[creampuff]

Why hunt and pay a high price for an old and discontinued FA* 85mm when you can pick up a new, silent focusing Sigma for less money? And there is little if any to fault image quality wise.
More Sigma 85mm f/1.4 images from a friend of mine. Definitely much nicer subjects to look at.
The new Sigma 85mm 1.4 for Pentax

[Class A]

Why hunt and pay a high price for an old and discontinued FA* 85mm when you can pick up a new, silent focusing Sigma for less money?

If the FA* 85/1.4 had better subject/background separation and nicer bokeh, it could be worthwhile getting one. Same for the FA 77/1.8. Currently I couldn't say which lens I'd pick if offered one out of the three.

More Sigma 85mm f/1.4 images from a friend of mine. Definitely much nicer subjects to look at.
The new Sigma 85mm 1.4 for Pentax

Wow, these are worth looking at. Thanks for posting.

On their own, they leave nothing to be desired, AFAIC.
It would be most interesting to see the same subject shot with FA* 85/1.4 / FA 77/1.8 / Sigma 85/1.4. That's why I support outsider's idea to get an FA* 85/1.4.

[Pentaxor]

those look pretty good. although it's apparent the Pentax colors ain't there. however, the strongest points of the Sigma as far as I can see it is it's sharpness and bokeh. maybe the Sigma 85 would render better on a Foveon sensor.

[TOUGEFC]

Nice examples posted in that link. Still looks to be a great lens.
But the subjects dont look to have the same 3D feel to them like the FA*85 and FA77 lenses do.

[Armanius]

Let's see more photos from the Sigma 85!! Please!

[Emacs]

Why hunt and pay a high price for an old and discontinued FA* 85mm when you can pick up a new, silent focusing Sigma for less money? And there is little if any to fault image quality wise.
More Sigma 85mm f/1.4 images from a friend of mine. Definitely much nicer subjects to look at.
The new Sigma 85mm 1.4 for Pentax

So, well. This lens doesn't match both 77Ltd and FA* 85 IMO. I had shots with FA* 85 in definitely worse light conditions which looked much more 3D than this sigma.

[creampuff]

Sorry but I have to disagree with those who say that images from the Sigma isn't 3D enough... Please define exactly what that means.
The photos that I've seen here and elsewhere taken with the Sigma all show that this is indeed a fine lens with good overall contrast and resolution.
I would rather opt for a new Sigma 85 that's cheaper, easier to find and has warranty, focuses quieter and quick than a used Pentax FA* 85 that's more expensive.
Being used and long discontinued, it is hard to find a pristine copy around and is likely to have nicks or scuffs to the external silver finish with no warranty.

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Last edited by creampuff; 04-06-2011 at 04:25 PM.

[Blue]

What else? The 31.

I would guess the new splash proof Sigma 150mm/2.8 Macro.

[DogLover]

I would guess the new splash proof Sigma 150mm/2.8 Macro.

That one's in third place on the want list, but will definitely be down the road a bit.

[TOUGEFC]

Sorry but I have to disagree with those who say that images from the Sigma isn't 3D enough... Please define exactly what that means.
The photos that I've seen here and elsewhere taken with the Sigma all show that this is indeed a fine lens with good overall contrast and resolution.
I would rather opt for a new Sigma 85 that's cheaper, easier to find and has warranty, focuses quieter and quick than a used Pentax FA* 85 that's more expensive.
Being used and long discontinued, it is hard to find a pristine copy around and is likely to have nicks or scuffs to the external silver finish with no warranty.

First of all I never said it "isnt 3d enough" I said it doesnt have the same 3d feel as the fa77 and fa*85 produce.

Sure it has shallow dof and very nice bokeh but it doesnt have the same 3d feel to it.

Some lenses produce images with "3d" feel to them, others do not. The FA43 renders images with a very strong 3d feel to them, so do the fa77 and fa*85 but not quite as strong as the 43. Im not sure what causes it or how to explain it but thats the way it is. Its almost kind of like the depth you see with images that come from FF sensors.

But still its early days yet for the siggy 85 and im looking foward to seeing more images from it

[Pentaxor]

First of all I never said it "isnt 3d enough" I said it doesnt have the same 3d feel as the fa77 and fa*85 produce.

Sure it has shallow dof and very nice bokeh but it doesnt have the same 3d feel to it.

Some lenses produce images with "3d" feel to them, others do not. The FA43 renders images with a very strong 3d feel to them, so do the fa77 and fa*85 but not quite as strong as the 43. Im not sure what causes it or how to explain it but thats the way it is. Its almost kind of like the depth you see with images that come from FF sensors.

But still its early days yet for the siggy 85 and im looking foward to seeing more images from it

I would have to say it is probably due to the colors. colors do some certain pop to the image.

[Emacs]

I would have to say it is probably due to the colors. colors do some certain pop to the image.

That is something this lens doesn't have. Typically, best Pentax primes has it, as well as leica's ones
BTW, this sigma lens isn't quite good optically: only 3 stars for both APS-C and FF. Subjectively Klaus gave it 4 mark rating, but this is area where Pentax, leica and cz are way better than anything else.

[Pentaxor]

That is something this lens doesn't have. Typically, best Pentax primes has it, as well as leica's ones
BTW, this sigma lens isn't quite good optically: only 3 stars for both APS-C and FF. Subjectively Klaus gave it 4 mark rating, but this is area where Pentax, leica and cz are way better than anything else.

which review were you referring to? the ones that I saw were on photozone which were both taken from non-Pentax FF cameras. personally, I would disregard the ratings as a basis to form a conclusion if one lens is good optically or not, but rather read on the entire evaluation of the lens. and from the evaluation of the lens, I would prefer the Sigma over the FA77 if IQ was the barometer. for me, the Sigma serves it's main purpose for portraits at wide aperture openings (f1.4-f4) and as a general purpose lens from f5.6. considering that these results were taken from FF cameras. also I would think the overall resolution across the frame would reached a significant high level of IQ at a wider aperture and would look better on an APS-C due to a smaller frame circle as was illustrated by lenstip on their test.

technically speaking, the Sigma is great lens and produces great real world images. the lack of Pentax color shouldn't be used as a measure for good IQ but rather image appeal.

[TOUGEFC]

I would have to say it is probably due to the colors. colors do some certain pop to the image.

Nah i dont think its colours that gives off this effect, the 3d effect can be just as strong in colour or black and white etc...
I thinks its more to do with how the oof area is transitioned in the rendering...

[Emacs]

which review were you referring to? the ones that I saw were on photozone which were both taken from non-Pentax FF cameras. personally, I would disregard the ratings as a basis to form a conclusion if one lens is good optically or not, but rather read on the entire evaluation of the lens. and from the evaluation of the lens, I would prefer the Sigma over the FA77 if IQ was the barometer. for me, the Sigma serves it's main purpose for portraits at wide aperture openings (f1.4-f4) and as a general purpose lens from f5.6. considering that these results were taken from FF cameras. also I would think the overall resolution across the frame would reached a significant high level of IQ at a wider aperture and would look better on an APS-C due to a smaller frame circle as was illustrated by lenstip on their test.

technically speaking, the Sigma is great lens and produces great real world images. the lack of Pentax color shouldn't be used as a measure for good IQ but rather image appeal.

Oh well, true. But inspite of that the subjective "field" score shows only 4. It means this lens has no character, which pentax top lenses always had. I said, I've done a conclusion about sigma doesn't match both FA* 85 and FA 77Ltd immediately after I've seen those "real world samples". The picture looks overcorrected, it seems to be more like overgrown normal lens, than a true portraiture one.