Nifty fifty alternatives.

I think theres a 30mm 1.4 lurking around ....

EDIT:
Just found it ... Sigma 30mm 1.4 from warehouse express £260

Sigma 28mm F1.8 EX DG
£208

Sigma 15mm 2.8
£388

Bit pricey but if you've got the money ...
 
Ashers said:
Just out of interest what is a nifty fifty lol!
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Prime (no zoom) 50mm lens that has a good aperture, and a great price.
Called nifty coz it can do just about everything!!
 
24 1.4L - awesome lens, hefty price tag.
 
I think it's important to look further than the "low light" tag on some of these lenses.
It's more a case of what they do with the light. Background bokeh, tones etc are all as important as the light swallowing ability.
Unless you want to buy 5 of them then it might be wise to avoid buying any at all.....it's an impossible road back.

Bob
 
afraid if your doing pub/club gigs , light gathering has to be a priority.
cos its so bl*** dark. the 18 55 was brilliant for composition if you wanted to get the whole group from the edge of the stage. but i had to use it on 1600 , and still had to lighten some. f3.5 if i remember right.
the fifty could be used at 800 and was good for closer(one member) or groups further away, but then the punters get in the way.
 
I looked at the Sigi 30mm 1.4 and it HUGE. Big fat and heavy. The reviews also said it was pants in the extreme edges and needed to be stopped down a couple before it started to improve. I decided to go for the nifty (bought it for myself 'from my wife' for Chrimbo) so just played with it today. Can't get anything near as good for the money. Nice and easy to focus, small, light and nice and crisp. Loverly:love:
 
oldfart said:
could always look at canon 50mm f1/4 prices are coming down
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I would like to upgrade my f1.8 II to the 1.4 manly for the focusing ring ( 1.8 is pants) but they are still in the £200 bracket, three time the price of a 1.8 :(
 
Not cheap but the 135 f/2L is great for close up shots at a gig :thumbs:
 
would like to upgrade my f1.8 II to the 1.4 manly for the focusing ring ( 1.8 is pants) but they are still in the £200 bracket, three time the price of a 1.8
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em seen few go for £160 new and odd ones £140 used on fleabay. if it wasnt just before xmas when i looked i would have got one myself so settled for 50mm f1/8
 
As an owner of a Sigma 30 f/1.4 I would definitely recommend you take a look at one.

Sorry to disagree with you Wildtracks but I've had quite a few different lenses and the 30 f/1.4 is definitely not huge. I find it nicely weighted on my camera and it feels well built with a nice smooth, slightly weighted focus ring.

Yes it is a little soft at the edges when wide open as are just about all large aperture prime lenses in my experience (when mounted on the sensor format they were originally designed for. e.g. compare it to Canon's 50 f/1.4 on a full frame camera) but frankly if I'm shooting at f/1.4-f/2.8 I'm really wanting to seperate my subject from it's surroundings and that helps a lot. I also find the bokeh to be very smooth on this lens.

I've posted a couple of images in the general photography in the past couple of weeks or so that were taken with this lens. One at f/2.5 and another at f/1.8 though I'm not sure if the content will be of any use to you in helping you decide.

HTH :)
 
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