Deal of the month: Two Sigma MFT lenses for the price of one!
That could be classified as deal of the month: You can right now grab both Sigma MFT lenses (the 30 and 19mm) for the price of one only at BHphoto (Click here).
And don’t forget the E-M5 deal:
Black E-M5 body only for $809 at eBay US (Click here).
Black E-M5 body with 14-42mm lens for $899 at eBay US (Click here).
Anentropic
5 months ago |not selling well… maybe faster aperture next time?
Garypen
5 months ago |They were a good deal for $149. They are an amazing deal for $100 each.
I already have the 30mm (for $149), and was considering the 19mm. Now, I can buy this bundle, and sell the 30mm from it for $100+, and have the 19mm for under $100.
Nobody
5 months ago |If I say that I am not tempted.. that would be lie..
Lars Beduhn
5 months ago |Blah… I’d buy them in an instant…sadly… no such deal here!
Lars Beduhn
5 months ago |Well okay… now that I verified… you can have either lens for €120… so not THAT bad a deal either…
simon
5 months ago |cool. you know the 30 beat the best 50 (leica m 1.4) in a test at lensrentals!
Dave
5 months ago |Not at 1.4. Or 2.0 for that matter. Apples and oranges…
Konan
5 months ago |another bokeh colletor. As if f1.0 will turn night into day instead of f2. Sharp hunters, camera collectors, bokeh collectors, high iso collectors. there has never been one decent pic shot with f1.4 and under, let alone f2.
bro
5 months ago |Absurd, never a good shot taken at 1.4? That’s just a silly, ignorant comment.
1.4 on M43 is DOF equivalent to 2.8 on FF/35mm, so a 2.8 lens on m43 is like a 5.6 lens on FF. In other words, even the cheapest, crappiest FF kit lenses provides narrower DOF than these slow sigma lenses.
Also, you don’t actually know what the word bokeh means, do you? Bokeh is the quality of the out of focus blur, not the amount/size of the blur.
But surely, nobody has ever taken a good photo at a larger aperture than 5.6 on a FF DSLR or 35mm film camera. Do you have a newsletter I can sign up for? I would love to hear more of your wisdom.
Konan
5 months ago |ooooooo, you get alens and use 1.4 aperture and make the background all blurry…ooooooo,,,such skill. Why bother having to deal with the background when you can blur everything? lazy photgraphers get lazy photos. ooooh, the bokeh is soooo smoooth, and becuae of that my pics will be great. You need to stop being a bokeh collector, a sharp hunter and thin dof collector and worry about the photographs. If those things make someone a great photographer, than EVERYONE who has a large aperture lens is a great photographer. Sorry, bro, but you dont know much about art.
go on think about it smart mouth, you think bokeh smoothness has anything to do with good photos? So if I buy a f0.05 lens and shoot with that aperture , i geuss that would automatically make me a great photographer, right? So go on, dont tka emy wod for it, go out there and shoot every picture with f1.4 or less, seeing as it will make your blurry background photos better. the next thing youll say is that photography is just like painting.LOL. i suggest you educte yourelf properly in the arts, that way you wouldnt make such ignorant statements.
Anonymous
5 months ago |@konan
oh konan, you’re so wise, I wish I could be so elite to judge everyone else like you do
Fucken wanker
Konan
5 months ago |Anonymous…ah…the great anonymous..we all know what a reputation you have here. Amd your colorful yet childish words only prove my simple points. Are you having a bad day, or have all the achne in your teenage face exploded into such puss fuilled venom you caould control yourself? I would say that thanks to your childish and moronic reastions that you are a person of slightly lowr mental facility, but you have already proven that to most people here by your previous childish, ranting illogical biased delusional posts. would you like to use the ” fucken” again to make yourself feel better? It seems to me that you do alot of this so called ” wanking” , seeing as how you even mentioned that. Would you like to “wank” some more to make you feel better about yourself, child?
Incorrect
5 months ago |You are the child, dragging this out wanting the last word. Next time keep your filthy comments to yourself.
bro
5 months ago |Control over DOF is just one tool in the toolbox. Just because lazy artists use it as a clutch does not mean competent photographers need to avoid it or have no use for it.
Do you walk into someone’s garage and ridicule them for owning a nail gun because a proper craftsman should be able to get by with only a hammer? Thats all a lens with a wide aperture range is, a more efficient and effective tool.
As a photographer I want the utmost control over the final result of my images, so yes, the ability to use narrow DOF is a good thing. If you limit yourself to a slow lens on a small format all you’re doing is limiting the potential photographs you can take, and you might as well use one of those prosumer compact point and shoot cameras like an RX-1, LX-7, ZX-2, etc, because they will give you the same end result.
It may make for an interesting exercise to limit yourself to a slow lens with a wide DOF, so you can focus on composition, lighting, subject matter, etc, however its not an exercise that would nullify the importance of depth of field control in photographer. DOF control isn’t everything, but it certainly is an important part of the equation.
bro
5 months ago |Also it seems you still do not understand the difference between bokeh and DOF. If you’re going to spend all this time ridiculing others, you should at least understand basic concepts of photography.
An F0.5 lens does not mean the lens has good bokeh, it means it has narrow DOF.
An F5.6 lens can have good bokeh, bokeh is the quality of the out of focus rendering. Even with a wide DOF bokeh is important, infact its often MORE important with a wide DOF, because more is in focus and the out of focus elements can easily become busy and distracting if the bokeh is poor.
On the contrary, with a fast lens and narrow DOF where you’re completely blurring out the background, the quality of the bokeh is much less important.
Freddie Jones
5 months ago |@ konan , you are confusing your needs with everyone else’s, it is absurd to suggest that no one makes great images at fast apertures and as Bro explains , the double DOF of mFT makes your statement even sillier.
Konan
5 months ago |You poor uneducted man, following bokeh trends and blurry background trends, as if blurry background automatically make your pics better. Oh, if it where only that easy to get great pics.subject, in focus, background , blurry, subject in focus, background, blurry, repeat and repeat. Oh wow, such skill, such craftsmanship, to have a blurry backgorunds…cause blurry backgrounds make for a great pic. Lazy and unskilled photographers cling to the meningless, bokeh, resolution, sharpness, tone, everything is important BUT THE PHOTO ITSELF. sorry pal, you need to concentrate on the most important thig the picture, and not how smoooooth your bokeh is, or how shallow the dof is, or how sharp the photo is or how many tones you can get with a lens. You;re not a photographer, your a collector. a collector of bokeh, of dof, of fast lenses, of resolution, of low noise high isos. You know nothing but collecting…but that’s good in a way, because it leaves the very very very few photgrphers who care about photographr more room to work with and less competition. whle those photogs look at photos, folks like you look at dof, bokeh, sharpness, noise, and the red dot on your lenses.
Anonymous
5 months ago |konan, you are the *uneducted* fool who thinks he is so elite. You must be the most lame fuck to know awk.
Konan
5 months ago |flattery isnt going to get you know where here and in life, fanboy. Are you mad becuse i make logical sense and you cling on to myths, brands, fanboysim and sheer childishness in the way you think? Does it make you feel better to attack the truth because you want to believe what your own fantasy illogical brain tells you? i have read your past comments on this site as well, and i can tell you with certainty that you are the type of person i made comments about. You are a person who indulges in the trivial, in collecting things, because it makes you feel better about yourself. You are the type to ignore reality because reality tells you that you are not always right, but you want to be, you enjoy casting logic aside as long as your delusions make you feel relevant or somehow meaningful most of all, you are the type that hates reality because you cant handle simple truths and common sense.
MarcoSartoriPhoto
5 months ago |Just my two cents: Pana/Leica 25mm f1.4 is an outstanding lens at f1.4. A beautiful all-round lens, sharp and fast, with no (or very little) CA on contrasted light: I say very little because Oly bodies don’t correct the picture. With Voightländer Nokton 17.5mm f0.95 I take night photos, most in Venice, while other photographers carry around their heavy equipment. In really dim light it’s something special. I use also an SLR Hyperprime Noktor 50mm f0.95, coupled with a b+w ND filter I use it for portraits wide opened, under day light, and without filter I use it for night portraits. Sure, it’s not sharp from corner to corner, but that’s ok. If we want to speak generally: I’ve seen a lot of crappy photos taken from pros with super equipment, and I’ve seen stunning things taken with 5megapixels point & shoot.
Konan
5 months ago |Ive seen good things taken with film disposable cameras and i have seen rotten things taken with them. What’s your point? My point was about the market and how it is and how it works. Cavemen used to draw pictures in caves as well, so should we now ask olympus to make chalk so we can abandon our cameras and draw in caves too? what is your point?
MarcoSartoriPhoto
5 months ago |You wrote that f1.0 don’t turn night into day, but I tell you that paired with a nice sensor (not necessary 35mm in 135mm format) can give really nice results. You said also that no good picture has been taken at f1.4 or wider. I say that a thin DOF can be artistic, sometimes. But a wider aperture is mostly useful in dim light or at night. Especially if you don’t want to carry around a tripod. Having said so, I think that awesome gear doesn’t mean authomatically an awesome picture. http://www.flickr.com/photos/marcosartoriphoto/8391042389/in/pool-1695795@N24/lightbox/ you may like it or not, of course, but I love taking photos with a fast prime.
Konan
5 months ago |Oh , look it’s the apples and oranges guy. Everytime I see you comment, its followed by apples and oranges…as if saying that is like uttering the truth. and no, i never seen good 1.4 pics, lazy photographs with blurry ass backgrounds are a lazy way out. I seen enough blurry as background pics to last me 10 life times. I have an idea what youre going to reply with, but i bet it involves apples and oranges.,..hmm?
fan_guo_lai_xiang_xang
5 months ago |And you are bananas. This is MFT, and MFT needs bright lenses to compensate for crop factor and the smaller sensor.
If you shoot MFT with slow lenses, you can also buy a point and shoot… same result and a lot cheaper.
Still… 2.8 is absolutely okay for that price and not slow in my book. They still deliver some DOF control.
Konan
5 months ago |Apples and oranges.
Joel Sophie
5 months ago |Hey Konan.
Just want to organize a few things for everyone in this argument.
First, I want you, Konan, and everyone else know that what you say is correct. Achieving the greatest bokeh quality in a lens and optimum level of sharpness in an image does not automatically make it great, as you have mentioned, because it is far more complex than that.
However, this is perhaps what many of the users were trying to tell you. The thinner the depth of field, it helps to better separate your main subject from everything else. Now, you can achieve this separation in other ways, such as having high/low difference in contrast, saturation, and your exposures. Now, bokeh isn’t everything, but it does help one to further achieve separation to a greater effect. Sharpness is another ‘tool’ to be used. Having sharp areas within a photo naturally attracts the eye to that area over the softer areas of the image. Now, I’m with you in saying sharpness isn’t the greatest gain in when buying a lens. A lens with just a moderate amount, I feel, does the job all the time. Now having an extremely sharp lens does make the image more ‘crisp’, but once again does one no good if there isn’t an interesting composition to begin with. The low photographic quality will distract the viewer to not even care to see how sharp the image is.
All in all, both sides said the right things. These qualities within a lens does not MAKE a good photograph, however, it is wrong to ignore the fact that, when these qualities are applied correctly, a great image will become a greater image! but what Konan initially mentioned about we shouldn’t be ‘chasing’ for the best of these qualities is sadly true. Society has undoubtedly been chasing the exterior looks of a photograph thus slowly starting to ignore the emotional depth that brings an artistic side to this so-called “half-art, half-technology” we call Photography. I think this is what makes this field so unique, and although it does often bring up quarrels, discussing whether this is art, science, or both? The truth is this, which is also the answer to every other question related to photography: “It depends.” It is for the user to treat it as pure art, pure science, or a good combination of both. There is no right or wrong, just different.
So, here’s to hoping some problems are now solved.
Kenneth
5 months ago |I had both this lenses earlier and sold them when getting the 12-35. Did not think I needed them, but at this price – I placed a new order
Thank you admin.
ShaneH
5 months ago |It is already back-ordered on BH….. Someone’s been following and had quicker hands than me…….
Joe
5 months ago |I’m glad they’re back ordered. They were indeed tempting at that price, but I absolutely don’t need them.
amvr
5 months ago |That’s a nice deal, it’s a shame they decided on those focal lengths though, having the 20mm 1.7 makes the 19mm a no deal and the 30mm being a 60mm eq. is really an unattractive choice, otherwise, those are nice lenses. I hope sigma decides to release dedicated mft lenses instead of APS-c hand-me-downs, an inexpensive 12mm 2.5 or thereabout would be awesome, maybe they could start doing speciality lenses like macros, more fish eyes, cine lenses, tilt-shift lenses (oh yes! this please !),etc…
lucavascon
5 months ago |uffff… Italian prices are hard. If I had an US adress I’d do it no matter what.
corby
5 months ago |Great deal at this price. They are $250 each in Canada so $199 for 2 is a great deal.
peevee
5 months ago |Not really 2 for 1 – they used to sell one for $149. And f/2.8 – blah. m43 wants f/1.4 max.
MarcoSartoriPhoto
5 months ago |Well, the only f1.4 is the awesome pana/leica 25mm and I doubt it would ever be discounted. Got mine a year and a half ago, for 500 euros, and I think it still has the same price. People often forget that quality has a higher price.
marsupial2go
5 months ago |Excellent bargain. Something to ponder. Although I already have those focal lengths (20 ƒ1.7 and 12-35 ƒ2.8), for $199 it opens up a two-cam setup for video or stills.
My Redrock follow focus can’t reach the 20 ƒ1.7 but it looks as if it’ll reach the Sigma in friction mode. Plus, all the included goodies: hoods, cases; what’s not to like?
Ronan
5 months ago |El cheapo lens. No thanks!!!
Konan
5 months ago |Those “el cheapo” lenses are better than sonys nex lenses. you should get on your knees and say” yes sirm thank you sir!”.
KK
5 months ago |This is an absolute steal of a deal, especially when you consider that both of these lenses have been reviewed very positively. I have the 19mm and I think it’s great. Sure, it’s not ultra-fast, but really, if I felt that I absolutely needed extremely thin DOF, common sense would lead me to full frame.
adaptor-or-die
5 months ago |personally own and appreciate both of these, as said upthread, their usual discount price of ~$150USD ea. was a great deal for what you get, 2 for $200?!
The optics in these are both good, and better than some of the more expensive mFT options out there. f/2.8 is bright enough and gives off decent DoF characteristics …the usual bitch of the lens colour can’t be used, they come in black and the 19mm comes with a hood, [both with all] caps, zipper padded cases, and impressive warranties.
The coatings on these optics are very impressive when paired up to Olympus’ JPEG colour settings …
Of course someone will bitch about something, wrong focal length, doesn’t zoom, I don’t like the weird brand, why doesn’t it say Olympus or Lumix? they aren’t pancakes, or waffles, why don’t they come in silver?!?
JYU
5 months ago |How is the speed of these Sigmas compared to the Pana/Leica? I really wouldn’t want anything slower on auto-focus then the Pana/Leica.
MarcoSartoriPhoto
5 months ago |As far as I know there’s nothing, right now, with f1.4 AF other than 25mm PanaLeica. We have to wait for the new 42.5mm f1.2 I think.
Dmitry
5 months ago |How would Sigma MFT 19mm compare to Pana 14mm pancake lens?
Joel Sophie
5 months ago |I believe size is the ‘biggest’ difference (no pun intended
). These sigmas don’t look to be too compact compared to the pancake 14mm. For the Sigmas, I read that they have really good, accurate color reproduction that even exceeds the Olympus 45mm! But yeah, this deal right now is far superior (economically) then buying a new Panny 14mm.
Camaman
5 months ago |Nice price drop Sigma. I looks like you have found a good strategy for your pricing. Like with your over priced foveon DLSR.
Thats what happens for releasing crap at high prices. High price and shame after the early adopters get shafted…
DoctorBob
5 months ago |After paying $230CAD for the 30mm in October and hardly having it leave my camera since, I hope Sigma releases more crap like this at high prices…
Dannecus
5 months ago |Price is good, but I don’t think I would be willing to give them the space in my kit bag at F2.8. Not that the deal is available in the UK anyway. Hopefully this deal with clear the inventory and Sigma will bring out some lenses with wider apertures next time.
Tim
5 months ago |You can buy them in the UK for 99£ each at various shops by now.
MiamiDallas
5 months ago |I purchased 2 when I saw this deal. From what i’ve seen these little lens produce some good results and video is amazing and sharp just take a look at some youtube samples here is the Sigma 30mm f/2.8 EX DN http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a5H9DU0NW10
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Uj7cwDr7SM
If that does not impress for $200 bucks I don’t know what will.
Nice deal and i’ll sure enjoy them.
Garypen
5 months ago |FYI – The regular price is down to $139 each at Amazon and many retailers, now.
I wonder if this clearance pricing is due to new Sigma M43 models in the wings, or if they are dropping M43 support altogether? Hopefully, it’s not the latter.