These look pretty cool.
“As of now, photographers with Olympus and Panasonic Micro Four Thirds cameras and Sony NEX-series cameras have the choice to couple a pair of sharp Sigma F2.8 primes to the go-everywhere cameras. These two prime lenses for Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-Mount cameras have been designed from the start for both still and video capture, which, of course, is what makes this camera category so exciting.
The telecentric optical design of these lenses is designed specifically for light transmission to digital sensors for edge to edge image quality, and there’s a new AF system designed for the DN lenses for both still and video capture. On Micro Four Thirds cameras with their 2x lens factor, the 19mm F2.8 EX DN translates to a 38mm F2.8, and the 30mm F2.8 EX DN translates to a 60mm F2.8. On Sony E-Mount NEX cameras with a 1.5x lens factor, the 19mm F2.8 equates to a 28.5mm and the 30mm F2.8 equates to a 45mm F2.8. These are two new serious lenses for a class of cameras that I think are great go-everywhere cameras.”
The Micro 4/3 arena looks pretty interesting, and is something I want to explore more. This kind of gear makes me feel like it is time.
Read more about them at the Sigma Blog
Speaking as somebody who already uses Micro Four Thirds a lot, I don’t know why anybody would want that Sigma 19 when they already can get the Lumix 20mm f/1.7, which is more compact, more than a stop faster, and super-sharp. There’s no practical difference between shooting with a 19mm and a 20mm.
The 30mm is a little more interesting, but it’s hard to see why we need another option between the pricey-but-excellent Leica 25mm f/1.4 from Lumix and the inexpensive-but-fabulous 45mm f/1.8 Olympus. I guess the Sigma lens’ ability to focus down to 11.8 inches might tip the balance for some people.
The Sigma lenses will make more sense in their Sony E-mount version, since the NEX cameras are hurting for affordable fixed-focal-length lenses.
Agree with Ranger 9 above on the odd choice of focal lengths–there are already excellent offerings for MFT at 20mm and 45mm–but I applaud Sigma for developing this new line of lenses. It simply gives credence to the value and momentum of MFT format and, hopefully, will yield more interesting optics from other manufacturers as well. As an Olympus PEN shooter, I’m encouraged by this.