|
Author
|
|
kevwilfoto
Mu-43 Veteran
Registered: September 2011
Location: Colorado
Posts: 294
|
|
Review Date: Tue June 5, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $199.00
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
sharpness, color, contrast, nice bokeh, low price
|
|
Cons:
|
no hood, internal wobble, slow power up
|
|
This lens would be a home run for the price, if not for the strange internal wobble when powered off (seems solid when powered on) and the very slow startup. Those really don't bother me that much, so I love it. The colors & contrast are great, it's very sharp, is light, and didn't cost much.
The lack of a hood drops it 1 point in my view. Seriously, how much would it cost Sigma, like 0.003 cents?
I highly recommend it, unless the slow startup would annoy you, in which case skip it.
------------------------------
OM-D E-M5 || O12-50 | P45-175 | P100-300 | PL25 | O45
Adapted: Minolta MD 28/2.8 Celtic, MD 35/1.8, MD 50/1.4, MD 85/2.0, MD 200/2.8, Nikon 100/2.8 E
Wish List: GH3, 12/2.0, 17/1.8, 75/1.8, Oly ZD FT SHG 300/2.8
Pentax K-5, K-01 || 18-135 WR | Sigma 30/1.4
|
|
|
|
Recercare
Mu-43 Rookie
Registered: August 2012
Posts: 19
|
|
Review Date: Sun October 7, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $200.00
| Rating: 9
|
|
Pros:
|
Sharp, nice bokeh, wonderful colors, very inexpensive, compact, fast focus.
|
|
Cons:
|
Manual focus-ring a bit sticky
|
|
A superb performer. Very sharp wide open and razor sharp at F4. Bokeh is nice and color rendition is absolutely wonderful. It's not a pancake but still very compact. It focuses fast and silent on my Panny G3.
Build quality is fine except from the manual focus ring which is sticky.
If you're comfortable with F2.8 and its rather odd focal length, then buy it!
For $200 you get a lens that IQ-wise plays in the same league as the more expensive Panny 21mm and Oly 45mm (my subjective opinion, of course).
Highly recommended! 
|
|
|
|
|
Adubo
Magiting na Tagapangasiwa
Registered: November 2010
Location: Filipinas
Posts: 1131
|
|
Review Date: Thu November 1, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $160.00
| Rating: 8
|
|
Pros:
|
sharp, nice feel, VERY cheap
|
|
Cons:
|
slow start up time due to the floating element inside
|
|
the lens is amazing for the price. it feels nice to use, the focus ring is smooth (albeit, fly by wire), decently sharp and OOF blur is OK, not great but its alright.
the single annoying thing about this lens is the start up time... Boy, lemme tell you, it takes a while (5sec minimum) it's anooying so what i do is start up the camera, turn the LCD off, set the timer to no sleep mode so it wont automatically shut off, and forget about it.
for the price, its hard to beat. not too long to be a 45mm lens contender, but close enough to the Panny 25 and CV25 to be their cheaper alternative but with extra reach.
------------------------------
flickr Tumblr
www.adudelcastillo.com
|
|
|
|
|
datagov
Mu-43 Regular
Registered: December 2012
Posts: 88
|
|
Review Date: Tue December 4, 2012
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $150.00
| Rating: 9
|
|
Pros:
|
fast focus, very sharp images, nice color, good focal length
|
|
Cons:
|
wish it was 1.8
|
|
I love this lens. For the price it is outstanding. It focuses faster than my Lumix 20mm and stopped down to f4 it is just about as sharp as my Pentax-A 50mm 1.7. On the OMD it resolves stunning photos. Bokeh is creamy, and this lens can be used for portraits, macro, and urban landscapes. Very versatile and useful lens at an amazing price.
|
|
|
|
|
NRV
Mu-43 Regular
Registered: February 2013
Location: New York
Posts: 123
|
|
Review Date: Tue March 5, 2013
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $150.00
| Rating: 7
|
|
Pros:
|
Cheap, small, relatively quick AF, very good image quality overall
|
|
Cons:
|
Slow startup, awkward focal length, sticky focus ring
|
|
the previous posts pretty much sum up my thoughts on it.
It's a dead cheap lens, with very good image quality. Decent bokeh. Good sharpness all throughout its aperture range.
Not a fan of the focus ring, which can feel sticky at times, making fine tuning while on MF a pain. To its credit, I find its AF performance to be pretty good, which has already saved me a few MF headaches. Not sure if this focus ring thing is true for all copies or just a few though. But worth taking into account.
Yeah it's a bit slow to start up. Slight annoyance but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
30mm is kind of an awkward focal length for me. But that's mainly because I prefer to shoot wide most of the time. And for the occasional close-range thing, I'd rather use a longer lens. So the 30mm is stuck in a weird spot in the middle.
It may sound like I'm putting it down but that's not the case. I think it's a very capable little lens, and for the money... well... kind of a no brainer. It's just not without its flaws. And again, depending on your shooting preferences, the focal length may or may not work for you. YMMV.
|
|
|
|
PaulGiz
Mu-43 Regular
Registered: January 2013
Location: Rhode Island, USA
Posts: 174
|
|
Review Date: Fri April 26, 2013
|
Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: $199.00
| Rating: 8
|
|
Pros:
|
Sharp, fast accurate focus, solid build, lightweight
|
|
Cons:
|
Larger than it should be, designed for NEX
|
|
Received my new style (ART) 30mm last week. Metal shell is pretty luxe.
Still rattles when unpowered, but I don't care.
Startup slower than Oly/Panny but not so bad. About 1-1/2 to 2 seconds.
Came with a quality case, pinch-style cap and a nice quality reversible hood.
There is a bit of softness at the corners, but it's pretty much gone at f/5.6. Center sharpness is exceptional at all apertures, even wide open. Works for portraiture and people photos.
Focuses quickly, even in low light. Nice focal length for portraits, pleasant bokeh.
Color rendition very neutral, contrast very good. Not a pop-y lens, but pleasant and competent. Plenty of quality image recorded so if you know what you're doing you get the raw material you need.
I wanted a PL25, but finances didn't allow. This lens has acquitted itself very well.
Bigger than I would like, but very lightweght and balances nicely.
Highly recommended. The price is more than reasonable, but even without considering value I feel this is very nice lens.
P.
Edit: I said lens doesn't have tons of pop. I want to take that back. It's been very gray here lately and lighting was blue and flat. Took lens outside today in good light and got some very bright, colorful and contrasty images.
Color sample, No editing, RAW resized and converted directly, f/4.0, 1/500, Natural color setting:
------------------------------
E-PL5, Oly 14-42, Oly 40-150, Pan 14, Sigma 30, VF-3 and not nearly enough time
|
|
|
|
|
Micro Four Thirds User Forum
