Sigma 14mm prime - any experience?

[Karl]

Saw a 14mm Sigma prime at B&H the other day. Was wondering how it fared.

Any testament to its sharpness/color/contrast? Any samples out there? I had a sigma 18-35 that I was not at all happy with, very muddy lens. I'm leery of going the Sigma route, but this lens wouldn't see a huge amount of use. That's why i'd like to keep the cost down. $800ish is what i'm willing to spend on a nice wide prime.

[Foreside PhotoGraphics]

...I'm selling mine. 1 year old, mint condition. E-mail me for the particulars.

Gary Shepard
Foreside PhotoGraphics
Maine, USA

gshepard@maine.rr.com

[Karl]

I'll consider it if you have any samples and I hear some real-life testimonials.

[Foreside PhotoGraphics]

Sigma 14mm:

Build quality - quite good

Hypersonic motor focusing - quite smooth, fast, quiet

Flare when shooting towards (in the direction of) the sun - problematic (much the same with all super wide-angle lenses)

Contrast, color renditon, quite good

Center sharpness (@ f/5.6, f/8 quite good)

Edge sharpness - when used with a camera with a "multiplication factor" (such as the Canon D30 @ 1.6x)
at f/5.6, f/8, pretty good

Edge sharpness (when used with a full frame 24mm x36mm imager - be it atraditional film body or digital as in the Contax vaporware camera) - don't even THINK about it... big time softness problem.

Bottom line: Sigma 14mm $800. new (mine goes for $600.)

Canon 14mm - about $2000. Do the math - you get what you pay for... although I don't really know how good the Canon is; I've never known anyone (in my photographic circle), to plunk down that much money for the lens. But what if the Canon isn't $1200 better - what a bummer THAT would be, eh?

Cheers -

Gary Shepard
Foreside PhotoGraphics
Maine, USA

[RichardKlain]

Owned a 14mm f 2.8 Sigma for 3 months, using it with both a D30 and Elan 7E. Found it not to my liking either with film or digital. Was constantly frustrated by images that didn't have crisp overall contrast and sharpness, particularly on the edges and when wide open. I often was fighting lens flare, which may have also lowered the contrast. Plus I was having profound problems getting focus lcok in lower light levels... perhaps a combination of Sigma's autofocus mechanism and low sharpness/contrast.

In similar shooting situations I found that my Canon f 2.8 20mm was a dream, other than not being wide-angle enough for me. Traded in the Sigma (along with a lot more money) on a Canon f 2.8 16-35mm L and was in love again!

[KHogan]

karl wrote:
I'll consider it if you have any samples and I hear some real-life testimonials.


Karl,

Check out Pekka's gallery. He has this very lens and has some fabulous shots up in his gallery. Plus, you can do a sort on his images and pull up all the ones that use this particular lens. He also has a little write-up about his thoughts on this lens so that, along with others' experiences posted here, should give you an idea.

Also, another consideration is Sigma's slightly cheaper (in price) 15-30mm zoom. If you don't need that extra mm on the wide end, this lens performs extremely well and gives you zoom capability. Of course, it's not as fast a lens as the 14mm.

Good luck,
Kharim