked around this by pointing my AF sensors at something behind my subject if it was critical. This isn't a problem for real, live 3D subjects. This effect varies from sample to sample and camera to camera. It was fine on my D40.

3.). AF didn't focus beyond about 50' (20m) on my D200. I worked around this by setting focus manually using the accurate infinity mark on the focus scale. It was fine on my D40.

4.) Miscalibrated diaphragm lead to overexposed images. I worked around this by setting exposure compensation to -0.7 more than what I would use with other lenses.

5.) Single purpose: It doesn't zoom, and doesn't focus very close.

6.) Dinky-feeling plastic and rough manual focus feel.

7.) No infinity stop for astronomical use, but infinity mark was accurate.

8.) Optics not up to astronomical use, and not as sharp at smaller apertures as other slower lenses.

Deals like this make me miss my APS-C body.

.. but then again, 5d2 pictures are sooo good.

Had this lens on my 1dmk2. As good as 35L on my 5dc.

damn you slick deals...

Quote : Invoice Total:$349.00

I have this (30mm f/1.4 Sigma) lens on my Canon 7D almost all the time. Only occasionally to I swap it for the 85mm f/1.8 (obviously, if I need more reach). I've been quite happy with the results. I've experienced the same occasional focus inconsistencies others have mentioned, but it seems to be more an issue with the body than the lens (since I get similar occasional problems with other lenses). Yes, some are due to operator error, but many/most are not.

Quote from homertv : Takes wonderful pictures in almost no light. Great lens if you hate using a flash. I call this my Christmas morning lens

That's why I just picked this up. Even though my 24-105 has IS, f4.0 just isn't the same as f1.4. I plan to make this my go-to indoor lens.

I had the Sigma 50 f1.4 a while back ... loved it (no focus issues) but it was often too long for indoor use. I should get more use out of this lens.