Finally got tired of the kit lens, and after looking into things enough, came across the perfect daily lens for me! Narrowed it down to Sony's SEL35F18, but further research landed me on this Sigma 30mm F1.4 prime. I love shooting at the 30mm focal length (45mm equivalent on APS-C sensors), so something that let in even more light was a no brainer, especially at the same price. This is the first glass I've purchased for my camera since getting it many years ago, and I have to say the Sigma build quality is fantastic. I still have a lot of shooting to do on it, and a soon to be body upgrade to possibly an A6000, but initial impressions are great. Below are shots taken around 11PM on a fairly dark night, all handheld:
Performance is fantastic wide open - I was shooting between 200 and 1200 ISO, with a shutter between 1/60 and 1/250 and receiving the results above. The brick with the plaques is not at all well lit - There are a few lamps surrounding it, but the f/1.4 aperture makes it easy to pull every bit of available light in. I can't wait to get out for some low light and astrophotography. My one real complaint is my lack of EVF on my current NEX-F3, and the auto-focus is abysmal in low light, but this is a problem that can be solved by upgrading to a A6000, eventually. I should have the opportunity to test an A5100 in a little while (Similar auto-focus/speed to the A6000), so we'll see if the auto-focus impresses enough.
For some daylight shooting, I visited an air show in Debert NS today, and was pretty pleased with the shots below. After that I did a quick walk to the grocery store in town and snapped some shots around town:
Most shots taken at F/2.8 to F/5.6. The lens handled it like a boss. Again, only real downfall is my body which would have really benefited from the EVF with the bright sunlight. Auto-focus struggled a bit in the bright light with the lens wide open, but no issues stopping it down to f/2.8.
Overall happy with the purchase so far. The lens is really versatile for a prime, and is perfect for street/portrait photos that I love to do. Can't wait to throw it on a nicer body.