I like that this has a bit more zoom compression than the 25 1.8, and that it's a bit wider than the 45mm 1.8 for portraits. And that the image quality doesn't suffer at 1.4.
My most used lens in the system by far. Shot weddings at night with this lens, portrait sessions, travel photos. Great pair with my old EM1-II back in the day.
I actually like the fact that you get odd focal lengths with these lenses. They are close to the classic focal lengths but not exactly the same. It makes it possible to differentiate your images from the pack a little more.
I was happy to see this lens get the Robin shutter therapy treatment. I bought a used one a few months ago because I have really enjoyed the 56 1.4 for years. I thought it hilarious a few months ago when a Sigma exec said they weren't developing any new MFT lenses...they never did..they only adapted APS-C ones. My quick experience is that vs the Pana-Leica 25mm 1.4,, the Sigma has more intense colors,,(not exaggerated) and the Lumix is more of a "character" lens with an original film type look,,especially on video. Both aree tack sharp. My tests are not extensive..Also ..on both of my Sigmas I find that shots with an Olympus body result in more true natural color than say a Panasonic G9...just my thought..Thanks Robin,,keep shooting,,,we'll be watching!!
The bonus shots at the end was great! Just focusing on life around you, while highlighting a few people in the scene to add to the character. At least, that's what I perceived. Regards!
Nice. It's always fun to watch you Robin with your Shutter Therapy. I like to use small primes. For years I have been using Oly 17 f1.8 and 45 f1.8 but after receiving this lens, it's glued to my EM1 mk 3. I recently managed to find a PEN-F and those small primes mentioned above are now my PEN-F street photography combo...
@@petenicholson3255 On par. Having only 45 may be a problem to work with distance. If you already have either Oly 17 or Pana 20 or Pana 15, go for 45. If you just wanna go with a single lens go for sigma.
@@bkaustav much appreciated. I already own the 45mm Olympus and wanted to know if the extra light is a big help in low light portrait situations as well as just comparing the sharpness. I really appreciate your comment. Cheers chief 👍
Bonus thumbs ups for bonus POV at the end :D It's still possible that Sigma will introduce 2 new f/1.4 MFT lenses - they filed patents in 2022 for 14mm and 20mm MFT lens designs.
@@robinwong I may be just a silly optimist, but what I really hope for is an oly pro 12-35/2 zoom :D That's the only lens that I feel is really missing in the lineup.
Great footage. Looks like a nice day to go out and have fun with the camera. As you said, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy using the camera/lens! It's nice to have 3rd party autofocus options for M43. I always wanted to try the Sigma art lenses for M43 but I already have similar lenses and could not justify buying more.
My favourite focal lengths are 55 and 135. When I got in to MFT that translated to 30 and 60 in the sigma line up . Whilst I still use the old 2.8 lenses , the newer 1.4 offerings are very appealing and I cannot fault them ; other than to say that they fit the em1 better than the em10’s. Loved the video , Robin
I have the trio of 16mm, 30mm, and 56mm for my Nikon Z fc. The rendering is beautiful and the bokeh is delicious! I am very happy that we finally got decent AF bright primes for the Nikon Z system, not that we didn't have options, buut most were either 1.8 primes if they had AF (Viltrox) or full manual lenses with no electronic contacts for EXIF or AF. Even though it was possible to adapt these from Sony E-mount, having the native option is always more convenient. A must have for any Sony or Nikon APS-C shooter!
I shoot a lot of star trails, primarily with the 4-mm f/2.8 Laowa and 8-mm f/1.8 Olympus fisheyes, the 7-14-mm f/2.8 Olympus, and the 17-mm f/1.2 Olympus. What I really want is a 12-mm f/1.4 lens. Such a lens would be good intermediate focal length, two stops faster than the 7-14 and one stop faster than the 12-mm f/2.0 Olympus, which I do not have. Back in the film days, I used a 24-mm f/2.8 Olympus for star trails and I like its perspective.
Hi Robbin love you street photography walks great photographs. I only call your great work photographs not pictures to me pictures come from point & shoot and phones photographs come from great photography !
Hi Robin, I actually had this lens in the past and thought it performed very well. The only reason I sold it is because I had the opportunity to get the 25 f/1.2 at a very good price, which made keeping this one somewhat redundant as I also have the f/1.8 version of the Olympus. I do still have the 56mm, though, and that one is an absolute gem of a lens. Compared to similar offerings by both Lumix and OM it cannot be beaten for both the price and the size. Lastly: I do agree I would love more f/1.4 or 1.5 lenses. It's a pity the 20mm is somewhat underwhelming on the purple fringing department, otherwise it would probably my go to lens for street, travel and a lot of work as well. For me, for example, a few classic FL's like 75 and 105 equivalent with f/1.4 and pro grade sealing etc would be amazing. Not to mention a 12mm or something similar.
Yeah I wish Panasonic and OM System take their lens releases more seriously. To compete with the market place, they should make more compelling lenses, and I think newer F1.4 lenses can be that answer.
@@robinwong For me personally I think I'm well supplied with my 17mm, 25mm, 45mm and 56mm primes, but something new with a special character would always be appreciated. I agree that for those that do not have the Pro primes (1.2) a more affordable 1.4 option would be pretty amazing. Keep up the good work, Robin. You taught me a lot and are always a joy to watch.
The Sigma series are fantastic lenses when I pair them up with my EM1X. I love the balance they have with the larger MFT bodies. Although the 16mm is pretty big. They do rock. Too bad Sigma is done with MFT :(
I think they did not abandon Micro Four Thirds just yet, I believe their priorities shifted and they do need to make money as a business. It does not help that Micro Four Thirds isn't doing well recently, and this just shows how Panasonic and OM Digital Solutions need to really step up their game.
@@robinwong I agree, they definitely need to step up their game. I highly disagree with their(OM System) marketing lately and how they focus so hard on wildlife and macro. They should attempt to appeal to all photographers.
@@robinwong as for Sigma, my fingers are crossed that they haven't abandoned MFT just yet. I absolutely love their primes trio and would love to see a few native MFT lenses from Sigma. I bet they would sell well!
I agree! I have the TTArtisan’s 30mm f1.4 manual which I love (super cool in silver on my gx80) but would love something similar with autofocus. The Sigma is just that bit too big!
Hi, Robin. I hope that you are having a great visit with your family. When you have time would you help me manage manual focus with Olympus cameras, please. When I switch into manual focus I am lost, I have no idea where I am in the focus range nor which way to turn the focus ring to get focus. Best wishes!
I have the 56mm 1.4 version which I do like and enjoy using although haven't used as much as I thought I might. I do agree it would be nice to have more lenses at 1.4 I also have used the Olympus 20mm and lumix 25mm 1.4 and really like them.
I've enjoyed using this lens for a couple of years along with the 56mm. But I recall that Sigma has stated publicly that they aren't doing any more MFT lenses. Too bad. I also enjoyed, during the bonus POV sequence at the end (7:06), trying to guess Robin's MFT framing from the wide-angle POV. We coincide about 75% of the time. In the shots that didn't match my expectations Robin's framing was superior, sometimes much so. Possible video suggestion: Guess my framing!
I think they did not say they are not making MFT anymore, just that their priority has shifted elsewhere, which is understandable, they do need to make a profit, and it is sad that MFT isn't selling as well as other markets. Thanks for the suggestion for "guessing focal lengths" Seems like a fun idea.
It't quite big compare to the leica 25 f1.4 also cheaper and perform similar. I think the 56mm f1.4 is the most suitable for m43 also it' heavier than 30mm
Hello, do you think it's worth it to get something like this sigma for my E-pl5? Or should i just save a little and get the yongnuo 25 f1.7 (or the 42.5) instead?
Hello does it make sense to get this lens for me If I own 12-40 2.8 ? Or should I go for the 56mm version ? (I plan to buy 40-150mm for the future, but for now I want some prime)
I do outdoor videos every week, have not stopped posting! My Monday videos have always been the same, never changed. Did you not see any of them? Last Monday I was shooting shooting insect macro at a park, the Monday before I was shooting birds at KL Bird Park, and the week before that I was doing POV Street shooting! Tell me you saw some of them!
In the film days, Olympus was known as the OM system, there was an OM system logo, all that the new company did was reuse the old logo, and I have no problem with that. That tells me that Olympus is still involved in the new company as a small or medium size shareholder. it was announced when the company was taken over by JIP it was announced that Olympus still had a 5% share in the new company.
@@anthony-qm3pnA few years ago Olympus had bright primes (plural) on its pro lens roadmap. The only one that eventuated was the 20 mm and then the roadmap changed. That’s a real shame as the 20 mm is a perfect partner to the M5. Just like you say, we need more, perhaps a range of them to work as weathersealed replacements for the f/1.8 selection.
@@robinwong I don't think it has to be much bigger. The biggest part is the lens construction. The AF can be very small. The Only 45 F1.8 for example. Or even think about the Lumix 42.5, it is just a little bigger than the Oly 45 f1.8 and the Lumix has IS too! I believe the tech is there to go very small. Maybe they don't do it because the cost would go too high? I am not sure. Something else funny to think about, ten years ago we were getting amazingly small lenses like the Lumix 14mm or the Oly 12mm. Today we get much larger lenses. We should be going smaller, not larger.
I had this lens in my bag but rarely used it, courtesy of the brilliant 12-40 pro. However, in my last holidays in a familiar place where I already shot everything, I "forced" myself to exclusively use the 30mm. I thought it would be challenging, that I would miss a lot of things, but not at all! I just automatically changed my way of shooting and never really my "good for everything" zoom. I shot really decent photos of pretty much anything, from landscapes to animals that were not too distant :) I now have a dilemma every time I go out for non-specific shooting sessions. Do I take the zoom or do I take the 30mm 😅 ? It's surprisingly good as an all-round lens, plus the 1.4 aperture perk. Only drawback I found was the slightly slower autofocus. And indeed, it's not exactly small for a M43 prime.
About the zoom or prime, just decide on one, and don't worry about missed shots. As you have experienced yourself, whichever lens you brought with you, you will still get awesome shots!
I’m not really a fan of the Sigma’s trio because of the size and weight. They are already considered chunky and heavy on APSC. For me on MFT they just don’t make any sense because size. Yeah they are very sharp lenses, but personally if I have to sacrifice sharpness over size and weight I would go for it.
I like that this has a bit more zoom compression than the 25 1.8, and that it's a bit wider than the 45mm 1.8 for portraits. And that the image quality doesn't suffer at 1.4.
My most used lens in the system by far. Shot weddings at night with this lens, portrait sessions, travel photos. Great pair with my old EM1-II back in the day.
I can see how versatile the lens can get!
I actually like the fact that you get odd focal lengths with these lenses. They are close to the classic focal lengths but not exactly the same. It makes it possible to differentiate your images from the pack a little more.
Yeah that is true, more options the better
I was happy to see this lens get the Robin shutter therapy treatment. I bought a used one a few months ago because I have really enjoyed the 56 1.4 for years. I thought it hilarious a few months ago when a Sigma exec said they weren't developing any new MFT lenses...they never did..they only adapted APS-C ones. My quick experience is that vs the Pana-Leica 25mm 1.4,, the Sigma has more intense colors,,(not exaggerated) and the Lumix is more of a "character" lens with an original film type look,,especially on video. Both aree tack sharp. My tests are not extensive..Also ..on both of my Sigmas I find that shots with an Olympus body result in more true natural color than say a Panasonic G9...just my thought..Thanks Robin,,keep shooting,,,we'll be watching!!
I never commented on your blogs but, for years now I'm using a Sigma 19 mm 2.8 and I'm very satisfied with the results on my OM E m1
Thanks for being here, and yes the Sigma 19mm is also another excellent lens.
We also have the Panasonic Leica 12mm f/1.4
The bonus shots at the end was great! Just focusing on life around you, while highlighting a few people in the scene to add to the character. At least, that's what I perceived. Regards!
Thanks, and very nice observations!
Love your enthusiasm and how you share your shots with people you capture! Nice work and inspiring!👍🙂
Excellent photo walk and talk. Hope you have a wonderful week.
Thanks, appreciate that, and I wish you the same.
Nice. It's always fun to watch you Robin with your Shutter Therapy. I like to use small primes. For years I have been using Oly 17 f1.8 and 45 f1.8 but after receiving this lens, it's glued to my EM1 mk 3. I recently managed to find a PEN-F and those small primes mentioned above are now my PEN-F street photography combo...
Yeah the 17mm and 45mm are such great lenses for their compact sizes, the results suggest they come from much larger lenses.
What's your opinions on the image quality of this sigma compared to the Olympus 45mm 1.8? 👍
@@petenicholson3255 On par. Having only 45 may be a problem to work with distance. If you already have either Oly 17 or Pana 20 or Pana 15, go for 45. If you just wanna go with a single lens go for sigma.
@@bkaustav much appreciated. I already own the 45mm Olympus and wanted to know if the extra light is a big help in low light portrait situations as well as just comparing the sharpness.
I really appreciate your comment. Cheers chief 👍
Bonus thumbs ups for bonus POV at the end :D
It's still possible that Sigma will introduce 2 new f/1.4 MFT lenses - they filed patents in 2022 for 14mm and 20mm MFT lens designs.
Thanks, and yes hopefully we get to see some of these lenses.
@@robinwong I may be just a silly optimist, but what I really hope for is an oly pro 12-35/2 zoom :D
That's the only lens that I feel is really missing in the lineup.
There's already a Sigma 16mm. Why a 14 or 20?
Hi Robin, i watch your video cause I can feel the excitement and joy in ur smile and eyes. And it makes me feel good. Thank You
Great footage. Looks like a nice day to go out and have fun with the camera. As you said, the most important thing is to have fun and enjoy using the camera/lens!
It's nice to have 3rd party autofocus options for M43.
I always wanted to try the Sigma art lenses for M43 but I already have similar lenses and could not justify buying more.
Thanks for the kind words. If you already have what you need, then no point getting more lenses that overlap in focal length!
My favourite focal lengths are 55 and 135. When I got in to MFT that translated to 30 and 60 in the sigma line up . Whilst I still use the old 2.8 lenses , the newer 1.4 offerings are very appealing and I cannot fault them ; other than to say that they fit the em1 better than the em10’s.
Loved the video , Robin
Thanks, and yes sometimes odd focal lengths do work very well!
Fantastic lens....thanks for doing this, Robin!
No worries, my pleasure to share.
I have the trio of 16mm, 30mm, and 56mm for my Nikon Z fc. The rendering is beautiful and the bokeh is delicious! I am very happy that we finally got decent AF bright primes for the Nikon Z system, not that we didn't have options, buut most were either 1.8 primes if they had AF (Viltrox) or full manual lenses with no electronic contacts for EXIF or AF. Even though it was possible to adapt these from Sony E-mount, having the native option is always more convenient. A must have for any Sony or Nikon APS-C shooter!
Great photography !
Thanks!
I shoot a lot of star trails, primarily with the 4-mm f/2.8 Laowa and 8-mm f/1.8 Olympus fisheyes, the 7-14-mm f/2.8 Olympus, and the 17-mm f/1.2 Olympus. What I really want is a 12-mm f/1.4 lens. Such a lens would be good intermediate focal length, two stops faster than the 7-14 and one stop faster than the 12-mm f/2.0 Olympus, which I do not have. Back in the film days, I used a 24-mm f/2.8 Olympus for star trails and I like its perspective.
There is a Panasonic 12mm F1.4! Have you looked into that?
@@robinwong I didn't think about the Panasonic. Thanks.
Hi Robbin love you street photography walks great photographs. I only call your great work photographs not pictures to me pictures come from point & shoot and phones photographs come from great photography !
Thanks John for the kind words!
I love my Sigma 30mm f/1.4. Very sharp, very handy focal distance and balances well on my Olympus EM5 and EM1.
A very good lens indeed.
Hello Robin, nice to see videos from you about MFT again. Thank you for the effort. Greetings
Out of the latest 10 videos I made, 7 of them were about Micro Four Thirds. I never stopped making them.
Hi Robin, I actually had this lens in the past and thought it performed very well. The only reason I sold it is because I had the opportunity to get the 25 f/1.2 at a very good price, which made keeping this one somewhat redundant as I also have the f/1.8 version of the Olympus. I do still have the 56mm, though, and that one is an absolute gem of a lens. Compared to similar offerings by both Lumix and OM it cannot be beaten for both the price and the size. Lastly: I do agree I would love more f/1.4 or 1.5 lenses. It's a pity the 20mm is somewhat underwhelming on the purple fringing department, otherwise it would probably my go to lens for street, travel and a lot of work as well. For me, for example, a few classic FL's like 75 and 105 equivalent with f/1.4 and pro grade sealing etc would be amazing. Not to mention a 12mm or something similar.
Yeah I wish Panasonic and OM System take their lens releases more seriously. To compete with the market place, they should make more compelling lenses, and I think newer F1.4 lenses can be that answer.
@@robinwong For me personally I think I'm well supplied with my 17mm, 25mm, 45mm and 56mm primes, but something new with a special character would always be appreciated. I agree that for those that do not have the Pro primes (1.2) a more affordable 1.4 option would be pretty amazing. Keep up the good work, Robin. You taught me a lot and are always a joy to watch.
The Sigma series are fantastic lenses when I pair them up with my EM1X. I love the balance they have with the larger MFT bodies. Although the 16mm is pretty big. They do rock. Too bad Sigma is done with MFT :(
I think they did not abandon Micro Four Thirds just yet, I believe their priorities shifted and they do need to make money as a business. It does not help that Micro Four Thirds isn't doing well recently, and this just shows how Panasonic and OM Digital Solutions need to really step up their game.
@@robinwong I agree, they definitely need to step up their game. I highly disagree with their(OM System) marketing lately and how they focus so hard on wildlife and macro. They should attempt to appeal to all photographers.
@@robinwong as for Sigma, my fingers are crossed that they haven't abandoned MFT just yet. I absolutely love their primes trio and would love to see a few native MFT lenses from Sigma. I bet they would sell well!
I agree! I have the TTArtisan’s 30mm f1.4 manual which I love (super cool in silver on my gx80) but would love something similar with autofocus. The Sigma is just that bit too big!
Once you have AF you can't make it too small. Need room for the motor and element movement drive.
Thanks Robin, looking for close to 50mm for MFT
Hi, Robin. I hope that you are having a great visit with your family. When you have time would you help me manage manual focus with Olympus cameras, please. When I switch into manual focus I am lost, I have no idea where I am in the focus range nor which way to turn the focus ring to get focus. Best wishes!
What is that chant that puts your subjects at ease? I need something like that in German.
I have the 56mm 1.4 version which I do like and enjoy using although haven't used as much as I thought I might. I do agree it would be nice to have more lenses at 1.4 I also have used the Olympus 20mm and lumix 25mm 1.4 and really like them.
Yeah I think more F1.4 lenses make sense.
The Leica 25mm 1.4 should be a good lense but it produce too much chromatic aberration that I decided to sell it.
I've enjoyed using this lens for a couple of years along with the 56mm. But I recall that Sigma has stated publicly that they aren't doing any more MFT lenses. Too bad. I also enjoyed, during the bonus POV sequence at the end (7:06), trying to guess Robin's MFT framing from the wide-angle POV. We coincide about 75% of the time. In the shots that didn't match my expectations Robin's framing was superior, sometimes much so. Possible video suggestion: Guess my framing!
"Guess my framing" would be an awesome format! Beginners could learn so much and it sounds like fun for all expertise levels
I think they did not say they are not making MFT anymore, just that their priority has shifted elsewhere, which is understandable, they do need to make a profit, and it is sad that MFT isn't selling as well as other markets.
Thanks for the suggestion for "guessing focal lengths" Seems like a fun idea.
It't quite big compare to the leica 25 f1.4 also cheaper and perform similar. I think the 56mm f1.4 is the most suitable for m43 also it' heavier than 30mm
Yeah the Sigma being larger and heavier, can't help it as they were made for larger APS-C sensors.
I think to buy this lense because the leica 25mm 1.4 that I have has a big issue for me. It produce a lot of chromatic aberration.
Hello, do you think it's worth it to get something like this sigma for my E-pl5? Or should i just save a little and get the yongnuo 25 f1.7 (or the 42.5) instead?
👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍
Hello does it make sense to get this lens for me If I own 12-40 2.8 ? Or should I go for the 56mm version ? (I plan to buy 40-150mm for the future, but for now I want some prime)
On APS-C these make much more sense. Similar like my 18-35/1.8 :) Some nice theoretical Sig 14-25/1.8 for MFT would be fine replacement and smaller...
Hence I wished they made lenses for native Micro Four Thirds mount.
sigma 30 f1.4 的虛化"量"跟 25 f1.2 pro 還有全幅的 50 f2 差不多。
Nice to see you doing outdoors video. I mis them after all the live discussions. Great street photography in Malaysia.
I do outdoor videos every week, have not stopped posting! My Monday videos have always been the same, never changed. Did you not see any of them? Last Monday I was shooting shooting insect macro at a park, the Monday before I was shooting birds at KL Bird Park, and the week before that I was doing POV Street shooting! Tell me you saw some of them!
In the film days, Olympus was known as the OM system, there was an OM system logo, all that the new company did was reuse the old logo, and I have no problem with that. That tells me that Olympus is still involved in the new company as a small or medium size shareholder. it was announced when the company was taken over by JIP it was announced that Olympus still had a 5% share in the new company.
And I think they can make more F1.4 lenses, which makes more sense.
@@robinwong I agree they should make more f/1.4 pro prime lenses, 40mm f/1.4 & 60mm f/1.4.
@@anthony-qm3pnA few years ago Olympus had bright primes (plural) on its pro lens roadmap. The only one that eventuated was the 20 mm and then the roadmap changed. That’s a real shame as the 20 mm is a perfect partner to the M5. Just like you say, we need more, perhaps a range of them to work as weathersealed replacements for the f/1.8 selection.
Supposedly it's an upgraded Sigma-branded DG 25mm F1.4, it can satisfy my mid-range portrait desire.
I think it is a very different lens compared to the Panasonic.
I have the TTArtisan 35mm f1.4, it is very small. I think manufacturers can make small lenses if they try.
But the lens will quickly become larger with AF motor implemented.
@@robinwong I don't think it has to be much bigger. The biggest part is the lens construction. The AF can be very small. The Only 45 F1.8 for example. Or even think about the Lumix 42.5, it is just a little bigger than the Oly 45 f1.8 and the Lumix has IS too!
I believe the tech is there to go very small. Maybe they don't do it because the cost would go too high? I am not sure. Something else funny to think about, ten years ago we were getting amazingly small lenses like the Lumix 14mm or the Oly 12mm. Today we get much larger lenses. We should be going smaller, not larger.
Panasonic also have a 12mm f1.4
Cool.
It would be perfect if this lens was weather sealing！It's much cheaper than DG 25mm 1.4，but has better image quality！
I mean DG 25mm ii，it has weather sealing.
I hope they make it happen too
I had this lens in my bag but rarely used it, courtesy of the brilliant 12-40 pro. However, in my last holidays in a familiar place where I already shot everything, I "forced" myself to exclusively use the 30mm.
I thought it would be challenging, that I would miss a lot of things, but not at all! I just automatically changed my way of shooting and never really my "good for everything" zoom.
I shot really decent photos of pretty much anything, from landscapes to animals that were not too distant :)
I now have a dilemma every time I go out for non-specific shooting sessions. Do I take the zoom or do I take the 30mm 😅 ? It's surprisingly good as an all-round lens, plus the 1.4 aperture perk.
Only drawback I found was the slightly slower autofocus. And indeed, it's not exactly small for a M43 prime.
About the zoom or prime, just decide on one, and don't worry about missed shots. As you have experienced yourself, whichever lens you brought with you, you will still get awesome shots!
I’m not really a fan of the Sigma’s trio because of the size and weight. They are already considered chunky and heavy on APSC. For me on MFT they just don’t make any sense because size. Yeah they are very sharp lenses, but personally if I have to sacrifice sharpness over size and weight I would go for it.
If someone wanted to take the effort, I'm sure they could make some truly compact f1.4 primes designed specifically for micro 4/3
So why have that not been done yet?
@@robinwong I would love to know. I might buy them
Hi Robin, did you try the 16mm Sigma 1.4 for m43? I am curious on your hands on opinion.
Please do use the search, I have posted my review of that lens.
street photography is so creepy. luckily it's banned here in germany
I had often wondered if there are places where street photography has it's limits or is illegal. Thanks for the info! Regards!