billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

[quote=NickGee]I encourage you to read a wide range of reviews of these Sigma lenses before making such sweeping generalizations. The fact is, these Sigma "A" lenses are of very high quality and match (and in some cases exceed) the quality metrics of their Sony, Nikon, and Canon equivalents. While using the term "Art" is clearly part of the marketing strategy, this does not in any way diminish their quality and value. I encourage you to follow up and look into this.

FYI, here are a couple of independent reviews of the Sigma 35mm and the awesome 24-70 DG DN Art:

https://www.dpreview.com/reviews/sigma-35mm-f1-4-dg-dn-art-field-review
https://photographylife.com/reviews/sigma-35mm-f1-4
https://www.d

I am happy to report that photographers can pick whatever lens works for them. For me, Nikon, one of only two companies in the world who produce their own blanks, are the best. And no, Sigma is not the other company.

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

There are only a handful of manufacturers of optical glass in the world. As a result the search for the low bidder is a short journey.

Nikon and Canon get their glass from wholly owned subsidiaries while, according to DPreview, Sigma gets all of their raw glass from Hoya.

Once obtained from the supplier all facets of lens manufacture, including grinding, polishing and coating, are carried out by Sigma at their huge, state of the art factory in Aizu, Japan. Sigma lenses are not assembled in China, Thailand or Vietnam to the low bidder in the labor pool.

Sigma Art series lenses consistently outperform lenses from Nikon, Canon and Sony...and this is not my opinion, it is the opinion of just about all of the people paid to determine these matters...the reviewers.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Nikon manufactures it's own blanks, you are very wrong. And you are wrong about a lot of things, I can tell by your posts.
I believe you are a Sigma Fan boy who is stuck on them. I on the other hand live in the real world of Professional photography where you are made or broken by your work. Good luck to you, good bye.

flip1948 Loc: Hamden, CT

What part of "wholly owned subsidiary" didn't you understand?

I posted nothing that was wrong...I actually research what I post to UHH before I hit the send button.

The following is from DPreview after they visited the Hikari glass factory at Nikon's invitation:

"Located about 375 miles north of Tokyo in the Akita Prefecture, the Hikari Glass factory is a special place. Opened back in the 1970s, Hikari Glass has been a wholly owned subsidiary of Nikon since 2004. If you shoot with Nikon lenses, the chances are good that they started life right here - as raw powdered glass."

Additionally, I have owned Sigma lenses in the past but currently own only Nikkors. I am hardly a Sigma fanboy, but do appreciate what they have done with their Art series of lenses.

I don't particularly care about your "professional" opinions or what you "believe" which quite often appear to be knee jerk reactions that are biased.

Ta-ta...for now.

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

JeffinMass Loc: MA

Absolutely. The glass is of exceptional quality. Plus they all have very large aperature openings. Catchy name huh?

gwilliams6

This is an older thread, but I will leave my last comment on the subject.

Here is a video of a short tour through Sigma's factory in Japan from 2019.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ecsOrRUbNjU

Just know the present reality that Sigma makes wonderful "Art" series, "Contemporary" series and "Sport" series lenses for several brands. Anyone who thinks otherwise just hast used the best current Sigma DG DN and DG, Art, Sport, and Contemporary lenses

For Sony mirrorless take a look at these MTF sharpness test results for over 150 native E-mount lenses from Sony, and third-party lens makers including Sigma. Sigma's best lenses fully compete with the best Sony GM and G lenses in sharpness, optical image quality, build quality, buttons and features including de-clickable aperture rings, focus hold programmable buttons, fast focus motors, etc. And these lenses were tested on the 61mp A7RIV and 50mp A1, the toughest sensors to fully resolve.

https://sonyalpha.blog/2019/11/10/which-lenses-to-maximise-the-potential-of-the-sony-a7riv/

As a longtime successful pro with 50 years in the business, I can afford to buy the best gear I need for my professional and personal work. For my current Sony A1, A7RIV, A7SIII I currently own 13 native E-mount lenses covering 10mm to 600mm from Sony, Sigma, Tamron. I have even sold two of my GM lenses to get the better performing Sigma Art lenses which are sharper and focus faster (independent testing showed this) .

The present Sigma isn't your father's Sigma, LOL. Loads of top pros use Sigma lenses and love the IQ, ruggedness, performance and value.

Cheers and best to you all.

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

[quote=hrblaine]

Harry, one is just a variant of the other... They are BOTH words...

MDI Mainer

"Ride with the brand or be left behind."

I would leave the rebuttal to Canon and Nikon, who now see such a threat to their market dominance from high-quality, third-party glass, that they are trying to restrict access to their mount technology and preserve a monopoly on first-rate lenses.

trapper1 Loc: Southside Virginia

The only difference in the two words is that one starts "irreg.." and the other starts"reg..". They mean exactly the same thing. The "irrr..." form is commonly used by someone trying to appear sophisticated. Remember following Watergate there was a rash of pompous jerks using "At this point in time..." when "At this point..." would have sufficed? Same thing. Watching the talkingheads and correspondents on TV news shows will demonstrate that Professor 'Enry 'Iggins was dead on when he complained about "...the coldblooded murder of the English language."

billnikon Loc: Pennsylvania/Ohio/Florida/Maui/Oregon/Vermont

Loads of top pros use OEM lenses and love the IQ, ruggedness, performance and value. So what's your point?

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

[quote=hrblaine]

"Irregardless" is not a word; "regardless" is!

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

larryepage Loc: North Texas area

We're not likely to settle this here. The first two results from a quick inquiry to Google:

Merriam-Webster defines irregardless as "nonstandard" but meaning the same as "regardless." "Many people find irregardless to be a nonsensical word, as the ir- prefix usually functions to indicates negation; however, in this case it appears to function as an intensifier," the dictionary writes.Jul 7, 2020

Regardless Of What You Think, 'Irregardless' Is A Word - NPR

This result notwithstanding, I learned many years ago not to push my luck by using it in my mother-in law's house.

rlv567 Loc: Baguio City, Philippines

If you believe ANYTHING said on NPR, you're in real trouble! (I do acknowledge that many use "irregardless", though, just as with so many other ill-used words, phrases and substitutions. It is unfortunate that corruption of the English language exists, and even worse that it is accelerating.

Loren - in Beautiful Baguio City

MrBob Loc: lookout Mtn. NE Alabama

WHAT is wrong with ALL of you... ITS a word. Nothing to do with NPR, ABC, ACLU or anything else... IT IS A WORD; an intensifier. Time to move on...