How many of you are rocking the Sigma 30mm as your "walk-around" lens these days??

As the title states im curious to see how many of you are rocking the Siggy 30mm F1.4 as your walk around lens? I know there are few of you out there doing this and Im interested in hearing first hand experience about pro's/con's of this setup and overall how you feel about this lens as your walk-around. I really like shooting without flash and just using natural light and could really use F1.4 at times.

Im thinking of ditching my Tamron 17-50mm F2.8 zoom in favor of the Sigma 30mm F1.4 as my walk around for indoors and outdoors.... my camera is 7D. If I do this I will probably add the Canon 85mm 1.8 or the new Sigma 85mm F1.4 in the next few months to pair with the Sigma 30mm.

So, let hear it from those with this setup!

I used to do this when i had a crop xsi body. Since you have a 7d, I guess you can tweak the lens using microadjust to get it focus well at f 1.4. The siggy 30 can do a lot except telephoto, so it is a good plan to get the 85mm too. Indoors, the siggy 30 shines!

AWGD8 wrote in post #9882807
I used to do this when i had a crop xsi body. Since you have a 7d, I guess you can tweak the lens using microadjust to get it focus well at f 1.4. The siggy 30 can do a lot except telephoto, so it is a good plan to get the 85mm too. Indoors, the siggy 30 shines!

yah i can micro-adjust on the 7d if need be.... hopefully not!

I bought the Sigma 30 specifically for the birth of our first child (low light delivery pics.) The Sigma was wonderful and worked great.

However I find that it is in my bag most often, my 17-55 getting the most use as a walk around. I suppose a big part of this is being a better photog by using your feet to get the angle/framing you want, vs a zoom, this I need to practice.

I absolutely love the performance of the Canon 17-55, as long as I own a crop body I will never sell it. The Sigma is a solid performer as well, if you get a focus issue free copy.

To summarize, as a new photog and someone who is not that proficient at finding the right "framing" or angle the 17-55 works well. With some practice, especially with thin DOF of the Sigma you can produce some amazing images.

But hey, im just a rookie.

Me!

I use the Siggy 30mm f/1.4 & Canon 85mm f/1.8 combo myself (plus the kit lens as a wide angle )
I sometimes miss the convenience of a zoom, but the shallow DOF + normal perspective is pretty great.

And as far as the focusing rumors/ reports, it really isn't as widespread as people like to think.
My copy is great, plus the 4-year warranty makes me feel pretty safe.

Timely thread, fellow Vancouverite. I'm seriously considering a Sig 30 myself to add to my lens collection, but I'm also considering the Sig 50. It would be for my 7D (don't plan to go FF within 2-3 years). Which one should I grab? I'm mostly in it for indoor shooting, portraits and what not. I had a nifty fifty for a couple months on my now sold T1i, and sometimes find it a little long already. But the comments I've read, the Sig 50 seems to get rave reviews on IQ/sharpness/superb bokeh.

Which one would you get?

I have the 30mm, but I can't get rid of my 18-55 because while you can crop a bit, sometimes you just can't step back far enough to fit everything in the frame and the 30mm has poor close focus abilities (1:10!)

30mm +18-55 IS makes a pretty darn good walkaround kit for not much more than the price of the 17-50. Then you get the f1.4 for loads of light or DOF creativity, and the 18-55 for close focus, framing, wide to short telephoto creativity. The 18-55 IS weighs 190g and is 3" long, so it is pretty easy to drop in any bag and bring it along. For most general shooting, the 30mm is fine. Its about the same FOV as a 50mm prime on film, and the 50mm was the original kit lens for about the first 35 years of SLR photography.

BucketMan wrote in post #9882994
I bought the Sigma 30 specifically for the birth of our first child (low light delivery pics.) The Sigma was wonderful and worked great.

However I find that it is in my bag most often, my 17-55 getting the most use as a walk around. I suppose a big part of this is being a better photog by using your feet to get the angle/framing you want, vs a zoom, this I need to practice.

I absolutely love the performance of the Canon 17-55, as long as I own a crop body I will never sell it. The Sigma is a solid performer as well, if you get a focus issue free copy.

To summarize, as a new photog and someone who is not that proficient at finding the right "framing" or angle the 17-55 works well. With some practice, especially with thin DOF of the Sigma you can produce some amazing images.

But hey, im just a rookie.

no worries man... im just a rookie too! thanks for the input.

Austin.Manny wrote in post #9883007
Me!

I use the Siggy 30mm f/1.4 & Canon 85mm f/1.8 combo myself (plus the kit lens as a wide angle )
I sometimes miss the convenience of a zoom, but the shallow DOF + normal perspective is pretty great.

And as far as the focusing rumors/ reports, it really isn't as widespread as people like to think.
My copy is great, plus the 4-year warranty makes me feel pretty safe.

yah.... that 30mm plus 85mm combo is pretty awesome for these crop bodies as two pair of primes.

tkbslc wrote in post #9883211
I have the 30mm, but I can't get rid of my 18-55 because while you can crop a bit, sometimes you just can't step back far enough to fit everything in the frame and the 30mm has poor close focus abilities (1:10!)

30mm +18-55 IS makes a pretty darn good walkaround kit for not much more than the price of the 17-50. Then you get the f1.4 for loads of light or DOF creativity, and the 18-55 for close focus, framing, wide to short telephoto creativity. The 18-55 IS weighs 190g and is 3" long, so it is pretty easy to drop in any bag and bring it along. For most general shooting, the 30mm is fine. Its about the same FOV as a 50mm prime on film, and the 50mm was the original kit lens for about the first 35 years of SLR photography.

yah.... thats what i keep thinking.... 30=50mm on FF.... which has been a winning combo for ever.

rishu_pepper wrote in post #9883094
Timely thread, fellow Vancouverite. I'm seriously considering a Sig 30 myself to add to my lens collection, but I'm also considering the Sig 50. It would be for my 7D (don't plan to go FF within 2-3 years). Which one should I grab? I'm mostly in it for indoor shooting, portraits and what not. I had a nifty fifty for a couple months on my now sold T1i, and sometimes find it a little long already. But the comments I've read, the Sig 50 seems to get rave reviews on IQ/sharpness/superb bokeh.

Which one would you get?

hey, i hear yah man.... its a tough call.... but to be honest.... for a 7D crop camera... the 30mm is perfect. 50mm can get too long at times.... especially indoors where you can only step back so much..... really 30mm = 50mm on FF.... so its perfect.

JayStar86 wrote in post #9883384
hey, i hear yah man.... its a tough call.... but to be honest.... for a 7D crop camera... the 30mm is perfect. 50mm can get too long at times.... especially indoors where you can only step back so much..... really 30mm = 50mm on FF.... so its perfect.

I wouldn't walk around with just a 30mm lens - but I like zooms

watt100 wrote in post #9883401
I wouldn't walk around with just a 30mm lens - but I like zooms

i wasn't saying as a walk around to him/her... i was just stating my preference between 30mm or 50mm as a prime for crop body... FYI.

I have both the Sigma 30 & Tamron 17-50, and I can't really see just having one. The zoom is just so versatile. I love the 30, and whenever there is low light or I know I'll have some room to move around it's the one I go with. I just picked up an 85 so I'll have to see if my zoom gets left in the bag more, but it sure is nice to have.

I use my Sigma 30mm as my primary lens. It definitely males me plan out my composition a bit more using primes vs zooms as I find I get lazy with zooms. I like the lens a lot so far.

I'm also a member of the 30+85 club I still use my 24-60 zoom more though because I am lazy. The 30 is by far a better lens!

watt100 wrote in post #9883401
I wouldn't walk around with just a 30mm lens - but I like zooms

JayStar86 wrote in post #9883432
i wasn't saying as a walk around to him/her... i was just stating my preference between 30mm or 50mm as a prime for crop body... FYI.

I'm a him.

Yes JayStar is correct in his assessment. This will not be my walkaround. It'll generally be for indoor shooting situations without flash.

For example, I was shooting a church function last night, and stuck with either my Tokina 11-16 or the Sigma 105 macro, I went with the Sig for portraits but it was way too long. The pics turned out okay (by their standards ) but they're all full on head shots. A 30 would definitely help, even the 50. I'll probably pick the 30 but we'll see whichever one comes onto the Marketplace first