Sigma Art 35 1.4 DG DN or APO SL 35 2.0?

[jplomley]

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4 hours ago, Nelina said:

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and the photos!

At f/2 the bokeh naturally won’t look like what you get at f/1.2 or f/1.4, but in your examples I don’t see any signs of nervousness at all.

For me, the bigger question is about color rendering. I find Sigma lenses often have a cooler, slightly more clinical look, while Leica APO lenses produce amazing skin tones and a more natural, rich feel.

Of course, you can adjust colors in post, but if the difference is too noticeable, it just takes more time and effort — especially when combining shots from different lenses.

That’s because Stuart has posted backgrounds with low frequency.  Go into the city with busy backgrounds and you will see the nervousness of the 50 APO (e.g. double edges etc). Nice thing is you can compare yourself

[Stuart Richardson]

That’s why I posted the tree. Behind it are thousands of small branches and gaps in the light etc. Perhaps you can share a picture that shows what you mean?

[Nelina]

So… I picked up the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 this morning with the idea of testing it — and returning it if I don’t like it.

Here are a few quick shots from the garden just to compare the colors.

ISO 100, 1/640 sec, f/2, daylight white balance set in camera.

The first image is from the Q3 (43mm), the second from the SL3 with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 at f/2, and the third from the SL3 with the APO 50mm f/2.
Unfortunately, I had to compress the images, so the sharpness isn’t really visible.

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Edited June 30 by Nelina

[LD_50]

58 minutes ago, Nelina said:

So… I picked up the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 this morning with the idea of testing it — and returning it if I don’t like it.

Here are a few quick shots from the garden just to compare the colors.

ISO 100, 1/640 sec, f/2, daylight white balance set in camera.

The first image is from the Q3 (43mm), the second from the SL3 with the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 at f/2, and the third from the SL3 with the APO 50mm f/2.
Unfortunately, I had to compress the images, so the sharpness isn’t really visible.

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

With the different focal lengths it’s difficult for me to draw any conclusions.

I prefer the first over the second, but that may be more to do with framing and focal length. The third is so different I couldn’t compare. 

In this case I would probably just review the lens I’m interested in (Sigma 35 f/1.4 in your case) and if I like the results and the price, go for it. You aren’t missing out if you never do A/B comparisons with another lens because you’ll never see whatever you may be missing.

I often read here about “nervous” bokeh with the APOs, and I just don’t see it with the 35SL APO. Depending on the background, I can end up with nervous bokeh with any lens that produces strong contrast and doesn’t sufficiently blur the background. Comparing the bokeh of my 35M Summilux FLE to the 35SL APO, I certainly see smoother output at f/1.4 than f/2, but I don’t see any inherent “nervous” quality to the APO. I bring these lenses up because I don’t recall reading about problems with “nervous” bokeh with the M lens, and it’s been around and popular for a long time. 

The 90-280 APO is an example where I have to pay attention to the background because 280 f/4 doesn’t blur enough in some situations to avoid unpleasant effects. I noticed it recently shooting birds with a wire fence in the background. That’s not anything wrong with the lens, it’s just a product of DOF, framing, and subject distance. A 280 f/2.8 or a 400 f/4 likely would have eliminated the effect with the same framing, but I’m not sure without being able to try these hypothetical lenses. 

[Nelina]

1 hour ago, LD_50 said:

With the different focal lengths it’s difficult for me to draw any conclusions.

I prefer the first over the second, but that may be more to do with framing and focal length. The third is so different I couldn’t compare. 

In this case I would probably just review the lens I’m interested in (Sigma 35 f/1.4 in your case) and if I like the results and the price, go for it. You aren’t missing out if you never do A/B comparisons with another lens because you’ll never see whatever you may be missing.

I often read here about “nervous” bokeh with the APOs, and I just don’t see it with the 35SL APO. Depending on the background, I can end up with nervous bokeh with any lens that produces strong contrast and doesn’t sufficiently blur the background. Comparing the bokeh of my 35M Summilux FLE to the 35SL APO, I certainly see smoother output at f/1.4 than f/2, but I don’t see any inherent “nervous” quality to the APO. I bring these lenses up because I don’t recall reading about problems with “nervous” bokeh with the M lens, and it’s been around and popular for a long time. 

The 90-280 APO is an example where I have to pay attention to the background because 280 f/4 doesn’t blur enough in some situations to avoid unpleasant effects. I noticed it recently shooting birds with a wire fence in the background. That’s not anything wrong with the lens, it’s just a product of DOF, framing, and subject distance. A 280 f/2.8 or a 400 f/4 likely would have eliminated the effect with the same framing, but I’m not sure without being able to try these hypothetical lenses. 

I totally agree with you about the lens — I’m not going to use it often, and for that amount of money, I’d rather get a 50mm Summilux for M 🙂 Maybe I’ll end up liking the 35mm focal length and start using it much more — then I’ll consider getting the APO.

As for the bokeh — I don’t have any “problems” with it either. We can control its smoothness by choosing different backgrounds, moving closer or further, or changing the angle.

And yes, I also prefer the first image 🙂 It was taken with the Q3 43

Thanks for the site! I registered yesterday and find it very interesting and useful.

 

[Jeff S]

1 hour ago, LD_50 said:

I bring these lenses up because I don’t recall reading about problems with “nervous” bokeh with the M lens, and it’s been around and popular for a long time. 

 

There are many posts concerning “nervous bokeh” with the 35 Summilux FLE.  As typical here, there are advocates and naysayers for most all gear, and not nearly as much about user techniques and related variables.