Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC

 Anyone (specially Nikon users) have ever use Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC? I have and I’m satisfied with it.

So, what is about this lens anyway?

  • Large Maximum Aperture of F1.4
  • The most appropriate coating for digital SLR cameras
  • Two SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements and an hybrid aspherical lens, provides the utmost correction for all types of aberrations
  • Equipped with HSM (Hyper Sonic Motor) system. IT WORKS for Nikon D40/D40x/D60 for autofocus

I bought it because i want to have a big aperture lens to shoot in low light. My D40x kit lens (18-55mm) was way out of it. Buying Nikkor 50mm/f1.8 or 1.4 also not an option because it cant do autofocus in my D40x. Well, then I found this Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC.

With 1.5x crop factor sensor of my D40x (now D80), at 30mm it becomes a 45mm lens equivalent. So this lens is perfect to shoot for street photography and general shots. I tried to shot the lens wide open at f/1.4. This lens puts a new spin to street photography at night WITHOUT a tripod. At f/1.4, image quality in very low light conditions with a minimum shutter speed of 1/30 and an ISO setting of 800 or higher – made some pretty nice images.

When you stop down to about f/1.8 to f/2 under low light conditions, the image quality just seems to improve and sharpness and detail improves. Under normal lighting conditions, this lens seems to be sharpest at f/4 – f/5.6.

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Tragedi debu

Seperti aku tulis di 2 postingan sebelumnya, sebelum Natal kemarin aku ma Decy maen ke Malaysia. Tepatnya ke KL dan Melaka. Yah backpacking klayapan di 2 kota itu lah. Taking picture, nyobain makanan dan sejenisnya. Di Melaka, D40x Decy bermasalah. Ada bercak di hasil fotonya. Setelah dianalisa ternyata sensornya ada sedikit debu or something. Karena ga bawa blower n Decy males beli blower (lagi) di sana (yang harganya mahal dibanding beli di Indonesia), akhirnya yah mesti sabar2 dengan bercak tersebut.
Begitu pulang, sampe rumah aku diperiksa lagi kemare si Decy kemudian di”tiup-tiup” pake blower, test potret ke media putih gede (termasuk beberapa lembar kertas HVS :P) akhirnya tuh bercak ilang. Kembali kinclong :)

Then I got the same nightmare just right before new year 2008. Setelah transfer foto ke HDD sambil mengamati, ternyata beberapa hasil jepretanku (terutama hari terakhir) ada bercaknya juga …. huaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa. Beberapa foto di Melaka ada juga bercaknya. Langsung panik. Ambil blower, “sebul-sebul” sampe tangan pegel. Gosok lensa sampe kinclong. Tes jepret beberapa foto, alhamdulillah normal semua hasil jepretan pake 3 lensa yang berbeda.
But wait a minute … there’s something bugging me when viewing the viewfinder. Ada bercak di sana. Yang jelas bukan di sensor seperti punya Decy, tapi lebih ke mirror n focusing screennya. Then I made a very big dumbass mistake.

Setelah diblower beberapa kali bercak di viewfinder ga ilang juga, aku mulai bersihkan pelan2 mirror dengan kain statis (bener namanya itu?) … test, no result. Lap focusing screen, no result. Waktu beli blower dulu, paketnya terdiri dari 1 blower, 1 sikat sedang, 1 kain, 1 botol kecil cairan pembersih, 1 sikat kecil dengan ujung satunya berupa semacam spons/karet lunak. Harusnya saya googling lebih lama n coba pake cotton bud yg lembut instead using “sapu kecil berujung spons” ini. Then it happened. Bukannya viewfinder bersih, tapi malah ada garis abu-abu di sana. Huaaaaaaaa. Saat lensa dilepas, garis abu-abu tadi berubah jadi garis yang lebih tajam. It’s scratched !!!!

My focusing screen was scratched …. langsung lemes + kalut + sebel bla bla bla bla bla ….
Geblek … dodol … mestinya begitu diblower ga ada hasil, saya harus segera bawa ke ahlinya. Tanggal 3 bawa si D40x ke BKP, si Anto bilang focusing screennya positif scratch, mesti diganti. Plus tuh debu brengsek sepertinya nempel di prisma-nya. Jadi aku harus ke Alta karena cuman mereka yg punya stok n sekalian bersihkan prismanya, BKP langsung konfirmasi ke Alta via telpon saat itu juga. Tanggal 5 maen ke Alta. Ama mas di frontdesk kameraku dicek ulang, same conclusion. Sayangnya stok focusing screen D40/D40x sedang habis. Dan mereka lagi nunggu shipment stok berbagai spare-parts Nikon yang sekiranya datang tengah bulan ini.

Jadi aku disarankan untuk telpon lagi sekitar tanggal 14-15 Januari buat konfirmasi. Kalo ada, aku tinggal ke Alta lagi. *Lega*
Well, foto-foto di Malaysia mayan bagus buatku yang notabene cuman pemula di DSLR :P


Gedung pas di depan gerbang Petaling Street
lensa kit 18-55 pada f/11
speed:1/160
ISO 100 + Aperture priority + CPL filter


Gedung di seputaran Merdeka Square. Ada bercak di kiri atas + di atas bendera tengah :(
lensa kit 18-55 pada f/22
speed:1/50
ISO 100 + Aperture priority


Well, the twin towers …
lensa kit 18-55 pada f/4
speed:1/4
ISO 200 + manual + Tripod

Jika di Bangkok kemarin saya full menggunakan Sigma 30mm f/1.4 HSM, di Malaysia ini lebih sering menggunakan lensa kit-nya D40x (18-55mm f/3.5-5.6G ED II).  Tapi sempat juga beberapa kali  ganti lensa dengan Sigma dan pake tele Nikkor 55-200mm f/4-5.6 ED VR. Mungkin acara ganti-ganti lensa tanpa memperhatika “sanitasi” lingkungan ini yang membuat viewfinder/prisma Nikon saya kotor.

*Sigh*

Nikon D40x Compatible Lenses

For you, newbie in DSLR and having Nikon D40 or D40x (like mine). This list might be helpful for your guidance to find compatible auto focus lenses for your camera :)
Nikon D40x
Picture courtesy of kenrockwell.com
Nikkor:

  • AF-S DX 12-24mm 4.0G ED-IF
  • AF-S 17-35mm 2.8D ED-IF
  • AF-S DX 17-55mm 2.8G ED-IF
  • AF-S DX 18-55mm 3.5-5.6G ED II (kit lense)
  • AF-S DX 18-70mm 3.5-4.5G ED-IF
  • AF-S DX 18-135mm 3.5-5.6 ED-IF
  • AF-S VR DX 18-200mm 3.5-5.6G IF-ED
  • AF-S 24-85mm 3.5-4.5G IF-ED
  • AF-S VR 24-120mm 3.5-5.6G ED-IF
  • AF-S 28-70mm 2,8 IF-ED
  • AF-S DX 55-200mm 4-5.6G ED
  • AF-S VR 55–200mm 4–5.6G IF-ED (my zoom lense)
  • AF-S VR 70-200mm 2.8G ED-IF
  • AF-S VR 70-300mm 4.5-5.6G
  • AF-S 80-200mm 2.8 ED-IF
  • AF-S VR 105mm 2.8G
  • AF-S VR 200mm 2.0G ED-IF
  • AF-S VR 200-400mm 4.0G ED-IF
  • AF-I 300mm 2.8D IF-ED
  • AF-S 300mm 2.8D IF-ED
  • AF-S 300mm 4.0D ED-IF
  • AF-S VR 300mm 2.8 ED-IF
  • AF-I 400mm 2.8 D IF-ED
  • AF-S 400mm 2.8D ED-IF
  • AF-I 500mm 4.0D IF-ED
  • AF-S 500mm 4.0D ED-IF
  • AF-I 600mm 4.0D IF-ED
  • AF-S 600mm 4.0D ED-IF

DX = for Nikon DX Format Digital SLRs VR = Vibration Reduction. IS (Image Stabilizer) in Canon ED glass = Extra-low Dispersion IF = Internal Focusing G = The G-type NIKKOR has no aperture ring; aperture should be selected from camera body D = Distance Information Sigma:

  • 10-20mm 4-5.6 EX DC HSM
  • 12-24mm 4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM
  • 14mm 2.8 EX
  • 17-35mm 2.8-4.0 EX DG
  • 17-70mm f2.8-4.5 DC Macro HSM
  • 18-50mm 3.5-5.6 DC HSM
  • 18-50mm f2.8 EX DC Macro HSM
  • 18-200mm f3.5-6.3 DC OS
  • 30mm 1.4 DC
  • 50-500mm 4.0-6.3 EX DG
  • 50-150mm 2.8 EX DC HSM
  • 55-200mm 4-5.6 DC HSM
  • 70-200mm 2,8 EX DG Makro
  • 80-200mm 2.8 EX DG Makro
  • 80-400mm 4-5.6 EX OS
  • 100-300mm 4.0 EX DG
  • 120-300mm 2.8 EX DG
  • 150mm 2.8 EX DG MAKRO
  • 180mm 3.5 EX DG MAKRO
  • 300mm 2.8 EX DG APO HSM
  • 300-800mm 5.6 EX DG APO
  • 500mm 4.5 EX DG HSM APO
  • 800mm 5.6 EX DG APO

HSM = Hyper-Sonic Motor, This lens uses a motor driven by ultrasonic waves to provide a quiet, highspeed AF OS = OS (Optical Stabilizer) Function EX = EXpensive hehehehe :P The exterior of this lens is EX-finished to denote the superior build and optical quality, and to enhance its appearance. APO = In order to attain the highest quality images, the APO lens has been made using special low-dispersion (SLD) glass and is designed to minimize color aberration ASP = The aspherical lens complex allows freedom of design, improved performance, a reduced number of component lenses and a compact size DG = The most suitable lenses for 35mm film single-lens reflex cameras, as well as for digital SLR cameras. Sigma’s development of the DG (Digital) range of lenses has concentrated on the correction of distortion and aberrations. Suitable for digital and analogue cameras DC = These are special lenses designed so that the image circle matches the smaller size of the image sensor of most digital SLR cameras