Sigma 85mm f1.4 vs Canon 85L

TaDa wrote in post #15563429
For the record, I bought two new sigma lenses, and they were horrible. I live in NY so drove out to Sigma and they calibrated them to the body. Was better, but not perfect and then the focus got worse over time again. I could just have crap luck, but overall when you're reverse engineering technology, there are sure to be issues

I think you just have crap luck! I've owned quite a few sigma lenses and have much better luck with them than I do canon lenses. I test my lenses for a week before I even let myself use them professionally.

Perfect 30 1.4, 2 perfect 85 1.4s, perfect 35 1.4, perfect 70-200 2.8 OS.

I had many more issues with canon lenses.

drzenitram wrote in post #15563410
Love my sigma 85. It's an amazing lens. I had rented the 85L for weddings and events a few dozen times, but I prefer the sigma because it still makes that "magic look" that the 85L gives with subject separation, but it focuses much faster than the 85L. I also prefer the colors and the look of the bokeh from the sigma. The only thing the 85L does that the sigma doesn't is 1/3 stop of light, which is nice, but not worth dealing with slower AF and paying $1000 for when I love the colors and bokeh and "pop" of the sigma so much.

If you put all the sigma fast primes in order from most AF problems to least AF problems, the list would go: 50 1.4, 30 1.4, 85 1.4, 35 1.4. There is, however, a huge gap between the number of AF problems from the 30 1.4 and the 85 1.4. Also, with the 85 1.4 I've never seen a single case where a person had AF issues and sending it in to sigma didn't fix it.

So, 80+% of the time you'll probably get a perfect copy of the sigma 85 when you buy it, but if you don't, then send it in to sigma and in a week or two you'll have that perfect copy, all for $1000 less than the 85L.


I think the sigma "lottery" consists of people buying used lenses, finding that they have AF issues, and selling them to other people used instead of just sending them in to be calibrated.

I totally agree with you. The Sigma lottery is overhyped by Internet chatter by a lot of people that never even tried the lens. I have the 50 1.4 and 85 1.4 and both are great. Looking at getting the 35 1.4 in the near future.

To each their own . I'm also not crazy about their support. They once took a month to calibrate a 30 1.4 for me. With Canon, I get my stuff back in 2 days with loaner gear if I need it. For ME, the reliability isn't there for me to trust Sigma. For you it obviously is.

Hogloff wrote in post #15563448
The Sigma lottery is overhyped by Internet chatter by a lot of people that never even tried the lens.

Pretty sure Roger (and other lens rental companies) have quite a few Sigmas, and quality control is their number 1 issue.

TaDa wrote in post #15563463
Pretty sure Roger (and other lens rental companies) have quite a few Sigmas, and quality control is their number 1 issue.

From Roger regarding the sigma 85:

I wouldn't ever buy a lens as fast as the 85L, sigma 85, or 135L if I couldn't micro adjust them, as almost every fast lens I've ever used has required some MFA. Also, I think that you were an outlier with sigma's support. Most of the stories I've heard about their support said that sigma had their lenses a week, some rare cases were 2 weeks, and some were even less than that.

Your own quote from Roger says that it has focus issues. Listen, I'm glad that you're happy with your glass. I'm just saying that FOR ME, Sigma isn't in my lens purchase plans.

TaDa wrote in post #15563579
Your own quote from Roger says that it has focus issues. Listen, I'm glad that you're happy with your glass. I'm just saying that FOR ME, Sigma isn't in my lens purchase plans.

It says that many of the lenses require MFA, not that it has focus issues. He also says that with any f1.4 lens you should have a body that can do MFA. He most certainly did not say it had focus issues.


Here's another quote from Roger about your 85L:

So, if the sigma has "focus issues", apparently the 85L has the same "focus issues".

Anyhow, like I said, glad that you're happy with your glass.

And what do you do when your lens is front focusing a slight amount? You MFA it. What does roger recommend doing with any f1.4 or f1.2 lens(including the 85L)? MFA it. There's no difference, then, in what you would do with a sigma 85 vs an 85L. With either lens, you MFA it.

All the sigma bashing that goes on in this forum is ridiculous.

Fellow forum members please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not but feel free to submit your opinion anyway on the pros of buying a Sigma 85 f/1.4 which currently sells for $969 at Adorama with a $75 instant rebate.

After paying $894 for a lens you are okay with these options.

A. After receiving the lens if the "jackhammer" effect surfaces a short time later outside of the return or exchange window you are okay sending the lens in to Sigma for repair at your cost of an additional $25.

B. You receive a lens that consistently front focuses and don't have a body with the MA feature so you either return for other copies until you hopefully get a lens that doesn't neet MA. Longshot at best in that scenario.

C. You receive a lens that consistently front focuses and do have a body or multiple bodies with the MA feature so you keep it and adust each body accordingly. And with that in mind if you decide to sell at a later date, being honest enough to include the need to MA in your ad. Inconvenient at best and pain in the rear at worst.

D. A lens that is so inconsistant and far out of MA range at times that it needs to be shipped off at a cost of $25 each time to Sigma for adjustment. I for one was one of those multiple return to be serviced people until I got sick of it.

E. After losing the Sigma lottery and receiving a lemon, you wait and bide your time. Then when the time is right you proclaim your undying love with eternal devotion to this Godsend of a lens. But due to unfortunate circumstances such as a new baby, divorce, death, unable to work or something more creative you are forced to part with the lens. Hopefully the one that is born every minute won't see you're keeping the rest of your lens collection.

There are alot of things to consider when buying a lens in the price range of the Sigmas. I am sorry to say that Sigma has burned quite a few prior owners of their lens. And looking back in hindsight I would say each one of us forgot or didn't listen to what we had heard before about "If it sounds to good to be true then it isn't".

Last bit of advice whether you heed it or not. "Buyer Beware".

Thorrulz wrote in post #15563703
Fellow forum members please correct me if I'm wrong. I'm not but feel free to submit your opinion anyway on the pros of buying a Sigma 85 f/1.4 which currently sells for $969 at Adorama with a $75 instant rebate.

After paying $894 for a lens you are okay with these options.

A. After receiving the lens if the "jackhammer" effect surfaces a short time later outside of the return or exchange window you are okay sending the lens in to Sigma for repair at your cost of an additional $25.

B. You receive a lens that consistently front focuses and don't have a body with the MA feature so you either return for other copies until you hopefully get a lens that doesn't neet MA. Longshot at best in that scenario.

C. You receive a lens that consistently front focuses and do have a body or multiple bodies with the MA feature so you keep it and adust each body accordingly. And with that in mind if you decide to sell at a later date, being honest enough to include the need to MA in your ad. Inconvenient at best and pain in the rear at worst.

D. A lens that is so inconsistant and far out of MA range at times that it needs to be shipped off at a cost of $25 each time to Sigma for adjustment. I for one was one of those multiple return to be serviced people until I got sick of it.

E. After losing the Sigma lottery and receiving a lemon, you wait and bide your time. Then when the time is right you proclaim your undying love with eternal devotion to this Godsend of a lens. But due to unfortunate circumstances such as a new baby, divorce, death, unable to work or something more creative you are forced to part with the lens. Hopefully the one that is born every minute won't see you're keeping the rest of your lens collection.

There are alot of things to consider when buying a lens in the price range of the Sigmas. I am sorry to say that Sigma has burned quite a few prior owners of their lens. And looking back in hindsight I would say each one of us forgot or didn't listen to what we had heard before about "If it sounds to good to be true then it isn't".

Last bit of advice whether you heed it or not. "Buyer Beware".

In other words.... don't buy an 85L or sigma 85 if your body doesn't do MFA. Unless your lens is front focusing or back focusing by more than +-10, then there's no real reason to notate it in a sale because of camera body tolerances. Also, sending in a lens for $25 dollars and waiting a week is certainly worth it for most of us compared to paying an extra $1000.

I just have to say that, of the 5 sigma lenses I have owned that people have said "were going to have AF problems", all 5 have been perfect and perform just as good if not better than the canon counterpart for less money.

drzenitram wrote in post #15563724
In other words.... don't buy an 85L or sigma 85 if your body doesn't do MFA. Unless your lens is front focusing or back focusing by more than +-10, then there's no real reason to notate it in a sale because of camera body tolerances. Also, sending in a lens for $25 dollars and waiting a week is certainly worth it for most of us compared to paying an extra $1000.

I just have to say that, of the 5 sigma lenses I have owned that people have said "were going to have AF problems", all 5 have been perfect and perform just as good if not better than the canon counterpart for less money.

I didn't say not to buy the Canon 85L. Just be prepared to deal with potential headaches when buying a lens from a company that reverse engineers their lens to work on another company's bodies.

Think about all those other Canon bodies out there with different focusing systems such as the 5D, 5DMII, 5DMIII, 7D and the 1D series as a whole and the rebel line also needs to be included to the list. Is it any wonder there are so many issues with a 3rd party lens focusing properly on the bodies I've mentioned.

And as far as your statement of only sending in the lens once and it will come back perfect is incorrect. It may or may not as was the problem in my case and others as well on here.

I have a question for you though, If you buy a new car for $20,000 would you be so tolerant to wait a few weeks to have the car aligned to the road so you could drive it?

Thorrulz wrote in post #15563772
I didn't say not to buy the Canon 85L. Just be prepared to deal with potential headaches when buying a lens from a company that reverse engineers their lens to work on another company's bodies.

Think about all those other Canon bodies out there with different focusing systems such as the 5D, 5DMII, 5DMIII, 7D and the 1D series as a whole and the rebel line also needs to be included to the list. Is it any wonder there are so many issues with a 3rd party lens focusing properly on the bodies I've mentioned.

And as far as your statement of only sending in the lens once and it will come back perfect is incorrect. It may or may not as was the problem in my case and others as well on here.

I have a question for you though, If you buy a new car for $20,000 would you be so tolerant to wait a few weeks to have the car aligned to the road so you could drive it?

If I were getting a car for $20,000 that did the exact same thing as a $40,000 car and all I had to do was wait a few weeks? Absolutely.

But people should not buy an 85L if they do not have MFA, either. It will need to be MFAd just as much as the sigma, if not more for the thinner DOF.

I was hesitating between the 135L and the Sigma 85mm f1.4. I went with the 135L but the 85mm sure made me curious. I might sell my canon 85mm and get one in the future. Especially if there's a Art series update.

Earwax69 wrote in post #15563816
I was hesitating between the 135L and the Sigma 85mm f1.4. I went with the 135L but the 85mm sure made me curious. I might sell my canon 85mm and get one in the future. Especially if there's a Art series update.

A Canon 135L over a Sigma 85. You chose............... wisely. The Canon 85 f/1.8 is a good lens to have in your bag along with it, although I am a bit biased.