Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens for Sony E

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I love this lens. The 1.4 is great for low light and shallow dept of field. I use my camera mainly for studio photography of the tattoos I’ve done. But ever now and then I take portraits. The autofocus is fast and the quality is unmatchable. Here’s some of the photos I’ve taken with this lens and my Sony a6300.

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I purchased a Sony a6500 bundle that came with the excellent Sony 18-135 zoom and the 50mm 1.8 lenses. Both are great lenses but my setup was missing a prime in the versatile 50mm equivalent range (the Sony 50mm acts like a 75mm lens on the a6500 because of this camera sensor’s 1.5x crop factor). This Sigma 30mm performs like a 45mm lens which is close enough to the 50mm range. And with that gaping f1.4 aperture it delivers some beautiful bokeh when desired. I have been using it for automotive photography and also closeup still life photos. The Sigma 30mm 1.4 now completes a trio of lenses that will serve me for 99% of the photo situations I’ll encounter. If I add another lens, it will most likely be the Sigma 16mm 1.4. For under $300 this is a lens you will be proud to have in your camera bag, although it will probably spend most of its time attached to your camera grabbing great photos.

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Im an experienced amateur and use this lens for stills with my Sony a6500. It gives me tack sharp focusing, beautiful bokeh, at 1.4 low light performance is excellent, it’s light in weight, relatively compact it’s very well built and an excellent value. Some users have complained about sluggish autofocus speeds but I havent experienced any such problem. If youre thinking of getting a case for the lens and wonder how large it is just go by Amazons Product Dimensions of 3.6" x 2.6" x 2.6" inches, they are accurate. With the lens hood attached the lens is about 4.5" long. I only have one criticism - the lens hood doesnt attach to the lens very securely, even a slight twist will pop it off. However when all is said and done Im very pleased and impressed with this, my first Sigma lens.

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Dont let the low price fool you. These lens are made in Japan using high quality parts from a reputable company. Ive learned in life that high price doesnt always equal high quality, those expensive brands make themselves appear better than they actually are. I was in the market for a new and better lens because the stock lens kit from Sony was below mediocre. I wanted a DSLR-like experience, not a camera phone experience. Just before I was ready to dump $500 on a lens, I discovered this lens through reading Amazon reviews; some guy said the Leica lens and Sony lens are no better than the Sigma lens. Give your wallet a break and get this now. This lens is permanently mounted on my Sony A6000. Its great for portraits or if youre trying to achieve that "bokeh" effect. Theres no zoom so be warned, though the length is good enough for everyday, real world use. For best results, use a photo editing app like Adobe Photoshop to enhance the photo and adjust the color to your liking. If you dont know how to use Photoshop then watch YouTube tutorials or download Adobe Action presets. This lens feels like it should cost $1000. Glad I did my research and saved myself $700. You can buy the $1000 lens or you can buy this one and get the same results. Its all about your photography skills (using natural lighting) and photo editing skills. If you have a lens kit, this is 10x better so its worth it. *Note: photo attached was taken from the Sony A6000 camera and this Sigma 30mm F1.4 lens, enhanced on Photoshop using the "curves" function.

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This is a wonderful multi-purpose lens for the Sony a6xxx series. Given the 1.53 x crop factor, you get an equivalent 46mm focal length which is nice for portraiture and some walk-about situations. The lens is crisp and clear, even corner-to-corner. Bokeh is also quite nice wide open. For the price, this is a really great option for the Sony Alpha series. Highly recommended!

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This is the lens that stays on my camera. The 30mm (45mm APS-C equivalent) is the perfect all around focal length. It has very little distortion and vignetting and is wide enough to work in small spaces and still get the shot. Also according to DXO mark it is currently the sharpest lens for Sony APS-C cameras available. I have shot hundreds of shots on this lens and it is absolutely the first lens you should get if you are new to using a Sony APS-C camera. The lens is well built with good balance for the a6xxx series cameras. The auto focus is not as fast as a native Sony lens but to be honest on my Sony a6400 I could not tell you in a blind test which was this Sigma or which was a Sony, its that good (my a6000 is not quite as fast but still very good). For the price this lens is like cheating; great photographs at a fraction of the price as a pro level lens.

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My wife had been borrowing my Zeiss Batis for use on her A6000. Naturally it looked amazing but it is not really optimized for APS-C sensors. Did some research and found this GEM! At similar apertures it looks a tiny bit sharper than the Batis which costs 4 times as much (but the basis on a full frame sensor its no contest!). Plus this one opens up to 1.4 for low light situations. Focusing is a bit slower and slightly noisier than the Batis, but again for this price no one is complaining. It still focuses fast, accurately, and quietly. Definitely worth a purchase. next purchase, the 16mm version.

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Its a huge improvement on the kit 16-50mm lens. Completely changes the quality of images. The attached image is straight out of the camera & converted to jpeg w/o processing. Color, sharpness, and ISO performance are top notch. This really is Zeiss level quality for consumer money @ roughly 1/3 the cost of a comparable lens. Really minor nitpick: no image stabilization. For stills its no problem, for video get a gimbal. As of 3/18/19 Sony released Firmware update 3.21 for the a6000 which improves autofocus performance. If you need a "normal" lens, its very hard to go wrong here. I have this and the Sigma 16mm. I end up using the 30mm most. Its just a great lens. Edit 4/22/19: The combination of the lens and the Sony a6*** series sensors cause some purple fringing around very thin objects such as fine branches with more open apertures and bright background. This is easily remedied by stopping down to f4. This still gives very nice bokeh and for all intents removes fringing, aka chromatic aberration. The more I use this lens the more I like it.

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Using this on my a6300 is a pleasure. It focuses quickly, looks great and isnt too big for a bag. Some might nitpick and complain about CA but its really not noticeable unless youre a hardcore pixel peeper. Its performs better than it should for the price. Definitely worth getting

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This is without a doubt my favorite lens. For reference, these are the lenses I have used on my e mount cameras: Sony 18-55mm kit lens, Sony 55-210mm telephoto lens, Sony 18-105mm f/4, Sigma 30mm f/2.8, Sigma 50mm f/1.4 (LA-EA3 adapted), Sony 35mm F/1.8 (LA-EA3 adapted). The closest in sharpness and depth of focus is the Sigma 50mm f/1.4, but since it uses an adapted the auto focus and overall function is somewhat degraded. The lens operates wonderfully as a native lens, the focus is very fast and the overall feel is very comfortable. The fit is a bit tighter than my other e-mount lenses, but this is not necessarily a bad thing. Now to the downsides. This lens was designed for 4/3 cameras, which have smaller sensors than the Sony APS-C. Ultimately, this only effects the edges, and it is not even noticeable unless you are looking for it. There is some significant fringing when open past f/2, but this is easily correctable in any post-processing program and is pretty normal for lenses this fast. I would recommend looking into the DxOMark review of this lens as they provide valuable and objective information about the lenses they review. Here are the biggest upsides. The bokeh is outstanding as you would expect from a fast lens like this. As far as light is concerned this lens is pretty nice, but has some room for improvement. The transmission on this lens is T/1.8. This lens is equivalent to 45mm on a full frame sensor, which I found to look better than 35mm (52.5mm equivalent). My opinion is if you can only have one prime, this is plenty wide and super fast. The focus ring is much better than the Sony 35mm f/1.8, and turns very smoothly. Looking through the EVF you can see the focal distance as you turn the ring. At the end of the day, this is the best prime to buy for any Sony APS-C camera. Although it looks best on an a6300, this will take amazing pictures on any camera. The photos are taken from a Sony a6300 with some minor touch ups in Lightroom. Finally, I would recommend grabbing Amazons 52mm polarizing filter for this. Its not the best filter out there, but its nice enough for the price. Pros: Inexpensive, sharp, fast, overall performer Cons: Minor vignetting and chromatic aberration

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