As usual, average MTF 50 across the entire lens is plotted on the vertical axis, center MTF 50 on the horizontal, both in Line Pairs / Image Height.Īs you can see on the vertical axis, the new version (blue dots) has slightly higher overall (average) resolution, while the older version (red dots) has, perhaps, slightly higher center resolution. ![]() Yes, I know you’re going to anyway, but at least now I can say, “I told you so.”Īnyway, we compared the 8 copies of the 30mm A1 that came in today with 6 copies of the 30mm f/1.4 DC that were on the shelf. Results would be slightly different on other cameras so please try not to make comparisons to, say, the Sigma 35mm f/1.4 tested on a Canon 5D Mk III. I need to mention that we tested these lenses on a Canon 7D. Sigma’s computed MTF charts for the old (left) and new (right) 30mm f/1.4 lenses. Here are the optical formulas for the two lenses. Because the lenses look so similar on the outside and have such similar names, I think it important to demonstrate how different they are inside. I don’t usually put optical formulas and MTF charts in these posts, but I’m going to make an exception today. Did I mention I didn’t like the original MF ring? To paraphrase Shakespeare, “I would beat thee, but that would only infect my hand.” The new one, though, is a pleasure to manually focus smooth and accurate. Most immediately apparent, though, is that the manual focus ring turns smoothly and accurately, which is not at all the case with the gritty, jumpy, inaccurate MF ring on the original version. The lens feels more solidly built, particularly the hood. It also comes with the much improved outer coating that doesn’t peel off like the one on the original lens and a HSM (hypersonic) motor that should improve AF speed and perhaps accuracy.Īfter putting the lens on a camera the build difference is immediately apparent. So the new lens gives us a new optical formula, an extra aperture blade, and closer minimum focusing distance to go along with a higher, although still reasonable, price tag. The new 30mm DC HSM (left) and the original 30mm EX DC (right). But before we get to the optics, lets take a look at the two versions. ![]() The original wasn’t a bad lens at all, but the recent Sigma 35mm f/1.4 lens had most of us anticipating something impressive with the new 30mm, too. It might even be dramatically better than the original version optically. Sigma’s new version of the 30mm APS-C only lens, would, we hoped, eliminate those negatives. There was, perhaps, a bit more copy-to-copy variation than many of us found acceptable. Unfortunately, it had the somewhat dubious combination of being rather inaccurate to autofocus, yet extremely difficult to manually focus because of its inaccurate MF ring. ![]() ![]() The original 30mm was small, sharp, and inexpensive a perfect combination for those shooting a crop sensor camera. For those who haven’t had the pleasure used the original Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens, it was something of a love-hate relationship. Since we got a nice bunch of the A1 version lenses in yesterday, we thought it would be worthwhile to do a bit of comparison with the older version. I do want to thank them for not calling it the 30mm f/1.4 X, though. The original version is officially the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM, while the new one is the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC HSM A1. There is a bit of confusion regarding the names of the old versus new version of Sigma’s 30mm DX (crop sensor) lens.
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