Sigma 24mm f/1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro Lens for Olympus and Panasonic Digital SLR Cameras
- Large f1.8 aperture wide-angle lens for close-up photography
- Macro photography at minimum focusing down to 7.1 inches
- Super multi coating reduces flare and ghosting
- Aspherical lens complex reduces number of component lenses for a compact size
- 9 diaphragm blades for beautiful out-of-focus images in the foreground and background
This large-aperture wide-angle lens is equipped macro focusing capability with a maximum magnification of 127 and fast F18 maximum aperture The use of aspherical lenses are offered for superior peripheral brightness and compensation of aberrations an…
List Price: $ 549.00
Price: $ 549.00
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Fast and sharp,
Let’s face it – Sigma lenses are just NOT built like the great mid grade Zuiko lenses from Olympus that we know and love. Okay? Now that we’ve got that out of the way let me be clear: I love this lens. It’s fast, it’s as wide as an old “standard” lens that we all knew and loved back in the days of film SLRs and it’s plenty sharp. I’d rate the sharpness about the same as my Zuiko 14-54mm but not as sharp as my 11-22 DZ or the 50-200 DZ (the best lens I’ve ever owned) and from what I’ve seen so far it’s sharp at maximum aperture from edge to edge.
The manual focus system on this (and other Sigma lenses) is a bit odd and not as convenient as the Olympus system (you have to throw a switch and slide the barrel ring) but it works just fine and has excellent feel and sensitivity (much better than the focus-by-wire on the Zuikos) when you do use it. The autofocus is relatively slow and can hunt or just give up in poor light, but when it grabs a lock it is very accurate on my example and of course in good light it works fine. This lens is advertised as a macro and that is a true statement – it focuses very close and this is but one reason why it’s a really wonderful walkabout lens. The bokeh wide open at maximum aperture is fantastic but is only so-so when stopped down – much like the mid-grade Zuiko digital lenses – and seems to be a curse of lenses in this price range.
The build quality is just fine and certainly better than the kit lenses that come with Olympus DSLRs in the box and unlike my Sigma 105mm macro lens it does not feature an annoying screw on lens shade but instead uses a tulip shade just like the ones you are used to using with your Olympus lenses. This lens is not weather sealed however, which one must bear in mind if they’re used to the weather sealed Olympus lenses. Also, this lens takes a ridiculously large filter for the size of the lens (it’s not a super wide angle lens so I really don’t understand the overly large flange on the front of the lens barrel) so plan on your spending there – a top quality front filter and polarizer will easily set you back over a hundred bucks.
I have been very pleased with this lens and at the end of the day that’s what counts. Olympus does not offer a lens like this and the similar Leica lens (not yet available at the time of writing) will undoubtedly be much more expensive, so with that in mind you’ve got this lens and the somewhat similar Sigma 30mm lens to chose from if you want a fast prime lens. I chose this one because of the focal length and the macro capability. I’ve been very pleasantly surprised.
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