Friday I received my sample of this lens, so I got out last evening and this morning to take a few snaps. No tests, just normal everyday photos, to check if all was working allright and to get a bit of a feel for it.
Fullsize unedited jpegs (D70 NEF, converted with NC4.3):
//www.pbase.com/azrifel/fullsize
Some edited 500 to 800 wide (200kb max):
//www.pbase.com/azrifel/gallery/sigma30
And a test to check the effect of Nikon Capture's Vignette Control.
//www.pbase.com/azrifel/vicor
My personal opinion after 120 photos: Good quality, does what I want so it is a keeper.
The focus is right on the spot where I try to focus, no back- or frontfocus issues. Pretty fast, just like AF-S on the 18-70 DX, not as fast as the AF-S of my 70-200 VR. Pretty silent.
The color is neutral, no tint. CA is minimal.
The corner sharpness is ok imo. It is softer in the corners, but not bad. At dpreview there seem to be some samples of this lens that have more problems with it. Bokeh is imho good, what do I say, it is excellent. I saw the triangle bokeh that the Canon Lens forum complains about in one of my photos, but on the others it is buttery smooth.
There's only a bit of vignetting, very obvious in some photos, less so in others. I can correct for it in Capture, altough +100% works great on one photo but blows the exposure on another. So it is not a batch setting.
I wanted something wider than my 50 f1.4 D, with good quality and with a just as fast aperture. Should be usuable until late in the evening and flashless indoors. Well, I got it. I'm happy, f/1.4-f/2.8 rocks! :)
f/2.0 1/1600s ISO200
Message edited by author 2005-07-30 13:55:15.
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