Sigma 35mm F1.4 Art DG HSM Lens for Nikon

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Within the last month the focus has become soft and difficult to nail. Ive been a photographer for 8+ years now so this isnt user error. I believe the lens is defective. I shouldnt have to have it repaired after only buying it two months ago.

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I was scared. Investing in a new lens, as a photographer, is always a jump, especially when you stray from your beloved name brand. This is by far, one of the best lenses I own. The colors, the depth of field, the range. Whether Im shooting close quarters indoors, portraits in the woods at golden hour, my son in the backyard, or adventuring in the desert, I reach for this baby every. time. Theres a comfortable weight and build, giving a very solid and sturdy feel. The lens fits snug to my D750, and together, the three of us can accomplish anything. Make sure you take the time to fine-tune her to your body. Shes a little touchy when you shoot wide open. If youre not comfortable taking advantage of the f/1.4 capability, this may not be the lens for you.

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I have used this lens for both the Canon and Nikon mount, on the 5DmkII and D300 respectively. The lens focuses quickly and quietly (at least in some part due to what its attached to). DOF is super narrow at 1.4, bokeh is reasonably soft and pleasing without looking harsh like cheaper lenses. Fit and finish is excellent and the lens is sharp in the corners and isnt susceptible to CA or other artifacts of less expensive lenses. Problems: Canon mount: None, its as good as an L-lens, it doesnt have weather sealing if thats a huge deal for you. Nikon mount: My lens front focused. I confirmed this by building an impromptu front/back focusing rig on my dinner table. Sigmas CS was very snarky and rude and essentially blamed my technique and camera and offered to adjust the lens but said it wouldnt be worth it because its the camera. I had my D300 adjusted and cleaned by Nikon, that allowed me to finally dial the camera in to fix the front focus issue, but close to the limit of what the body allows for (16) indicating that even at its best the lens wasnt truly at 0. Testing it out on other Nikon bodies D600 and D800 yielded similar results. Its not a huge deal, since it can now be corrected, but the lens didnt come properly calibrated from the factory. What its for: I like it as a great walkaround lens and for portraits. I use it almost as much as my 50mm 1.4 on my MkII and as a 50mm equivalent for my D300 due to the crop factor. Id dial the lens in with MF adjustment when you first get it to make sure its properly calibrated, and buy it where you can return/exchange it instead of from a retailer that requires you to deal with Sigma.

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Using this with my Nikon D810, and it is such a spectacular performer. Very fast focus, with pristine clarity. It has reinvigorated my love of photography, and is a beautiful compliment to the D810. I like the added weight, and the frame is solid. I had no problems with focus or performance right out of the box. I wanted to test it out before getting the USB dock, and for now, its not required.

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Quality of this lens is top notch - I finally have a portrait lens to add to my collection. The Bokeh is fantastic and one of the first things I noticed shooting with it for the first time. One word of caution - when doing portraits just be aware this lens will pick up every detail of a persons face or other subject - its that sharp. Perfect portrait lens with a tight depth of focus - subjects further away on poor lighting conditions are not this lens strong points but maybe I just need to spend more time with the lens to work out some of this. Ill update my review after I spend a few more months with it.

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I absolutely love this lens! Im a professional photographer and was looking for a Sharp 35 mm lens! Havent used my other lens since I purchased this one! Worth every penny

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I plan on updating this review once Ive spent more time using this lens but so far so good! Im currently using this lens with my Nikon D5200 and it works great! Im hoping to finally upgrade to a newer body model within the next year and I think doing so would inhance the quality of my images even more. Its exactly what I had hoped for and it gives me the images Ive been wanting so badly. I think the one downside is that the lens is metal. Dont get me wrong, it looks and feels amazing, but its so heavy! The lens weighs more than my camera so it will take my hands some time to adjust to it. Its not a big deal to me so I dont mind too much.

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I love this lens! Very crisp. I am actually at the point where Id like to sell off my Nikon lenses and replace them with Sigma ART lenses. It took me a while to make myself start buying "off brand" lenses. SInce "name" brand ones are cost prohibitive most of the time, I started considering them more. So glad I gave them a chance. I thought it would feel cheap and flimsy. This thing is pretty solid and has a little heft to it. I use it with my Nikon D800.

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I’m a professional photographer who has heard so much hype about this lens for years so I finally bought it. I do lot recommend it at all, unfortunately. The auto focus was off from the second I put it on my full frame body. I spent hours calibrating it just to still get soft, average images. I much prefer nikon’s 1.8 lens that I always get sharp images with and are much more affordable. It wasn’t worth the $800 price tag for just okay images, personally but the build and materials of the lens were excellent it just isn’t for me. The 1.4 was also impressive just the focusing made me return it right away.

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This is the third of the highest quality prime lenses that I have acquired, and the best. The clarity of the images are simply stunning. Especially if you are shooting with high megapixels (i.e. 16 mp and up), this lens will likely allow your camera deliver image clarity you have just not seen before. I have been especially amazed by depth of field aspects of this lens. Of course at the 1.4 end, you can get a shallow dof and with nice bokeh. But in the middle ranges of the f settings, you can achieve quite wide depth of field. Gives a wide range of artistic opportunity. The build is great: it is solid, very tight, the autofocus works quickly. Immediately this has become the primary lens I use for every day photography.

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