Sigma 301101 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM Fit Lens for Canon

This lens is where you autofocus on a single point instead of a group or a landscape so you have to set the camera up to autofocus on a single point and then everything pops. Now if your camera moves the focus point around this is where you have to juggle otherwise the photos you take will always have the subject in the middle. If that makes sense to you then you will enjoy this lens especially since you can play with the depth of field so you set your camera on A. This lens is not a wide angle lens but not quite a portrait lens - this is the lens you use to photograph people sitting on a sofa because it is just wide enough but one of the group will be the focal point.

I am an amateur photographer at best, so take my review with a pinch of salt, but I cannot find any fault in this lens. Ever since I bought it to replace my Canon 50mm, which felt too close for my personal taste, perhaps because I've got a cropped frame DSLR, I've been using it to capture birthdays and parties but also mountains and architecture.The photos are beautiful and sharp, and the performance in low light conditions is simply stunning. I think the lens truly shines in interior candid photography when you want to capture someone without being too intrusive (no need for flash!).I usually use manual zoom, but whenever I tried the automatic one, the lens was fast, quiet and precise. Also the built quality is amazing, and the lens comes with a hood that it easy to put on / take off.

I have a 7D with the original 15-85mm lens. However, the f/3.5 of that lens at 15mm is not sufficient to catch meteors with a long exposure - people say you need f/2.8 as a minimum and a wide field of view (at 15mm the view is wide, even on an APS-C camera like the 7D). So I chose this to benefit from the f/1.4 aperture, as the best that was available for a reasonable budget.Unfortunately it has been so cloudy at the meteor shower peaks that I have yet to catch one. This has not been helped by the 30mm field of view (which turns into 48mm for the 7D) so it doesn't capture a very large amount of sky.A few more general comments: first the lens doesn't fit the 7D quite as nicely as my Canon lenses. It's a bit tight and doesn't click into place as positively as the Canon lenses. Second, the vignetting at f/1.4 is very pronounced, which is very noticeable for starscapes (see photo), but this goes away at f/1.8. The lens really comes into its own with low light shots indoors in circumstances where there are restrictions on using a flash.I now think I would have done better with the sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 lens which I hadn't seen when I was considering this - maybe it has only just come out? Also, I suspect many people would find the flexibility of that lens an advantage in a wide range of applications, so I would suggest people consider that for a couple of hundred pounds more.

Depth picture details and excellent background blur. Very good upgrade over standard lens

A really good prime lens, I cant recommend it enough. I have tested it and it is excellent. Note if you buy the Sigma Quattro H it is best to buy a Sigma lens with a DG in it,s description, this lens has DC. If you use it on the Quattro H like I do it still gives excellent results although it dosn,t cover the larger Quattro sensor.

I have just returned mine. Chromatic aberrations were just awful at f1.4. To the point where this renders this lens unusable to me. Maybe it’s easily fixable in lightroom but I don’t use it. I bought it for two reasons: low light and background blur. So I definitely intended to use it at f1.4.I don't know if the lens I received is defective but I don't want to try for another one. I am getting the Canon 28mm f1.8 instead. Autofocus definitely isn't the best and I had a front focus issue which I think I had fixed using the USB dock. But ultimately I am sending back because of those chromatic aberrations :( I'm really disappointed.

The build is great, you can tell by the weight. The 1.4 f stop is amazing, we are so happy with the bokeh and low light performance. An incredible lense.We had a white ring on the screen, but that was the camera try to adjust the light between the sigma and our canon. Turned off the setting and all solved.

This lens is my go-to for portraits, as the low f-stop means the depth of field can be very shallow and can create a great blown-out effect in the background. I have noticed that the focus isn't very sharp at very long distances, so I wouldn't recommend this lens if you were looking for something more versatile.The only other area I've had trouble with is the autofocus, which is a little unreliable and slow. It's also pretty loud, to the point of being picked up by an external mic when left on while recording video.