Newbie to Canon dSLRs, Question Regarding 3rd Party Lenses

jjaenagle wrote in post #16467703
just wait till the 35L mark II comes out

Yeah! But not for $899 I'll bet.

mwsilver wrote in post #16469855
Yeah! But not for $899 I'll bet.

$899 X 2

Wilt wrote in post #16469848
Plenty of happy users of third party lenses...half of my lenses are not Canon brand!

One thing I have noticed is, for whatever reason, there seems to be considerably larger volume of folks expressing front/back focus issues with their Sigma lenses, vs. virtually no complaints about same from Tokina and Tamron users. Some folks have even said they had to send their Sigmas in 2-3 times before finally getting it back in proper focus.

Of course, this will elicit a ton of comments about "I have never had a problem..."

I will not venture to know if the issue is statistics..."Maybe 97% of Sigma owners have no problem, but 3% do."
Or if the issue is relative business volume..."Everyone has 1% failure rate, but Sigma sells 3x as many lenses as Brand X and Y combined"
Or maybe a bit of both. But the fact that so much is focus related is not a statistical issue, merely a problem area.

Actually Sigma did have a problem and pretty much admitted as much when they announced their new lines with the new QC procedures. But it was really only a few select lenses where there were problems. I haven't seen any more complaints on the 10-20 or the 70-200 f2.8 than any other lens. But that 30mm f1.4 sure had a lot of issues and I got two in a row that were bad. Still - it didn't cost me anything to ship it back. Eventually I got a good one and it was fine ever since. Adorama was even to the point where if you bought this lens, they would test before shipping if you asked. Then you could save a lot of hassle and they saved shipping charges.

But the new models I believe are much better. They use the new QC procedures that actually tests each lens before it leaves instead of every hundred or so. In addition, they have that awesome USB device you can hook to them and fine-tune and calibrate them yourself if you want. That's something no other company has and I'm eager to try it.

kfreels wrote in post #16470109
Actually Sigma did have a problem and pretty much admitted as much when they announced their new lines with the new QC procedures. But it was really only a few select lenses where there were problems. I haven't seen any more complaints on the 10-20 or the 70-200 f2.8 than any other lens. But that 30mm f1.4 sure had a lot of issues and I got two in a row that were bad. Still - it didn't cost me anything to ship it back. Eventually I got a good one and it was fine ever since. Adorama was even to the point where if you bought this lens, they would test before shipping if you asked. Then you could save a lot of hassle and they saved shipping charges.

But the new models I believe are much better. They use the new QC procedures that actually tests each lens before it leaves instead of every hundred or so. In addition, they have that awesome USB device you can hook to them and fine-tune and calibrate them yourself if you want. That's something no other company has and I'm eager to try it.

Looks like you have the older Sigma. I have one also. The focus issues on that version are well known. The new Sigma f/1.4 Art is a completely different lens and a significant improvement.

jjaenagle wrote in post #16467703
just wait till the 35L mark II comes out

Yeah, just wait and get knocked over with the price tag

mwsilver wrote in post #16470154
Looks like you have the older Sigma. I have one also. The focus issues on that version are well known. The new Sigma f/1.4 Art is a completely different lens and a significant improvement.

Yep. I do. I know the new version is supposed to be a lot better AND supports the USB dock. Seriously thinking of upgrading. But really - I'm very happy with the one I have. It took a couple tries but hey - look at the money I saved. Of course what I REALLY want is that 16-35 f1.8.

kfreels wrote in post #16470359
Yep. I do. I know the new version is supposed to be a lot better AND supports the USB dock. Seriously thinking of upgrading. But really - I'm very happy with the one I have. It took a couple tries but hey - look at the money I saved. Of course what I REALLY want is that 16-35 f1.8.

I assume you mean the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, although 16-35 would be even cooler!

kfreels wrote in post #16470109
But the new models I believe are much better. They use the new QC procedures that actually tests each lens before it leaves instead of every hundred or so.

Encouraging to learn that Sigma is trying much harder...first the flaking off of the crackly outside finish has been addressed, and now the AF performance.

Sigma is trying really hard and succeeding... occasionally...

The new 35 Art is the prime example (pardon me for the pun), with the niggling focusing problem in artificial light. But it is a hell of a lens.

I ordered the Sigma 8-16 today, because Canon has nothing like this in a non-fish-eye. I will report once I get it.

I grant you that the Tamron 24-70 VC could be close in IQ to the EF 24-70 L MkII. Well buy once, cry once... the AF is lightning fast.

If Canon has the leading copy, I'll stick with it. If not, I will not...

mwsilver wrote in post #16470396
I assume you mean the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8, although 16-35 would be even cooler!

lol. yep. sorry. happy fingers.

You have to compare lens by lens.

All the brands make some lenses to be top notch and some to a price point.

At the end of the day, equipment choices are very personal. They depend on what you shoot. They depend on biases like brand loyalty, lens variations, resale value and sample variation.

Sigma updates their lenses more often than canon. Your resale value would usually suffer more with sigma. Some of the canon L lenses stayed around for 20 years. 70-200 f/4 is one of them.

Quality control doesn't seem like a strong suit with either manufacturer. If you compare three samples of the same lens, they'll be different - some sharper and some softer.

If you buy a used canon L lens, you'll probably resell it for same money or minimal loss. With third party it's more of a gamble.

In the end, getting hung up on lenses is not going to improve your photography. Get the lens for its focal length and aperture, and just shoot. If you worry about canon vs sigma you won't sleep until you try all of them. But you'll waste time obsessing with gear instead of taking pictures.

kfreels wrote in post #16470109
Actually Sigma did have a problem and pretty much admitted as much ......Adorama was even to the point where if you bought this lens, they would test before shipping if you asked. Then you could save a lot of hassle and they saved shipping charges.

But the new models I believe are much better. They use the new QC procedures that actually tests each lens before it leaves instead of every hundred or so.

Good news, huh??!