Switch 28mm and Sigmalux for a 35L?

Just an idea I thought of earlier...Keep in mind I'm using a 7D(And also have the 15-85, 70-200 f/4L IS and 100L in my arsenal)...

I love my Sigmalux, I love the color, contrast, bokeh, and overall everything about it...Except for the focal length... For food/drinks at restaurants and that its simply too long most of the time and i find myself awkwardly bending and contorting (Which is very painful for me mind you) to frame a shot, and then having issues with the DoF say, not being quite enough or the angle not being quite right... I also think that if I got to shooting portraits I'd probubly go for something more 85-ish as opposed to the 50 for the extra background compressing ability...

The 28mm is a much more apropriate focal length most of the time, and ok its not a terrible lens or anything, but I find myself using it at f/2.8 a lot because it gives a nice boost to the sharpness/contrast of the lens, which kinda defeats the point of a prime, Its not horrible wider than that..but its certainly not like the Sigmalux is(Sharp and contrasty even wide open)... I guess a better way to put it is that the lens itself just isnt "me" most of the time... I have good shots from it, but its not a "magic" lens... Am I making sense?

So I got to thinking..What if I sell both of those and picked up a 35L? Would that not get me the "best of both worlds" lens I seek? Uses as noted above, restaurant/food/drinks​/anything I can think of using it on (Basically, General purpose fast prime stuff...)

Yes I tried the Sigma 30, Good lens, But the MFD stunk and i found that a limitation...

Kinda got to this train of thought as "alternatives to going full frame" since one of the core reasons I'd go full frame is to remove the crop factor limiting the Sigmalux...

Give thoughts folks? Please?

I mean... If you wanna sell both and buy my 35L that's cool.. I would accept that.

sounds like a plan. i agree that the 50mm is long for food/restaurant. i would have to sit up or have best, get up.

if you could afford the ful frame, that would be great :P

i wouldn't do it on a crop unless you are moving to ff soon.

Sigma 30 is 98% of 35L. Some members here posted the comparison not long ago and sigma 30 is just as good as the 35L.

Get 5DII/III.

Get the Sigma 30mm and just carry around a small extension tube That would be my solution.

Sp1207 wrote in post #13939855
Get 5DII/III.

That as well.

Sell the 7D, 28 and 15-85 and get the 24L instead. So you have 24 and 50 to cover that range.

TSE 24 is great for food!

i sold my sigma for the 35L and dont regret it one bit, my sigma 50 was sharp but this 35L has given me lot more keepers

Neil B wrote in post #13940370
i sold my sigma for the 35L and dont regret it one bit, my sigma 50 was sharp but this 35L has given me lot more keepers

But then you shoot ff.

OP has a 7D, and I see very little reason of getting the 35L over the Sigma 30.

I rented the 35L over Christmas, and I can only echo the comments about the Sigma 30mm being 98% of the 35L. It's such a shame that the Sigma is a crop only lens!

If you need something wider then that's what you need. The MFD of the Sigma is stated as 40cm, mine focuses a lot closer than that. Actually it is the same as the quoted MFD for the 35L which is 30cm (I never tested the actual MFD when I had the 35L lens). I don't see that this should vary from copy to copy, but 40cm looks to be quite conservative. (edit: just a note, I tested the MFD of the Sigma for this post, but it was on a 1Ds2, now I can't see why that would affect the MFD but thought I should mention it.)

It didn't cost me a lot to rent the 35L, is that an option for you? I actually found that I prefer the 50mm focal length over the 35mm (I'm using a FF camera). So the 35L has fallen off my radar somewhat.

I'd ditch the 7D - all the whizz-bangery can't conceal the limitations of the sensor. I never really liked the 35 on my 7D. Produced nowhere near the same quality results as on FF. The Sigma is mint on FF too

Thanks for all the responses

On the Sigma 30, I actually owned one, it was the first lens I tried in this category and as I said, the MFD was the biggest issue with it to me (The second biggest issue which wouldnt have been an issue is that my copy also couldnt AF worth a **** and needed either an exchange or a calibration...So i was using it in manual focus for most shots while i owned it..) it was great optically though... Carrying an extension tube is kinda eh to me because i get this feeling of "Fiddly" out of the idea, Stopping to take off the lens, bolt the extension tube on, take some shots, then take it off again to do other shots over and over again is where that sounds like its heading... But then again I guess I could be fair and say I didnt try it out as much as I wanted to because it was so hopeless in terms of AF

Please do note I still recommend the lens to folks, Im a Sigma evangelist I suppose it would be a cheaper option to try however...

TS-E is out as its not reallllly what I'm looking for, This is kinda a walkaround prime after all and the TS-E is manual focus and pretty much a tripod lens, My eyes arent what they used to be and I cant reliably pin down manual focus in a timely manner..more importantly i hardly ever bother with a tripod

As for Full Frame, the reason I'm going down this path is that I dont quite fancy the 5DII in its entirety, the AF system on it has me nervous, and I dont think I'd get anywhere NEAR enough from the 7D, 15-85 and 28 to get the 5DIII, I cant exactly throw a ton of cash out of pocket towards it after all...

-edit- after doing EXIF investigation on files maybe the Sigma's MFD isnt so bad...

I'd hire the 35L if possible. 35 > 50 isn't a massive difference in focal length and in performance including AF I didn't find that it blew away the Sigma 30mm at all. The 35L is a great lens, but it might not be the magic bullet that you hope for.

The thing is you've already tried the Sigma 30mm and even if you bought it again you'd have that nagging "is the 35L better" thought at the back of your mind. It's an evil mistress this photography lark

Bleh I dont even know man....

This has been my "sticking point" for the last year ish..I want a nice "normal" on my APS-C...I wish Canon would give me an EF-S 35mm f/1.8 I mean, everyone else has one