What does everyone think about the Sigma 15-35 2.8

[clkgtr37]

The title says pretty much everything for this post. I am looking foward to either getting a Sigma 15-35 or a Canon 16-35 for my D30. I know that the Canon is better glass, but is it $1000 better?

[Hartmut]

If you get a good one from SIGMA, it will be better than CANON 16-35. The CANON lens seems to me a little bit too soft for the bucks!
Hartmut

[rob61]

I tried both the Sigma 15-30 and the Canon 16-35L. The Canon L is definately better at color and contrast, the sharpness would be a very slight edge to the Canon as well.

The Sigma I received had a piece of dirt inside the lense, although it probably didn't affect its performance. I sent the Sigma back and kept the Canon L series and I really like it. Another advantage of the Canon is it uses normal 77mm front filters.

Whether or not the extra expense is worth it or not is up to you. I have samples of straight out of the camera pictures of each lense.

Sigma:
http://www.pbase.com/rob61/1530_sigma

Canon:
http://www.pbase.com/rob61/florida

The Sigma had no filters attached, whereas the Canon had a Canon front UV-Haze filter for protection, yet I still preferred the Canon even with the extra filter attached.