I think I'm in Love again

Going by what I read on these boards this is a very sharp lens although a few copies do front focus at certain distances. I'd definitely check for front-focus issues if I were you.

I am definitely in love with mine! I also own a canon 50mm f/1.4 and a 24L, which are not seeing much time on my camera due to the Sigma. I was careful to test the one I purchased in store.

I think the Sigma is every bit as sharp as my 24L, maybe even a touch sharper in the corners. The 24mm has a slight edge in color rendition, but not by much. The Sigma just plain blows away my 50mm, as it really needs f/2 to catch up with the other two lenses in sharpness.

So... I agree with the others that you may have the dreaded focus issues. If you have the patience to deal with Sigma I think they will fix you right up - regardless of the warranty period. Good luck!

Here are a few pictures taken with the Sigma yesterday - I think it actually does alright with landscapes too:

ef2 wrote in post #5614333
Use ZoomBrowser EX

sorry but exactly how do you show the focus points using zoom browser? i've been trying for a long time and still cant find the option to show focus points. thanks

**edit**
sorry i found it.
view image and then when the image viewer opens for that image go to VIEW > FOCUS POINTS.
was gonna delete this post but if someone else cant well that's how i did it.

ok. im gone now.

Those are lovely images, Gravy. They're just crying out for some HDR though

Contivity wrote in post #5616316
do you know if Image Browser (MAC) would also do that?

It should. From what I've read, they're basically the same program. I look at AF points by clicking the little AF Point icon in the toolbar.

Take some shots on a tripod before you really diagnose focussing issues. I have often caught myself locking focus then slowly creeping forward before pressing the shutter.

User error aside, my version is great!

The focusing sensor is much larger than the box that is highlighted. The fly shot means that the sensor that covers the area around the LED indicator box would have chosen the best focus based on contrast. The fly has less contrast around it than does the box edge in regards to the background light.

On the sign one, the first a would have a bit more contrast than the second, but it is tough to tell.

Once I got the 85mm f/1.2, I learned what it meant to have razor thin DOF, and it changed my perspective on what/how to focus.

Try a more controlled environment with that lens. I like using my yard as a huge focusing chart. I put a high contrast object in the yard, focus on it, then look to see the focal plane by what grass is in focus. Using a grassy yard with objects in it gives you an appreciation of the DOF if nothing else. The grass won't cause any misfocusing because it is all uniform and doesn't have alot of contrast to it.

For the folks (like me) that almost always focus on the center AF point and then recompose the shot, putting the AF points on an image in ZoomBrowser is a bit misleading.

I tried 4 copies of this lens and they all front focussed at subject distances of about 6-8 feet.

Before someone swoops in and mentions thin dof the tests were at a variety of apertures and also I had the 85L at the time and could get sharp correctly focussed shots at f1.2 on that.

This lens annoys me because it is brilliant when it works but there are known focussing issues with it and many newbies will assume it is their own incompetence.

But sometimes, isn't it possible that many people immediately point to front or back focusing issues when it could be that the test shots were less than ideal, and they might have had inexperience around "the red square is just the center of the AF sensor in that location, it really is much larger than that"?

Do some have issues? Definitely, but each and every case needs looked at individually. In this case, I think the test shots are not good enough candidates for determining this.

ipschoser1 wrote in post #5617234
For the folks (like me) that almost always focus on the center AF point and then recompose the shot, putting the AF points on an image in ZoomBrowser is a bit misleading.

Good point. I always recompose, but I always assume when reviewing that I focused at center!

Thx for all the replies! I did a more controlled test today.

I lined up three batteries on a plane 45 degrees to the camera lens, each one about 1 inch apart. Set to Av mode, f/1.4, mirror lock up, 2 second timer, camera rested on a table. And I "reset" the AF each time, by focussing somewhere far away, before refocusing with the centre dot on the middle line of the middle battery.

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