Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 If EX DG HSM (Canon Mount)

My Sigma Art 24-70 mm lens is my most used lens. It's my go to for high quality, beautiful images. I use it for weddings, portraits, and everything in Between. The Focus is usually spot on and crystal clear.

This lense is a total boss!! I only wish I had purchased it sooner!! It's incredible!! So easy to use! I only had small trouble focusing it one time on a macro ring shot that I didn't pack a shorter lens for. It was my first time actually using it on a shoot. But it did amazing with everything else! I definitely recommend it, it is well worth it's price tag.

A good value.

Of course the "gold standard" for a lens in the 24-70mm range is the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Series II but for some of us it's price is prohibitive.The Sigma 24mm-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical IF EX DG HSM Lens for Canon is a viable choice as are the samples from Tamron and Tokina. The Tamron, in my opinion, is also too expensive for what it is. The debatable advantage of the feature 'image stabilization' is marginal. Plus that increases the cost. And the price is the driving factor for buying this level of lens as opposed to the Canon.I have read other reviews that the Siggy was soft and not as sharp. I found that to not be the case in the one I bought. Is is as good as the Canon? No it is not, but than again it is less than half the cost.Is it good? Yes, it is and in ... MoreOf course the "gold standard" for a lens in the 24-70mm range is the Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Series II but for some of us it's price is prohibitive.The Sigma 24mm-70mm f/2.8 EX Aspherical IF EX DG HSM Lens for Canon is a viable choice as are the samples from Tamron and Tokina. The Tamron, in my opinion, is also too expensive for what it is. The debatable advantage of the feature 'image stabilization' is marginal. Plus that increases the cost. And the price is the driving factor for buying this level of lens as opposed to the Canon.I have read other reviews that the Siggy was soft and not as sharp. I found that to not be the case in the one I bought. Is is as good as the Canon? No it is not, but than again it is less than half the cost.Is it good? Yes, it is and in real world photography, in all but the most critical circumstances, you may never notice the difference.It is not weather sealed. It is heavy. It requires 82mm filters. It comes with a nice carrying case and a lens hood.On my copy the auto focus is quick and silent. It is spot on as it came out of the box on my 1D Mk III.The Siggy is a valid alternative to the Canon for most of us and a better lens than the Tokina and a better value than the Tamron.

Everyday Lens

So it's been about 2 weeks, since I got this lens and let me tell you how I felt, feel and how I use this lens. I bought this lens due to the fact that I neeeded a everyday lens for shooting, the versatility of this lens is great @ 24-70mm it is a perfect zoom range for my needs when doing street and portrait photography, all though you can use it for semi-landscape, the wideness of the lens is good enough for that matter, but 14-24mm is the best in my opinion. The lens also allows me to shoot at f2.8 when doing portrait (or any type of shooting) so my shots are sharp enough, but a nice soft touch on the skin. Initially I was going to buy the Nikkor 24-70mm but the price was just too much and I couldnt justify paying 1900+ with tax, so with that said you get a bang ... MoreSo it's been about 2 weeks, since I got this lens and let me tell you how I felt, feel and how I use this lens. I bought this lens due to the fact that I neeeded a everyday lens for shooting, the versatility of this lens is great @ 24-70mm it is a perfect zoom range for my needs when doing street and portrait photography, all though you can use it for semi-landscape, the wideness of the lens is good enough for that matter, but 14-24mm is the best in my opinion. The lens also allows me to shoot at f2.8 when doing portrait (or any type of shooting) so my shots are sharp enough, but a nice soft touch on the skin. Initially I was going to buy the Nikkor 24-70mm but the price was just too much and I couldnt justify paying 1900+ with tax, so with that said you get a bang for your buck with this Sigma lens. Now let's talk about the cons of this lens. I noticed that the lens is a little heavy at first for a everyday lens, but I got use to the weight, cause after shooting with a 70-200mm lens the Sigma lens felt like nothing compared. I had also noticed that the autofocus is a bit louder than Nikkor lens that I have. Another con about this lens was the fact that I had to fine tune the lens with my camera, what I mean is that, at first when shooting in aperture priority mode my shots were over exposed and some of my sky shots were blown out, so I have to compensate for that. Some say the lens is a stop darker but I had the opposite effect, also if you read the other reviews some people complain that the autofocus is not calibrated correctly and that autofocus does not work properly with live view and that they had to send it back to Sigma for a lens firmware profile update, I didnt have this problem, my main issue with the lens was what was just mentioned with the over blown whites. All in all, I love this lens it took me a week or so to get use to, but now I use it as a prime time lens for shooting everyday with.

Excellent All Arounder

I've been raring to add this lens to my collection for nearly 2-years, in order to replace my aging Sigma 17-70 Macro, which doesn't seem to be able to keep up with the higher resolution in my K-5. First impressions of the 24-70 lens is that it's relatively big for a normal zoom lens, so much so that the lens itself feels larger and heavier than my k-5 body! The lens is so wide, that when attached to the body, it protrudes about 5mm past the K-5's bottom panel. Regardless of size, the K-5 with the lens on still handles nicely, flexibly and efficiently. The zoom ring rotates easily and smoothly, as does the focus ring (which can also manual focus while in AF!). I've been able to get down low with the setup for extended periods of time without any fatigue, of course, ... MoreI've been raring to add this lens to my collection for nearly 2-years, in order to replace my aging Sigma 17-70 Macro, which doesn't seem to be able to keep up with the higher resolution in my K-5. First impressions of the 24-70 lens is that it's relatively big for a normal zoom lens, so much so that the lens itself feels larger and heavier than my k-5 body! The lens is so wide, that when attached to the body, it protrudes about 5mm past the K-5's bottom panel. Regardless of size, the K-5 with the lens on still handles nicely, flexibly and efficiently. The zoom ring rotates easily and smoothly, as does the focus ring (which can also manual focus while in AF!). I've been able to get down low with the setup for extended periods of time without any fatigue, of course, your mileage may vary. Irregardless of size, I purchased the lens for it's image quality, and of course to have the ability to shoot at f2.8 throughout the focal range. I do a lot of concert photography and work on shoots that have varying light conditions. So far, the 24-70 has excelled at meeting all my needs! It's reflexive enough within its zoom range to allow me capture fast-paced action, and maintains quick speed and adequate sharpness throughout its range at 2.8 (sharpness is really indefatigable above f4.5, though the K-5 helps with a lot of that heavy lifting!). The added bonus of HSM really allows the lens to be minimally invasive, especially when photographing in social settings (i.e. concert, or food-ie photogaphy), no more of the winding and grinding of my 17-70! In reality, this lens would be a 4.5 star lens, considering its size and price. But I really do believe this is the normal zoom lens you'll find for Pentax at the moment, so I'm rounding up to a 5.

Good Product - Great Value

I wanted a 24-70 mm f/2.8 for my Nikon. The Nikkor version is too expensive for my hobby. I checked out reviews and felt comfortable with the Sigma. I have no regrets with my choice. The lens performs well. I did test for back focus at various focal lengths and judged the lens accurate. THE GOOD: - A GREAT price - No noticeable Chromatic Aberration - No noticeable Vignetting - Good focus speed - Performs well in low light - Good Bokeh (I think you have to TRY to get the exaggerated onion effect some have complained about) THE BAD: - It isn't as sharp as I had hoped. It's not really bad, but it's almost noticeable - OK, the sharpness issue is noticeable; which prompted my back focus test. - The lens cap falls off (Sigma needs to make a better cap)- I replaced the ... MoreI wanted a 24-70 mm f/2.8 for my Nikon. The Nikkor version is too expensive for my hobby. I checked out reviews and felt comfortable with the Sigma. I have no regrets with my choice. The lens performs well. I did test for back focus at various focal lengths and judged the lens accurate. THE GOOD: - A GREAT price - No noticeable Chromatic Aberration - No noticeable Vignetting - Good focus speed - Performs well in low light - Good Bokeh (I think you have to TRY to get the exaggerated onion effect some have complained about) THE BAD: - It isn't as sharp as I had hoped. It's not really bad, but it's almost noticeable - OK, the sharpness issue is noticeable; which prompted my back focus test. - The lens cap falls off (Sigma needs to make a better cap)- I replaced the original with a Tamron 82mm which works great. THE UGLY (or IDIOSYNCRATIC): - The zoom ring is closest to the camera, which is kind of weird... and the ring is a little stiff... - An 82mm filter size, seriously? To be fair this lens rates a full 4 stars for me. If it were as sharp as I had hoped for, then there would be no justification for the Nikkor's price. This lens fits my needs perfectly.

Has some good features but poor wide open.

I'm not entirely blown away by this lens. It can be sharp, but definitely not at f2.8, or, I suspect, at slower speeds. It is very also heavy for a wide angle, which can introduce camera shake at lower speeds. Colour is good and edge to edge stability is also good, with relatively low CAs. It may take some time to learn how to get the best out go the lens.

Nice telephoto

I'm going to give this 4 stars just for a couple reasons. I've used the Nikon 24-70 and believe it's a tad sharper however, not $800 sharper. I took for a test spin the other day and throughout the zoom range it was pretty consistent. Lots of vignetting can be corrected using Lightroom very easily so I don't consider it to be a huge drawback. I've used it at f/2.8 all the way to f/16 and it's fairly sharp. It does better toward the middle range Great lens and a very necessary for portraits. I have the 85 1.8D and the 50mm 1.4G and this lens will take my 50 out for sure. the 85 is still razor sharp compared to this Sigma. This lens is very light compared to the Nikon version. The zoom ring is built rugged but the lens hood is garbage. Taking it on an doff is a pain ... MoreI'm going to give this 4 stars just for a couple reasons. I've used the Nikon 24-70 and believe it's a tad sharper however, not $800 sharper. I took for a test spin the other day and throughout the zoom range it was pretty consistent. Lots of vignetting can be corrected using Lightroom very easily so I don't consider it to be a huge drawback. I've used it at f/2.8 all the way to f/16 and it's fairly sharp. It does better toward the middle range Great lens and a very necessary for portraits. I have the 85 1.8D and the 50mm 1.4G and this lens will take my 50 out for sure. the 85 is still razor sharp compared to this Sigma. This lens is very light compared to the Nikon version. The zoom ring is built rugged but the lens hood is garbage. Taking it on an doff is a pain so I leave it in the ON position. It's so small I'm not sure how much flare it's actually blocking however when setting it down on the ground it helps guard the glass more than anything. Bottom line, good entry level to the 24-70 range. Sharper than the Tamron, but not as much as the Nikon version. Heavy vignette but easily corrected in software. Zoom is not super speedy but doesn't lag by any means. (a.k.a. doesn't hunt for focus) It doesn't feel as durable as the Nikon and the coating is gummy feeling, not metallic or hard plastic like the Nikon. (less cosmetically appealing) For the price, can't get much better quality.

Pretty good zoom lens

Overall this is a pretty good lens. Would have preferred the nikon version for its weather sealing and slightly better optics, but for the money this is a good lens. Feels solid, fairly hefty weight though. Bought it to go with my d810 for when I don't want to carry around a bunch of prime lens. I also own the dx version of this lens to go with my d500, the sigma 17-50mm 2.8, which I think is actually a little better (slightly smaller, less weight, sharper images). But I don't regret buying this lens, it's a quality lens overall and a lot less expensive than the nikkor. I would recommend it if you are on a budget but still want good gear. I use this lens a good deal of the time for weddings and portraits, but also works good for landscapes and walking around as well ... MoreOverall this is a pretty good lens. Would have preferred the nikon version for its weather sealing and slightly better optics, but for the money this is a good lens. Feels solid, fairly hefty weight though. Bought it to go with my d810 for when I don't want to carry around a bunch of prime lens. I also own the dx version of this lens to go with my d500, the sigma 17-50mm 2.8, which I think is actually a little better (slightly smaller, less weight, sharper images). But I don't regret buying this lens, it's a quality lens overall and a lot less expensive than the nikkor. I would recommend it if you are on a budget but still want good gear. I use this lens a good deal of the time for weddings and portraits, but also works good for landscapes and walking around as well as family snapshots of all the kids running around.

Sigma delivers great value

I bought this lens because I was lacking the focal range and wanted to compliment a 70-200vr w/o breaking the bank. I really wanted the nikon 24-70 but could not justify the price. I've been using it as a portrait lens, action shots for wide angle and general walking around glass. Feels solid. Certainly not a pro-level metal lens, but as mentioned - those cost lots more.Getting good results. I wish it wasn't a telescoping lens, but on the other hand it makes it more portable when walking around. The 82mm lens means I have to purchase another ND filter.All in all, I think it's a great lens for the price. The only thing I haven't been able to do with it yet is getting a decent starburst. It does give more flare than I'd hoped.I'd recommend this lens.