So you have just purchased the Sony a6000, a gorgeous new camera that will no doubt propel your photography to new heights. Congratulations! The next step would be to get a killer lens for the killer camera. However, in the sea of available options in the market, what would make the best choice?
The Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens is one of the most excellent choices of camera lens available on the market. It has the ability to take beautiful sharp images, all for a very affordable price, and is even currently ranked No. 1 in “Mirrorless Camera Lens” on Amazon while also enjoying an excellent reputation amongst the photography community!
If you’re a camera lover, you’re probably looking into multiple factors to ensure that the lens that you purchase is worth every penny. Typically, camera lens quality can be looked at from 3 angles:
- Performance and Functionality
- User Interface and Control System
- Build Quality and Design
We will dive into each of these 3 areas to see why this offering from Sigma stands out. It is also worth mentioning that this product has great independent reviews (as you can read in the last section of this article.)
Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens Quick Fact Sheet
| Product Description | Value |
| Price | Less than $300 first hand, around $150 second hand |
| Color | Black |
| Item Dimensions | 2.89 x 2.55 x 2.55 inches |
| Item Weight | 0.58 lbs |
| Lens Type | Wide Angle |
| Maxium Aperture | 1.4 milliliters |
| Maxium Focal Length | 30 milliliters |
| Minimum Focal Lenght | 30 milliliters |
Performance And Functionality
When you are spending money on a pricey camera, you have a singular objective: to take beautiful photographs. Perhaps you are an avid photographer who loves capturing memories elegantly. Or you might be a frequent traveler who enjoys documenting your travels through images.
Whether’s it capturing people, landscapes or events, the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary Lens is for you. It has a large aperture, which is great for capturing lowlight as well as creating a good depth of field.
The aperture is a hole that lets light into the camera. A large aperture means that more light is allowed into the camera, thus making for brighter photographs.
The depth of field refers to the amount of the photo that the lens is able to capture sharply. For example, a camera lens with a deep depth of field will be able to capture most things, including the subject and the background, in detail; a camera with a shallow depth of field will only capture the subject in detail and blur the background.
The Sigma lens work so well because it has a wide aperture and can capture a good depth of field.
This camera lens is perfect for capturing portrait and landscape photographs and its lower aperture setting allows for a shallower depth of field, allowing you to beautifully blur the background against your subject in the foreground.
This Sigma camera lens also has a manual focus ring as well as an autofocus feature. This means that when it comes to taking simple photos, simply point and snap and the lens will be able to autofocus on the subjects for a crisp, clean photograph.
User Interface And Control System
A camera lens is an accessory to a camera, and it should easily allow users to control the sharpness and the depth of field required. This Sigma Lens is no different.
With its slick black design, it will blend in nicely with your Sony a6000 camera. When installed correctly, it should fit onto your Sony a6000 camera like a glove.
With the Sigma lens on, simply manually adjust the zoom on the lens; alternately, you can allow the lens to zoom in automatically with the autozoom setting (please note that it produces a clicking noise).
At 9.3 ounces, this Sigma lens is light enough to sit on your Sony camera comfortably and should be really easy to maneuver.
Build Quality And Design
At the dimensions of 2.89 x 2.55 x 2.55 inches, it is slightly smaller than some of its more expensive counterparts but is nonetheless well-built. Its lenses are designed to last and are built with multicoating.
This camera lens is built with metal casings with plastic internals. Unlike older models, when the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens has been fastened properly onto the camera, it does not produce a rattling sound.
This Sigma lens also has a smoother focus ring compared to older models. Older rubber grips on camera lenses can sometimes feel clunky and stiff. The new Sigma lens has a smooth rubber grip that will allow you to zoom in and zoom out easily. It is, however, larger in size compared to similar models.
All of the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lenses are handcrafted in a single factory in Aizu, Japan. They are also inspected individually for quality control purposes before being shipped out. This means that each Sigma Lens that you hold in your hands has been created with the finest craftsmanship and has passed through stringent quality control checks.
No Image Stabilization
Image stabilization technology has been developed to improve picture quality when the camera, or the subject, is forced to be in motion during picture-taking. When the camera or the subject is forced to be in motion, the image may not be captured sharply and result in an unclear photograph. This is especially true in low-light settings.
Examples of when image stabilization might be helpful are when capturing a moving object, such as a car or an airplane, or a moving object, such as an animal, or a moving person, such as a dancer.
Image stabilization can also be helpful when the photographer is unable to hold the camera in a stable fashion, such as when the photographer is climbing a mountain or underwater.
The Sigma lens does not offer image stabilization, so it means that in such settings, photo quality can be compromised. However, this problem can be easily remedied. For example, perching your camera on a tripod does naturally help with image stabilization. Using the ‘multi-shot’ setting, which allows you to take many pictures in a short burst of time, will also help you take better pictures when the subject is moving.
Chromatic Aberration
When shooting wide-angle subjects with high contrast, it is common to see ‘purple fringing’ on the edge of your camera subjects. This is a common problem in photography. ‘Purple fringing’ is a purple ghost-like shadow on the fringes of the main subject of your photograph. This is usually only visible when an image is examined up close.
This ‘purple fringing’ effect is caused by an effect known as chromatic aberration. This is caused when different colors of light do not focus on the same plane. Lens designs usually optimize certain wavelengths of light in the color spectrum over others.
Although some chromatic aberration can be inevitable, better camera lenses usually solve this problem. For this Sigma lens, some users still report a problem with chromatic aberration when in use, however, this is not usually noticeable in typical photographs.
Common Questions And Answers
- Does this lens come with autozoom?
This lens does come with autozoom (although it does make a clicking sound when activated).
- What is the lens type?
The lens type is wide-angle (as opposed to standard lenses).
- What is the maximum aperture of this lens?
The maximum aperture is 1.4 millimeters.
- What are the minimum and maximum focal lengths?
The minimum and maximum focal lengths are 30 millimeters.
- What other accessories are included?
Other accessories included are the lens hood, rear and front cap.
- What are the product dimensions?
This camera lens is 2.89 x 2.55 x 2.55 inches in dimension.
- How much does the camera lens weigh?
This camera lens has a weight of 9.3 ounces.
- What color does this product come in?
This product only comes in black.
- Is this camera lens ideal for portrait mode?
This camera lens is ideal for photo-taking over a wide range of settings, including portrait mode and landscape mode. The most important thing is to be able to stabilize the camera when taking photographs (as it does not have image stabilization).
Conclusion
Priced competitively on various online retailers as well as local photography stores, it is one of the cheapest camera lenses of comparable quality that you can find online. With a slick black design and a friendly user interface, you’ll find that this camera lens fits and works perfectly with your Sony a600 camera.
This Sigma camera lens has a much-improved rubber grip for the focus lens which works smoother compared to older models. It also has a maximum aperture of 1.4 millimeters, meaning that it allows for a lot of light into the camera to make for brighter photographs. Its autofocus feature also makes taking casual photographs that much easier.
The only downside to this camera lens from Sigma is that it does not include image stabilization technology. This makes it tricky to take photographs with moving or unstable subjects (however, this can be remedied by using a tripod or using the ‘multi-shot’ setting.
Another downside to the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens is that it sometimes causes color aberration in photographs. This is a defect due to the different wavelengths of light. This defect can sometimes show up as a purple ring on the fringes of your photography subjects.
Overall, the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Lens is a reliable camera lens of great quality and is worth every penny that you spend. It has received excellent reviews from independent photographers using the lens and is even currently ranked No. 1 in the “Mirrorless Camera Lenses” list on Amazon.
Consider the Sigma 30mm F1.4 Contemporary DC DN Lens as the perfect, affordable, high-quality camera lens with a great reputation that will go perfectly with your Sony a6000 camera today!
