Any Love for the lesser (f2.8) Sigma Art Lenses?

[TXForester]

I received a 30mm DN A lens today. A used lens, and here is a test photo to check if focus is where should be. Also to see if sharpness is acceptable.

Focus is outside of the center of the frame where sharpness is supposed to fall off with aperture wide open. For less than $200 USD, I'm happy with it, so far.sigma-test-2 by txforester, on Flickr

 

[mh2000]

While I gave mine to my gf when I bought the (then new) Oly 25/1.8, I really loved my S30/2.8!!! I kind of miss it and the tighter framing. It never let me down. Had I not gotten a really great deal on the Oly, I would have been happy to stick with the S30. Similarly, a friend has the 60 and it just blows me away! I had already bought the Oly 45/1.8, so just like the S30... it just gets too close to FLs I already have covered, but I am certain had the S60 come out before the Oly 45, I would own that now and not the 45... it's just kind of hard to take a loss selling the 45 to replace it with the 60... anyway, we buy what we can afford and what is available at the time. I think these lenses are superb!

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

The Sigma 30 2.8 always leaves me happy; so does the 19 and 60.
The 30 used on my Panasonic GX7

 

[traveler_101]

While I gave mine to my gf when I bought the (then new) Oly 25/1.8, I really loved my S30/2.8!!! I kind of miss it and the tighter framing. It never let me down. Had I not gotten a really great deal on the Oly, I would have been happy to stick with the S30. Similarly, a friend has the 60 and it just blows me away! I had already bought the Oly 45/1.8, so just like the S30... it just gets too close to FLs I already have covered, but I am certain had the S60 come out before the Oly 45, I would own that now and not the 45... it's just kind of hard to take a loss selling the 45 to replace it with the 60... anyway, we buy what we can afford and what is available at the time. I think these lenses are superb!

Opposite experience here. I dumped the 60 - for no good reason - except that it was a rather bulky lens. Picked up the 45mm instead and it is also a very good lens optically as well as being smaller and faster than the 60 -- although I had to send the first copy back: the second one they sent out is very good. Test your lens.

I also have the 25/1.8 as my standard lens on the E-P5 and it is excellent. I must admit though that I am intrigued by the Sigma 30mm FL. It is not supposed to be as good optically as the 60mm, but surely good enough. Would be worth a try.

 

[jsrockit]

I think these lenses are some of the best bargains in all of photo gear.

 

[mh2000]

Opposite experience here. I dumped the 60 - for no good reason - except that it was a rather bulky lens. Picked up the 45mm instead and it is also a very good lens optically as well as being smaller and faster than the 60 -- although I had to send the first copy back: the second one they sent out is very good. Test your lens.

I also have the 25/1.8 as my standard lens on the E-P5 and it is excellent. I must admit though that I am intrigued by the Sigma 30mm FL. It is not supposed to be as good optically as the 60mm, but surely good enough. Would be worth a try.

I didn't notice much change in quality going from the 30 to the 25/1.8... other than the faster and wider lens. The reason I would have probably gone with the 60 over Oly 45 had more to do with FL... on 35mm film, I generally preferred my 135's over 90's when paired with a fast 50.

Also regarding the 30, my gf also shoots the P20 and that pairing is really nice for her, but 25 and 30 is really close... so now I have the traditional effective FLs in primes with my 14, 17, 25 and 45 in MFT and am happy.

🙂

 

[traveler_101]

I didn't notice much change in quality going from the 30 to the 25/1.8... other than the faster and wider lens. The reason I would have probably gone with the 60 over Oly 45 had more to do with FL... on 35mm film, I generally preferred my 135's over 90's when paired with a fast 50.

Also regarding the 30, my gf also shoots the P20 and that pairing is really nice for her, but 25 and 30 is really close... so now I have the traditional effective FLs in primes with my 14, 17, 25 and 45 in MFT and am happy.

🙂

Hi Mark

14-17-25-45 is a nice kit: all good and all portable. I have them all except the 14 (sold to help pay for the 17/1.8 which was rather pricey).

You're still shooting the E-P1, right? Which of these lenses do you like best for AF speed and image quality on that camera?

 

[TXForester]

The Sigma 30 2.8 always leaves me happy; so does the 19 and 60.
The 30 used on my Panasonic GX7

I like these photos, Mike.

I'm thinking about getting the 60mm, but not sure about the 19mm. I'd like something wider in a prime lens for landscapes, so maybe the Panasonic 14mm f2.5. But the 19mm field of view for m4/3 cameras is close to what some people consider the low end of the range of "normal" lenses for 35mm format. Maybe all of the Sigmas and the Panasonic. And for a lot of reach, I'll still use my 100mm and 135mm Zuikos for OM slrs.

 

[Archiver]

My first m43 lenses were the Sigma 19 and 30, and they proved excellent on the E-M5. The only issue I encountered was the extra long 'indexing' time the camera took when starting, although I understand that later version of these lenses shortened that time. I wonder if there is a firmware update for the original lenses that will fix this?

The sharpness and colour of these lenses are great, and I'd like to get a 60/2.8 and 30/1.4 as well.

 

[mh2000]

Hi Mark

14-17-25-45 is a nice kit: all good and all portable. I have them all except the 14 (sold to help pay for the 17/1.8 which was rather pricey).

You're still shooting the E-P1, right? Which of these lenses do you like best for AF speed and image quality on that camera?

If I really shot at FL=17 I'd get that 17/1.8! Love the scale focus feature!!!

The 25 and 45 are about equal in giving superb image quality!

The 14 and 17 both have different problems... the 14 has CA issues that effect final IQ even after removing with LR and the 17/2.8, while pleasing to my eye, is a little soft when compared to the 25 and 45.

I don't shoot sports, so the AF speed is not that much a problem with any of the lenses for me... though I did note that when I borrowed the (original) P20 that it had a problem locking onto focus.

 

[mh2000]

here' a really old test sequence I did which compare the S30 to the Oly 45 and some other lenses. I think the 17/2.8 is "better" than the P14... aside from FL of course, depending on your preference. The Oly 25/1.8 is as good or better than the Oly 45/1.8. The S30 is rock solid performer AFAIC.

best!

PS I'm not much of a lens tester, so take this for what it's worth... I just did it to confirm what I already saw in real life.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

A couple more shots with the Sigma 30mm f2.8

When I'm on vacation anything goes! Yes, that includes an ice cold beer with my lunch.

A wall of prayers at a Shinto shrine.

 

[TXForester]

Now you are making me thirsty and I have to drive 60 miles to find Kirin. 🙂

 

[biomed]

The 60/2.8 is one of my favorite lenses. No experience with the other Sigmas.

Sigma 60/2.8 on GX7