Indeed, while I was interested in seeing how the lens performed at f/5.6-f/11, the larger apertures proved to be the most interesting. Sigma’s 30mm f/1.4 produces a very shallow depth of field at minimal focus distanceĪny lens with a large aperture is begging to be used wide open. If you have a camera with built-in image stabilisation, you’ll obviously be able to take this into account. Otherwise, the rule for handholding at the closest shutter speed to the equivalent focal length applies, so don’t expect to get sharp results at speeds much slower than 1/50sec. If you have sensor-based stabilisation on your camera, remember to switch it on. It should be noted that the lens isn’t optically stabilised, so care needs to be taken when handholding at slower shutter speeds. Again, the sound isn’t particularly loud, but if silent photography is your thing, or you plan to use AF while shooting video, then you may want to take note. However, there is an audible click or clunk as the lens engages focus. You have to hold your ear to the lens to hear any slight whirring noise. As Sigma claims, the motor itself is very quiet. ![]() On the Alpha 6300 it seems slightly slower than Sony’s own lenses, but it was by no means sluggish. Highly responsive, a slow turn of the ring will shift the focus slightly, whereas a sharp shift could see you jump from a metre to infinity. Even very slight nudges of the electronic focus ring were rewarded with precise shifts in focus. I had no problem with manually focusing this lens, and I was able to get very accurate focus when using the magnified view offered by the Sony cameras. The large ribbed focusing ring on the lens barrel is impossible to miss and is easy to find with your eye held to the viewfinder. It has a 52mm filter thread, and usefully, the lens employs internal focusing, so should you use an ND grad or polarising filter with it, you will not have to worry about the front turning or extending when focusing. The lens measures 64.8×73.3mm and weighs 265g, which certainly isn’t going to inhibit your ability to carry it around with you all day. Most of the other lenses I mentioned previously are smaller, almost pancake, but then they don’t have an f/1.4 aperture, which obviously requires larger elements. ![]() We tested the lens with a few cameras, including a Sony Alpha 6000, the new Alpha 6300 and an Alpha 7R in its APS-C crop mode, and it felt nicely balanced on each. As a reminder, the Contemporary range is designed to offer ‘High performance, yet compact and lightweight’, whereas the Art lenses focus more on image quality. Besides the lens designation and reminder that it has a 30cm minimum focus distance, the only other marking of note on the lens is the silver ‘C’, which denotes is as being part of Sigma’s Contemporary range. It has the clean black aesthetic that we have come to expect from Sigma, ever since the company announced its Global Vision direction around four years ago. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN – Build and handlingĮxternally, the lens is nothing to write home about. Based on its prices for mirrorless cameras, the conversion should cost around £85, which is far cheaper than buying a new lens. Rather usefully, Sigma will actually swap lens mounts over, so if you switch from Micro Four Thirds to Sony E mount, or vice versa, you can send the lens to Sigma, and the company will swap the mount. The only other point to note about the construction of the lens is the brass mount that has been coated for extra durability. The result is that these parts should cope better with wear and tear, and be less prone to the small gaps and shifts over time that can be caused by fluctuations in temperature. This material is ‘highly elastic’ and ‘exhibits minimal deformation’, according to the information in the manufacturer’s press material. However, Sigma states that some parts of the barrel, and the lens aperture, are made of Thermo Stable Composite (TSC). The body of the lens itself feels cold to touch, and appears to be largely made of metal. Added to this, the AF system is fully compatible with Sony’s Fast Hybrid AF system. Sigma promotes this as being especially useful when shooting video. To make focusing fast and smooth, the lens employs a stepping motor that is both quick and quiet. There is no aperture ring and the focus ring is a fly-by-wire electronic affair. The lens is completely electronically controlled. ![]() There obviously isn’t much point in an f/1.4 aperture if you have horrible hexagonal bokeh, so sensibly Sigma has employed nine rounded aperture blades to ensure that when the lens is stopped down to f/1.8 and beyond, the out-of-focus areas show nice circular specular highlights and smooth transitions. The 30mm is a good lens for mid-length portraits
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