Sigma 18-35 F1.8 -Absolute Magic!

[Chris Harding]

Hi Guys

Used my new 18-35 last night at a wedding reception and inside a venue the constant F1.8 turns night into day!! I love it to bits but a warning ! It's not a lightweight unit at all and makes the camera quite front heavy!

Zoom is also "almost" parfocal too ... Working on the focus peaking you can go from 35mm back back to 18mm and 99% of the scene is sharp ... the DOF at 35mm is quite hairy but still quite manageable and focus and zoom rings are really smooth. I just have to get my skills back up to scratch following focus when the bride walks into the reception.

My reception footage in a dark venue is really clean and bright but still keeps the ambience. I still had to use a little bit of fill light for the first dance but for that they almost turn all the lights off!!

Chris

[Marlon Martins]

yeap, same thing here. tested the focus during the zoom, and it change a liiitle bit.

the "ambiance" as you mentioned is really nice, i get much much more light and colors from the ambient light.

i used my camera light pointed up, to create a smooth bounce:



Also, don't forget: NeatVideo is your friend ;)

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks Chris, I was looking at this lens on B&H last night.

I'm planning to buy the Tokina 11-16 (finally) and I was looking for a fast lens to go along with it. The Sigma was at the top of my list, so good to know that you're liking it!

What's the build quality like?

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

Build quality is really awesome ..it's all in matt black and somewhat heavy though ... You can manually zoom (like when they cut the cake and it's smooth as silk!! Quality is definitely not comparable to the cheap Nikon kits lenses that come with most Nikon cameras ..mostly plastic !! The Sigma is close to 1/2kg so it does make the front end quite heavy compared to the stock lens .... images are really sharp!!

I was going to buy a non warranty one from Hong Kong and found they were $800 ...I got a genuine Aus warranty one (2 years) locally at Camera House in Leederville and they had it for $739.00 .. well worth the money!

As I mentioned a few weeks ago, my stills bag with Nikon body and 3 lenses got stolen from my car during a bridal shoot and I was going to get another Tokina 11-16 F2.8 but instead I found a used Nikon 10-24 F3.5 ...Ok it's slower but I use it for Realty work and it still works as well as was only $300.00 (almost new)
I never found any use for the Tokina at weddings as the new Sigma covers me from 18-35 and I don't really use 16mm or less anyway except for stills. For Realty video and stills the Nikon 10-24 does a great job!

Thanks Marlon ..I bought the Sigma as you loved it and I can see why! It's now my "go to" lens at weddings.... so far the only tricky bit is keeping focus as the bride walks in but the image is heaps better than my stock lens at 18mm .... You still have around 24" or more to play with as they walk in so you can easily just focus on the entry door and they stay in focus over enough distance as they walk in without losing it. Don't think I would be able to hold focus well enough if the bride walks down a long aisle!

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Suddenly I'm interested - been using my 5D for evening receptions but lack of pro focus features mean it's a bit hit and miss - I use canon EF glass with my EA50 and I'm guessing this sigma is for crop sensor, so what adapter are you guys using?

Pete

[Chris Harding]

Hi Pete

Yep the Sigma is for the APS-C sensor ... I just use a dumb Novoflex adapter and it works perfectly ! Mine of course are Nikon mount so I can use them with my still cameras too but Canon mounts are also available for the lens ... trouble is would it be usable on the 5D???

Chris

[Jody Arnott]

Thanks for the info Chris.

Slightly random question - I've only ever used the stock lens with my EA50 so far. Is there a noticeable difference/improvement in image quality when using lenses like the Sigma 18-35?

[Robert Benda]

I'm really glad to hear about this lens. We've been looking at it (for the Canon mount). The reviews said it did a really nice job smoothly focusing, rather than hunting and pecking like what I have now does.

[Gabe Strong]

The Sigma 18-35 is a really, really good lens. One of the best, for video
use that you can find. It is a crop sensor lens and vignettes on a 5D, so not
recommended for you DSLR shooters who go back and forth between stills
and video. On a Sony F3/5/55, FS100/700, VG20/30, EA50 or Canon C100/300
the lens is awesome.

[Randy Johnson]

from what I see I would be happy with a lens that was even f 3.5 straight through although I will take more if I can:) Even though you cant really see noise at 21db gain id like to be about to shoot at 12 in a dark church.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Jody

Without pixel peeping and zooming up stills 400% I have no idea if stuff by Sigma/Tamron/Tokina is better than the Sony stock lens ... if it is then the difference is minor and certainly a client wouldn't see any difference so I would just assume that they are all middle of the road lens. Probably a top of the road Zeiss/Leica glass in the many thousands of dollars might be sharper but then you need to weigh up the extra sharpness against the price difference.

On my Nikons I find that Tamrons are a lot sharper than the kit Nikon lenses but don't have any Sony lenses to compare.

I use the stock lens quite often as long as I don't run out of light it's pretty useful at weddings ...at Realty shoots I go straight to the Nikon 10 -24 and shoot super wide the whole time!! Try the stock lens..it gives good results if you give it reasonable light and you have it so why not use it?

Chris

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Jody Arnott

Thanks for the info Chris.

Slightly random question - I've only ever used the stock lens with my EA50 so far. Is there a noticeable difference/improvement in image quality when using lenses like the Sigma 18-35?

Jody I use Canon EF lenses (24-105, 24-70, and 70-200) and the difference is noticeable. I find the image slightly sharper and the bokeh more pleasing to the eye. The downside of course is no autofocus but a better image combined with improved low light capability (all my lenses are faster than the kit lens) is worth it.

[Peter Rush]

Originally Posted by Chris Harding

Hi Jody

Without pixel peeping and zooming up stills 400% I have no idea if stuff by Sigma/Tamron/Tokina is better than the Sony stock lens ... if it is then the difference is minor and certainly a client wouldn't see any difference so I would just assume that they are all middle of the road lens. Probably a top of the road Zeiss/Leica glass in the many thousands of dollars might be sharper but then you need to weigh up the extra sharpness against the price difference.

On my Nikons I find that Tamrons are a lot sharper than the kit Nikon lenses but don't have any Sony lenses to compare.

Chris

Chris I have the Tamron 24-70 F2.8 and it is definitely sharper than the kit lens. Combined with the Speedbooster I'm getting f2.0 and it's a real winner!

[Marlon Martins]

i took some pictures last night with the EA50 and 18-35mm, and like in the DSLR's, the image is amazing sharp across the entire frame, always at f1.8 and 1/60

sample (with a bit of PS to correct/enhance color only)



last week i used the kit lens, in a dark environment with strong back-light, and ugh, horrible chromatic aberration and loss of contrast. some lens do better in these scenarios, but i did not tested the 18-35 on the same place to compare.

[Chris Harding]

Hi Marlon

Yes that is stunning ..certainly is a really nice lens and I'm glad I have it. The stock lens still works pretty well in outdoor weddings but the Sigma is on my camera as soon as I go into the reception.

Just for interest it's a pretty nice lens on my Nikons too!! Put the camera in Aperture Priority mode and open up the iris and you get a rather nice lens to work with on the bride and groom!! It's useful to be able to use my lenses for both stills and video!

Chris