Camera Labs

I recently bought a Canon 40D with this lens, and since I couldnt find any reviews of this Sigma here on the forum I decided to make one myself. In fact this is my first review on the Cameralabs forum, so if you think that I am missing something that would make a better review just let me know.

Here's the lens mounted on my 40D



Here's the lens at its shortest length(70mm)


Here's the lens at its longest length(24mm)




Build Quality:
The lens feels really solid and well built all around. Since it has a constant 2.8 aperture, you would expect the lens to be quite heavy. In fact it is heavy but far from uncomfortable, at least to me. The filter thread is 82mm, quite huge and this also means that you will need to spend extra cash for CPL filters. The Manual Focus ring feels really smooth as well as the zoom ring but, it feels a bit harder to turn toward the widest focal lengths (around 35mm-24mm).Contrary to other zoom lenses, this one extends toward its widest focal length and retracts when you zoom in. There’s a handy MF/AF lock which is good if you are auto focusing on your subject and don’t want to accidentally turn the Manual Focus ring while holding the lens. To switch between AF/MF you need to move the Manual Focus ring to the front(towards the end of the barrel) to lock it into AF and backwards (towards the camera) to lock it into MF.My only complaint about the build quality is that the lens suffers a bit from lens creep. If you hold the camera with the lens facing up fully extended(24mm), it retracts under its own weight to around 35mm.It is good to know that if you like to shoot low light pictures, this lens does not feature image stabilization. So even though it has a wide aperture, a monopod or a tripod is a good accessory to have with you if you are using this lens under dim conditions.


Optical Quality:
I have yet to go out and actually test the lens but at least I have taken a few shots at home. This is my first 2.8 lens and I was amazed at the shallow depth of field that it produces. So far images taken at 2.8 are a bit soft, as you should expect, but stopping down to f 4 or f5.6 will improve the overall sharpness. I will update this review soon with samples at f2.8 to show the center and corners sharpness of this lens.


Here's a sample at f2.8


1/8sec f2.8 ISO 100 70mm

Here's another at f4

1/5sec f4 ISO 100 70mm

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.

in regards to the softness... I have a Sigma 24-60 f/2.8, and yes it is fairly soft wide open... But if these are the photos you were checking sharpness with, then the reason would probably be the very long exposure.

It you wanted to test the sharpness, i would wither have it on a tripod with a self timer, or use a very fast shutterspeed.

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No guts, no glory
Canon 5D mk II, Canon 70-200 f/2.8L USM, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS USM, Canon 50mm f/1.4, Sigma 24-60 f/2.8, canon 430EX II, 2x Yongnuo YN560, Cactus v4 triggers

Flickr

I know that I shouldnt be judging sharpness with this low light shots.Once the rain stops, I will go out and test it properly.At least they were taken using a tripod and the 10 second self-timer.The tripod itself isnt really sturdy though, so thanks for your tips anyways.

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.

Nice Review Roy & I'll add up to the Canon user's review lists

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Soon.....

Thanks Adi!Hope to post some samples pics soon.

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.

Here's a sample pic of this lens wide open:



Here's a 100% crop of the above image:

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.

Just wondering: did you mix up the focal lengths in the picture? Shouldn't that be the other way around?

Nice review anyhow!

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Not sure what you mean, but as I stated before the lens extends at 24mm and retracts at 70mm.When I wrote longest and shortest length I was referring to the length of the lens itself, not the focal length.The barrel length is the longest at 24mm and shortest at 70mm.Hope I stated that clearly now.Thanks for asking

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.

No, that stated it well, I guess my knowledge of lenses was wrong. Most lenses I've seen are longest at their longest focal lengths, and shortest at wheir widest lengths. I guess this one is different (maybe due to the 2.8 design)

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I take pictures so quickly, my highschool was "Continuous High".

Don't worry, before I had this lens I thought the same.

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Canon 40D w/vertical grip
Sigma 24-70mm EX DG f2.8
Canon EF 300mm f2.8 L USM
Canon 400mm f5.6 L USM
San Disk Ultra II 4gb
Manfrotto 681B
Canon 200 EG backpack.