![]() The optical construction has also received an update with 9 elements in 7 groups with one aspherical element. The lens hood, however, has a similar matte black finish, but is made of a sturdy, polycarbonate plastic. The material feels very much like metal and has a smooth, matte black finish. The barrel is constructed out of Sigma's new Thermally Stable Composite Material, which has been used in other Global Vision lenses such as the Sigma 120-300mm ƒ/2.8 OS Sport lens. The bayonet-style hood also adds a bit of extra width to the lens. The included lens hood adds about 1.5 inches of additional length. Size-wise, the new lens is 2.5 inches wide, and just shy of 3 inches long. By itself, the lens weighs 423.5g (14.9oz), and the lens hood adds another 38.4g (1.4oz). The Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC Art is a nice, solid lens with a good heft, but not overly heavy or bulky. With a minimum focusing distance just shy of of a foot at 11.8 inches, and a maximum magnification ratio of just 1:6.8, the Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC Art isn't a great macro performer. The HSM system also allows for full-manual focus override, but the lens also has a mechanical manual focus switch on the side of the barrel. The electrical Hyper Sonic Motor focusing system is very fast, accurate and quiet, taking less than a second to move through its full focus range. The Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC Art is a very good performer in terms of autofocus. The Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC Art has a moderate amount of barrel distortion at 0.5% at the corners, and averages around 0.25%, which is almost identical to the older model lens. The older model, on the other hand, showed a slow, steady decrease in CA, but even by ƒ/8, the older version had more vignetting than the new one does at ƒ/2.8. While both models displayed about half of a stop of light falloff wide open, the new model shows a sharp decrease to nearly zero light loss by ƒ/2.8, and remains at that level throughout the rest of the aperture values. Unlike CA, vignetting has been much improved in this new model compared to the older one. At ƒ/1.4, both models averaged around 300ths of a percent of frame height, and while the older model averaged around a more or less constant value, the new version shows an increase in CA as you stop down to just around 600ths of a percent at ƒ/16. Stopping down to ƒ/2.8 shows a significant increase in sharpness, and it stays very sharp throughout the aperture range with only minor diffraction softness at ƒ/16.Ĭhromatic aberration is not really a significant issue with this lens, and it looks fairly similar to the older model in this regard, if only slightly worse. Wide open at ƒ/1.4, images are a little soft except for in the dead center of the frame, however, when compared to its predecessor, the new Art-Series model shows vastly improved performance at max aperture. Overall, the Sigma 30mm ƒ/1.4 DC Art produces very sharp images. And like most Sigma lenses, this one is available for a nice, budget-friendly price of around $499 and ships with front and rear caps, a lens hood and a soft case. The new Sigma 30mm prime lens takes 62mm filters like its predecessor does, and weighs just slightly more.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |