Need the speed? Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM in-depth review

I have purchased the sigma 18-35 f1.8 lens a week ago in a Pentax mount.
My current DSLR is a Pentax K3.
I have taken some 300 shots already.
This lens is amassing !
There are no focussing problems with my pentax K3 – the lens is very sharp wide opened at f1.8.
I have shoot some tests using a measuring tape, etc and some more : no real front focus or back focus issues.
The calibration dock will arrive in 4 weeks (free from sigma – bonus) so far I do not see the need for it.
The lens is heavy and built like a tank.
Mechanical quality is in a class of its own.
Focus is very fast and silent.
I am amazed. This is my best lens so far.
My other pentax mount lenses: sigma 10-20, sigma 30 f1.4, sigma 17-70, pentax 50 f1.4, tamron 17-50 f2.8, pentax 50-135 f2.8.
Of course when shooting wide opened the focussing is more dicey but we have to be reasonable here - this lens when used with pentax K3 really performs !

Maybe the secret is in the use of this lens on the M4/3 mount. With a couple of electronic EF to M4/3 adapters you can have a FF fov equivalent 36-70mm f1.8 and a focal reduced (near aps-c) 26-50mm f1.2 FF fov equivalent as well.

And yes it does register f1.2 and gives accurate fast AF as well.

Curious, the lens seems to perform much better on the Nikon D7100 than on the Canon 7D. I'm not comparing magnitudes--I know that those cross-platform comparisons are a no-no--, rather the performance is qualitatively difference. The Canon sample does get much sharper when stopped down, and is very even from edge-to-edge. By contrast, the D7100 sample gets (much) sharper at every FL when stopped down to f/4, and the center is much sharper than the edges, again at f/4.

I noticed that the lens tested on the D7000 performed similarly to the 7D. So, was this an unusual lens? If so, LOL, how do I get one from that batch? Or is there another explanation? My fear is that there may be significant sample variation, and with my luck I'd get on on the left end of the distribution.

I am new to this, i want to know can these lens work with any canon? like maybe the Canon PowerShot SX530 HS 16.0 MP CMOS Digital Camera

I bought this lens and the Sony A-mount to E-mount adapter LA-EA3. Auto focus doesn't work. It keeps hunting. Do know you why?

Best lens on the market yet, works perfectly at 35mm on the full frame body

Hi,
Has any one had any issues with motor noise from this lens when shooting video? I have tried filming on my 70D, with autofocus engaged and using the camera's microphone; the result is sadly disappointing. The picture quality is amazing but the constant little clicks and clunks when focussing are more than annoying.

Are these noises to be expected? The Canon kit lens in comparison is beautifully silent!

Anyone tested this on a different body than a Canon? (e.g. a Nikon)
The AF could be a Canon problem...

People in the RED user forum were raving about this lens as repackaged as "G.L Optics 18-35mm T2.0 Rehoused Super Speed Zoom Lens".. physically, it looked impressive, but these shots have horrible amounts of CA and geometric distortion. Only the corrected shots look close in quality to those of my Sony 28-135 G lens, which is, for intents and purposes, perfect in terms of image quality. I just need a lens to fill the wider end of the spectrum, which there's an unfilled gap. So I heard about this lens and luckily, this review told me everything I need to know.. as a 4K shooter, I must look elsewhere. This lens gives you what you pay for, but not magically more than that.

Great, i just ordered this lens for my 60D because i do a lot of low light work. Gonna test it out today when i get it. Guess i should have read the review here first. Anyone DON'T have issues with a 60D ?

Bought this lens and spent my whole weekend trying to adjust the AF. the lens keeps front focus on wide angle. Went to my dealer and got a 2nd copy and same result. The problem is not the adjustment, it's repeatability. Exchange the 2nd copy for a EFS 17-55 and it works great straight to of the box. After the issue with Nikon D600 and oil leak, DPR should spend some time on the reliability subject before giving Gold award.

does this lens works with the sony a6000, with autofocus and all the other features? or does it needs an adaptator for the a6000?
I'm new to the camera world

If the Sigma 18-35 would be one out of three in the APS-C holy trinity, what would the other two be? Any suggestions?

" What's more, it will also offer effectively the same light-gathering capability as an F2.8 lens on full frame. By this we mean that it will be able to project an image that's just over twice as bright onto a sensor that's slightly less than half the area, meaning the same total amount of light is used to capture the image."

If I understand Tony Northrup right it does not have the same light-gathering capability as FF 2.8 at the same Iso. There will be more noise, right?

Wish I could help you but I have no experience with Canon, or how the lens interfaces with canon. My cameras are nikons and none of them do what you describe.

Hello,
I just received my new Sigma 18-35 1.8 A and i noticed that the focus sound on live view on my T4i is not quite as the non-live view focus, do you have the same thing with your lens or my lens has a problem?

It makes tiny clicking sounds while focusing, but when i click on the shutter button in live mode it makes a very noticeable sound while trying to hunt the focus and the screen flickering to get the focus work, please try this on yours and feed me back as if a this normal behavior or not,
i have tried this on AF tracking, single and multiple and it gives the same results

Thank you,

PLUS: That SIGMA dare to do a zoom with an F 1.8 CONS: That it covers such a very limited range.

I use this on Canon 70d and cannot get the auto focus to work in a friendly way. I can easily point the focus one one point and have the camera confirm, but focus on a different point. When I look at the picture I see the focus point where expected, but focus is somewhere else. So problem of consistency is more than soft images when pointing to the target, the camera might focus o something else entirely.

1. Do anyone know the latest firmware for the 18-35 Canon lens?
2. If I get USB dock to try to adjust focus (although it will not help with focus point errors most likely). When I set the distance, is the distance from the lens tip or camera body?
3. The only way to focus seem to be live view, but there it might front focus a little. Will the in lens adjustment work equally regardless of PDAF or Live View?

Hi Andy:
Great review.
I have checked a few other places and asked specifically about the af issue, and heard only great reports on the AF.
So I am going to take the plunge.
This lens is really potentially a game changer. Really, where there is plenty of light, the APS-c cameras do just as well as the full frames. It is in low light where these cameras struggle, especially now they have gone to 24 mp.
This lens gives full frame equivalent 24 to 52 mm which means that now there is a zoom lens that will cover all the sizes you need for everyday indoor photos of family and friends that is brighter than any equivalent ff zoom that I know of.
Add to that the lens is sharper even than the work horse Nikon DX 35 mm 1.8...and you have a combination that will meet or beat the best from current full frames.
It may mean a huge proportion of those who should have bought full frames will now not need to.

Green Flash

Is this worth getting on the 7100? Need a general zoom lens for my 7100 before I get some of the single focal prime lens.

Was debating between this, the 16-85 or the 18-140.

After reading many posts about 70D and Sigma 18-35mm having incosistent results I got disappointed, cause I also wanted to buy this lens to my 70D. Though I am not resident of Turkey, but I reside so I am also bonded to their rules. Here shops don't allow to test the lens before you buy. Fortunately there is demo item to test, but still not in all shops.

I asked 3 dealers and official importer of Sigma about focus issues of this combination, but all of them denied this. Telling only about pause in videos, which is also stated here in forum. They stated that problem is because lens has very high resolution so camera can't handle. But nothing about back or front focusing. For my luck one of them had demo item. and I did a test with different apertures.

And the test showed that there are issues. Then I did a simple test from short distancde and it showed back focusing issue. Would you believe - shop assistants were not even interested in the results. I suppose they are already knew.

From a different perspective!

I'm extremely tempted by this lens ... however ...

This lens has a very complex structure. What sort of issues does this raise, when considering long-term reliability, light absorption/reflection, etc.

This lens looks fantastic and if it were spec'd at true 18-35mm for FF cameras that would be awesome (because I no longer have a rebel)...but really the focal range for APS-C bodies is not 18-35, and it is not made for FF cameras due to vignetting all over the range. So why call it 18-35mm??

Very good review....and I'm relieved (if somewhat disappointed) to be hearing about other peoples AF issues. I bought this at the same time as my Canon EOS70D. For sure, its super sharp and a quality built lens. But there is definitely a compatibility issue - many of my shots were missed. This happened under all different types of lighting, slow and fast moving objects. AF was random....maybe 2 out 20 shots were what I would consider impressively sharp. The rest looked about as impressive as any modern camera phone. For me, this turned into a deal breaker...I just got fed up of missing shots. The lens is amazing when it hits it...but it just didn't happen often enough for me. Originally I thought I had a defective lens. I never did micro adjustments...but from what I can gather its not the silver bullet fix people claim. All I can say is don't expect too much from AF. In manual mode...that's another story :)

Ok - I think I may have found the solution... for shooting wide open with this lens in combination with the 70D....

1) set micro adjustment to +20 far and near
2) set camera M, P or C
3) shoot in live view mode
4) press AF button on top, select Flexizone single
5) press magnifier 3x to zoom in 10x (2x = 5x zoom)
6) half press shutter to focus
7) take photo in focus

I ave tried this at 1.8, ISO 200 in dim lit room and got sharp focus in every shot...

Works for me. Curious to hear about your experience.

Thanks.

Hi there, I recently bought the 70D and the Sigma 18-35mm....wanted to love the lens but got very frustrated about its inability to consistently get the focus right...I am still in the process of figuring out how to improve it while shooting wide open and am not done testing. However I think it may be related to a very thin focus pane in combination with the way the 70D focusses...see here for more info. http://www.dpreview.com/previews/canon-eos-70d/9 I am hesitant to buy the USB hardware for the sigma lens. Also I have already micro-adjusted the lens +20 on both near and far....I hopeI can figure out a way to solve this quickly otherwise I may end up returning the lens....it is just too frustrating to miss focus in so many shots, especially indoors....BTW - I wonder why Sigma has responded to this issue yet....

Tested again today at 18 and 35, shooting full daylight f1.8. 70d with +18 micro compensation near and far set last night. (See below.) First a couple of manual focus live view shots, then auto alternating near and far focus distance. (On all these shots I'm using "One Shot" single central focus point on the 70d.) The live view shots are very sharp, the infinity focus shots are randomly slightly soft, the near and mid focus shots were mostly very soft, very off. (The USB dock might correct this.) AI Servo did better on the mid shots, bringing most into focus, but the long shots were more randomly softer.

I can deal with the USB dock, but don't think I can justify an $800 lens that viewfinder focuses randomly. I also originally thought this would be a superb video lens, but with the sensitivity of the manual focus there's no way I could do an accurate focus pull, or even reliably focus without a lot of sweat. (Haven't tried relying on the auto focus for movies. That's a new thing.)

Played with my new 18-35 on my 70d tonight, trying to understand the focus difficulty. First, my lens required +18 near and far micro in the body to focus "correctly". (Tested by matching live view focus with viewfinder focus, then iterating with view focus.) I then simply banged off shots across the room (~25') at a clock on the wall, all at f1.8, either at 35 or 18mm, since they were the only focal lengths for which the lens was corrected. Sure enough I got random variations in focus of about +/- 2 microadjusts, (subjective scale,) regardless of focal length. Near, far, no difference.

AI servo was better, but still the occasional miss, though I think the error was perceptibly smaller. (Maybe +/- 1 micro?)

What I noticed, when manually focusing using live view, was that the difference between focused and not was an incredibly small barrel rotation. It's possible the focus motor simply doesn't have sufficient resolution. Maybe ML can come up with a dithering scheme.

Has anyone received the Nikon version of this lens from B&H or Adorama? I visited them both at the PhotoExpo in NY and both said that they have not received any yet. Yet, Sigma said that they have, hmmmm :( Got a chance to try it out though at the Sigma booth and its a beast of a lens. Can't wait to get one!

Go Sigma.

Video test of Canon 70D + new Sigma 18-35.

Loud autofocues which freezes for a moment (11s and 19s of the video). The freezing happens in every video setting.

https://vimeo.com/77078232

ISO is just a way to achieve the best SNR (noise level). Actually sensor counts the number of photons and at f1.8 APS-C sensor receives the same amount as FF sensor. If both sensors receive the same photon number they theoretically should have the same SNR (no advantage to anyone) It is still possible that internal implementation of the sensors or incorrect exposure will create some difference in actual SNR levels.

i am contemplating on buying this stuff =)

Will this lens work on my Canon Rebel T1i?

Hi Pros, this can be a good match to canon 6D? Im planning to buy 24-70mm tamron lens but its costly

Put this baby on the new Canon 70D and see if there are any autofocusing issues. The two are a match made in video heaven.

I'd have liked to see it on a D7100, to see if the better AF on the Nikon would have helped its performance. I'd hate to have a good lens that is inconsistent re AF. Other relevant issu is flare, my Sigma (17-50mm f/2.8) is not that good in that respect, this one looks a bit better (but flare is ugly when it shows, with that greenish tint that is the same as in my Sigma).

I've used this lens for a wedding and have to say that I really do not agree with the micro focussing comments in the review. It is a superb lens with amazing optical quality, a very usable f1.8 at all focal lengths, and spot-on focus in all light levels and for a wide variety of contrast levels. Out of 800 images I only had a handful that were blurred or soft focused. Maybe I've got a good one and the reviewer had a bad one, but from my own real world use it is a stunning lens!