C100: Sigma 18-35mm f1.8

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draculr

Well-known member
I see no one has been talking about this lens yet. It is a brand new APS-C 18-35mm f1.8 lens from Sigma. It has 9 aperture blades and hard stops apparently on the focus ring. On paper that's amazing for the C100/C300 and a good compliment to the 24-70/24-105mm lenses.

It seems as though sigma might be on a bit of a roll lately. After the 35mm 1.4 anyway.

I've been eyeing the Canon 16-35mm which still has the advantage of 2mm on the wide end. But this thing is half the price, more than one extra stop and has 9 aperture blades for much smoother bokeh (sample images look great!).

Seems some early reviews are out and are very positive:

http://www.photographyblog.com/reviews/sigma_18_35mm_f1_8_dc_hsm_review

At $799 I might have to pick it up as a wide walk around lens and not have to deal with the 17-55 :P
 
At only an equivalent angle of view of 27-52.5mm lens on an APS-C DSLR, this doesn't really provide the range of say a 17-55mm 2.8. I like the new Sigma lenses, but this seems a little long for wide enough and a little short of long enough. I'll keep my 17-55 IS and my 24-105 IS as they provide the best options for both the 5D III and the C100/300 cameras.

I took a look at the 16-35mm Canon but decided to fill in my primes and got the 24mm 1.4L. It gives me a nice landscape/night photography lens on the 5D III and a 35 equivalent angle of view on the C300 at 1.4 which is very sweet. The 16-35mm is a very nice lens for a wide, but on the C300 it needs to be on a tripod once you get near the 35mm end. That's why I like the 17-55mm IS for hand held work.
 
This is my next purchase. For crop body cameras this is a must have lens. No one else makes a lens that can do a constant 1.8 from 18-35, all other lenses are a stop slower (17-55 and 16-35)
 
greenheron said:
At only an equivalent angle of view of 27-52.5mm lens on an APS-C DSLR,
Click to expand...

Just want to clarify because the post linked to and this post are worded in a confusing manner;

the Sigma 18-35mm on a ASP-C sensor provides the equivalent of a 27-52.5mm on a full frame sensor.
 
greenheron said:
At only an equivalent angle of view of 27-52.5mm lens on an APS-C DSLR, this doesn't really provide the range of say a 17-55mm 2.8. I like the new Sigma lenses, but this seems a little long for wide enough and a little short of long enough. I'll keep my 17-55 IS and my 24-105 IS as they provide the best options for both the 5D III and the C100/300 cameras.

I took a look at the 16-35mm Canon but decided to fill in my primes and got the 24mm 1.4L. It gives me a nice landscape/night photography lens on the 5D III and a 35 equivalent angle of view on the C300 at 1.4 which is very sweet. The 16-35mm is a very nice lens for a wide, but on the C300 it needs to be on a tripod once you get near the 35mm end. That's why I like the 17-55mm IS for hand held work.
Click to expand...

I have tried to love the 17-55 but I cannot. I just can't live with the focus ring.

Since getting my zacuto target shooter I've done a lot of testing with my 24-105mm comparing IS on and off. I notice almost no difference up to 50mm (except that the IS creates jerky pans!). It's only going to improve once my zfinder gets delivered.

This lens for my setup is a godsend. I was looking into the 16-35mm ii but this completely replaces the need for that for my purposes and it also replaces the need for taking a 35mm prime along with me.
 
William_Robinette said:
Just want to clarify because the post linked to and this post are worded in a confusing manner;

the Sigma 18-35mm on a ASP-C sensor provides the equivalent of a 27-52.5mm on a full frame sensor.
Click to expand...

My mistake, yes 28.8mm-56mm lens on a full-frame sensor.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/photography/hands-reviews/hands-review-sigma-18-35mm-f18-lens

Looks like a nice lens, just not enough range for me. Only replaces 2 primes not 3.
and
"Indeed, at 18mm and f/1.8, vignetting is visible through the viewfinder"
 
greenheron said:
My mistake, yes 28.8mm-56mm lens on a full-frame sensor.
http://www.bhphotovideo.com/indepth/photography/hands-reviews/hands-review-sigma-18-35mm-f18-lens

Looks like a nice lens, just not enough range for me. Only replaces 2 primes not 3.
and
"Indeed, at 18mm and f/1.8, vignetting is visible through the viewfinder"
Click to expand...

It's 28.8-56mm on a 1.6x and 27.5-53.5 on the C100 crop.

It may only replace 2 primes but it does mean you have wide + normal @ f1.8 in one lens which is the big deal. I have a tokina which I hardly ever put on because it is only usable as a super wide. I could walk around all day with just this sigma though and still have my wide shots.

I may dub this the night club lens :)
 
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My lens just got delivered!

Honestly to me the build beats the L series lenses I have. Internal zoom and a very very well dampened focus ring.

I'd put the feel of the lens between the L series and Zeiss (of course it's still not a real manual focus lens, but it's as good as I've used as far as auto lenses go). I did a quick test and the IQ holds up very well. I'll do more testing on that when I have more time but for now I just can't get over how well built the thing is! I wish all zooms were built like this. Can sigma make me a 24-70 f1.8 for APS-C sensors now. I'd replace all my lenses with Sigma Art series lenses if I could (and they held up the IQ and build quality).
 
How long is the focus throw draculr? I like my canon 17-55 2.8 but the short focus throw is a pain sometimes and probably problematic on something like a BMD 4k.
 
Chris Johnston said:
How long is the focus throw draculr? I like my canon 17-55 2.8 but the short focus throw is a pain sometimes and probably problematic on something like a BMD 4k.
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It seems like it's about 100 degrees. A very well dampened 100 degrees!

I hope the new APO 50-150mm Sigma 2.8 OS focus ring is nice because I would assume that would complement this lens quite well.
 
After some quick testing, this lens seems to be parfocal and have little to no focus breathing... as if I was not already impressed!
 
The DXO marks on this lens seem to beat most of the primes you can stack against it. It destroys the Zeiss 18mm and it's showing better results on the 35mm as well. THe lens thus far is getting really rave reviews.
 
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