Upgrade Itch

Kanpai · 10 Jun 2018 at 13:16

Will be off to Singapore and Hong Kong in September and I was looking at my options in terms of upgrading my kit to see what is possible and to welcome any suggestions you chaps may have.

Currently got a Canon 600D with a Sigma 17-50mm f2.8 EX DC OS HSM lens which has served me well at enthusiast level, but I want to look at what path I should be looking towards to taking it to the next level for image quality and functionality.

Budget is around £500-600 depending on options available.

Kanpai · 10 Jun 2018 at 15:00

sHo0sH said:
What do you mainly take pictures of?

Mainly street photography and landscape/architecture

Kanpai · 10 Jun 2018 at 21:12

Thanks for the responses guys.

I'll probably move to full frame in 3-4 years but at the moment just on the lookout for something to get better pictures.

@sHo0sH is this the one you are talking about? https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-35mm-F1-4-Lens-Canon/dp/B00A35X6NU

@Energize I'd probably look for second hand if I'm honest, spending £500-600 just for one lens is a big stretch and any money saved to contribute to other gear later on would be ideal.

Kanpai · 10 Jun 2018 at 23:39

Energize said:
Yeah that's the lens he's talking about. I considered second hand myself but considering the price they are going for I didn't consider it worthwhile when considering the warranty.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-18-35mm-F1-8-Lens-Canon/dp/B00DBL0NLQ/

And that's the lens I mentioned earlier.

Thanks for that, considering I have a 17-50 2.8 already, would this have a big benefit over that?

Kanpai · 6 Aug 2018 at 16:33

Thought I'd bump this thread instead of making another!

Think I'm set on getting the Sigma 35mm f1.4 and taking only that. It seems to fit the bill for street photos and landscape and will also be a handy lens when I upgrade in the future!

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00A35X...olid=231MY0F2RAAYI&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it

If anyone would suggest otherwise I'm welcome to your thoughts

P.S. Will be mounted on a 600D

Kanpai · 7 Aug 2018 at 08:55

Columbo said:
On your 600D I'd go for the Sigma 30mm f1.4 Art, particularly as you don't intend on going full frame for ages yet.
As it's not designed for full frame its much lighter and smaller but just as sharp, a little wider and half the price.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Sigma-30mm...id=1533582879&sr=8-2&keywords=sigma+30mm+f1.4

Would you still opt for the f/1.4 Art if the 35mm was available to you for £75-100 more?

Energize said:
Personally I'd prefer something wider, I don't think 56/48mm is a good focal length, especially for landscapes and street photography. I was constantly having to step back as the camera didn't match my field of view and that's not a luxury you always have with street. That's why I would recommend the 16-35 f/1.8.

Since you have a 17-50mm I would use that to find the best focal length for you.

Bit of a tricky one to be honest as I was all set on the 35mm but now undecided once again lol.

Kanpai · 7 Aug 2018 at 09:58

Energize said:
I would suggest going into Lightroom and taking a look at what focal length you took your street and landscape photographs at.

Good idea, will have a look tonight, thanks.

Kanpai · 11 Aug 2018 at 16:30

Does anyone have the USB calibration device for their Sigma lens? Hearing mixed reviews on whether you need this or not, one user said HSM did not work with his 35mm on his 600d until connecting it to the usb device.

Kanpai · 11 Aug 2018 at 18:01

i know nothing said:
About 3 weeks ago I went to my local camera shop with the intention of purchasing a Sigma 16-35 f1.8. When I got there, the sales guy asked me if I would like to try one on my camera body (Nikon D7100). I took off my 35mm f1.8 DX prime and tried the Sigma 16-35, I walked around outside for about 5 minutes took a dozen or so 'test' photo's. I was so dissappointed reviewing them on my LCD, not a single shot was sharp. Next I tried (what you've already got) the Sigma 17-50 f2.8 (for Nikon) and that performed better. Put my 35mm f1.8 DX back on and went back outside, it was clearly sharper than the two Sigma's. The sales guy reviewed the pictures with me on my LCD display and he didn't seem at all surprised by the results. He then goes on to inform me that I will need the dock and I will need to calibrate the lens myself. I walked...

Any particular reason why you didn't want to calibrate? I've heard the dock is only about £40 and works for a range of sigma lenses.

Kanpai · 11 Aug 2018 at 21:37

Raymond Lin said:
If you have micro adjust on the body then you just do it on the body, especially with a prime. If you can imagine you have 2 bodies and you calibrate the lens on the dock to be perfect one 1 body, what are you going to do to the 2nd body?

Makes sense!

Kanpai · 11 Aug 2018 at 23:37

Raymond Lin said:
The dock is great for firmware updates but I wouldn’t use it to calibrate the lens, micro adjust on the sensor does the job.

Only thing is I don't think the 600D has the micro adjust feature though.

Kanpai · 12 Aug 2018 at 22:07

Just been going through some of the pics I took from my last holiday with my current lens and I'm now kind of torn on whether I just want a new lens for the sake of it and whether it will actually help improve on anything.

I was pretty happy overall with the image quality of my sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 and not sure if a f/1.8 will improve my images by some margin or not.

Pics:

https://goo.gl/photos/PJzMFz5BoN42we7F9