My first lens purchase: Sigma 30mm F1.4DC DN

Hi guys!

I just got the Sigma 30mm and tried it. Not a big fan at the moment (big and slightly heavy).

Also not so sure the photos are sharp enough!

Can you guys please check the attached pics to spot any issues?

xmarX said:

Hi guys!

I just got the Sigma 30mm and tried it. Not a big fan at the moment (big and slightly heavy).

Also not so sure the photos are sharp enough!

Can you guys please check the attached pics to spot any issues?

Click to expand...

Large aperture lenses are going to be big and heavy, especially from Sigma. If you need something smaller and lighter, the Sigma ART 30mm F2.8 is an excellent option.

Its really hard to judge a lens by the photos you have taken. I am going to assume that the lens performs as it should by looking at center sharpness. Keep in mind that this is a Sigma Contemporary lens so corner sharpness might not be on par with their ART line, but still should be excellent stopped down.

Can`t see anything wrong with that - it`s not decentered and neither the wall or the bush have anything in the way of fine detail to show sharpness anyway but it`s obviously focussing OK on the A6000 . leaves showing the shallow depth of field nicely

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** Please ignore the Typos, I'm the world's worst Typist **

Sigma 30/1.4 comes in at 2.55 x 2.89 inches and 265 grams. Not sure what to tell ya if this is what you consider big and heavy. Have you been down the FF rabbit hole? Talk about big and heavy!

Aoi Usagi said:

Large aperture lenses are going to be big and heavy, especially from Sigma.

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While size and weight are clearly relative I don't think this is an accurate statement.

Sony's 35mm 1.8 is smaller and lighter with stabilization, though it has issues wide open.

Bigger lenses are better if the price is equal. More expensive lenses are better if the price is equal. Sigma is often in the corner of reasonable price, higher quality, larger size.

idsurfer said:

Sigma 30/1.4 comes in at 2.55 x 2.89 inches and 265 grams. Not sure what to tell ya if this is what you consider big and heavy. Have you been down the FF rabbit hole? Talk about big and heavy!

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This was the first thing I thought as well. The size and weight of a lens is distinct, but it being considered "big and heavy" is relative for each person. If you're coming from m43 I guess I could see it seeming big and heavy but as a 1.4 lens for crop, it is well sized and pretty light. I'm sure the op would consider the 16 1.4 to be a beast in comparison LOL.

I would suggest taking pics of people and checking sharpness that way. I too find it difficult to tell anything negative about the lens from the images. The 6000 doesn't have eyeAF so you'll have to be more careful and with your AF but also make sure you shoot at f2, f4, and f5.6 to check sharpness as you stop down.

I'm curious as to what lens you're comparing the 30 to, the 16-50pz kit?

Jeff Style said:

If you're coming from m43 I guess I could see it seeming big and heavy but as a 1.4 lens for crop, it is well sized and pretty light.

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Even so, Panasonic's 25/1.4 is not much smaller:

https://camerasize.com/compact/#809.549,770.844,ha,t

Thanks for the replies!

1.Im finding the camera body to be very small now, compared to the lens. I'm guessing this feeling would be gone with time...or not. May be small camera bodies is not my thing ?

I don't know.

2. Nice to know the photos are good enough and there is no serious issues involved. I'm always wary of getting a lemon when I buy stuff online.

Is there any tests to confirm the sharpness and other parameters like focusing etc. to be 100% sure?

The return window is not very long.

3. When I viewed the photos in camera, there was some colour fringing and lots of blurry textures. But when viewed on my iPad, I found no such thing!

Weird!

4. Can I keep the lens on the camera at all times?

I mean, as it's a third party lens, would there be any issues like moisture getting inside the camera body etc.

5. Anybody had any luck with astro photography using this lens ?

6. Should I purchase any filters for the lense to prevent any damage like scratches on the objective lens?

Also, is there any chance of getting moisture getting trapped inside the lens and any method to prevent it ?

Sorry to ask so many questions! It's my first ever lens purchase and I'm a bit nervous!

Thanks for reading!

xmarX said:

1.Im finding the camera body to be very small now, compared to the lens. I'm guessing this feeling would be gone with time...or not. May be small camera bodies is not my thing ?

Click to expand...

Give it some time, you'll get used to it. 100%.

xmarX said:

2. Nice to know the photos are good enough and there is no serious issues involved. I'm always wary of getting a lemon when I buy stuff online.

Is there any tests to confirm the sharpness and other parameters like focusing etc. to be 100% sure?

Click to expand...

I've never heard of any sharpness issues on DC DN line. You might test it for decentering (just any distant landscape) but looking at the first photo I guess it's all ok.

xmarX said:

4. Can I keep the lens on the camera at all times?

I mean, as it's a third party lens, would there be any issues like moisture getting inside the camera body etc.

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Sure you can. There is a very limited number of weather sealed lenses, so keeping Sigma on is no different than keeping Sony 35/1.8 or 50/1.8 on. Besides, unlike Canon EF or Nikon F, Sony gave E mount data to third party vendors so the compatibility here is way, way better.

xmarX said:

6. Should I purchase any filters for the lense to prevent any damage like scratches on the objective lens?

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As long as you're not shooting some rally in the dirt or stuff like that, it should be fine. It's not that easy to scratch a lens. And if you'll drop it, well, it's all about your luck anyway. I don't like "protective filters", they add flares and some other stuff to the picture I don't want to have.

xmarX said:

Also, is there any chance of getting moisture getting trapped inside the lens and any method to prevent it ?

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If you live in a high humidity area, like some tropic country or near a sea or an ocean, it makes sense to get dry cabinet like Ruggard that B&H selling. They'll keep your gear moist-free. But if you're far from such places, don't bother with it. Keep it as usual, in dry place or bag or throw some small silicagel bags into your bag that'll absorb all the moist.

xmarX said:

Sorry to ask so many questions! It's my first ever lens purchase and I'm a bit nervous!

Click to expand...

There's nothing to worry about with this lens generally. Use your gear like you usually do.

Thanks for the reply.



I'm in humid weather prevailing coastal region. So a dry box is needed. Hmm..







Btw, here is the pic of one of our production plant's Christmas crib.

Seems like a lot of noise in there. Is it normal ?

xmarX said:

Seems like a lot of noise in there. Is it normal ?

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Noise has nothing to do with a lens, .. although perhaps a sharper lens will produce a sharper image, which might technically affect JPEG compression by a fraction of a percent.

But honestly I see nothing noticeably wrong with the images you posted, thus I might wager you're suffering from "lens hypochondria" of some kind

Jeff Style said:

idsurfer said:

Sigma 30/1.4 comes in at 2.55 x 2.89 inches and 265 grams. Not sure what to tell ya if this is what you consider big and heavy. Have you been down the FF rabbit hole? Talk about big and heavy!

Click to expand...

This was the first thing I thought as well. The size and weight of a lens is distinct, but it being considered "big and heavy" is relative for each person. If you're coming from m43 I guess I could see it seeming big and heavy but as a 1.4 lens for crop, it is well sized and pretty light. I'm sure the op would consider the 16 1.4 to be a beast in comparison LOL.

I would suggest taking pics of people and checking sharpness that way. I too find it difficult to tell anything negative about the lens from the images. The 6000 doesn't have eyeAF so you'll have to be more careful and with your AF but also make sure you shoot at f2, f4, and f5.6 to check sharpness as you stop down.

I'm curious as to what lens you're comparing the 30 to, the 16-50pz kit?

Click to expand...

Sony a6000 has eyeAF in AFs mode, provided it is assigned to a button such as AEL.

xmarX said:

Thanks for the replies!

1.Im finding the camera body to be very small now, compared to the lens. I'm guessing this feeling would be gone with time...or not. May be small camera bodies is not my thing ?

I don't know.

Click to expand...

As many has already pointed out, the lens is not big or heavy especially if compared to dslr system. It is a different story if you are coming from smartphone photogtaphy.

xmarX said:

2. Nice to know the photos are good enough and there is no serious issues involved. I'm always wary of getting a lemon when I buy stuff online.

Is there any tests to confirm the sharpness and other parameters like focusing etc. to be 100% sure?

The return window is not very long.

Click to expand...

Just transfer your photo to your computer and view them at 100%. You can use any software of your choice.

xmarX said:

3. When I viewed the photos in camera, there was some colour fringing and lots of blurry textures. But when viewed on my iPad, I found no such thing!

Weird!

Click to expand...

Yes, the purple fringing is one of the short coming for lenses with big maximum aperture. Even my XF56mm f1.2 has purple fringing despite being more than twice the price of this sigma 30.

xmarX said:

4. Can I keep the lens on the camera at all times?

I mean, as it's a third party lens, would there be any issues like moisture getting inside the camera body etc.

Click to expand...

Yes, u can. Dont you have a kit lens the 16-50 that you may want to use at other occasion?

xmarX said:

5. Anybody had any luck with astro photography using this lens ?

Click to expand...

I did. The focal length is not really suitable for astro photography because it is too zoomed in. Somethin wider like the 12mm samyang is my choice of weapon for astro.

xmarX said:

6. Should I purchase any filters for the lense to prevent any damage like scratches on the objective lens?

Click to expand...

Use the hood all the time, for me it serve as a better protection than uv filters.

xmarX said:

Also, is there any chance of getting moisture getting trapped inside the lens and any method to prevent it ?

Click to expand...

This is a valid question. Get a drybox. OR, make sure when u store your lens, it is not in dark and wet area. If u use the lens and camera regularly, with constant dose of sunlight, I wont worry too much about fungus.

xmarX said:

Sorry to ask so many questions! It's my first ever lens purchase and I'm a bit nervous!

Thanks for reading!

Click to expand...

One last advise. Dont worry too much. Sony a6000 and this sigma lens combo is way more capable than your smartphone, provided u know how to use them properly and that takes time. So, go out there and shoot like crazy and dont worry about getting perfectly sharp photo all the time (because even pro dont achieve 100% all the time). When your shutter counts grow, most likely your skills will follow. Enjoy.

If you live in a home that is dry (i.e. heated or airconditioned), you will not need a separate drybox.

Phones these days are waterproof. Cameras (nearly all of them) are not. Keep them out of the rain and you should be fine.

Your test image looks good (well it could be exposed a bit brighter) and without defects. Note that you lok at the images on a larger screen, and because there are more megapixels you also see more detail. So it may not look better, but it definitely is.

xmarX said:

Hi guys!

I just got the Sigma 30mm and tried it. Not a big fan at the moment (big and slightly heavy).

Click to expand...

Probably a good idea to try in store, or at least check size and weight specs before buying.

Sigma 30mm too big and heavy for me as well. I like the 35mm 1.8 at about 5 oz.

xmarX said:

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Sam K., NYC
“I’m halfway between tightrope walker and pickpocket.” — HCB
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skanter said:

xmarX said:

Hi guys!

I just got the Sigma 30mm and tried it. Not a big fan at the moment (big and slightly heavy).

Click to expand...

Probably a good idea to try in store, or at least check size and weight specs before buying.

Sigma 30mm too big and heavy for me as well. I like the 35mm 1.8 at about 5 oz.

Click to expand...

There are dozens of us. Dozens!

Thanks for the support guys! Really appreciate it!

1. I have the "guilty unless proven innocent" mentality which also applies to lenses too lol

2. I spent a lot this month. So, I'll get the dry box next month.

Winters are a lot less humid. So, I'm hoping it stays dry for one month at least.

3. Reg. the lens size: to me, the camera body looks too small compared to the lens.

I'm guessing with a bigger body, perhaps I wouldn't have noticed it. It's a moot point anyway!

4. Thanks for the comments on the picture. It was shot a dusk, in low light.

Coming from a smartphone, I would have loved a touchscreen focus system. Now I need to work around this limitation.

5. Thanks for the advice to take more pictures.

Btw, we have a Christmas tree competition at our church on the eve of Christmas. So, I'm thinking of taking my a6000 with the Sigma 30f1.4 there.

Any recommendations on the parameters like iso, shutter speed, focus method etc would be great.

It's gonna be a low light affair with trees under spot light with or without led rice lights on them. There is a chance of laser and other kinds of strobe lights too which can be damaging to the sensor?

Again, you shouldn't need a dry box unless you live on a fishing boat, in a jungle, etc. I've also carried cameras in very humid places for a week or two without issue.

As for strobes and lasers, you should be fine at a church. Just don't point your camera directly into a laser for an extended exposure.

Low light photography is the most difficult. If you think of exposure, the way to "brighten" a picture is to widen your aperture, slow your shutter speed, or increase your ISO. These all create impacts:

• You're lucky in that your lens is very wide (F1.4) and quite sharp wide open. So you can shoot at an open F1.4 aperture to maximize your light. The only challenge with that is that the "slice" of your photo that will be in focus will be thin, and you may want to get an entire tree in focus, necessitating a narrower aperture (like F4) to make sure that it all looks crisp.
• Slowing the shutter speed increases light without changing the "output" when shooting still objects. If something in the frame is moving (like say a tree in the wind), a slow shutter speed can end up blurring anything in motion. You'll also have to be mindful of hand shake when hand-holding in low light. The rule of thumb for a 30mm APSC lens is to handhold no slower than roughly 1/50, though you can do so if you're willing to take multiple shots and pick a sharp one. For crisp slow shots people generally use a tripod or balance their camera on a stationary object like a table, fence, etc.
• ISO allows us to make dark scenes bright, but it comes at the cost of noise. How much noise you can stand is dependent on your tastes. On an A6000 I generally liked to keep the ISO below 2000 for a pleasing photo. You should practice before the event to understand how much ISO you find acceptable.

An explanation here:
Once you feel out your limits, low light shooting becomes an exercise in playing with these parameters to maximize your light while minimizing imperfections. So for example you might be shootings at F2.8 (to keep the entire front of a tree in focus), ISO 3200 (your maximum acceptable ISO), and 1/30s (to keep the shots as steady as possible). Or you could balance your camera on a chair and set your shutter speed to 1 second and reduce ISO to 100 for a very clean image. You should practice at home with different settings before the day of the event. You can also shoot your camera in auto mode and let it pick settings, though sometimes that can create less than optimal results.

For subjects under a spotlight you can reduce your ISO, raise your shutter speed, etc. Just be careful to use "Center" metering mode if you're in program, aperture, or shutter modes. This will tell the camera to focus on how bright your subject is when figuring out exposure. Otherwise it might average the brightness of the spotlit subject and dark background and heavily overexpose the subject.

I would recommending shooting in JPEG + RAW while getting the hang of things. This gives you a more malleable file to adjust later if your exposure is less than perfect.