Sigma 30mm F1.4 DC DN Lens for Sony E

Neat little lens that produces sharp shots. Has fast autofocus, minimal edge distortion (easily fixed in post) and accurate color rendition.

This 30mm 1.4 lens is a 45mm (f2.1) full-frame equivalent, so it definitely excels in low-light scenes and subject separation for portraits.

Paired with a compact APS-C body, this Sigma lens is also reasonably compact for travel purposes.

One thing I wish it did have was OSS, but for the price, it does everything else exceptionally well.

As many have said, this might just be the best prime lens for Sony’s E-Mount / APS-C cameras. I use it on my Sony A6000, and it’s amazing. Quick pros and cons:

Pros:

Best-in-class aperture. f1.4 is currently the best available on the market, there is no more open lens in this range.

Cheap. Compared to the competition, this lens is an absolute steal. Cheaper than the nearest Sony and Zeiss equivalents.

Amazing quality. I never knew a lens this cheap, and promising f1.4, could ever look this good. Unless you’re a serious photo pro who’s crawling over the pixels in Photoshop, this lens is near perfect at any setting. What small flaws it does have, are almost all easily fixed (e.g. very minor, best-in-class, barrel distortion). Anyone using this for point-and-shoot or basic portraits won’t need to do a thing, it looks great out of the box.

Cons:

No image stabilization. This is really both a pro and a con. You don’t need image stabilization anyway if you shoot with a tripod, so no sense paying for it. If you know anything about setting up your camera, you probably already know how to setup a fast shutter speed using the 1.4 to avoid almost all concerns about shaky hands. However, lacking image stabilization means handheld shots are a fraction slower and less stable than they would be with the Sony-equivalent lens that does have image stabilization. Really, I wouldn’t be worried if you know how to setup a lens, but the Sony is the easier “point and click” lens in the range. If you’re a studio photographer with a lot of lighting who depends on each individual shot being perfect yet you don’t use a tripod, then maybe you’d need to worry. I just shoot in multi-shot mode to make sure I get a good one.

Chromatic aberration. Also called “purple fringing”, lenses with low enough f-stop values are prone to splitting the light on the edges of a subject, leading to a bleeding effect where sharp differences in light cause the object to have a purple outline. Note that this outline is normally pretty hard to see unless you’re really blowing up the image (8×10?) or looking for it on a monitor. This is normal, and for this class of lense, this lense is still great for its class. If this is a major concern for you, either shop around, or learn to shoot around it (increase f-stop when shooting sharp light contrasts, for instance).

Zoom by wire. Most e-mount lenses don’t zoom on a 1:1 track with how you spin the ring, they relay that information to the camera which tries to guess what value you’re reaching for. This is totally normal across the range, but some people seem to be bothered by it, so take note. This lens dials in just as well as any of its fly-by-wire competitors, and I find I can get exactly the results I want using the simple “show a zoom during focus” option on my camera.

Overall:

This lens has all the normal flaws of a 1.4 in this price range, but it costs less, and has the lowest f-stop you can get. Absolutely, bar-none the best prime lens for most users. Requires only beginner-level knowledge to make the most out of it. Spend one day looking up tips on shooting with lenses with low f-stops, and you’ll be ready for this.

It’s a super sharp lense with a really nice look and style to the images it takes

Great lens. I love the pictures it allows me to take.