Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM

Sigma 30mm

The Sigma 30mm f/1.4 is a gem of a little lens. In fact, the price is remarkable for what you get if you compare it to comparable full frame counterparts. The reason this lens was made is to give people something close to a fast standard lens equivalent. Back in the day, and I’m going back quite a few days now, the ‘kit’ lens was always the same. It was a 50mm f/1.8 or 1.4 and it was great to have as a first lens as it gives something close to what the photographer sees, which is where we get the description standard or normal from.

For being a DX equivalent lens, I think a lot of people would be surprised by just how big this lens is. It is this way of course because of the very large aperture and while it gives a standard view on crop camera’s, it still a 30mm and as a result, it is a rather more complex lens than the simple cheapo 50mm’s are. It is the large aperture that makes this lens very useful, it simply allows you to get shots you would never be able to get with a slower zoom or prime. With the current ‘bokeh’ fashion, you’ll be happy to hear it renders it very nicely indeed.

The Sigma 30mm has great centre sharpness straight from the widest f1.4 aperture but does get even better up-to about f/4. The corners are not great at the widest aperture, but become good at about f/4 and with the way I shoot with the lens, having the corners sharp at the widest apertures is not important in reality. The is a little barrel distortion, but its nothing at all to worry about as its not as though we are talking about a macro lens here.

Build quality is very good indeed. It has the normal Sigma EX look to it which I quite like, but I’ve heard others complain about. Whether or not you like the look, the build quality itself is very good and it has a very sturdy feel to it. The one mark against its build quality is the focus ring for those of us that still use them! It is rather scratchy, not what I’d call smooth by any means but it is serviceable. Of course the flip side to that is the lens has Sigma’s HSM auto-focus technology which is the equivalent to Nikon’s AF-S hypersonic motor - that means that the lens focuses quickly and quietly. You can also take control of the focus ring after the AF has settled to tweak it without having to switch to MF which I always like in a lens.

Here is the bad news paragraph. The Sigma 30mm does have noticeable CA at the wider aperture settings if photographing difficult scene’s. It isn’t bad at all though for such a large aperture lens and CA is easy to fix regardless and even more so when there is little of it like with this lens. I really enjoy this lens, I find it very stimulating to shoot with a prime once in a while when not under work pressure as it forces you to shoot totally differently and with more forethought. The biggest benefit though is that this lens simply lets you get shots you wouldn’t get with a f/2.8 zoom and as such its clearly a worthwhile lens to buy. I’d love it if Nikon had a similar lens, I look forward to them updating the 35mm f/2 or bringing out a new 28mm f/1.4, but until then this Sigma 30mm f/1.4 does very nicely indeed.