GH3 and Sigma 18-35mm F1.8

Mark Williams

Mark Williams

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I am looking hard at the Sigma 18-35 Nikon mount with either the Metabones Nikon G m/43 mount or with the speedbooster mount. Having just manual focus does not concern me. My goal is to acquire a great lens at a price I can afford capable of insane image quality. I have tried the Lumix 12-35 and although nice I wonder if the Sigma would give me more bang for my buck. Anyone have any experience with the Sigma on the GH3 or any other advice?
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According to DxO, the Sigma 18-35mm f1.8 is the highest rated zoom lens on an APS-C or smaller sensor. Plus it is 1.3 stops faster than the Panasonic 12-35mm f2.8 lens even without the speedbooster. If you're good with manual focus, then it's a no brainer.
 
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I do not have a G3 but I have the Sigma 18-35. Insanely great lens (I use it on a FS700 and VG20). It is about as good
as it gets as far as a still lens for shooting video. Decent focus throw, very good build quality, very sharp, you can
shoot wide open at 1.8 and it still looks great. For the price, there is not even a debate, it's pretty much as good as it
gets.
 
That is interesting and his opinion makes sense. Anyone with any experience with the metabones Nikon G m/43 mount (not speedbooster) which has full aperture control, no glass.
 
After a little research it looks like Sigma offers a lens mount conversion service to m4/3. I wonder if aperture and auto-focus becomes enabled once mounted to the camera.
 
Mark Williams said:
After a little research it looks like Sigma offers a lens mount conversion service to m4/3. I wonder if aperture and auto-focus becomes enabled once mounted to the camera.
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I think that conversion service only works when you convert between the commercially available mounts available for a given lens. So you can convert the 18-35mm to Canon, Nikon, or Sigma mounts but not to any other mount.
 
Really?

I would of thought one of the main advantages of staying with native MFT glass would be the IS but you miss out on this with the Olympus lens over the Panasonic 12-35 2.8.

From a purely video perspective using manual focus, the SB+Sigma is unbeatable for a fast zoom lens.
 
I never shoot hand-held. Always on a tripod, jib or slider. IS is of no benefit to me. Also, there seems to be very little reported use of the Sigma with a GH3 and I can find no one that has reported any performance results. However, there is some information about the Olympus and the Panasonic. They both look about dead even. The Olympus is cheaper than Panasonic so it wins for me.
 
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