Sigma 1.4 Art purchase

I'm going to be buying a Sigma 1.4 Art fairly soon. As with a lot of Sigma lenses, I know that the chances of getting a back/front focus copy are higher than the Canon equivalent but would anyone like to put a percentage figure on the number of bad ones sold?

The reason I ask is that it will affect where I purchase the lens from. The two cheapest prices are from non-specialist camera outlets where returning a dodgy copy for replacement might be less straightforward. Alternatively I can buy from a large specialist camera store about 30 miles from me but will be paying 10% more.

Why are Sigma still kicking out poor copies when their good lenses are really good?

As they are the Art range you can purchase the USB dock. It will let you do any adjustments to correct focusing issues yourself. I did it with my Sigma 150-600mm and got it sharp. Plenty of videos on how to do it.

Vendee wrote in post #18829364
Why are Sigma still kicking out poor copies when their good lenses are really good?

What makes you think this is the current situation? I think this may have been true 7 or 8 years ago but my experience, 2 lenses recent, indicate that Sigma has been good about attacking the issue. My most recent purchase was the 17-70 which was fine out of the box, although I have the dock.

You don’t mention the focal length of the lens but I would suggest you explore the offerings at Adorama. With most of the Sigma offerings, they generally offer a “kit” that includes the dock at minimal if any cost.

I am certain the answer is 23%.

filam wrote in post #18829370
As they are the Art range you can purchase the USB dock. It will let you do any adjustments to correct focusing issues yourself. I did it with my Sigma 150-600mm and got it sharp. Plenty of videos on how to do it.

I can understand the concept of buying the dock to perform any software updates but I don't see why I should have to buy a dock to bring the lens up to the standard it should have been when leaving the factory.

John from PA wrote in post #18829434
What makes you think this is the current situation? I think this may have been true 7 or 8 years ago but my experience, 2 lenses recent, indiacte that Sigma has been good about attacking the issue. My most recent purchase was the 17-70 which was fine out of the box, although I have the dock.

You don’t mention the focal length of the lens but I would suggest you explore the offerings at Adorama. With most of the Sigma offerings, they generally offer a “kit” that includes the dock at minimal if any cost.

Sorry, I was quite tired when I posted. It was the 35mm f1.4 Art. I'm in the UK so as much as I would like the Adorama prices, I need to be buying closer to home.

Regarding why I think that Sigma quality is still an issue......? Well I still read recent owners reviews where they are having problems. I acknowledge that people are more likely to leave a review if they are unhappy with something. I was just trying to gauge the probability of getting a poor copy. If it were a 1 in 25 chance I would be fine with that. If it were 1 in 10, I would be more wary. I know you can return the lens if there is an issue, I just don't want that hassle. I want it to work perfectly right out of the box. I did own a Sigma 17-50 on a crop some years ago and it was just fine. At that time there were quality issues with Sigma. I just thought that they would have put all those problems to bed by now give how good optically the Art series is.

I know it's not the focal length you are considering, but my Sigma 85 1.4 ART has been tack sharp since the day I bought it, without any adjustments at all.

I would have to be saving a substantial amount to consider buying from a "dodgy" shop. Say, 100-150 bucks off what a Sig 35A goes for. Just not worth the hassle. Then, I'd have to wonder why such a big savings?

I also think the focusing thing is overblown. The dockis more for new camera compatibility issues than odd focusing problems. My sigma is no different than my canon lenses.

That's all I got.

Personally with a 6D I would not worry about the issue and just tweak the body using the MFA feature.

All my recent purchases have been very good and adjustment has been driven by my gear, not the lens. In the case of my 17-70 Art, I tweaked the lens (with dock) for my 60D and then tweaked my 80D to match the lens. The lens only needed adjustment at the very close range, the other three ranges were fine.

I also think you’ll find that the 35mm is less susceptible to focusing issues anyway. I would be more concerned about making some comparisons of vignetting, since a Canon camera can’t do any corrections for peripheral related issues on a 3rd party lens.

Vendee wrote in post #18829555
I can understand the concept of buying the dock to perform any software updates but I don't see why I should have to buy a dock to bring the lens up to the standard it should have been when leaving the factory.

Being third party lens there could be Tolerance differences between the body and lens. you'll be lucky if you get it spot on

Left Handed Brisket wrote in post #18829634
I would have to be saving a substantial amount to consider buying from a "dodgy" shop. Say, 100-150 bucks off what a Sig 35A goes for. Just not worth the hassle. Then, I'd have to wonder why such a big savings?

I also think the focusing thing is overblown. The dockis more for new camera compatibility issues than odd focusing problems. My sigma is no different than my canon lenses.

That's all I got.

I didn't say any of the shops were dodgy. One is the UK's largest electrical retailer, the other was Amazon. Those two are 10% cheaper than the dedicated camera store 30 miles from me. I'm leaning towards Amazon at the moment because I think they are quite good about returning faulty items. Incidentally, is there anyone here using this lens on an EOS 3 film body? I've read elsewhere that they are compatible but it would be nice to hear from people here.

John from PA wrote in post #18829641
Personally with a 6D I would not worry about the issue and just tweak the body using the MFA feature.

All my recent purchases have been very good and adjustment has been driven by my gear, not the lens. In the case of my 17-70 Art, I tweaked the lens (with dock) for my 60D and then tweaked my 80D to match the lens. The lens only needed adjustment at the very close range, the other three ranges were fine.

I also think you’ll find that the 35mm is less susceptible to focusing issues anyway. I would be more concerned about making some comparisons of vignetting, since a Canon camera can’t do any corrections for peripheral related issues on a 3rd party lens.

Thanks for that. I've never had a 3rd party lens on my 6D and wasn't sure if the Sigma would MFA like a Canon lens. I'm not worried about vignetting on the 6D because Photoshop/ACR will take care of that. Vignetting on my EOS 3 would be harder to deal with in my darkroom

filam wrote in post #18829728
Being third party lens there could be Tolerance differences between the body and lens. you'll be lucky if you get it spot on

Actually with the Sigma dock compatible lenses I find the opposite to be true. With the dock you can essentially adjust the lens over four separate and distinct ranges of focus distance.

I read dodgy returns as dodgy retailers. These days, at least over here, they go hand in hand. Any retailer worth a damn is going to have a simple no questions asked 2 week return policy.

Have you asked the specialist retail store how close they can get to Amazon prices? Or maybe they can give your camera a thorough cleaning while you are there? Can't hurt to call them up and ask.