Sigma 19mm f/2.8 EX DN asph lens for Micro Four Thirds

see also:

• a catalogue of Micro Four Thirds lenses
• Olympus m.ZD 17mm f/2.8 pancake lens
• Sigma 30mm lenses for Micro Four Thirds
• Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens
• Panasonic Leica DG Summilux 25mm f/1.4 ASPH lenses

• a very affordable lens ($US199) with high quality optical performance with reasonably fast AF and compact size makes for a great street photography or party lens (when used with an external bounce flash)

• announced Jan 2013
• “redesigned with enhanced optical performance and included as part of Sigma’s new Global Vision category restructuring”

• great flare control, bokeh, sharpness
• extremely sharp in the centre and reasonably sharp edges wide open but for best edge sharpness, use f/5.6-f/8
• slightly high barrel distortion at 1.1% but this is correctable
• CA (~0.8px) is reasonably well controlled
• it is probably a better choice than the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens when used on Olympus cameras as:
  • Olympus cameras have IS built in and this helps reduce the need for f/1.7 in many situations
  • the background blurring capability of Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens, although more blurred, gives less nice bokeh
  • Olympus cameras do not correct the higher levels of CA (1.5px), vignetting (1.5EV) and barrel distortion (3.3%) found on the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens
  • has faster, quieter AF and is cheaper
• the main downsides are:
  • some barrel distortion
  • internal focusing elements move and rattle without power
  • takes 1-2secs to be activated once camera is turned on
• why buy it when you have a kit lens covering this focal length?
  • wider aperture for lower light situations and improved ability to blur the background
  • nicer bokeh than most zoom lenses
  • sharper with less aberrations than consumer level zoom lenses
  • it is so cheap

• 19mm focal length = 38mm in 35mm film terms = very nice for street photography
• f/2.8-f/22 aperture = an almost an extra stop light and DOF performance compared to the kit lenses
• 46mm filter size = consistent with other a catalogue of Micro Four Thirds lenses such as the Olympus m.ZD 12mm f/2.0 lens, Panasonic 14mm f/2.5 pancake lens for Micro Four Thirds, Sigma 30mm, Panasonic Leica-DG 45mm f/2.8 OIS macro lens, Pan45-175mm
• internal focusing
• closest focus 20cm
• 8 elements in 6 groups = high optical quality with lovely bokeh
• 140g
• 61mm x 46mm long (almost twice as long as the Panasonic Lumix 20mm f/1.7 pancake lens)

• ephotozine - highly recommended
• PhotoMalaysia short impression