New Sigma 35mm 1.4 bokeh

anotherMike wrote:

I think the biggest issue in discussing bokeh is that it's so scene dependent. Just because one test site / poster / reviewer says they like the bokeh or don't like the bokeh doesn't mean that's the correct answer for every potential scene all the time.

So I think if one is truly putting bokeh as a priority that person needs to rent/borrow/evaluate one in their own shooting style to see how it works for them.

As far as my personal opinion goes, I'm not a bokeh-priority shooter as I use the 35mm length for landscape or studio work. However, if I were to roughly categorize the 35's, the Zeiss 35/1.4 has the best bokeh, but at the same time, the weakest wide open sharpness and contrast.

The Sigma 35/1.4 is to my eyes clearly designed for sharpness and clarity, and would have relatively speaking the weakest bokeh of the 35's, but (by far) the best sharpness at the wide open apertures and the best sharpness even stopped down (it has no peer as a landscape or studio lens - so even if one has no use for the 1.4 aperture, its performance for landscape even at f/8 is better than anything else, and noticeably so, on a D800E).