Sigma 30mm vs Rokinon 35mm Lens Comparison
The Sigma 30mm 1.4 is a large aperture lens that provides a standard angle most similar to the human eye. The 30mm focal length translates to approximately 50mm in 35mm format. Sigma’s 30mm lens is for cropped cameras only and has a minimum focusing distance from 15.7 inches to infinity. This lens creates very sharp images with high contrast and can perform superbly in a great range of applications, including snapshots, portrait, indoor shooting and landscape photography. Sigma’s 30mm 1.4 lens has both auto and manual focusing capabilities which make this lens ideal for photographers.
Rokinon’s 35mm 1.4 Wide-Angle Lens will work on a full-frame camera, where the Sigma 30mm will not. This lens is excellent for portraits and general photography but since there is no auto focus capabilities, this lens is better suited for videographers. The 35mm lens focuses in as close as 12 inches from the lens, and comes with a removable petal lens hood. And again, Rokinon’s 35mm lens is manual focus only. Below are some unedited sample images, click any to see them in a larger view. Sigma’s 30mm is placed on the left and Rokinon’s 35mm is on the right.
*Our comparison shots were all taken on a Canon 7D.
Sigma 30mm @F/1.4 & Rokinon 35mm @F/1.4
Sigma 30mm @F/2.8 & Rokinon 35mm @F/2.8
Sigma 30mm @F/5.6 & Rokinon 35mm @F/5.6
Sigma 30mm @F/8 & Rokinon 35mm @F/8
Sigma 30mm @F/16 & Rokinon 35mm @F/16
You may experience some inconsistencies in your image exposure when capturing still photos with the Rokinon as we found out in our side by side comparison. When keeping our ISO and shutter speed fixed and only changing the aperture, the Rokinon’s images were inconsistent. All things considered though, for the price point, the Rokinon is a stand up lens, especially for videographers. This is just another case of you get what you pay for. Either way, no losers here.
Sigma 30mm F/1.4 AutoFocus Lens for APS-C
Rokinon 35mm F/1.4 Manual Focus Lens
Olivia, I love these side by side comparisons, but I think the big detail here should be the price point. The sigma is quite a bit more money, so I feel it is will surely out preform the Rokinon series of lenses.
Oops meant to put this on your 85mm review. The price on the 30mm and 35mm is right on. The 85mm is where you save a significant amount with the Rokinon.
Olivia, can you give readers your master list of the best lenses for cropped cameras? For shooting video. What the lenses look like through a 5D compared to a 60D. Sharpness from edge to edge and all that fun stuff. Thanks Olivia! BTW, love the blooper.
You say that the 30 1.4 is for cropped sensors only, and in the video you’re using a 5D Mark II… sorry what? 5D is a full frame camera
Great point! We shot with a 7D but for display purposes we had the lens mounted on the 5D since we needed to grab some beauty shots. Totally didn’t think about that one. We only had one 7D body and one 5D mk II that day so there was a lot of rotations happening. =) I’ll specify in the video specs. Thanks for the catch!
It would be interesting to see these compared to the canon 28mm 1.8 USM also.
Wouldn’t it be more fitting to do a comparison to the Canon 35mm f/2 (appx. $350) or the Canon 35mm f/1.4 (appx. $1400)?
(this is in regards to Pat’s comment regarding the 28mm f/1.8)
Hello Olivia, I love your blog!
I have a question about these lenses. Do you thhink you might have had a setting wrong on your camera (I know it´s unlikely), or maybe just got a faulty lense. Because it just seems strange that if the iris is getting 1 stop smaller, their should only be one stop of exposure differnece from the apperture before, and it seems that your getting like 2 stops more, and then goes back to normal. I have this doubt because I´m really thinking of getting the Rokinon, and it just doesn´t make any sense, apperture is a physical thing, not digital, so it doesn´t square up, unless you have a faulty lense.
Sorry for the long message.
Take care! And have a great day!
Jerry
Jerry, there is a difference in T-Stop and F-Stop. F-stop is the aperture, but T-stop has to do with actual light transmission. This can vary from lens to lens which might have been the case. We would have to do more testing to find out, but light transmission can be very different.
You never really explained why the Rokinon was better for video? Is it because of the manual aperture ring? And is the manual focus ring smoother?
Levi, the manual aperture and focus is much different than on Canon auto focus lenses which people find easier to use in video mode.
Olivia, you stated in your review that the Rokinon would be better for videographers. Did you mean that it would be better for videographers than for photographers, or did you mean that it is better for videography than the Sigma? I hope that made sense.
Photographers really need to have an auto focus feature option, as in photography, exposures may need to happen very quickly and there isn’t always enough time to manually focus. The Rokinon lens is not an auto focus lens. Videographers should always be achieving focus manually. Since this lens only allows for manual focus, this would be a better fit for videographers. If you’re doing both photo and video and you utilize the auto focus feature, it’s a good practice to always check the specs of a lens before you purchase. Not all lenses have auto focus.
The Sigma 30mm 1.4 is a large aperture lens that provides a standard angle most similar to the human eye. The 30mm focal length translates to approximately 50mm in 35mm format. Does Rokinon’s 35mm also provides standard angle similar to the human eye. Do you mean Rokinon’s 35mm focal length translates to approximately 50mm in 35mm format?
Sigma 30mm is for cropped senson only and other hand Rokinon’s 35mm can be used with both full frame and cropped sensor cameras?
Cheers.
Yes, Sam.. exactly right.