great bokeh from this lens, i use this lens only for low lit videos, as it is not useful for any kind of photography. stars are streaks not points. portraits are distorted, not wide enough for landscape, AF is too horrible for fast motion. do not buy this lens unless you find it under 300 dollars.

fast and quiet HSM AF; focus ring feels smooth and heavy, solid build; 30mm wider than canon 50mm; F1.4 is amazing bokeh; sharp at the center f1.4 to f5.6 ....

terrible AF accuracy; weird 62mm front; abysmal corner to corner even stopped down to f8; noticeable distortion; massive color fringing, vignetting at all apertures; EX speckle finish disappears fast with use

This is a ‘standard' lens for a cropped digital SLR. 25 years ago, all SLR's came with a ‘standard' lens and everybody learned how to use one. Those lenses, at 50mm, are still about but don't have the versatility that they had on a 35mm film camera.

Fast aperture; Picture quality; Consistent performance; Fast autofocus

Price (Discounted in site shop

I bought this recently because I wanted a 50mm equivalent for my Canon 40D. It was either this or the Samyang 35mm 1.4 for video, but since I was a photography guy first, I just the Sigma with its AF. Bokeh is okay. There is distortion. I also have the Canon 50mm 1.8 that I used to use more often.

Fast aperture; semi fast focusing for my needs; sharp

Soft wide open; smallest aperture is f16

Recently, I've bought this lens to augment the quality of photos and till yet I haven't found any issues as such!

The Sigma 30/1.4 DC HSM is capable of yielding impressive results, as long as focusing is accurate. Center sharpness was good even wide open and vignetting was well controlled. Distortion was low and chromatic aberration, though present, was again well controlled.

On APS-C digital cameras, things look a bit different though. To achieve the field of view of a normal prime, it takes a lens in the range of 30mm to 35mm, preferably a fast one. Many systems feature a native 35mm f/1.4 lens, however these are usually full frame lenses targeting professional users.