Between 2 Sigma Lenses

Tiziano

I'm looking at these two Sigmas to go with a Nikon D90:
Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG ($299-Amazon and discontinued)
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM ($432-Amazon)

The D90 is on order and I currently own a Sigma 50mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM on a borrowed D60. With the D90 I've ordered a Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC HSM Macro.

I love my Sigma 50 lens! But it's a bit close for some of the shots I'm after so I want a wider angle.
AFAIK, the 28mm will autofocus on the D90 (although not the D60 like the HSM lenses do). I shoot some portrait and landscape but do a lot of paintings in museums (low light that I do not have control over).

I guess I need a push one way or another. Is $132 worth the extra two f-stops and the HSM?

Now that I read through this, the question seems silly. Still, I'll leave it up in case I've not thought of something regarding this.

ziggy53

Also notice that the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG is a "full-frame" lens (Nikon calls them "FX" lenses) and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM is a crop-frame "DX" lens, meaning that it will only work correctly on the crop cameras. (I believe it will work at reduced resolution on the Nikon D3 and D700.) If you have immediate plans to purchase a D3 or D700 that might influence your purchase.

Tiziano

ziggy53 wrote:

Also notice that the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG is a "full-frame" lens (Nikon calls them "FX" lenses) and the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM is a crop-frame "DX" lens, meaning that it will only work correctly on the crop cameras. (I believe it will work at reduced resolution on the Nikon D3 and D700.) If you have immediate plans to purchase a D3 or D700 that might influence your purchase.

See, I knew I was missing something here! Thanks Ziggy. So the 30mm is fine for the D90 but the 28mm is not.

jrmyrnsm

Tiziano wrote:

See, I knew I was missing something here! Thanks Ziggy. So the 30mm is fine for the D90 but the 28mm is not.

Well I think what Ziggy was saying was that the 30mm could only be used for a cropped sensor while the 28mm would be usable on both a full frame (D3 or D700) and a cropped sensor cameras. If you are planning on staying with the cropped sensors like the D90 or D300 series than the 30mm may be a better choice while if you are thinking of getting a D700 or D3 for your next camera than the 28mm might be better since you could still use it on that camera. I think you would miss the HSM so if I were in your position I might lean towards the 30mm but thats just me! Good luck and either lens should give you the field of view and speed that you are looking for!

ziggy53

Tiziano wrote:

See, I knew I was missing something here! Thanks Ziggy. So the 30mm is fine for the D90 but the 28mm is not.

Both of the lenses are fine for the D90, but the Sigma 28mm f/1.8 EX DG will work at full resolution FX mode on the D3 and D700.

swintonphoto

Here is a great review on the 28mm. The review also highlights the 24mm & 20mm lenses as well. All 3 look pretty sweet.

http://www.popphoto.com/cameralenses/325/superspeed-sigma-trio.html

dancorder

Tiziano wrote:

I guess I need a push one way or another. Is $132 worth the extra two f-stops and the HSM?

It's only 0.5 f-stops difference, in case that influences you. If it was actually 2 stops I'd say spend the extra, but half a stop is much tougher.

Tiziano

dancorder wrote:

It's only 0.5 f-stops difference, in case that influences you. If it was actually 2 stops I'd say spend the extra, but half a stop is much tougher.

.5, that's right, my bad.
Thanks guys.

Tiziano

I've recently found out that Sigma has announced a 24-70mm F2.8 EX DG HSM lens. This seems better than the Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC HSM Macro I'd ordered. I called Sigma US today and they're neither telling the release date nor the price.



It's likely I'll stick to a cropped sensor (the D90) for quite a few years (I'm still using my old Canon AT-1!).

In the end I'll probably go with the 30mm f1.4 but for the zoom now I'm back to undecided again . Perhaps I'll cancel the 17-70mm order and just get the 30mm until Sigma releases the 24-70mm. That way I'd have a 30 and my 50, both combined in the middle zone of the zoom.