30mm and 35mm lenses choosing, Sigma, Samyang, others

RyanPW

Perhaps this topic has been talked about to death, but I haven't seen a thread on here about it and I figured some of you could convince me one way or the other on which lens I should be getting.

From my standpoint, the Sigma is better at shooting people and has FAR less breathing issues, but it is not as optically perfect as the Samyang, which is far sharper and has no barrel distortion. On the crop of the GH2, the 35mm makes less sense than it does on aps-c and even less than on a 5d (which I find it looks great on). The sigma doesn't have a dedicated aperture ring, but I do have a Novoflex Nikon to m43 adapter, so I'm personally all set to buy the Sigma, if it is ultimately going to be the right move...I know that, while there is a lot of focus breathing involved with the Samyang, and it isn't the best at shooting people in a 'naturalistic' kind of way like the, it does look great as a general composition tool and would probably end up taking optically better photos with.

Right now I have the tamron 17-50 f2.8, a minolta 24mm f2.8 (which I'm thinking about selling dependent on which lens I'm getting), a SMC 50mm and a Nikon 85mm f1.8d. In many ways, I wish I could just buy each of the voigtlanders and call it a day, but alas, I haven't sold any organs on the black market, yet...

How do you guys way in on these two lenses? Do you think there's a lens in this range that I have't considered enough of yet? I'm also thinking of going with the 25mm leica f1.4 and getting the voigtlander 40mm to go with it, but so far I've just been really enamored with both of these lenses. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

Ralph_B

I have the Sigma 30mm f1.4, but don't have a Samyang 35mm, so I can't do a comparison. I've often wondered how they match up against each other. But, I can talk about the Sigma as a lens in it's own right. In a nutshell, it's superb! On the GH2, it's very sharp at f1.4 across the whole frame. There's a small amout of coma toward the edge, but it's not a big deal, because the picture still reads as sharp. Contrast is excellent - nice rich colors. The 8 blade iris produces excellent bokeh. I use a Fotodiox adapter which works fine to control the aperture. Manual focus is sure and accurate. When you focus, you can feel the gears turning, which feels a little strange, but it doesn't affect performance. In short, I'm very happy with it.

LPowell

@RyanPW

the Sigma is better at shooting people and has FAR less breathing issues, but it is not as optically perfect as the Samyang, which is far sharper and has no barrel distortion.

Yep, that's what I saw too. What I don't like about the HSM Sigma's is the focus ring, which lacks hard stops much like Lumix lenses. In spite of its breathing, the Samyang/Rokinon 35mm works better with a follow focus. However, Sigma did make a Four Thirds version of the 30mm, which auto-focuses on the GH2 and works a lot better than a Nikon->MFT adapter.

RyanPW

@LPowell @Ralph_B wow that's interesting to know! I didn't realize auto-focus and aperture could be controlled if it was Four Thirds...that's really good to know for future purchases. Is this the case with every lens that is made with a four thirds mount?

I will likely purchase the Sigma as I don't have a follow focus to work with for now, and personally focus breathing bothers me incredibly...It's such a great lens otherwise...id buy it in an instant if it didn't have that. And now that I know the Sigma autofocuses and is ultimately sharp with a gh2, it might be more the greater bargain. That extra 5mm with the 1.86 crop is also pretty nice, I must say.

Thanks for the feedback guys!

LPowell

@RyanPW The Sigma 30mm's lack of focus breathing is superb. Here's a link to the GH2's MFT and legacy Four Thirds lens compatibility chart. As you can see, most Four Thirds lenses will work in AFS mode on the GH2. Compared to MFT lenses, the auto-focus behavior of Four Thirds lenses is noticeably slower, but no less accurate. I find it useful in situations where I don't have time to use viewfinder magnification to tweak the focus manually:

http://panasonic.jp/support/global/cs/dsc/connect/gh2.html

RyanPW

Thanks for the link @LPowell, I've bookmarked it.

L1N3ARX

Many people seem to favor the Samyang... but I think the Sigma outright dominates it. That is the one Sigma lens that continues to blow me away. I don't know what it is... but no matter what lens I try, I always come back to it. Never seen a focus ring that matches the Sigma 30mm, I find focus almost instantly at any range; it just has such a tight snappy feel. As far as image quality, and especially wide open, the sigma has a much more attractive image imo.

Ralph_B

@L1N3ARX

Have you ever shot the same scene with the Sigma and Samyang? Just wondering.

RyanPW

Hey guys, would this adapter work for having aperture control on my sigma lens (which is four thirds mount): http://www.amazon.com/Olympus-Thirds-Adapter-Panasonic-DMC-GF1/dp/B002U4SBG4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1349991834&sr=8-4&keywords=four+thirds+adapter

hedrox

@RyanPW you can control aperture on 4/3 lenses on m4/3body only with adapter that has electrical contacts built in...this one is for old OM lenses , what you need is olympus or panasonic 4/3 to m4/3 adapter
MMF1/MMF2/MMF3 - these are from olympus I think and there is also from panasonic .. you can also search for some cheaper alternatives on ebay like here http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/370664654034?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1438.l2649 this one is the cheapest I found , but it depends also where you live.. don´t know if it´s as good as original oly/panny adapters but you should google and check that before buying

L1N3ARX

@Ralph_B Yeah, I brought my Sigma 30mm along when I went to test the Samyang. I shot a couple indoor tests and outdoor, skin tones and wide open. The samyang is a great lens, but the choice between the 2 was pretty easy... at least for me.

vicharris

That Sigma does not have a visual aperture control on it does it? Just like the Tokina 11-16.

Ralph_B

@vicharris

Correct. The Sigma does not have an aperture ring. But if you get the Nikon mount version, you can manually control the aperture by turning a ring on the Nikon to m4/3 adapter.

RyanPW

@Ralph_B yep, I have a novoflex adapter which I use for my Tamron 17-50 and it works quite well. Also as stated before, if you buy a four thirds version of the sigma 30mm f1.4, you can buy either the Olypmus or Panasonic electronic 4/3 to micro 4/3 adapter for the lens and you gain both aperture control and auto-focus ability. This is what I'm trying to do now. It seems the only way to do so is with these two adapters, panasonic being the cheaper of the two. @hedrox, I believe your adapter is only made as a micro 4/3 lens to 4/3 camera mounts, not the other way around.