A Poor Man's short list (help me find the non-Canon gems)!

If you were to suggest one or two inexpensive Canon mount lenses, what would they be? I love my Sigma 70mm macro and my Sigma 85mm. Which the 85mm isn'tinexpensive compared to the Canon 85mm 1.8 but compared to the Canon 85L it is! My Tamron 17-50mm is really nice but if I had to choose only two, the Sigma's win!

I just wonder if there are other hidden gems out there that are much less expensive compared to some of the Canon lenses.

I am considering selling my Canon 35L and getting the Sigma 30mm but I have read so many mixed reviews on that lens.

Right after I posted this, I saw Bryan

Just as a side note, I own the Canon 85mm f/1.8, the Canon 50mm f/1.4, and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. I

That is not a side note, Sean ...it is the main note! I had you in mind the entire time reading the reviews and looking at photos taken online with the 30mm. You are what makes me look very closely at this lens. There are some unfavorable reviews out there for it but then again, there are for almost every lens ever produced!


I also plan on re-purchasing the 50mm 1.4 and eventually will go back to the Canon 85mm.


I am just not sure if I will keep my 7d or go to maybe a 5d which of course makes quite a difference in what lenses to choose!

Nikon 55mm f/2.8 with EF adapter, used from KEH.com for $100.

After purchasing the 50mm and 85mm lenses, I realized that when I was needing a wide aperture, I was typically needing a wider angle of view (shorter focal length) than what those two lenses provided. I tried the Canon 35mm f/2, but was ultimately unhappy with the image quality at the wider apertures. The Sigma has proved the most useful prime in my bag. Of course, it

My only experience with a Sigma was bad. It was a 24 - 70 f2.8. It seems that everyone that goes with Sigma seems to have to go through a copy or two to get a good one. I think I remember you doing that with your 85. Bryan has had this issue as well. Once you have tested and gone through a copy or two you seem to have a great copy.


Mark

@ Mark - This is very true but I also went thru it on my Canon 135L. So, I guess no company is completely flawless on every lens. I

I still have my first copy of the Sigma 50mm f1.4. It does have a +13 MFA, while the Canon lenses I have don't need more than +5. Also the 5 year warranty is great.


Anyway about cheap lenses: I looked at the 28mm f2.8 the other day. I thought it was a piece of junk, untill I looked up and saw Bryans ISO-crops. Wow! And it's even a Canon lens! To me it definitely seems like a hidden gem. I never heard of anyone using it...


And Denise as you say, the Tamron is great, but obviously the primes are much better.

I still have my first copy of the Sigma 50mm f1.4. It does have a +13 MFA, while the Canon lenses I have don't need more than +5. Also the 5 year warranty is great.


Anyway about cheap lenses: I looked at the 28mm f2.8 the other day. I thought it was a piece of junk, untill I looked up and saw Bryans ISO-crops. Wow! And it's even a Canon lens! To me it definitely seems like a hidden gem. I never heard of anyone using it...


And Denise as you say, the Tamron is great, but obviously the primes are much better.

I am curious about the Sigma 50mm 1.4 which I haven

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by ddt0725

I am curious about the Sigma 50mm 1.4 which I haven't gotten a chance yet to look closely at.

---

I replaced my Canon EF 50/1.4 with the Sigma 50/1.4 because of bokeh, flare, distortion, andvignetting. I like it a lot better, even though itfeels like the Sigma autofocus is a lot slower and less accurate. I got mine used for $350. I'd really prefer the EF 50/1.2, of course.

If you

I would second the recommendation for Samyang. I

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Dr Croubie

I've ordered an AF/EMF chip off ebay to go with it, so at least i can get some exif data on it.

---

Could someone provide a link for me as to what this is? I'm clueless, I mean is it something you put on every non-canon mountable lens? Are they expensive or do they go up in price depending on size?

Basically, the way the canon AF system works, is that the camera measures whether the image is in focus or not.


If not, it tells the lens to move forward or back, then the camera measures again.


Once the camera says the image is perfectly focussed, it tells the lens to stop moving its motor.


Then the camera says to the lens 'ok, i'm in focus', and the lens says 'ok' back to the camera, then the camera lights up the red square and/or beeps.


.


Totally stupid way of doing things, because it's the camera that detects whether it's in focus, but if you don't have an EF lens with proper contacts, then the camera knows it's in focus but won't tell you with the red square or beep.


.


So the AF chips you get off ebay (down to $3, up to $30 or so) just pretend to be a lens so the camera tells you that it's in focus with the red square or beep. If you buy an M42 / Nikon / PentaxK / Exacta / Pentacon6 / OlympusOM / whatever adapter to use Manual Focus lenses on your Canon, you can buy them with a chip (or put one on yourself).


.


With the exif, when the camera writes the image file, it asks the lens what model, focal length, aperture, distance to subject, whatever to write in the EXIF data.


Cheap AF chips fix the data to 50mm f/1.4 or something. The one i've bought is a $23 la-di-dah version, programmable 1-65500mm and f/1.0-64 or something. Still not sure if i can program the lens model name in (don't think so), but it's a start.


Other bonuses of the more expensive one is that apparently E-TTL works, as does 'focus trap' (ie, hold shutter button, turn ring and/or wait for object to move into focus, then it'll snap the shutter when it is).


The one I got is from some guy in Lithuania, claims to have invented them or something, the cheaper ones from China are ripoffs or earlier versions. Whether that's true I don't care, but i've just got one to see how it goes, i might consier others for my M42, P6, and lensbaby later on...


.


oh yeah, and here's the one i bought: www.ebay.com.au/.../270664939720

Not much to add other than my FD 35mm f/2.0 is my favorite prime on 1.6 in terms of focal length and the IQ is quite good. I think I slightly prefer the 35mm focal length to 30mm, but I