Sigma 4/3 lenses

I was looking for a Sigma 30/1.4 for a friend and B&H has it listed as discontinued. Looked closer and I see B&H only has 3 Sigma 4/3 lenses listed, the 10-20, 50/1.4 and 300-800.

What is going on? They had nearly a dozen lenses available for Olympus not too long ago. Even lenses listed at four-thirds.org as not being discontinued such as the Sigma 30/1.4, Sigma 150/2.8 and Panasonic 25/1.4 are no longer listed there.

I'm not sure if I should instruct my friend to start considering alternatives. Given the sample variation of some Sigma lenses, even if he can find one, I'd be nervous if there weren't enough out there for an exchange if he got a duff sample.

Thanks,

~Dave

greendave said:

Sierra Dave wrote:

What is going on?

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...and if you dont you should... its hardly rocket science.

The Sigma story is complex. From the fact that they decided to discontinue supporting Olympus, except for a few lenses, you'd think they had good business sense. Why make lenses for a camera brand with a declining market?

But the Greek-tragedy of their SD1, and the chorus of howls coming from Sigma's loyal followers indicates the opposite.

However that is, I have two Sigma lenses with 4/3 mounts. I don't know what he means by replacements. If my lenses go belly up I'll either have them repaired (Sigma makes all their Olympus lenses with other mounts for Nikon, Canon, Pentax and a couple of others I can't recall) or buy a different lens.

I don't know what he means about advising his friend to choose an alternative. Logically that would mean camera brand and not lens brand -- unless he means the expensive Zuiko alternative which would be the ideal choice if his friend wants the best lens. But if he means an alternate camera-brand capable of using Sigma and Tamron lenses, then a check of BH Photo will provide an indication of who Sigma and Tamron are making lenses for.

Historicity said:

However that is, I have two Sigma lenses with 4/3 mounts. I don't know what he means by replacements. If my lenses go belly up I'll either have them repaired (Sigma makes all their Olympus lenses with other mounts for Nikon, Canon, Pentax and a couple of others I can't recall) or buy a different lens.

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I'm not worried about repairs, but the 30/1.4 has a reputation for focus problems, so the option to exchange is important.

Historicity said:

I don't know what he means about advising his friend to choose an alternative. Logically that would mean camera brand and not lens brand -- unless he means the expensive Zuiko alternative which would be the ideal choice if his friend wants the best lens. But if he means an alternate camera-brand capable of using Sigma and Tamron lenses, then a check of BH Photo will provide an indication of who Sigma and Tamron are making lenses for.

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My friend is looking for a fast normal lens at a semi-reasonable price for his E-500. The Sigma 30/1.4 was the only option we could find. If you know of any other options, I'd be interested in knowing. Cheers,

~Dave

Midnighter said:

Midnighter said:

Sierra Dave wrote:

What is going on?

Click to expand...

...and if you dont you should... its hardly rocket science.

Click to expand...

If you wouldn't mind sharing with the rest of the class then...

To reiterate - B&H lists all but 3 Sigma lenses as discontinued. four-thirds.org also lists only 3 Sigma lenses as current. But only one lens is common to both lists - the 50/1.4. So which lenses are currently in production?

~Dave

It doesn't make sense for Sigma to continue to make 4/3 lenses when Olympus isn't making any 4/3 cameras except the E-5.

When Olympus was making/selling thousands of E-### and E-## cameras, Sigma had a market to seel 4/3 lenses to.

I would guess that Sigma isn't making any lenses for 4/3, but is selling what they have left.

As stocks run out, lenses get listed as discontinued.

I simply dont think Sigma would continue to pursue an market that doesn't exist any longer.

--
Larry Lynch
Mystic, Connecticut

In all matters of opinion, our adversaries are insane.
Oscar Wilde

There's a little bit of irony in what you wrote. A huge number of Sigma loyalists have announced on their forum that they won't buy the SD1. It is too expensive for them, but even though that loyalist base, and how many SD1 buyers can be expected outside of this loyalist base, is diminished of not utterly lost, Sigma is going ahead with its production schedule for the the very-expensive SD1.

Sigma has been updating it's lens lineup. Most (all?) of the new lenses have image stabilization. As Sigma updates a lens, the new version is not available in 4/3 mount... apparently they don't see it as worth continuing to support 4/3.

One factor might also be the reputation for poor QC, which must have had an impact on sales among Oly users.

So, for a while now, the only 4/3 mount Sigma lenses have probably been old stock, and when their gone, their gone.

Of course now Nikon is suing Sigma over their in-lens stabilization... don't know what effect that might have on their production, or if they'll have to drop the stabilized lenses from their lineup.

--
Art P
"I am a creature of contrast,
of light and shadow.
I live where the two play together,
I thrive on the conflict"

I have the Sigma 50 1.4, formerly had the sigma 30 1.4

My experience is, the Sigma 50 1.4 is better.

I would recommend that instead of the 30.
--
cheers

Mr.NoFlash

It's different. .

Sigma is the largest lens producer in the world, most of thier lenses already existed before they made any dslr's - even the new lenses that were just released are minor revisions of existing ones. They make most of thier money off of canikon users, there is very little cost to be spent by changing a simple fitting for thier own mount. There is no new licensing or royalty fees to be paid since it's thier own mount. For them releasing a body isn't such a big deal because they already have an existing arsenal of lenses, there is no new r&d to be recouped like olympus had when they decided to release thier dslr system

The money they make from canikon users appears to be more than enough for these unusual camera sensor projects they've been conducting on the side lol

They very well may have never made much of a profit for 4/3 lens sales, there may have been licensing fees and even though the cost of retrofitting a simple lens mount is probably pretty minute for them it probably still wasn't worth the money spent if the sales weren't there. Oly users are quite the snobby bunch incase you haven't noticed even when another company is offering a lens that olympus has nothing in comparisons to when it comes to focal range and or brightness so you can somewhat blame your colleagues for sigma's departure as well.

Historicity said:

There's a little bit of irony in what you wrote. A huge number of Sigma loyalists have announced on their forum that they won't buy the SD1. It is too expensive for them, but even though that loyalist base, and how many SD1 buyers can be expected outside of this loyalist base, is diminished of not utterly lost, Sigma is going ahead with its production schedule for the the very-expensive SD1.

Click to expand...

--
Oldschool Evolt shooter

When Sigma signed for the 4/3 standard, they had the perspective of working with Olympus, Leica, Panasonic and Fuji, which were all adhering to the standard.

Leica ran away from 4/3 screaming after realizing that no idiot will pay a $1500 premium for a red dot on a E-300, Fuji never released any 4/3 body, Panasonic released two and went on with m43.

Can't really blame them for not releasing anything new.

Mr.NoFlash said:

I have the Sigma 50 1.4, formerly had the sigma 30 1.4

My experience is, the Sigma 50 1.4 is better.

I would recommend that instead of the 30.

Click to expand...

+1

I had both, the 30 was OK, but the 50 was stellar. There is no better portrait lens on 4/3 IMHO.

--
--Wyatt
http://photos.digitalcave.ca
All images (c) unless otherwise specified, please ask me before editing.

The statement I referred to as being ironic was "I simply dont think Sigma would continue to pursue an market that doesn't exist any longer."

I found this ironic because Sigma is doing that very thing with their SD1, pursuing a market that "doesn't exist any longer." That at least seems to be the opinion of a Sigma loyalist majority While I don't own a Sigma camera nor am I ever likely to buy one, I have been following the Sigma forum for several weeks. Sigma loyalists are convinced that Sigma has destroyed their loyalist market which is pretty much (according to what I have read) all there is.

Thus to say that lenses and cameras are different does not take away from the irony of Sigma's attempt to make a success of their SD1 while at the same time pricing it beyond the means of the only people likely to buy it.

The president of Sigma contacted representative members of this loyalist base and apologized. I read the apology and it wasn't crystal clear to me what he was apologizing for, but the loyalist complaints seem to have been responsible for Sigma's lowering the SD1 price from $9700 to $6800.

At $9700 Sigma was butting heads with the similarly priced Pentax Medium format 645. With the reduction to $6800 it now buts heads with pro Canon & Nikon cameras, and as loyal as this Sigma base is, they can't imagine why anyone would select the SD1 over the proven Canon & Nikon pro cameras.

Thanks for the responses. Seems like Sigma really is leaving 4/3 then.

The 50/1.4 sounds like a nice lens but it's way too long to be used as a fast normal. I'll let my friend know, but it sounds like he's out of luck at this point.

Cheers,

~Dave

If your friend has roughly $1000 to spend, there's always the venerable Panaleica 25mm f/1.4...

Adorama lists it as out-of-stock and Amazon doesn't list it at all.

~Dave

Yes the SIgma 50 f1.4 is a Gem but the Panaleica 25 mm f1.4 is out of this world ! It is my top favorit, my 1. choice portrait lens. It is a diva, it is tricky to manage, it is vignetting and not really cheap ) but worth every cent.

See more from my work ( NSFW ) on:
http://kweide.wordpress.com--

The Panleica 25mm is more like $1300 from what I have seen. A couple of years ago I could have bought it for $900 so the price increase reflects scarcity, not value. I also, at the time, decided not to buy it when I found out it was not made by Leica as the name on the lens would imply but rather by Panasonic in China with all their other lenses.
--
MRD