Fantastic little lens
587974
This lens is very very sharp on my A7. Only minimal vignetting and corners sharpness is very good. The center is great. The lens is light and small, auto focus is very fast. I can see why they decided on an f2.8 as part of a travel or carry around kit; this makes the camera very portable with not much compromise except in extremely low light. Awesome!
1528235
I, like the the previous reviewer, also read Ken Rockwell's comments, and they led me to this lens.

No disappointments here. I'm a 30-year veteran who was just seeking a basic lens to keep on my Nikon D70. I also use the Tokina 12-24 f/4.0 (fantastic) and the Nikon 50mm f/1.8 (don't sell this little guy short!), and now seek a longer tele-zoom to complement these other lenses.

The Nikon 24-85mm is sharp, fast and light. Not the most sturdily-built lens in the world, but the key for me was that I knew what I was getting when I purchased it - and therefore, no disappointment.

Looking for an all-purpose lens to keep on your camera body at all times? You've found it here.
3390259
Just got this lens during Fuji rebates a couple of weeks back for my X-T10. It's small, light, super sharp, works flawlessly and makes the ideal portable lens for walking around, a breeze for street photography. I reluctantly got the silver version (all my other lenses from Fuji and Canon are black), but I have to say that it looks wonderful on my silver and black X-T10. It also complements perfectly my smaller X-A1, it got just lighter than before.
1846220
Its really fun to shoot with a wide macro. This lens is exceptionally sharp, tiny and was priced right. I only wish it was weather sealed like the 60mm
670039
This little lens may not look very fancy but it sure works great. I use my iPhone to record exercise videos and the normal focal length is to narrow to be able to include the whole scene, especially when I record indoors. This little lens works perfectly. Plenty bright and sharp. I highly recommend it.
2255429
This lens is awesome! It is light, compact, and acceptability sharp in the center from wide open. The corners are a bit soft wide open, and it vignettes beautifully but not excessively. Stop it down a bit and it sharpens up nicely, except for perhaps the last 3% out of the corners. It's made of metal, like I wish all lenses were. I suppose I should consider deducting a star for the focus ring being a bit small and stiff, but that seems unfair for a lens so inexpensive. I recommend an empty filter ring or two on the front as a slim hood, but that's my normal routine for a prime lens this size.

I am surprised by those complaining about the metal slip on lens cap. If you don't like it, spend $2 and buy a normal generic plastic pinch cap. It's a standard size after all! I personally prefer a good slip on cap, like the one that comes with this lens. Canon isn't shipping anything with a cap this good!

I am in no way affiliated with this seller or manufacturer, and I received no compensation from them. I just really like this lens.
4625312
The Sony SAL30M28 is a phenomenal lens. The 30mm fixed focal length is not the best for enlarging tiny objects but does an ok job at it. However, it is great for portraits. The specs say the minimum focus distance is about 5 inches but I've been able to focus on objects that are only 1 inch away from the lens. The 2.8 aperture is decent for low light, however the lens has a hard time focusing in low light. Either way, the photos it produces on a Sony Alpha A500 are awesome. Excellent clarity and very nice bokeh. Definitely a great buy for $200.
3042667
Hard to complain about this lens. I used to own the Olympus 45mm f1.8 and this seems a bit sharper but that's not a scientific observation.

Focuses fast, provides nice subject separation with good bokeh, and is very compact. I use it on an Olympus Pen-F and Olympus OMD E-M5.

I also own the Panasonic Leica 42.5mm f1.2 and while that lens has better image quality, the size difference makes this smaller lens much more fun to use.

A great lens for a great price.
668663
This lens, apart from the price, is exactly what I wanted! I could not be happier.

-This lens was paired with my Canon Rebel XTi/400D. As such, this review is based on my experience with the lens on the rebel. If you would like to see some of its capabilities you may visit my Flickr page: [...]

I'll start off with the pro/con itemization first:

Pros:

- Very, very sharp - even at f/1.4! Much more so than the Canon f/1.4. It's comparable to Canon's f/1.2 "L" series, and may be arguably sharper. It's definitely sharper at anything above f/1.8.

- Color rendition is spot-on. It doesn't lie to you. If it's a somewhat gloomy picture, ie, lots of gray, that's how it's going to come out. If you shoot in RAW (which you do if you are looking at this lens) you can always boost the color if you don't like it. Personally, I'd rather have accurate color than exaggerated color.

- It's HEAVY! Yes! That is a PRO in my book. Honestly, I don't understand why people list the weight as being a con! For me, it was a relief to feel how heavy and robust it actually was. Words cannot explain the feeling you get, if you're like me, when you first take it out of the box. Personally, I felt like I was holding a gold brick.

- The "HSM" works very well. AF is fast, accurate, and always spot on. The only time I've ever seen it "seeking" is either in very very low light or where I cannot keep the AF point on the subject (shaky hands), ie, one blade of grass, a stick, small leaf, etc.. That's user error. Maybe I got lucky, or maybe people just like to write bad reviews, I 'dunno! No focus issues here.

- Bokeh. This lens completely nukes anything that's more than a few inches out of the DoF at f/1.4. It's creamy, as others have said, and it's not distracting like some of Canon's stuff. Canon's 50mm f/1.8 creates harsh, blown out pentagons. Not pleasant.

- Accessories. If you're trying to decide between this Sigma and the equivalent Canon f/1.4, and the price is the deciding factor, forget it. You get a very nice, belt-looped case with ample padding and a place holder. You also get a "flower petal" style lens hood that would easily run you 50 bucks if you bought it from Canon. The accessories you get, along with nicer (in my opinion) pictures, cancel out the price difference.

Cons:

- Filters. Yes, yes, the filters are huge and pricey. It's not really a con so much as something you should "know about". A good M/C CPL is going to run you between 80 and 100 bucks. Can't stomach that? Buy a different lens. Simple as that.

- A tad slow? I've been testing it against the 18-55mm EF-S lens, the 'kit lens', and as far as I can tell, the kit lens is a little faster at f/5.6 and 50mm. Maybe it's just because the kit lens is so cheaply made it lets in more light through spaces and whatnot.

- (maybe) AF speed changes? If I put the lens cap on, the lens will sometimes move at a decent speed through the range and then go 2x faster back to infinity. I really don't know if this is normal or not, it may or may not be. I'll list this as a "maybe" con. Either way, it's still very, very fast.

-[...]Yes, it cost me more than the entire camera package. It is very expensive, it's also very much worth it. If you can't shell out the big money for this lens, get yourself a Canon f/1.8. It's worth a lot more than 80 bucks, but it's not as great as this Sigma.

In conclusion, I'd like to point out that if you do purchase this lens, and you do get a bad copy, you can/SHOULD send it to Sigma and have them recalibrate it. If you send it back to Amazon for another one, you're likely to have the same problem and it's also likely to take the same amount of time.

If the name alone is steering you away, don't let it! It's a great lens, honestly, truly.
4356338
I use this lens on the E-500 & the E-1 and it's quickly become one of my favorites.  Very sharp, small and light with incredible bokeh.

I'm not a macro enthusiast, so I can't speak to its macro capabilites (although I'd assume they are excellent), but I can say this is a wonderful portrait lens that consistently provides crystal clear sharp images.  EDIT:  I recently had an assignment for some macro pictures of steel wire cable - WOW - this lens has incredible sharpness/detail and performed flawlessly in macro use.  I actually won a photo contest with one of the pictures I took with it.  I've started to like this lens so much for it's all-around abilities that it barely leaves my camera.

Get one - you won't be disappointed!
4884169
I am relatively new to dSLR photography, and was looking to add a new lens to my collection.  I've been using this lens for the past couple months and have been extremely pleased.  I particularly enjoy the small profile, light weight, and large aperture.  The images are razor sharp and this lens performs very well in low light.  I've shot everything from portraits and macro, to landscapes and astrophotography.  The Nikon 35mm is like a Swiss army knife, it's the right tool for many different situations.

I highly recommend this lens, especially for the price.  Up to this point, I haven't found any drawbacks.  It's a perfect complement to my longer zoom and telephoto lenses.
724999
This lens is great for taking portraits outdoors - one, two, three people.  The 1.8 here is awesome and this lens has beautiful bokeh.

Also for low-light at performances, I prefer taking medium distance shots with this versus a zoom with IS.  The lens is crystal clear. If you crop the shot, you still have a lot of information.  Couple that with some nice noise reduction software and you can get great shots of indoor performances.

Many of my best shots have come from this lens.

Because it is small for an 85mm (approx 135mm on cropped sensor cameras), it doesn't freak people out when you are using it and pointing it in their direction so it can be very nice for candid or, at least, "comfortable" shots.  They don't realize how close you are.

Frequently I take a Tamron 17-50mm and this lens with me as a two-lens combination.

You will not be able to use it for everything because it is a narrow field of view - especially on a cropped sensor.  But what it does do, it does like magic.
3795835
I got this lens a few weeks ago, and I love it so far.  I haven't gotten a whole lot of chances to use it, but when I have it's been awesome.  I know I don't have very high standards, I got this lens and I have a D3000, not like a 24-70 F/2.8 on a D3s or anything like that.  To me, a beginner with a low-ish budget, this was a great choice of a lens.  I got mine refurbished from the Sigma website, and it was only 299.  the refurbished ones here are way overpriced! It has an aspherical element, pretty good OS..  The front element does not rotate while focusing, for people who use polarizing filters,  BUT, the focus ring does rotate, which can get kind of annoying, because sometimes your hands accidentally hold down the focus ring.

Pros for this lens :

Fast autofocus, although sometimes inaccurate.

Great build quality, way better than I was expecting.

Very versatile, from wide angle to reasonably telephoto focal lengths.

Optical stabilization.

Good overall image quality.

Handles fringing/ chromatic aberrations VERY well, I haven't seen any of it except for when im looking for it.

Cons :

Sometimes inaccurate autofocus.

Sometimes 200mm is not quite enough.

Aperture is F/6.3 at 200mm, not the usual f/5.6.

Does not have M/A mode.

OS is usually good, but sometimes I do come out with several blurry pictures.  i.e at 200mm if it's not well lit where you're shooting, probably most of your pictures will be a little blurry.

Overall I love this lens, but It might not be what more professional people are looking for, like maybe the Tamron 18-270, or Nikon and Canon 18-200mm s.
I hope this helps!
648632
I used this lens on a Nikon D5200 and now on a D500, and I absolutely love it. It rarely gets swapped out. Its focal range is really useful, and the f 2.8 speed allows for nice low light performance or decent bokah. Slight distortion when shooting wide open and zoomed out fully, but when not pushed to its limits this lens gets tack sharp images in tons of conditions. It's a hefty lens, so on entry level crop sensor bodies it will seem heavy, but it feels great on any mid-range APS-C.  I think this is a perfect purchase for an amateur photographer looking for their first upgrade from the kit lens.
4769404
I don't really have much to say other than I really enjoy this lens. It's super sharp and great for low light conditions. You can read all sorts of fantastic reviews regarding this lens pretty much everywhere online. It's also very reasonably priced for a Canon 'L' lens. If you have the spare change, go out and buy one. You won't be disappointed :o)
3128417
Such a great little lens and at a very affordable price. This lens performs especially well in low light situations and I really like the bokeh it produces. For $50 you cant beat it, I say go for it!!!
3743065
This is a great lens. When I go backpacking, this is the only lens a bring. While that's not the only use for this lens, it's a great way to take advantage of it's compact form and wide range of use from capturing detailed plant life to scenic landscapes. Obviously Nikon makes much better lenses for these purposes, but this is a great lens at a great price. A Nikon AF-S lens priced around $200 is hard to beat. Add on the fact that it opens up to 1.8 and realize you'd be foolish to pass this up. Awesome for indoor, low-light conditions.