Sony 28 f/2 or sigma 30 f/2.8 for a6000

[Gdavison4]

I shoot my niece and nephew indoor a lot and need a lens about this focal length. The extra stops help, so I'm wondering which one is better on the a6000. I've read a lot about the barrel distortion for the 28 on full frame and I'm wondering about it on the a6000. Any thoughts?

[McQ]

Hi G,

 

I think the new Sony 28mm f2 is a great choice for someone who expects that they might own a full frame some day. The available wide and fisheye adapters add versatility, and f2 is about right for indoors. I haven't heard anything about distortion, and if there is any it should be fixed in the next firmware update with the new profile. A while ago I read an article explaining why full frame lenses aren't ideal for crop sensors. Because they aren't designed for that use, you don't utilize the full resolution of the lens. Is that something the average user would notice? Probably not, but it's something to think about.

The Sigma 30mm f2.8 is an excellent lens for the money, really a very good lens regardless of price. However, it only utilizes the focus points in the center area of the camera, so tracking sometimes suffers. That might be a problem with children and other moving objects. Also, I find that f2.8 isn't always fast enough for a lot of indoor shooting.
 

A better bet might be the Sony 35mm f1.8. I read nothing but positive comments about that lens. It's a little faster, has the OSS optical steady shot, nice bokeh, and is designed to work optimally with the APSC size sensor of the A6000. If I could only have one lens for the A6000, the Sony 35 would be my choice.

[snapdawg]

I shoot my niece and nephew indoor a lot and need a lens about this focal length. The extra stops help, so I'm wondering which one is better on the a6000. I've read a lot about the barrel distortion for the 28 on full frame and I'm wondering about it on the a6000. Any thoughts?

 

I really like my 30mm Sigma for what it is but I have the new 28mm on pre-order; not just for the extra stop but also for the looks it delivers. Like McQ said above it's a good choice should you ever make the switch to FF. This lens comes with some considerable barrel distortion (~5%), but this looks pretty easy to cure in post (no exotic geometry), even more so if used on a cropped sensor. Can't wait to shoot that lens.

[SpaceManSpiff]

Hi there,

I think you got good responses here.  

I have the Sigma30 which is sharp!...just not quite fast enough for some shots...but I really like it for outdoor and landscape work.

 

I just got my FE28 yesterday (it has been pre-ordered a while back)...and it is going to be nice.  Well-balanced on my NEX-6 and my test images look promising. I am not terribly concerned about distortion (corrected in-camera for JPG or in PP for RAW)...typically only the top-flight lenses require no software correction.  I really like the 28mm FOV on both full-frame and APS-C (I would like to add an A7ii to the stable one day)...so it made sense to me.  

 

But...if I was staying with APS e-mount cameras I would take a hard look at the SEL35...as mentioned above it is a well-regarded lens and having OSS would be handy for those low-light and indoor shots.

 

Cheers,

[Austerror]

The SEL35 1.8 is the lens you want for dark indoors.  However, it will be a focal length of 50mm or so equivalent, so it may not be wide enough.  The 28mm may also not be wide enough.  It depends on how big the indoors area is.

[Gdavison4]

Thanks for the comments. That's where my thoughts have been going. I thought about the 35 1.8, but wanted something a bit wider. Maybe I should wait for the 25mm Batis for a 1000$ more. Hahaha.

[Phatman]

Surely if the 28mm f2 is a full frame lens then barrel distortion won't be very pronounced on the crop sensor a6000? I guess shooting JPG it will be auto corrected and easily corrected in Lightroom, Rawtherapee etc?

[pmrphoto]

Don't forget the Touit 32mm f/1.8 in the mix.  You can get a used one for right at the cost of a new 28FE.  I have all of the lenses you are talking about and I only use the 28 on A7 platform.  The 30 is really sharp but slow but a great value.

the 351.8 is kind of pricey for a 50 focal length but it's got OSS and is great if you shoot a lot of hand-held video.  The 50f1.8 is the least expensive way to get fast but it's a 75mm.  While the 32mm Touit lacks OSS, it certainly makes up for it in terms of that undescribable color/sharpness/contrast that only the Zeiss glass offers.  You can get these around $350-$400 used here pretty often.  my .02   pm-r