Sigma 85mm 1.4: A real world test.

outsider · 04-02-2011, 05:02 AM

A test of the Sigma 85mm 1.4 lens. All shot at 1.4, aperture priority on K-x, with just a few with slight lighting effects. No sharpening. Exposure was spot on in most of the shots. More photos are in the sigma 85mm set.

The Set: Sigma 85mm 1.4 EX DG HSM with K-x - a set on Flickr

Last edited by outsider; 04-02-2011 at 09:22 PM.

reeftool · 04-02-2011, 07:25 AM

Pretty sharp. That last shot I like the best. Great details in the eyes.

Pentaxor · 04-02-2011, 08:20 AM

Originally posted by outsider

A test of the Sigma 85mm 1.4 lens. All shot at 1.4, aperture priority on K-x, with just a few with slight lighting effects and black and white. No sharpening Nonsense. Exposure was spot on in most of the shots. More photos are in the sigma 85mm set (flickr). Not sure how to get the images to show on this page, but the links should work.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5582002884_911521af39_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5581416519_74b6cf25c2_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5581995414_49b87b2795_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5581406519_df971e4ce9_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5581994514_1cc41faa26_b.jpg

The Set: Sigma 85mm 1.4 EX DG HSM with K-x - a set on Flickr

just replace the URL wrap around the HTTP link with an IMG wrap, note: remove the "wide" word.
you should be able to post the images here then after.

Pentaxor · 04-02-2011, 08:31 AM

looks very nice on a 1.5x crop sensor. the important thing is it doesn't show any blooming on high contrast situations. anyway, I'm interested on seeing some color tests that would show the intensity and vibrance of different colors on real world applications. a full view would be nice as well.

LowVoltage · 04-02-2011, 08:44 AM - **1 Like**

This lens seems like a hard one to beat! Reviews everywhere are very positive and there doesn't seem to be any mention of quality control issues. Now, if only the price were cut in half...

Pentaxor · 04-02-2011, 10:23 AM

Originally posted by LowVoltage

This lens seems like a hard one to beat! Reviews everywhere are very positive and there doesn't seem to be any mention of quality control issues. Now, if only the price were cut in half...

even if it were sold at 2/3 of the price, it would sell like pancakes in an instant.

not to mention it would kill the sales of any existing 85mm lens.

DogLover · 04-02-2011, 10:34 AM

I agree, looks pretty darned good! Dammit. That makes 2 thousand-dollar lenses that I know I want.

outsider · 04-02-2011, 11:07 AM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

just replace the URL wrap around the HTTP link with an IMG wrap, note: remove the "wide" word.
you should be able to post the images here then after.

Urrg....I'm not sure still. You'll have to explain it in more detail, or i'll just leave be. Never had to deal with this before. I will say this website is very particular about everything.

stevebrot · 04-02-2011, 11:36 AM

Originally posted by outsider

Urrg....I'm not sure still. You'll have to explain it in more detail, or i'll just leave be. Never had to deal with this before. I will say this website is very particular about everything.

Huh?

Posting a photo is easy and Flickr makes it even easier, though it is best to work within the Flickr policy to make sure that they will serve the photo correctly. You must wrap the image tag in a link going back to your Flickr image page. (They have filters to detect deep links.) Here is how it works from the Flickr side of things:

Go to the Flickr page for your image
At the top of the page are several icons (envelope, facebook, twitter). Click the down arrow to the right of these icons to display a tree of "sharing" options.
Expand the "Grab HTML/BBCode" section, select BBCode (the markup language used by Pentax Forums), and the size image you want to share.
Copy the BBCode from the text box into the "compose message" box here on Pentax Forums

Regarding size, there are guidelines somewhere in the FAQs, with the general rule of thumb being that you don't post full-size, full-resolution images. In fact, it is poor form to post images over about 900 pixels wide. That is where the imgwide tags come in. The intent is to support panoramas, not 16 megapixel images. These rules/guidelines/conventions are pretty much the norm for online photo forums and fairly loose compared to some other sites that I am active on. The intent is to spare the viewing user the pain of huge downloads and endless horizontal scrolling.

For lens test images, a good compromise is to post an image of about 800 px on the long axis to this site and provide a link to the full resolution image at Flickr or elsewhere. Another option is to provide full resolution crops to post along with the full frame reference image.

Steve

outsider · 04-02-2011, 12:49 PM

Originally posted by stevebrot

Huh?

Posting a photo is easy and Flickr makes it even easier, though it is best to work within the Flickr policy to make sure that they will serve the photo correctly. You must wrap the image tag in a link going back to your Flickr image page. (They have filters to detect deep links.) Here is how it works from the Flickr side of things:

Go to the Flickr page for your image
At the top of the page are several icons (envelope, facebook, twitter). Click the down arrow to the right of these icons to display a tree of "sharing" options.
Expand the "Grab HTML/BBCode" section, select BBCode (the markup language used by Pentax Forums), and the size image you want to share.
Copy the BBCode from the text box into the "compose message" box here on Pentax Forums

Regarding size, there are guidelines somewhere in the FAQs, with the general rule of thumb being that you don't post full-size, full-resolution images. In fact, it is poor form to post images over about 900 pixels wide. That is where the imgwide tags come in. The intent is to support panoramas, not 16 megapixel images. These rules/guidelines/conventions are pretty much the norm for online photo forums and fairly loose compared to some other sites that I am active on. The intent is to spare the viewing user the pain of huge downloads and endless horizontal scrolling.

For lens test images, a good compromise is to post an image of about 800 px on the long axis to this site and provide a link to the full resolution image at Flickr or elsewhere. Another option is to provide full resolution crops to post along with the full frame reference image.

Steve

Thanks. Just never had to use this in the past. No reason to know

outsider · 04-02-2011, 07:43 PM

Originally posted by Pentaxor

looks very nice on a 1.5x crop sensor. the important thing is it doesn't show any blooming on high contrast situations. anyway, I'm interested on seeing some color tests that would show the intensity and vibrance of different colors on real world applications. a full view would be nice as well.

This gave me results that pretty much blew me away. Little bit of purple fringing here and there, but not bad for wide open IMO. I think the true test of a piece of equipment despite tests, numbers and hype, is what you see at the end of a long, exhaustiung day, slumped at the computer screen. It did everything I wanted it to do, and then some. Of course the sensor helped a bit as well

Pentaxor · 04-02-2011, 08:40 PM

Originally posted by outsider

This gave me results that pretty much blew me away. Little bit of purple fringing here and there, but not bad for wide open IMO. I think the true test of a piece of equipment despite tests, numbers and hype, is what you see at the end of a long, exhaustiung day, slumped at the computer screen. It did everything I wanted it to do, and then some. Of course the sensor helped a bit as well

true. although I could live with a bit of pf which doesn't look that challenging to fix basing on the samples that you've shown. I have much tougher task with the M85/2.

TOUGEFC · 04-02-2011, 09:19 PM

So far looks good, not mind blowing though, need to see more to real world photos to base a conclusion from samples

outsider · 04-02-2011, 09:25 PM

Originally posted by TOUGEFC

So far looks good, not mind blowing though, need to see more to real world photos to base a conclusion from samples

Yeah, I think the main thing missing is the lack of pixel power. I don't think there's enough resolution with this sensor to blow anyones mind. I'm wondering if the K-5 would make much difference. Too bad it's not 20+ pixels.

Pentaxor · 04-02-2011, 10:09 PM

Originally posted by outsider

Yeah, I think the main thing missing is the lack of pixel power. I don't think there's enough resolution with this sensor to blow anyones mind. I'm wondering if the K-5 would make much difference. Too bad it's not 20+ pixels.

that is why there's the SD1. although it is not Pentax but rather Sigma. this is the other reason why I'm holding back on purchasing this lens. I'm contemplating on using it for FF with the 20+ MP Canon 5D MK II or the pseudo-MF resolution SD1 which has an estimate of over 30+MP (46MP foveon resolution numbers). I'm sure the high-res Sigma 150mm macro would be awesome with that camera.

04-02-2011, 05:02 AM	#1
outsider Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 416	Sigma 85mm 1.4: A real world test. A test of the Sigma 85mm 1.4 lens. All shot at 1.4, aperture priority on K-x, with just a few with slight lighting effects. No sharpening. Exposure was spot on in most of the shots. More photos are in the sigma 85mm set. The Set: Sigma 85mm 1.4 EX DG HSM with K-x - a set on Flickr Last edited by outsider; 04-02-2011 at 09:22 PM.

04-02-2011, 11:36 AM	#9
stevebrot Otis Memorial Pentaxian Join Date: Mar 2007 Location: Vancouver (USA) Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 42,007	Originally posted by outsider Urrg....I'm not sure still. You'll have to explain it in more detail, or i'll just leave be. Never had to deal with this before. I will say this website is very particular about everything. Huh? Posting a photo is easy and Flickr makes it even easier, though it is best to work within the Flickr policy to make sure that they will serve the photo correctly. You must wrap the image tag in a link going back to your Flickr image page. (They have filters to detect deep links.) Here is how it works from the Flickr side of things: Go to the Flickr page for your image At the top of the page are several icons (envelope, facebook, twitter). Click the down arrow to the right of these icons to display a tree of "sharing" options. Expand the "Grab HTML/BBCode" section, select BBCode (the markup language used by Pentax Forums), and the size image you want to share. Copy the BBCode from the text box into the "compose message" box here on Pentax Forums Regarding size, there are guidelines somewhere in the FAQs, with the general rule of thumb being that you don't post full-size, full-resolution images. In fact, it is poor form to post images over about 900 pixels wide. That is where the imgwide tags come in. The intent is to support panoramas, not 16 megapixel images. These rules/guidelines/conventions are pretty much the norm for online photo forums and fairly loose compared to some other sites that I am active on. The intent is to spare the viewing user the pain of huge downloads and endless horizontal scrolling. For lens test images, a good compromise is to post an image of about 800 px on the long axis to this site and provide a link to the full resolution image at Flickr or elsewhere. Another option is to provide full resolution crops to post along with the full frame reference image. Steve

04-02-2011, 12:49 PM	#10
outsider Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 416 Original Poster	Originally posted by stevebrot Huh? Posting a photo is easy and Flickr makes it even easier, though it is best to work within the Flickr policy to make sure that they will serve the photo correctly. You must wrap the image tag in a link going back to your Flickr image page. (They have filters to detect deep links.) Here is how it works from the Flickr side of things: Go to the Flickr page for your image At the top of the page are several icons (envelope, facebook, twitter). Click the down arrow to the right of these icons to display a tree of "sharing" options. Expand the "Grab HTML/BBCode" section, select BBCode (the markup language used by Pentax Forums), and the size image you want to share. Copy the BBCode from the text box into the "compose message" box here on Pentax Forums Regarding size, there are guidelines somewhere in the FAQs, with the general rule of thumb being that you don't post full-size, full-resolution images. In fact, it is poor form to post images over about 900 pixels wide. That is where the imgwide tags come in. The intent is to support panoramas, not 16 megapixel images. These rules/guidelines/conventions are pretty much the norm for online photo forums and fairly loose compared to some other sites that I am active on. The intent is to spare the viewing user the pain of huge downloads and endless horizontal scrolling. For lens test images, a good compromise is to post an image of about 800 px on the long axis to this site and provide a link to the full resolution image at Flickr or elsewhere. Another option is to provide full resolution crops to post along with the full frame reference image. Steve Thanks. Just never had to use this in the past. No reason to know

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04-02-2011, 07:25 AM	#2
reeftool Pentaxian Join Date: Dec 2007 Location: Upstate New York Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,553	Pretty sharp. That last shot I like the best. Great details in the eyes.

04-02-2011, 08:20 AM	#3
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by outsider A test of the Sigma 85mm 1.4 lens. All shot at 1.4, aperture priority on K-x, with just a few with slight lighting effects and black and white. No sharpening Nonsense. Exposure was spot on in most of the shots. More photos are in the sigma 85mm set (flickr). Not sure how to get the images to show on this page, but the links should work. http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5022/5582002884_911521af39_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5221/5581416519_74b6cf25c2_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5299/5581995414_49b87b2795_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5095/5581406519_df971e4ce9_b.jpg http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5263/5581994514_1cc41faa26_b.jpg The Set: Sigma 85mm 1.4 EX DG HSM with K-x - a set on Flickr just replace the URL wrap around the HTTP link with an IMG wrap, note: remove the "wide" word. you should be able to post the images here then after.

04-02-2011, 08:31 AM	#4
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	looks very nice on a 1.5x crop sensor. the important thing is it doesn't show any blooming on high contrast situations. anyway, I'm interested on seeing some color tests that would show the intensity and vibrance of different colors on real world applications. a full view would be nice as well.

04-02-2011, 08:44 AM - 1 Like	#5
LowVoltage Veteran Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Location: Mount Joy, PA Photos: Gallery Posts: 544	This lens seems like a hard one to beat! Reviews everywhere are very positive and there doesn't seem to be any mention of quality control issues. Now, if only the price were cut in half...

04-02-2011, 10:23 AM	#6
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by LowVoltage This lens seems like a hard one to beat! Reviews everywhere are very positive and there doesn't seem to be any mention of quality control issues. Now, if only the price were cut in half... even if it were sold at 2/3 of the price, it would sell like pancakes in an instant. not to mention it would kill the sales of any existing 85mm lens.

04-02-2011, 10:34 AM	#7
DogLover Veteran Member Join Date: Apr 2010 Location: Tennessee Posts: 2,054	I agree, looks pretty darned good! Dammit. That makes 2 thousand-dollar lenses that I know I want.

04-02-2011, 11:07 AM	#8
outsider Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 416 Original Poster	Originally posted by Pentaxor just replace the URL wrap around the HTTP link with an IMG wrap, note: remove the "wide" word. you should be able to post the images here then after. Urrg....I'm not sure still. You'll have to explain it in more detail, or i'll just leave be. Never had to deal with this before. I will say this website is very particular about everything.

04-02-2011, 07:43 PM	#11
outsider Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 416 Original Poster	Originally posted by Pentaxor looks very nice on a 1.5x crop sensor. the important thing is it doesn't show any blooming on high contrast situations. anyway, I'm interested on seeing some color tests that would show the intensity and vibrance of different colors on real world applications. a full view would be nice as well. This gave me results that pretty much blew me away. Little bit of purple fringing here and there, but not bad for wide open IMO. I think the true test of a piece of equipment despite tests, numbers and hype, is what you see at the end of a long, exhaustiung day, slumped at the computer screen. It did everything I wanted it to do, and then some. Of course the sensor helped a bit as well

04-02-2011, 08:40 PM	#12
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by outsider This gave me results that pretty much blew me away. Little bit of purple fringing here and there, but not bad for wide open IMO. I think the true test of a piece of equipment despite tests, numbers and hype, is what you see at the end of a long, exhaustiung day, slumped at the computer screen. It did everything I wanted it to do, and then some. Of course the sensor helped a bit as well true. although I could live with a bit of pf which doesn't look that challenging to fix basing on the samples that you've shown. I have much tougher task with the M85/2.

04-02-2011, 09:19 PM	#13
TOUGEFC Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2009 Location: Brisbane Photos: Gallery Posts: 3,561	So far looks good, not mind blowing though, need to see more to real world photos to base a conclusion from samples

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04-02-2011, 09:25 PM	#14
outsider Veteran Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Photos: Albums Posts: 416 Original Poster	Originally posted by TOUGEFC So far looks good, not mind blowing though, need to see more to real world photos to base a conclusion from samples Yeah, I think the main thing missing is the lack of pixel power. I don't think there's enough resolution with this sensor to blow anyones mind. I'm wondering if the K-5 would make much difference. Too bad it's not 20+ pixels.

04-02-2011, 10:09 PM	#15
Pentaxor Veteran Member Join Date: May 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Photos: Gallery Posts: 6,513	Originally posted by outsider Yeah, I think the main thing missing is the lack of pixel power. I don't think there's enough resolution with this sensor to blow anyones mind. I'm wondering if the K-5 would make much difference. Too bad it's not 20+ pixels. that is why there's the SD1. although it is not Pentax but rather Sigma. this is the other reason why I'm holding back on purchasing this lens. I'm contemplating on using it for FF with the 20+ MP Canon 5D MK II or the pseudo-MF resolution SD1 which has an estimate of over 30+MP (46MP foveon resolution numbers). I'm sure the high-res Sigma 150mm macro would be awesome with that camera.