Yourlensreview - Lens - Sigma 30 F/1.4 EX DC HSM

- Optical performance(!!)
- Contrast
- Sturdy build
- Fast
- Pricetag
- Comes with lens bag and hood

- Some CA wideopen (see the Nissan shot)
- 98% borders don't catch up when closing down
- It's Sigma, do your own QC in the store!

I have used a 50/1.8 for Canon for about 1.5 years, both for leisure and professional use. It was fine, but it just can't coop with my professional use, so I was in the market for something else. Somewhat wider would fit my uses better, so first I had a look at the 35/1.4L and the 35/2. The last one was too poorly build, so that would solve my problems and I wasn't overly impressed with the 35L.

It's a fine optic, but considering what you pay for it... I couldn't justify it for my uses. I first looked away from the Sigma because...well...it's Sigma and I'm not that enthusiastic about their products. But they have a few gems and the 30/1.4 is certainly one of them, if you find a good one. Luckily my first lens was the right one and I'm very very impressed with it.

The build quality is very good, not that of the 35L, but it it's _very_ decent and I don't hesitate to use it for my photography (clubs, beer, etc). Optically speaking it's just mad. It's sharp at F/1.4 while the borders catch up at about F/2. F/1.4 is just totally usable; within two days I have shot two photos that will be used in an A4-spread brochure. Stunning really, when compared to the 50/1.4, this thing wins it by miles and miles. I also looked at the 28/1.8 from Canon, but it's about 1.5 stops behind the Sigma in every respect and the borders never totally catch up.

The contrast is off the chart: it's better than my 70-200/2.8IS and 17-40L. Very impressive. Compared to the 35L this thing has the edge: more contrast, sharper, less CA and the auto focus doesn't twiddle as the 35L does. The 35L does have the edge at the build quality though.

At 399 euro this is one of the Sigma offers you really should consider when shopping for a crop factor camera normal lens. The photos below are converted with Lightroom default settings: no curves, no extra sharpening. This is straight from the RAW-files.