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Oh man it pains me to write a review like this. I want to begin by stating that I think part of my review might be specific to the copy I rented. I tested the lens for days to get it micro-calibrated, I even bought a Sigma dock because I needed one for my 24 Art and 35 Art anyway. It did not help. The lens I rented switched from being back-focused to front-focused somewhere between 1.9-2.2 meters (according to FoCal testing) and the distances you can affect using the dock did not really help me get acceptable focus at a distance.
I was super excited when I first heard about this lens. I already have a Sigma 24 Art and 35 Art in my bag which I shoot on dual d750s. It is pretty easy to go back and forth between shooting video and stills on a d750, so I now longer need to shoot with two bodies in a session. However, I hate switching lenses so I still find it convenient to shoot sessions with two bodies. I was hoping this Sigma 24-35 would allow me to get back to shooting with one body & lens, particularly for video. Then my second d750 would be a true backup.
The Good
The Bad
The Ugly
So let’s focus (no pun intended) on that last one, because that was honestly the deal breaker for me. I took my 24 Art out and shot it with the same settings as the zoom while bowling with Chloe and it was almost instantaneous to lock focus, while the zoom was severely lacking in the exact same lighting condition. It simply would not be able to keep up with moving kids. Now if you are an outdoor shooter and have no lack of light it might be snappier!
The slow focus could also be attributable to a bad copy. I have no way of knowing and no more time to waste on testing. I didn’t use the lens for several days because I was worn out just trying to get it all calibrated. I put in a lot of work to get everything focusing properly before I really use a lens. I might rent one again in the future to see if my perspective changes and if it does I will update this post.
Bottom line, for me I was not wowed enough to even consider which lens I would sell to pick this one up. If you don’t already own a 24 or 35 Art it might be worth it for you to rent one and see if you like it. However, anyone that already owns one (or both) would be hard pressed to sell it/them to replace it with this zoom, unless you love zooms. I am glad I rented it though, this kind of disappointment would have been hard to swallow after I bought one.
I know this post is not full of pictures for you to judge images quality, but I don’t usually do those kind of reviews. I honestly think that it wouldn’t be fair for me to show you all the out-of focus images I got since I can’t explain why they were out of focus. It is capable of being sharp. 100% crop of first image in post shot at ISO 500, 1/200 sec, f/2.5. If you buy one and love it please comment. I would really love to know I just got a bad copy 🙂 I also love the Sigma 24 Art if you want to read about that.
denver, dallas
& worldwide