Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC Lens Review
Review: I purchased this lens for my Sony Alpha A700 camera. It's meant to be my all purpose lens.
Here's some information about the lens that you may find helpful in deciding if you wish to purchase one:
* The lens is made in Japan. Not Chinese junk.
* The focal length of the lens is 30 mm which is equivalent to 45 mm on a full sized 36 x 24 frame (i.e. it's a "normal" lens - not wide or telephoto).
* It's very well built. The focus ring turns smoothly. The fit and finish are superb. The lens has a nice looking matte black finish with a subtle gold ring trim. Very pretty.
* The lens DOES NOT have a "focus clutch". This means that the focus ring rotates when the camera auto focuses.
* The lens (when used with a Sony Alpha or Minolta camera) utilizes the CAMERA autofocus motor. The lens is NOT "HSM" (Hyper Sonic Motor) for _these_ cameras.
* Focus is achieved by moving INTERNAL lens elements. The length of the lens does not change during focus.
* The lens uses 62 millimeter filters (such as a glass or UV filter to protect the front element).
* The lens has EIGHT iris leaves. This isn't "good" or "bad", it's just a fact.
* The lens, optically, is scary razor sharp at F4.0 to F16 (the max). Below F4.0, the lens exhibits the very slightest softness, especially near the corners. The softness is VERY slight - hardly noticeable.
* Wide open aperture is F1.4 - it's very bright and clear and takes amazing available light pictures.
* I did not notice ANY chromatic aberration at any F stop.
* The lens is "full of glass". The elements are huge and let in lots of light (F1.4).
* The lens focuses from infinity down to about 15 inches. It's not a MACRO lens.
* At wide apertures, the lens produces nice "bokeh" (the neat blur behind and in front of the main subject). Unlike Sony SAL series lenses, the Sigma 30mm has a polygonal iris rather than the "almost circular" iris of the Sony. This shows up as octagon shaped blurs on points of light which are behind or in front of the subject. This effect is really no problem, since people are used to seeing polygons in bokeh anyway.
* The lens completely covers an APS-C sized digital imager with no vignetting. It's made specifically for 2/3 size digital cameras. It will NOT cover a full 35mm film sized frame (36 mm X 24 mm).
* The lens comes with a nice "flower petal" style sunshade which can be snapped on or off as desired.
* The lens comes with a nice, high quality padded zipper case to store the lens in if it's not on the camera. The case has a removable "mattress" in the bottom to allow storage of a different, longer lens if desired. The case has lots of potential uses.
* The lens weighs a little bit less than one pound. It's just heavy enough to "feel good" but not so heavy as to make the camera unwieldy. The lens weight also perfectly balances the camera, which makes steady shooting even easier.
* In normal light, the lens focuses quickly and accurately. In dim light, the lens sometimes seems to "lock onto" the wrong focus spot. Strangely, using the Sony A700 camera's "fast" focus mode seems to cure this problem. I had been using the "slow" setting with the impression that somehow it would make the focus "more accurate", but the Sigma lens seems to like the fast mode better. Strange.
(NEW INFO): I recently had my Sony A700 camera in for repair to replace the CMOS image sensor. The repair center, among other things, recalibrated the focus. After getting the camera back, I noticed that the focus "problem" (mentioned above) was gone. So, it was the camera, not the lens.
Note that this lens is ALSO available for other camera brands such as Nikon, Canon, Pentax and Sigma. The lens comes with a NATIVE bayonet mount for each camera. It DOES NOT need or use a funky adapter.
In summary, I've found this lens to be one heck of a good quality product and worth it's price. If you need a "normal" lens for your digital SLR, you won't be disappointed with the Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC (*HSM) Lens.
(*HSM on _some_ cameras, not all)
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