New Gear: Sigma 30mm F/1.4 DC HSM Lens For Canon and Nikon

The search for the right standard 50mm equivalent on a crop body has been going on since the dawn of APS-C cameras. Sigma’s new 30mm F/1.4 updates the older version with a full-on revamp.

The new 30mm F/1.4 will be available for both Canon and Nikon mounts. It’s made up of nine elements in eight groups and has rounded aperture blades for pleasing bokeh. It focuses as close as 11.8-inches and its aspherical lens design is meant to cut down on distortion.

Its full-frame equivalent field of view is 45mm, which makes it close to the traditional 50mm focal length, but just a bit wider. However, like other new Sigma Art series lenses, it’s compatible with their new USB dock, which lets you apply firmware updates and tweak performance from your computer rather than using your camera’s sometimes-clunky menu system.

There’s no pricing or availability information quite yet, but Sigma has been pretty good about following up their announcements with that info pretty quickly. More importantly, they’ve been putting out some excellent glass like the new 35mm F/1.4. We’re eager to get this new lens in and see how it fares in our test lab.