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06-23-2013, 01:26 AM - 2 Likes   #1
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Shootout #2 - DA 15 Ltd / Tamron 17-50 @17 / DA* 16-50 @16 / Sigma 10-20 @16

Hey all

I got a couple of new lenses recently that have similar/overlapping range to other lenses I have and I wanted to test them all against each other.

This is similar to the test between the DA 15 and the Tamron 17-50 @ 17mm that I created earlier this month. However, new challengers include the Pentax DA* 16-50 @ 16mm and the Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 @ 16mm. I also included a shot at 10mm with an overlay so you can see the difference in the field of view between all of these lenses.

This is not a scientific test. It was just a quick and dirty job. I'm sure it could have been composed better, but I saw a picture earlier this week from this location and I wanted to see if I could mimic the composition (success!).

All settings were equal:

ISO 200
f8
10 seconds
+1 exposure comp.

These are the jpgs that were made from the raw files. No post-processing was done, except the FOV overlay shot (eyeballed using MSPAINT).

The Shots!















(this last shot was done with the Sigma 10-20@ 10mm. Yellow is the DA 15, blue is the Sigma @ 16 and the DA* @ 16, and the red is the Tamron @ 17.

Thoughts

- The zooms were naturally darker (I think because there's just more stuff that the light has to pass through before hitting the sensor), which I think worked in their favor. The DA 15 let in way more light and so it got blown out a bit more. This is obviously easy to compensate for, but just something to note.

- The color casts were influenced by the Olympic Cauldron's constant color changes, and I didn't want to wait until it was the same color every time I wanted to take a shot.

- Sharpness wise, the DA 15 wins, but just by a few hairs. The Tamron and the DA* were both excellent, I would say equal. The DA* has more distortion, but that's easy to correct in Lightroom. The Sigma was the worst, but not by much. It did surprisingly well.

- The FOV difference isn't all that much. Jumping from 17 to 15 I would say it's noticeable, but not a dealbreaker unless you're in a *really* tight situation where you can't move backwards. The difference is even less pronounced jumping from 17-16 and 16-15.

- You know that phenomenon where you're clearly trying to take a picture, and people take that as a cue to insert themselves into your line of sight? That's what happened with the pack of hip young professionals having a pow-wow in the dead freaking center of the wide open square. If I was trying to take a serious shot I would have stabbed the alpha male with my tripod legs (or not, I would have waited patiently until they left. I would just fantasize about stabbing him somewhere good, like the eyeball).

I guess that's all. This was kind of fun. I may do more of these. Perhaps with more controls.


Last edited by EarlVonTapia; 06-23-2013 at 01:39 AM.
06-23-2013, 04:39 AM   #2
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QuoteOriginally posted by EarlVonTapia Quote
Hey all

I got a couple of new lenses recently that have similar/overlapping range to other lenses I have and I wanted to test them all against each other.

This is similar to the test between the DA 15 and the Tamron 17-50 @ 17mm that I created earlier this month. However, new challengers include the Pentax DA* 16-50 @ 16mm and the Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 @ 16mm. I also included a shot at 10mm with an overlay so you can see the difference in the field of view between all of these lenses.

This is not a scientific test. It was just a quick and dirty job. I'm sure it could have been composed better, but I saw a picture earlier this week from this location and I wanted to see if I could mimic the composition (success!).

All settings were equal:

ISO 200
f8
10 seconds
+1 exposure comp.

These are the jpgs that were made from the raw files. No post-processing was done, except the FOV overlay shot (eyeballed using MSPAINT).

The Shots!















(this last shot was done with the Sigma 10-20@ 10mm. Yellow is the DA 15, blue is the Sigma @ 16 and the DA* @ 16, and the red is the Tamron @ 17.

Thoughts

- The zooms were naturally darker (I think because there's just more stuff that the light has to pass through before hitting the sensor), which I think worked in their favor. The DA 15 let in way more light and so it got blown out a bit more. This is obviously easy to compensate for, but just something to note.

- The color casts were influenced by the Olympic Cauldron's constant color changes, and I didn't want to wait until it was the same color every time I wanted to take a shot.

- Sharpness wise, the DA 15 wins, but just by a few hairs. The Tamron and the DA* were both excellent, I would say equal. The DA* has more distortion, but that's easy to correct in Lightroom. The Sigma was the worst, but not by much. It did surprisingly well.

- The FOV difference isn't all that much. Jumping from 17 to 15 I would say it's noticeable, but not a dealbreaker unless you're in a *really* tight situation where you can't move backwards. The difference is even less pronounced jumping from 17-16 and 16-15.

- You know that phenomenon where you're clearly trying to take a picture, and people take that as a cue to insert themselves into your line of sight? That's what happened with the pack of hip young professionals having a pow-wow in the dead freaking center of the wide open square. If I was trying to take a serious shot I would have stabbed the alpha male with my tripod legs (or not, I would have waited patiently until they left. I would just fantasize about stabbing him somewhere good, like the eyeball).

I guess that's all. This was kind of fun. I may do more of these. Perhaps with more controls.
Interesting about the higher transmission of the 15mm. I'd say that in practice it's half a stop brighter than the zooms. Which means that the difference in max aperture (considering only light gathering potential) between the 15mm and the zooms (16-50 and 17-50) would be more like a half step than a whole.
06-23-2013, 07:42 AM   #3
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Interesting, TFS. Looking at the pics, my favorite is the DA 15, followed by the DA 16-50 and the Sigma (these two being very similar). The Tamron shoot seems to be flatter than the other ones: micro-contrast?
06-23-2013, 09:34 AM   #4
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Interesting, I prefer the look of the Tamron to the DA 15. Distortion on the Sigma ruined it for me and 16-50 was somewhere in the middle

06-23-2013, 10:17 PM   #5
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Thnaks for such a comparison. I am really intrigued about this possible t-stop vs f-stop transmition difference.

I noticed some flare on the sigma @16mm on the upper left of the frame that does not show in any of the other lens.

White balcance and tint wasn´t the same on all the shots when developing, was it?
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