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10-23-2008, 06:56 PM   #1
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The 30/1.4 has landed

Finally it arrived. Been looking forward to this for a while, and I am not disappointed at all. Sigma did a wonderful job with this lens. It's a big hunk of glass (15.2oz) that feels every bit as solid as my 40mm Limited build wise.

One curious aspect is that Sigma did everything to get good sharpness even wide open, and ended up sacrificing borders in their quest. Wide open, the lens still resolves very, very well in the center. Thus, if you are looking for a good 'overall' piece of glass the softer edges can be a real turndown. I checked the photozone.de tests and compared them to my beloved 40, and the difference is huge: the 40 tries to get high resolution across the entire frame and succeeds in doing so but sacrifices speed. The 30 says to hell with corners and gives me a lovely image even at f/1.4. Two very very different lenses, and playing with the 30 a bit I realize--as I suspected--that it will complement rather than replace the 40mm. So much for those plans!

I will definitely do some more testing with it, but for now here's a wide open snapshot doing what it does best.. low light. Maybe I am suffering from new-lens-itis but I think the rendering is just wonderful.



10-23-2008, 07:01 PM   #2
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Very nice! Thank you for the post.
10-23-2008, 07:04 PM   #3
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QuoteOriginally posted by mwcfire Quote
Very nice! Thank you for the post.
Thank you.

Another snapshot to show how the OOF areas render on it...

10-23-2008, 07:06 PM   #4
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That's impressive...

10-23-2008, 07:12 PM   #5
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One more before bed.. 100% crop of the first shot. For f/1.4... wow.

10-23-2008, 07:45 PM   #6
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I use one as a short tele on my Olympus, it's the sharpest lens I own (other than that I only have entry-level glass), and it's the lens I use most. I find sharpness increases quite a bit when you stop down to f2 though. Could be the smaller sensor demands more out of the lens.
10-23-2008, 09:47 PM   #7
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nice photo! nice to hear some comments about this lens

i've always said that the Sigma primes are some of the most polarizing lenses out there, in that tonnes of people hate them but some owners really love them like here http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/showproduct.php?product=320&sort=7&cat=38&page=1. looking at the photozone review again Sigma AF 30mm f/1.4 EX DC (Pentax K) Review / Test Report the lens shows some astonishing center resolution but almost no resolution at the extremes even stopped down. just a matter of testing out the lens and finding the strenghts to best apply these traits

10-24-2008, 12:04 AM   #8
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It is a great lens and thanks for showing these images.
10-25-2008, 05:15 PM   #9
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OK, I have to throw a couple more up... this lens is amazing me so far. Though on a few shots the focus has just been completely off even though the K20D confirmed in AF-S and the shutter speed was high enough that movement shouldn't be an issue. I'll live with the occasional fluke like that though, because damn this lens is good.

Again, wide open at 1.4 and ISO 800:



At 100% I can actually see my reflection in her left eye.

Of course, nothing in this world is perfect, and even stopped down the edges aren't great as can be seen here. But that's a small price to pay... if I want edge to edge sharpness I'll break out the DA 40 Limited. F/6.3, ISO 800, 1/60th.

10-27-2008, 06:35 AM   #10
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Are you sure, that the onions at the edge are soft because of the lens error? I'm thinking more of shallow DOF here, since you probably focused the red onions in the middle...
If you look at the right bottom corner, where the brown onion lies.... it appears pretty sharp to me.....
10-27-2008, 06:51 AM   #11
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QuoteOriginally posted by pentagor Quote
Are you sure, that the onions at the edge are soft because of the lens error? I'm thinking more of shallow DOF here, since you probably focused the red onions in the middle...
If you look at the right bottom corner, where the brown onion lies.... it appears pretty sharp to me.....
Yeah, at higher magnification it's pretty clear that the edges are softening a bit even in that spot. It's not horrible by any means, but I can tell a difference between it and my 40mm DA which is tack sharp even in corners. It probably isn't showing very well in this downsized shot, but that just goes to show that it really isn't as bad as some reviews make it out to be. (I noticed that I said the edges/corners were "crap compared to the 31/1.8" in another post which probably was a little excessive; the difference is not insignificant but may not be an issue for most shooting.)

Wouldn't be shooting landscapes with it, but other than that I don't consider it an issue...
10-27-2008, 09:39 PM   #12
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I have been watching this lens for a while now - thanks for posting your pictures - I am after something fast for indoor kid and food shots - love the bokeh
10-28-2008, 03:57 PM   #13
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I got this lens about a week and a half ago, and I absolutely love it. Insane center sharpness even at 1.4. Will post my own review and images soon, but just wanted to chime in that this is definitely a fantastic piece of glass, especially for the price.
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