Sigma 30mm f1.4?

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Fresherjohn

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I'm looking for a fast lens for my D40x which will primarily be used for low light wide shots.
I've read all the reviews I can find on the wide zooms and primes but nearly all the lens's either aren't fast enough (f4 or above), or wont auto focus on the D40x.
I know with the body I'm quite limited (AF-S, HSM) but I'm not ready to upgrade yet.
Does anyone have any experience with the Sigma lens or are there any competitor lens's I have missed?
cheers.
 
I know the sigma is good if you get a good copy. Personally I think its worth the risk if you don't NEED it right away as you can just send it back. Remember people always say when they have a bad copy, not so much when you have a good copy.
 
For the D40x the 30mm f/1.4 is, I think, the fastest wide lens you'll get. It's an excellent piece of glass -if you get a good one, but Sigma quality control is pretty hit or miss. If you do buy one try and get a shot of it on your camera first.
 
Its an excellent lens.

The "bad copy" stuff is *******s - 99.9% user error - I've seen several of these lens in both CAF and NAF from 2005 onwards and all have been 101% fine.
 
Just bought one for my Sony. Will report back once it arrives!
 
thanks all.
I guess another question will be how does it compare to the new similarly priced Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S?
Obviously the focal length will give different results, but quality/useability/futureproofing wise I wonder which one would come out on top?
 
In fairness you should be comparing the Sigma 50mm f1.4 against the new Nikon offering. ;)

The 30mm f1.4 is a cracker of a lens - if that's the kind of focal length you require then you don't really need to look any further. :)
 
it`s not a wide lens on your camera, but it`s performance wide open is rather good. I have been comparing it to my 85 f1.2 and in some situations it is surprisingly good. definitly worth it. you won`t get the same result with any zoom!
 
Fresherjohn said:
thanks all.
I guess another question will be how does it compare to the new similarly priced Nikon 50mm f/1.4 AF-S?
Obviously the focal length will give different results, but quality/useability/futureproofing wise I wonder which one would come out on top?
Click to expand...

-Sigma has much faster AF.

-Sharpness is about the same in the center.
-Nikon will be sharper in the corners wide open.

-Sigma has better bokeh.



For DX users, I'd get the 30mm, but I'm not fond of 50mm (any flavour) on cropped cameras.
 
the price of 30/1.4 starts at £270 for a new one, used ones around 20-30% cheaper. if you buy new one, do it now before the price rise. I just bought a used one, collected in person to check the quality. I have a good copy, so it seems so far. couple of pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/portreti/ . check the description beneath the pictures.
 
For some point of reference can anyone point me towards examples of bad copy sigma shots? i.e. 2 shots of the same thing 1 with a good lens 1 with a bad?
cheers again.
 
nikontos said:
the price of 30/1.4 starts at £270 for a new one, used ones around 20-30% cheaper. if you buy new one, do it now before the price rise. I just bought a used one, collected in person to check the quality. I have a good copy, so it seems so far. couple of pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/portreti/ . check the description beneath the pictures.
Click to expand...

Is the Linda8 shot definitely at f/1.8? The depth of field seems pretty huge! I can't wait for mine to arrive now!
 
I had one with my D40. Great lens.

Couple of shots at f1.4


Heavy crop.



click for main and all exif stuff. Both shots hand held. Sold mine to fund something else, but wish i hadn't now.
 
Fresherjohn said:
For some point of reference can anyone point me towards examples of bad copy sigma shots? i.e. 2 shots of the same thing 1 with a good lens 1 with a bad?
cheers again.
Click to expand...

In all the years of folks claiming back copies I've never seen anyone do this ;)

My guess is that they get a second lens and decide to learn how to shoot fast lenses with razor thin depth of field rather than blame the lens second time around :D

At least thats my interpretation of the text :)
 
bradleysmith said:
Is the Linda8 shot definitely at f/1.8? The depth of field seems pretty huge! I can't wait for mine to arrive now!
Click to expand...

I checked it again and it is indeed f1.8

the only bad thing I can say: it does not focus as consistently at narrow DOF as my other lens, but when it is in focus the picture is good. for the price it is still very good.
 
By the way i am tempted to buy zeiss zf 35/2 and compare results, but money is tight now and I am afraid I wont be able to focus it at f2 manually.
 
puddleduck said:
In all the years of folks claiming bad copies I've never seen anyone do this ;)

My guess is that they get a second lens and decide to learn how to shoot fast lenses with razor thin depth of field rather than blame the lens second time around :D

At least thats my interpretation of the text :)
Click to expand...
I'm with you there, PD. I suspect a vast proportion of "bad copies" are really down to user error. (And I can't help wondering how much of Sigma's legendary QC problems are real, and how much is attributable to people just repeating what they're read on the internet without any direct experience to contribute....)
 
Well, I promise to give mine a fair shot. i seem to have no focus issues with the kit lens based on a quick 45 degree chart test but as that only goes open to f/3.5 it's hard to tell. I'll use the Sigma as my everyday lens so if the focus is out by just a little bit I'll fix the camera rather than send the lens back to Sigma.
 
I didn't follow up properly in this post.

I'll be brief as I think I posted in detail elsewhere but...

My Alpha 300 was back focusing on every lens (3 of them). The Sigma highlighted it though and I fixed the camera body myself. Now the Sigma is spot on, all the time and currently ranks as the best lens I've ever had. Highly recommended.
 
bradleysmith said:
I didn't follow up properly in this post.

I'll be brief as I think I posted in detail elsewhere but...

My Alpha 300 was back focusing on every lens (3 of them). The Sigma highlighted it though and I fixed the camera body myself. Now the Sigma is spot on, all the time and currently ranks as the best lens I've ever had. Highly recommended.
Click to expand...

Bodies need to be absolutely spot on for fast f/1.4 lens to work - everything needs to be aligned 100% correctly. A suprising number of Nikon bodies need a "body depth adjust" in Nikon UK service parlance. Amazing how many "faulty" lenses this fixes ;)

A small error that won't show up with an f/5.6 lens will become very apparent with a f/1.4 lens (camera autofocus with the lens wide open).
 
That's understandable I suppose. Most folk who buy an entry level DSLR won't end up putting a fast lens on there so as long as it appears to focus properly at f/3.5 that's good enough!
 
I took delivery of the lens yesterday and will be using it over the weekend.
It does seem to struggle a little focusing, but the test results on household objects have been good so far.
If the weather holds there will hopefully be plenty of opportunity for fast moving and low light shots.
will let you know.
 
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