Would I be stupid?

For some reason the Sigma 24-70 2.8 IF EX DG HSM is very appealing to me. Now this wouldn't normally be a problem but I currently have the Canon L-series version and considering selling that for the sigma and putting some money back in my wallet. I have read great reviews on this lens but unsure of low light af performance. The only local camera shop can't keep them in stock for me to try one out.

Part of the enjoyment of this photography thing trying new stuff, no - you wouldn't be stupid to want to try something different. What's the worst case? It's not what you want and you sell it and buy the Canon back. It's not like it's going to cost a fortune to experiment. Go for it...report back here on your experience.

The down side of the 3rd party lenses I've tried has been AF speed--If this is not critical it may be worth a try

My suggestion would be to buy the Sigma and try it. Sell the lens you like least. Another option would be to rent the Sigma.

I can't find the Sigma for rent anywhere. Can anyone help suggest another place to look? I tried borrowlenses.com

http://www.lensrentals​.com …70mm-f2.8-ex-dg-for-canon

lensrentals.com is a good company, I also use www.cameralensrentals.​com

I would definitely rent one first! I just tried it out in the store but didn't like how much the sigma hunted.

rick_reno wrote in post #12594119
Part of the enjoyment of this photography thing trying new stuff, no - you wouldn't be stupid to want to try something different. What's the worst case? It's not what you want and you sell it and buy the Canon back. It's not like it's going to cost a fortune to experiment. Go for it...report back here on your experience.

I decided to give it a go and sold my canon today and ordered the sigma. it will be here on Friday. I will post some details on the new lens.

Well I decided to go for this lens. Overall very impressed so far with this lens.

Handling:

This lens feels very solid and is a good size and weight to balance with my 1D III. Initially the zoom ring was stiff but after some use it loosened up a little bit and now feels veryand is quite smooth with no "play".

Focusing:

The hsm motors performs very well. It locks on to focus very quick and accurately even in adverse lighting conditions. It is also very smooth and quiet.

Image Quality:

On my first test, the images seemed quite sharp. I went to a local university and photographed the buildings wide open and then looked at 100% crops of the bricks. I was quite pleased. I was a little less pleased with the portrait test shots so I broke out the focus chart this morning and noticed a bad front focus problem. After I set a microadjustment to +20 everything is looking quite sharp.

The real test will be this weekend at my wedding then if I decide to keep it, I will send it in to sigma to have focus calibrated.