SIGMA 30 f/1.4 - Your Experience?

Just curious about the outcome ...

Just got my second copy in a EF mount, the first one was on Zuiko mount. Perfect so far, so glad I got it again...Hmmm I guess I'm just lucky with the 30's

I have always fancied a Canon 35F1.4 but the cost has kept me from jumping on it, i am happy with my sigma 20F1.8 so i might pick one of these up to see if it can tide me over until the canon one is within my reach.

Chris

Plan to buy one very soon. The QC/calibration issues are what have had me on the fence.

I voted for the multiple times, even though mine was only calibrated once. I have owned 3 of them. The first two front focused so horribly the lens was unusable. My third one had a very mild backfocus problem that was fixed upon a single calibration. Now that I have a spot on one, though, it's extremely good.

In fact, it's about as good as the 35L...so for me, it was worth the pain in the rear to get a good one for the $900 in savings.

I would not buy one and it has nothing to do with avoiding a headache.

I don't own one but I'm looking to buy one. I'm either going to buy new from a local store or try to find a used one with no focusing issues so I don't have to worry about all the problems I've read about.

I don't own one and I am not considering buying one soon. Until now, I have been put off by the focusing issues this lens seem to have. I hope the micro-adjustment on newer cameras (like the 50D) will solve this problem. Does anyone have any experience with that?
PJ, does this poll mean that you are considering trading your 35L ?

sebr wrote in post #6871565
I don't own one and I am not considering buying one soon. Until now, I have been put off by the focusing issues this lens seem to have. I hope the micro-adjustment on newer cameras (like the 50D) will solve this problem. Does anyone have any experience with that?
PJ, does this poll mean that you are considering trading your 35L ?

No, not really. I don't remember seeing a poll like this one so I was just curious what the outcome would be. I went through my share of SIGMA 30s and unfortunately it didn't work out for me. It is unfortunate because IQ alone, I can't justify the price difference (SIGMA 30 vs. 35L), the SIGMA is very very good in that regard. Same with build quality. I own the 35L for the better MFD and AF accuracy mainly. I paid about half of what the 35L sells at B&H so I didn't mind paying a little more for AF and MFD. If a SIGMA 30 Mark II comes out though and those two things above are improved, I'll be the first in line, trust me.

My copy back focused when I first got it. I drove it out to Sigma on Long Island. They calibrated it while I ran to Starbucks (half hour). Focus was spot on, but noticed after I got home, that if they focus went to infinity, it would never come back down without my manually turning the focus ring. Took back to Long Island. They had to replace the AF motor. That was a day or so to fix, so they overnighted it back to me. Threw it on my camera, and it front focused like crazy. Drove back out to Long Island and they re-calibrated it again. Then it was perfect. So 3 total trips back to Sigma.

TaDa wrote in post #6871790
My copy back focused when I first got it. I drove it out to Sigma on Long Island. They calibrated it while I ran to Starbucks (half hour). Focus was spot on, but noticed after I got home, that if they focus went to infinity, it would never come back down without my manually turning the focus ring. Took back to Long Island. They had to replace the AF motor. That was a day or so to fix, so they overnighted it back to me. Threw it on my camera, and it front focused like crazy. Drove back out to Long Island and they re-calibrated it again. Then it was perfect. So 3 total trips back to Sigma.

Looks like you sold it after all the trouble ...

Purely because of the move to full-frame. I will probably snag a 50mm 1.4 when my cashback comes in. I miss having a fast prime in that focal range.

Calibrated once, in Sept of 2005, IIRC. Since then, it's been one of the best lenses I've used to date. Won't sell it so long as I have APS-C.

As of note, a fellow photog locally asked me to test out his Sigma 30 that just returned from Sigma NY for calibration. Not good, here is his copy, f1.4 about 15-20 feet distance:

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How much did your kid have to pay for that view JoJo?