Finally, the comparison that everybody has been waiting for...the Sigma 150-500mm F5-6.3 HSM versus the Phoenix / Samyang 500 F8 T-mount mirror lens. I don't know much about the mirror lens, except that it is apparently the result of a collaboration between two legendary lens makers.
Both lenses were shot at F8 and 500mm, exposure was 1/15 sec at ISO 200 on my Pentax K-x. My tripod doesn't do portrait orientation, so I had to improvise. Shutter was released remotely via my Dish Network 622 DVR remote control, with 3-second mirror lockup. My two munchkins were told to hold completely still during the exposure so that there would be no vibrations transmitted through the floor. Lighting was natural daylight through partially opened blinds just to the left of the subject. Focus was by hand, using the 10x zoom in mode in live-view. Pictures of the setup are courtesy of my wife's Olympus PEN E-P1 w/17mm f2.8 (at least
somebody is using it!)
And now, the pictures. I shot in RAW, and developed the pictures using Adobe Camera Raw in Photoshop CS5. This first set of pictures is straight out of the camera, with no adjustments made in ACR. I just opened them up in RAW, and then saved them as high-quality JPEGs. No sharpening was applied.
Please note that these pictures were taken at separate times. I took the pictures with the Samyang this morning, but I sold the Sigma a few weeks ago. I tried to replicate the prior Sigma image with the Samyang this morning, but there are some slight differences in perspective/composition.
Click on the pictures for the full size 12MP images. The Samyang is on top, followed by the Sigma on bottom (in case anybody wondered).
I think the focus was correct on the Samyang, but it's really hard to dial it in due to the softness of the lens. I bracketed several different focus increments, and this seemed to be the, um, sharpest.
And here is a second set of pictures, with the normal adjustments I would make when developing in RAW. I did almost nothing to the Sigma...just a slight increase in contrast, and a light smart-sharpening. The Samyang image, on the other hand, I basically raped trying to turn it into something salvageable.
So hopefully this will finally put the matter to rest. Although the Phoenix / Samyang mirror is basically useless in terms of image quality, it does have some redeeming qualities. Here they are as I see them:
- It is a lens, and it does allow your camera to take pictures
- It's small and light for a 500mm lens
- It looks kind of cool on my K-x
- The Phoenix / Samyang was about 600 times less expensive than the Sigma (I bought both used)
Last edited by Edgar_in_Indy; 07-10-2012 at 05:18 PM.