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08-23-2011, 07:47 AM   #46
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veezchick: I hope you can update this thread and let us know what lenses you ended up buying, and how you liked them.

After buying and falling in love with the image quality, speed, and build of the Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM, I am also contemplating a move to all Sigma. It seems that in recent years, it's been hard to beat Sigma's balance of quality and value.

The Tamron 28-75mm is my bread and butter since I shoot a lot of portraits, but I'm starting to experiment more with the wide end, so I'm thinking of revamping my lineup.

My current lens lineup is:

Sigma EX 17-35mm f/2.8-4.0
Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM
Sigma 75-300mm f4-5.6

And here's what I'm considering:

Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM
Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 HSM
Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 HSM

And later, I would like to add one of Sigma's long telephoto zooms, so that I would be covered all the way from 8mm to 500mm:

Sigma 50-500mm
Sigma 150-500mm
Sigma 170-500mm

A good thing about having an all-Sigma lens system, is that once my collection is complete, I can send the lenses along with my camera to Sigma all at once to have the lenses calibrated to the body.

I already have my 17-35mm up for sale on eBay, with the 75-300mm soon to follow. Unfortunately, I will also have to sell my Tamron 28-75mm in order to finance this move, but since I love that lens so much I'm struggling with that part.

I'll probably go ahead and sell my white 18-55mm kit lens also, even though I've been wanting to save it for when I eventually sell my K-x. But that probably won't be anytime soon, since I'm holding out until Pentax releases something with upwards of 20MP.

08-23-2011, 07:53 AM   #47
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Sigma has more lenses than Pentax has right now, and they offer a better selection of zooms. If you're after primes or compact lenses, you can't beat the Pentax limiteds, but for all other purposes I'd say Sigma lenses are on par or better.

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08-23-2011, 10:22 AM   #48
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I can't comment on reliability of HSM versus SDM. I have been satisfied with my DA * lenses, but that's only three, so not a very big sample size. As far as speed goes, a lot has to do with length of focus throw. The Pentax 17-70 and 16-50 certainly seem to focus pretty quickly, while the 50-135 and 55 not so quickly, but of course actual speed is the same. It just takes the lens longer to get there with the 55 and the 50-135. The Sigma HSM lenses seem a little zippier, but as far as actually seeing a difference in actual shooting, I kind of doubt it.
08-23-2011, 07:17 PM   #49
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
And here's what I'm considering:

Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM
Sigma 17-50mm f/2.8 HSM
Sigma 50-150mm f/2.8 HSM
Sigma 50mm f/1.4 HSM
I've got a similar setup currently (amongst a few other lenses):

Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 HSM
Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 HSM
Sigma 50mm F1.4 HSM
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 HSM II
Sigma 85mm F1.4 HSM

And I must say, I've been very happy with the lenses, and also HSM. I also use the 17-50/2.8 and 70-200/2.8 combo on two bodies as my bread and butter workhorses for my event work, and they've been solid performers. Personally, I also still avoid Pentax SDM lenses like the plague.

08-23-2011, 07:46 PM   #50
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QuoteOriginally posted by pop4 Quote
Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 HSM
Sigma 17-50mm F2.8 HSM
Sigma 50mm F1.4 HSM
Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 HSM II
Sigma 85mm F1.4 HSM
Nice stable of lenses you have there. If the prices were similar, I would go for the 85mm 1.4 instead of the 50mm 1.4. After owning both lenses, what are your thoughts?
08-24-2011, 04:14 AM   #51
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
Nice stable of lenses you have there. If the prices were similar, I would go for the 85mm 1.4 instead of the 50mm 1.4. After owning both lenses, what are your thoughts?
Get both! 50mm and 85mm are different focal lengths and serve different purposes, so it really depends on what focal length is better suited for you. I went for a photowalk the other day with the 85, and found the 85 generally a bit too long as a walkaround, though it was good for tighter people shots and head shots, and that's where the 85 really excels. Note that the 85 lens is also physically longer than the 50 too, and heavier. With the lens hood off, the 85 is about 2cm longer, with the lens hoods on (without the APS-C extension hood on the 85 though), the difference is about 4cm. Also, AF-wise, the 50 is faster, but the 85 isn't a slouch either, it's just that the 50 is quite fast.
09-01-2011, 09:20 PM - 1 Like   #52
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
veezchick: I hope you can update this thread and let us know what lenses you ended up buying, and how you liked them.
You bet! I went with:

•Sigma 10-20mm F3.5 EX DC HSM
•Sigma 24-70mm F2.8 IF EX DG HSM
•Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 EX DG APO Macro HSM II (or Sigma 70-200mm 1:2.8 EX DG OS HSM)

I love ALL of them for all the right reasons. I do mostly portraiture, street/urban, sports & nature and use all these for all genres. The IQ is amazing. Only complaint; some fringing on the 10-20 wide open on high contrast elements in a scene, but I'm able to mitigate that at capture or mend in post.

The bokeh on the 70-200 is absolutely gorgeous. Very soft & creamy. Stunning.

Crazy fast focus on all. Did have to adjust F/B focus on all - no biggie - but very accurate at F/B adjustment.

Very pleased with these lenses.

Thanks EVERYONE for such awesome, honest and intelligent feedback. I considered everyone's input. I held off buying the prime as suggested. But I'm just not a fan of Tamron or I would've considered them more (I've had a couple Tamron lenses and just hated everything about them - it's a personal thing, I know) so Tams were never in the running.

See some of my images made with these lenses in my gallery at Kazey Bunch
  • Table For Tutu
  • 4th Step
  • The Miller Girls
  • Child's Eyes
  • Funk-tional Infrastructure
  • Graffiti Tangle
  • And ALL the mountain bike images (checkout the night shots toward the end of the race image files - those are my faves)
Cheers!

09-02-2011, 05:57 AM   #53
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Wow, your images are gorgeous. Very impressive work!

What was your lighting setup for the ballerina in the diner? And what's the back story; how did that shot come about?

Also, I noticed that people can order the shots in various aspect ratios, such as 2:3 (e.g, 4"x6", 8"x12") and 1:1 (e.g. 10"x10", 20"x20"). How does that work? Did you upload multiple crops for the different aspect ratios, or does Mpix automatically crop the image? Some shots might do okay with automatic cropping, but it seems like others could turn out bad.
09-02-2011, 11:17 AM   #54
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Edgar, thank you so much.

The ballerina shot had natural light from a nearby skylight, which is why I chose that particular table. I bounced some flash off a reflector for fill from the front and another flash on the table behind her for separation (both fired remotely in M mode at 1/32 & 1/64 respectively). I must say Cowtown Diner in Fort Worth was very accommodating - the managers were great (great food, too!). Worth noting the chef made that giant burger special for the shoot. Since I don't eat meat, my dogs enjoyed it later :-)

The photo came about because while I was at Cowtown Diner having lunch last winter during a street shoot, I captured an image of the empty table (in the Places gallery on my site) and liked it so much I wanted to take it a step further. The idea of a ballerina in a rustic diner came to mind as good juxtaposing. I made a few calls and we shot it earlier this summer.

On my site, once you select an image to buy, the Best Fit options come up first in the product list and buyers are alerted throughout the checkout process if their selections require their attention to cropping, in which case they may either set the crop or change products to a Best Fit size. However, I am in the process of getting that changed so only Best Fit options come up for each image - because people being people, they are bound to somehow order a cropped image and yes, some would turn out badly.

Thanks again,

Kazey

Last edited by veezchick; 09-02-2011 at 11:45 AM.
09-02-2011, 11:00 PM   #55
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Is there any way to offer multiple "best fit" aspect ratios, where you upload, say, different crops for 1:1, 2:3, and 4:5? Or would you just have to list each ratio as a separate image? I've toyed around with the idea of selling some of my photography online (though I'll probably never do it), and I've always wondered about the aspect ratio issue.
09-03-2011, 06:43 AM   #56
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QuoteOriginally posted by Edgar_in_Indy Quote
Is there any way to offer multiple "best fit" aspect ratios, where you upload, say, different crops for 1:1, 2:3, and 4:5? Or would you just have to list each ratio as a separate image? I've toyed around with the idea of selling some of my photography online (though I'll probably never do it), and I've always wondered about the aspect ratio issue.
Yes - and that's what I'm in the process of changing - by associating each image with it's own pricelist and products. I.e., can offer only 1:1 sizes on 1:1 images and 2:3 sizes on 2:3 images and so on to images in the same gallery.
09-03-2011, 07:29 AM   #57
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I haven't read all the replies but I have to say I've developed an aversion to SDM & HSM.

My (recently sold) DA*300mm functioned perfectly but the SDM zooms seem to have been very problematic. Likewise, my Sigma 70-200/2.8 EX APO DG MACRO HSM II has had chronic focusing issues.

I like my Sigma 50-150/2.8 though (it's HSM but no problems yet) and love the Sigma 100-300/4.

My (non-HSM) Sigma 10-20mm was really nice but a load to carry so I "swapped" it for a DA 15.
09-03-2011, 07:55 AM   #58
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QuoteOriginally posted by veezchick Quote
Yes - and that's what I'm in the process of changing - by associating each image with it's own pricelist and products. I.e., can offer only 1:1 sizes on 1:1 images and 2:3 sizes on 2:3 images and so on to images in the same gallery.
Right, but what I was wondering was whether you can offer MULTIPLE "best fit" ratios for a single image. For example, it would be cool if you could upload both a 1:1 crop, and a 2:3 crop for the ballerina image. So if somebody chooses a 4x6 print, it automatically uses the 2:3 crop. But if they want a 10x10, it chooses the 1:1 crop, all transparently in the background. But from what I gather, each image in the gallery can only have a singe, native ratio.
01-08-2013, 07:43 AM   #59
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QuoteOriginally posted by twitch Quote
Once upon a time the only lens I had was a Sigma 17-70 zoom. Then I bought a DA70 and was just blown away by how much better it was; colour, contrast, sharpness, everything. Silly I know because it's not even remotely a fair comparison, but ever since then I've only ever bought Pentax lenses, I like the quality and consistency in colour I get from them. The Sig 17-70 sits unloved on a shelf.
I'll take the Sigma 17-70mm if you'll post/ship it to/within the UK Which version is it: F/2.8-4.5 DC Macro or F/2.8-4 OS?
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