Sony 35mm 1.8 vs Sony 40mm 2.5 G vs Sigma 35mm f2

[sidiphotos]

I'm looking to buy a 35mm lens for the A7C for everyday family photos and I'm torn across these three lenses.

My investigation led me to the following summary

Sony 35mm 1.8:

• Good quality
• Lightweight
• Very fast AF
• Sometimes busy bokeh

Sigma 35mm f2:

• Best build quality
• Aperture ring
• Slightly better bokeh
• Good AF
• Heaviest

Sony 40mm 2.5:

• The worse of three in IQ
• Blazing fast AF
• Smallest package

Dustin Abbot and Fred Miranda recommend the Sigma i35 f2 the most but my brain keeps telling me the Sony 35mm 1.8 will be the safest option.

Can anyone offer their opinion?

 

[grsnovi]

...but my brain keeps telling me the Sony 35mm 1.8 will be the safest option.

That's what Sony wants you to think - they'd be perfectly happy if you only ever put Sony lenses on your Sony camera body.

It sounds to me as if they have convinced you.

Maybe you could rent the Sigma and see for yourself?

Or take a hard look at your own shooting requirements. What do you value the most?

 

[amit190]

Im in the same boat ,looking for thr perfect compact 35mm for the a7c.

I got the sigma 35mm f2 because many top reviewers say it is the best in class .

However , I returned it after 2 weeks. It wasnt as sharp as my other lenses ,AF is less acurate and eye AF wont lock instantly,which is annoying since the a7c has such a good AF system. I havent noticed anything special about it.

It is quite heavy but manageable .

I ordered sony 35mm 1.8 ,sony 35mm 2.8 and samyang 35mm 1.8 . Will give them a try.

 

[Lichtspiel]

I am pretty happy with the Samyang 35/1.8. It doesn't stand out in anything, but the sum of it's parts is pretty convincing: Low price, good IQ, decent bokeh, light weight. One can also re-purpose it's MF ring to do apertures, although I don't use that functionality.

One may critique it's build quality, but there isn't anything wrong with plastic, and it's great if you want something light and fairly small.

 

[QuietOC]

I'm looking to buy a 35mm lens for the A7C for everyday family photos and I'm torn across these three lenses.

My investigation led me to the following summary

Sony 35mm 1.8:

• Good quality
• Lightweight
• Very fast AF
• Sometimes busy bokeh

Sigma 35mm f2:

• Best build quality
• Aperture ring
• Slightly better bokeh
• Good AF
• Heaviest

Sony 40mm 2.5:

• The worse of three in IQ
• Blazing fast AF
• Smallest package

Dustin Abbot and Fred Miranda recommend the Sigma i35 f2 the most but my brain keeps telling me the Sony 35mm 1.8 will be the safest option.

Can anyone offer their opinion?

I have all of those. I've somehow refrained from buying the Yongnuo YN35 F2S and Viltrox 35mm F1.8. I've tried all the F2.8 ones too.

FE 1.8/35 -- weird video lens
35/2 -- maybe portrait?
40 G -- landscape lens

Because of the minimal breathing the FE 1.8/35 smokes the others in AF performance if you are focusing on something out of the center of the frame. The 40 G may have slightly faster motors. The Sigma and Samyang are slower.

The Sigma gives smoother backgrounds than either of the Sonys, but rather similar to the Samyang 35mm F1.8.

I am not a fan of any of these as far as handling. I prefer non-metallic and less mass.

 

[newdom]

I'm looking to buy a 35mm lens for the A7C for everyday family photos and I'm torn across these three lenses.

My investigation led me to the following summary

Sony 35mm 1.8:

• Good quality
• Lightweight
• Very fast AF
• Sometimes busy bokeh

Sigma 35mm f2:

• Best build quality
• Aperture ring
• Slightly better bokeh
• Good AF
• Heaviest

Sony 40mm 2.5:

• The worse of three in IQ
• Blazing fast AF
• Smallest package

Dustin Abbot and Fred Miranda recommend the Sigma i35 f2 the most but my brain keeps telling me the Sony 35mm 1.8 will be the safest option.

Can anyone offer their opinion?

This has been discussed so many times here In short they're all more similar than different, including the Samyang 35/1.8 that you haven't mentioned. You'd probably be hard pressed to tell much of a difference between any of them without pixel peeping (apart from inherent aperture differences of the 40G). They each have their strong and weak points, so it really comes down to what your priorities are:

Video: Sony 35/1.8, because of the minimal focus breathing.

Ultimate IQ/Rendering: Sigma 35/2

Build Quality/Longevity: Sigma 35/2

Size/Weight: 40G

Autofocus: 40G

Cost: Samyang 35/1.8

There's not really any right or wrong answer I've had all of these lenses multiple times, my personal favourite is the Sigma because of the lovely bokeh/rendering. I didn't like the 40G but I do really like the 50G - the slightly longer focal length makes up for the aperture and you get really nice separation/bokeh/rendering that I found lacking in the 40G.

 

[jor23]

always get native lenses. period.

if Sony doesn't have what you needed at the moment, get something else but know that it will be replaced sooner or later.

 

[newdom]

always get native lenses. period.

if Sony doesn't have what you needed at the moment, get something else but know that it will be replaced sooner or later.

This needs a downvote button.

 

[sidius_wolf]

How are you getting on with the Sonys?

 

[sidius_wolf]

How do you find the AF of the Sony 35mm 1.8 vs the Sigma i35 then?

 

[amit190]

How are you getting on with the Sonys?

Still waiting for them.

But I played a little with the fe 35mm 1.8 in store and liked it better then the sigma.

I hope the 35mm 2.8 will be as good as my 55mm .

 

[sidius_wolf]

What do you prefer about the Sony lens over Sigma? Just what you said above?

 

[Aberaeron]

I have the Sony 35mm f1.8 and it happens to be my most use lens for shooting. It’s fine. However I prefer the actual design of the Sigma Contemporary series of compact primes and if I were in the market currently I would seriously look at what they offer as a series of four. They offer a choice of two 24mm of f2.0 and f3.5 repectively. The 35, 45, 60 and 90mm, all with the same design.

If I could justify it [I can’t, to be sensible] I would replace whatever current equivalent lenses I have for all of these, except for limiting to one of the two available 24mm lenses.

 

[sidiphotos]

I normally value lenses with good image quality and decent AF. Especially when it comes to an everyday lens - mostly shooting family, going out for walks around town etc.

 

[sidiphotos]

Do you actually have a favourite out of the three?

 

[sidiphotos]

What is it you prefer about the design of the Sigma i series of lenses?

 

[QuietOC]

How do you find the AF of the Sony 35mm 1.8 vs the Sigma i35 then?

Testing them back-to-back Sony is definitely quicker, but even the slow Tamron is fine for my uses.

 

[QuietOC]

Do you actually have a favourite out of the three?

No, I kind of regret buying all of them.

 

[sidiphotos]

If you had to score the AF out of 10 for each lens, what would you give them?

I'm trying to see how close you think the Sigma and Sony are.

 

[sidiphotos]

Really, what do you regret it? Is there a 35mm you'd be happy with?