 Sweet Lens |
| Review Date: August 17, 2005 |
| Reviewer: Jim Hunt, Indiana, USA |
This is a sweet little lens that really has no middle ground. You either love it or hate it. Most of the haters really either expect too much from this lens such as focusing in no light or on objects with no contrast and marginal light. The other reason there are detractors come from focus issues.
This seems to be a user problem in my opinion. When you shoot at f 1.4, the area in focus can be pretty shallow. An example is at f1.4 and at a distance of 5 feet, the areas in focus is just .45 feet. If you have a DSLR with multiple focus points, you might find what you want in focus is not selected by the camera. This gives the impression of a focus issue with the lens which it is not.
If you move into close focusing such as 2 feet using f1.4, the focus area becomes less than ¾ of an inch. Even the slightest movement by you or the subject can blow the focus. Again, this is not a lens problem but a user issue.
However, don't be discouraged by the above comments. This lens has so many possibilities from creative images to group portraits to low light photography. You just need to put in a little effort to learn the lens (and your DSLR). Also remember that stopped down to f4 at 10' gives you 5.45 feet in focus.
The 30mm lens also is about as close to a 50mm lens on a 35mm film SLR as there is. A 50mm lens was considered the de facto standard for an SLR in the old days and many people never had anything else. This is a very versatile lens.
The lens itself has an excellent build quality and includes extras such as a lens hood and case. It is sharp and offers great contrast and compares well against such a well regarded lens as the Canon 35mm f1.4L which is about 3 times the price.
You will not be disappointed in this lens at all and I highly recommend it. It is one of my favorite everyday lenses for my Canon 20D. (My everyday kit includs the Canon 17-40mm f4L, 70-200mm f4L, and a Canon 580ex flash.) |
Outstanding 50mm-Equivalent Prime Lens!
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| Review Date: August 14, 2006 |
| Reviewer: Christopher Nielsen, Rochester, NY |
After researching the various offerings from Nikon and others, I purchased this lens to serve as a Portrait and general-purpose low-light lens. The published reviews have been very positive, which ultimately made my purchasing decision easier. [For those interested, I am utilizing this lens with Nikon's D2X top-of-the-line digital SLR.]
First off, bear in mind that this lens is intended to be a 50mm-equivalent, and is designed exclusively for Nikon DX digital SLRs. (All Nikon digital SLRs have a 1.5x "lens factor," due to the fact that the sensor is smaller than 35mm film.) Sigma states the following in the product specifications, but let me repeat it here: it is NOT designed for full-frame (e.g. 35mm) use!
In terms of comparable offerings from Nikon, they are: Nikon 28mm f/2.8D AF, Nikon 35mm f/2D AF, Nikon 50mm f/1.4D AF and 50mm f/1.8D AF. The two latter lenses are not really in the same category, as they are 75mm-equivalent on Nikon digital SLRs. The two former lenses are close in terms of focal length, so they are reasonable alternatives.
There are several key differences between Sigma's 30mm lens and Nikon's aforementioned 28mm and 35mm lenses. First up, Sigma's lens is equivalent to a Nikon "G-type" lens. Specifically, this means that Sigma's lens does not have a dial to set the aperture; instead, the aperture is set on the camera body. This is incredibly convenient, and allows one to quickly change the aperture while framing the picture in the viewfinder. Nikon's 28mm and 35mm lenses, in contrast, are the older "D-type" lens. Meaning, they both utilize an aperture dial.
The other key difference between Sigma's lens and Nikon's 28mm and 35mm, is that Sigma's utilizes a "Hyper Sonic Motor" for autofocusing. As a result, autofocus action is extremely fast and quiet. Nikon's 28mm and 35mm do not utilize a comparable technology, and instead make do with an older -- and slower/louder -- mechanism.
And finally, a word on optical quality. Because Sigma's lens is so super-fast optics-wise (i.e., the fast f/1.4 maximum aperture), depth-of-field can be extremely shallow. So shallow that, when taking a portrait at, say, 3 feet away, one can focus on the tip of the subject's nose -- with the rest of the subject's face slightly soft! (One might want to generally focus on the subject's eyes, but that is neither here nor there.) The point being, that when fully opened up at f/1.4 or f/1.7, it is easy to confuse the optical quality of the lens (which I have found to be outstanding!) with soft focus due to shallow depth-of-field. [For any newbies: this is a "feature" of fast aperture optics.]
Bottom line, the Sigma 30mm lens provides superb low-light performance (thanks to the fast f/1.4 maximum aperture), along with outstanding optical performance. It is highly recommended for any Nikon digital SLR owner who is looking for a 50mm-equivalent portrait/general-purpose lens. You will not be disappointed! |
Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC Lens Review
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| Review Date: February 21, 2008 |
| Reviewer: Roger A. Krupski, Kenmore, NY, USA |
I purchased this lens for my Sony Alpha A700 camera. It's meant to be my all purpose lens.
Here's some information about the lens that you may find helpful in deciding if you wish to purchase one:
* The lens is made in Japan. Not Chinese junk.
* The focal length of the lens is 30 mm which is equivalent to 45 mm on a full sized 36 x 24 frame (i.e. it's a "normal" lens - not wide or telephoto).
* It's very well built. The focus ring turns smoothly. The fit and finish are superb. The lens has a nice looking matte black finish with a subtle gold ring trim. Very pretty.
* The lens DOES NOT have a "focus clutch". This means that the focus ring rotates when the camera auto focuses.
* The lens (when used with a Sony Alpha or Minolta camera) utilizes the CAMERA autofocus motor. The lens is NOT "HSM" (Hyper Sonic Motor) for _these_ cameras.
* Focus is achieved by moving INTERNAL lens elements. The length of the lens does not change during focus.
* The lens uses 62 millimeter filters (such as a glass or UV filter to protect the front element).
* The lens has EIGHT iris leaves. This isn't "good" or "bad", it's just a fact.
* The lens, optically, is scary razor sharp at F4.0 to F16 (the max). Below F4.0, the lens exhibits the very slightest softness, especially near the corners. The softness is VERY slight - hardly noticeable.
* Wide open aperture is F1.4 - it's very bright and clear and takes amazing available light pictures.
* I did not notice ANY chromatic aberration at any F stop.
* The lens is "full of glass". The elements are huge and let in lots of light (F1.4).
* The lens focuses from infinity down to about 15 inches. It's not a MACRO lens.
* At wide apertures, the lens produces nice "bokeh" (the neat blur behind and in front of the main subject). Unlike Sony SAL series lenses, the Sigma 30mm has a polygonal iris rather than the "almost circular" iris of the Sony. This shows up as octagon shaped blurs on points of light which are behind or in front of the subject. This effect is really no problem, since people are used to seeing polygons in bokeh anyway.
* The lens completely covers an APS-C sized digital imager with no vignetting. It's made specifically for 2/3 size digital cameras. It will NOT cover a full 35mm film sized frame (36 mm X 24 mm).
* The lens comes with a nice "flower petal" style sunshade which can be snapped on or off as desired.
* The lens comes with a nice, high quality padded zipper case to store the lens in if it's not on the camera. The case has a removable "mattress" in the bottom to allow storage of a different, longer lens if desired. The case has lots of potential uses.
* The lens weighs a little bit less than one pound. It's just heavy enough to "feel good" but not so heavy as to make the camera unwieldy. The lens weight also perfectly balances the camera, which makes steady shooting even easier.
* In normal light, the lens focuses quickly and accurately. In dim light, the lens sometimes seems to "lock onto" the wrong focus spot. Strangely, using the Sony A700 camera's "fast" focus mode seems to cure this problem. I had been using the "slow" setting with the impression that somehow it would make the focus "more accurate", but the Sigma lens seems to like the fast mode better. Strange.
(NEW INFO): I recently had my Sony A700 camera in for repair to replace the CMOS image sensor. The repair center, among other things, recalibrated the focus. After getting the camera back, I noticed that the focus "problem" (mentioned above) was gone. So, it was the camera, not the lens.
Note that this lens is ALSO available for other camera brands such as Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sigma. The lens comes with a NATIVE bayonet mount for each camera. It DOES NOT need or use a funky adapter.
In summary, I've found this lens to be one heck of a good quality product and worth it's price. If you need a "normal" lens for your digital SLR, you won't be disappointed with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC (*HSM) Lens.
(*HSM on _some_ cameras, not all) |
A 4/3rds SuperStar
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| Review Date: January 3, 2007 |
| Reviewer: R. A Gibson, San Antonio, TX USA |
Wow. Wasn't sure what to expect. I'd had a couple of negative experiences with Sigma Lenses before. Glad to say I was totally blown away by this lens. It quickly has become of favorite. Bright (expected at f/1.4) and FAST, FAST, FAST (a pleasant surprise). I use this almost as much as my Zuiko 14-54 f/2.8-3.5.
Suffice to say, I could not be more pleased. Images are tack sharp. Colors are true. Effective focal length of 60mm is a super place for a prime lens to be.
And given that this lens is on every vendor's backorder list from time to time, we can quickly see that it is fast becoming Sigma's 4/3rds superstar. I love shooting with it and I suspect, so will you. |
Sigma delivers on a reasonably priced, fast standard lens!
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| Review Date: March 30, 2007 |
| Reviewer: Marc Attinasi, Ramona, CA USA |
I bought this lens to have a fast standard lens for my E-300 and L1 - the price is fair and the build quality is excellent! Best of all, the images are beautiful. Even wide open, I am just amazed by the clarity of the images and the overall 'luminance', particularly for skin-tones. I'm using this as a portrait lens now and I'm in love with it!
I was anxious when I saw that Leica is releasing a 25mm Summilux later this summer - I am a huge fan of the Summilux 50mm and thought that I'd want the 25mm too, but this Sigma has made me very happy at half the price of the Leica. We'll see how they compare when the Leica is out, but this lens is definitely a keeper! |
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