[BigMackCam]

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I have a Sigma 50mm macro the EX DG model with gold ring (looks like same as your seller's pic), and I like it a lot: it's part of my slide copying kit. I also have the Pentax DFA 50mm macro, which is easier as part of an outdoors kit to carry around, with its 49mm thread. I cannot be sure if either give better pictures though, I have never had a need to put them through a comparison.

I have also had some great Sigmas in recent times, including the 17-50mm f2.8, the 105 macro, 10-20mm f4-5.6 EX DC and the EX DC version of the 30mm/f1.4 (pre the Art series).

I had a superb 24-60mm f2.8 which I passed on to another local member/user who had a K1.

Like many of us, I suffered a few stinkers as well from the consumer range, like the 18-55mm, 100-300mm DL. I bought these for use with a K-m, but they are obviously underperformers on the K-70, and were immediately replaced by a Pentax 16-45mm and Sigma 18-250mm.

I have good results from the 70-300mm f4-5.6 DG macro (not the classy APO model) on my newly acquired K1. Next to try on the K1 is a 28-90mm aspherical (feels like cheap plastic but seems an OK lens on the K-70, so it may be good on the K1).

Great to hear that you have the same lens and like it, Gary I'm using my D FA100/2.8 WR for 35mm negative digitising right now, but when I get round to doing some 6x6 and 645 format I'll probably use the Sigma for that, to maintain a reasonable working distance.

Some time ago I picked up a new-in-box Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical in Sony A-mount for less than GBP £20 including shipping. I'd bought it for a project involving what I thought would be a "cheap and nasty" lens. When it arrived, I took it for a spin on my 24MP full-frame Hasselblad HV (a Sony A99 in a nicer body), and was taken aback by the quality of images it produced, with plenty of detail, decent contrast and really nice rendering for an older zoom lens. It was way too good for the intended project, and became part of my occasional rotation for that camera

You're right, Sigma has produced a few stinkers along the way too; but then, so have all the brands... even Pentax

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Last edited by BigMackCam; 10-22-2021 at 11:15 PM.

[Gary H Perth]

Great to hear that you have the same lens and like it, Gary I'm using my D FA100/2.8 WR for 35mm negative digitising right now, but when I get round to doing some 6x6 and 645 format I'll probably use the Sigma for that, to maintain a reasonable working distance.

Some time ago I picked up a new-in-box Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical in Sony A-mount for less than GBP £20 including shipping. I'd bought it for a project involving what I thought would be a "cheap and nasty" lens. When it arrived, I took it for a spin on my 24MP full-frame Hasselblad HV (a Sony A99 in a nicer body), and was taken aback by the quality of images it produced, with plenty of detail, decent contrast and really nice rendering for an older zoom lens. It was way too good for the intended project, and became part of my occasional rotation for that camera

You're right, Sigma has produced a few stinkers along the way too; but then, so have all the brands... even Pentax

Since you have a Sony body as well, you may like to hear that I just picked up (accidentally, more details later) a Vivitar Series 1 19-35mm. I have the EA4 to give it a run on my A7ii over next few days.

[ivanvernon]

I just received my latest camera, the Sony Alpha (A mount) 390 with its 14.2 mp CCD chip along with another lens. The Sony 390 has the same 14.2 CCD sensor as my Sony 350, but the 390 is a better designed camera and uses standard SDHC memory cards (or Memory Stick Pro Duo) instead of the larger (and largely obsolete) Compact Flash cards which fit into awkward and easily bent pins. I am getting the same quality photos from these two cameras, but the newer 390 is easier to use. These photos are taken with the Minolta Maxxum 35-70mm f 4.0 macro lens, an AF lens which has historical roots back to the fabled Leica 35-70 Vario-Elmar-R 4.0 macro. I have the Leica lens also, but have not yet attempted a comparison between the two lenses. I could maybe try the two lenses using the Leica on the Pentax K-10 and the Minolta lens on the Sony 390. As far as I know, Pentax never produced a camera containing the 14.2 CCD sensor. Using these Sony Alpha cameras has been an interesting learning experience. These Sony cameras are far more flimsy than the solidly built cameras, starting with the K-10 all the way up to the K-1. I think we Pentaxians, Pentaxers, or whatever we are begin taking the ruggedly built and waterproof Pentax cameras for granted until we try some of the lesser brands. The Sony feels like it is made of a cheaper plastic and without the solid metal underlayment used in Pentax cameras. Neither is it waterproof, of course.

---------- Post added 10-23-21 at 02:29 PM ----------

Great to hear that you have the same lens and like it, Gary I'm using my D FA100/2.8 WR for 35mm negative digitising right now, but when I get round to doing some 6x6 and 645 format I'll probably use the Sigma for that, to maintain a reasonable working distance.

Some time ago I picked up a new-in-box Sigma 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 Aspherical in Sony A-mount for less than GBP £20 including shipping. I'd bought it for a project involving what I thought would be a "cheap and nasty" lens. When it arrived, I took it for a spin on my 24MP full-frame Hasselblad HV (a Sony A99 in a nicer body), and was taken aback by the quality of images it produced, with plenty of detail, decent contrast and really nice rendering for an older zoom lens. It was way too good for the intended project, and became part of my occasional rotation for that camera

You're right, Sigma has produced a few stinkers along the way too; but then, so have all the brands... even Pentax

Interesting comments on the 28-80mm lens. I have the 35-70mm f 4.0 macro, which I am using on the Sony Alpha 350 and 390 to good effect. I have not picked up the 28-80mm, thinking there was too much overlap between the two lenses. The 35-70mm is a great lens, apparently with some historical relationship to the fabled Leica 35-70mm Vario-Elmar-R f 4.0 macro .

[BigMackCam]

I just received my latest camera, the Sony Alpha (A mount) 390 with its 14.2 mp CCD chip along with another lens. The Sony 390 has the same 14.2 CCD sensor as my Sony 350, but the 390 is a better designed camera and uses standard SDHC memory cards (or Memory Stick Pro Duo) instead of the larger (and largely obsolete) Compact Flash cards which fit into awkward and easily bent pins. I am getting the same quality photos from these two cameras, but the newer 390 is easier to use. These photos are taken with the Minolta Maxxum 35-70mm f 4.0 macro lens, an AF lens which has historical roots back to the fabled Leica 35-70 Vario-Elmar-R 4.0 macro. I have the Leica lens also, but have not yet attempted a comparison between the two lenses. I could maybe try the two lenses using the Leica on the Pentax K-10 and the Minolta lens on the Sony 390. As far as I know, Pentax never produced a camera containing the 14.2 CCD sensor. Using these Sony Alpha cameras has been an interesting learning experience. These Sony cameras are far more flimsy than the solidly built cameras, starting with the K-10 all the way up to the K-1. I think we Pentaxians, Pentaxers, or whatever we are begin taking the ruggedly built and waterproof Pentax cameras for granted until we try some of the lesser brands. The Sony feels like it is made of a cheaper plastic and without the solid metal underlayment used in Pentax cameras. Neither is it waterproof, of course.

---------- Post added 10-23-21 at 02:29 PM ----------


Interesting comments on the 28-80mm lens. I have the 35-70mm f 4.0 macro, which I am using on the Sony Alpha 350 and 390 to good effect. I have not picked up the 28-80mm, thinking there was too much overlap between the two lenses. The 35-70mm is a great lens, apparently with some historical relationship to the fabled Leica 35-70mm Vario-Elmar-R f 4.0 macro .

Congrats on the A390! I wasn't aware that anyone had even produced a 14.2MP APS-C CCD sensor - very interesting!

The Maxxum 35-70 f/4 sounds interesting too. If I can pick one up cheaply to play with, I may well do that.

Re the Sigma 28-80 Aspherical, I wouldn't rush out to buy one or pay over the odds - but if you find one at a low price, it's definitely worth trying. It's built like a low-end consumer lens - all plastic body (and not the premium kind), with printed markings - but it's way better optically than typical consumer zooms of that era...

[ivanvernon]

Congrats on the A390! I wasn't aware that anyone had even produced a 14.2MP APS-C CCD sensor - very interesting!

The Maxxum 35-70 f/4 sounds interesting too. If I can pick one up cheaply to play with, I may well do that.

Re the Sigma 28-80 Aspherical, I wouldn't rush out to buy one or pay over the odds - but if you find one at a low price, it's definitely worth trying. It's built like a low-end consumer lens - all plastic body (and not the premium kind), with printed markings - but it's way better optically than typical consumer zooms of that era...

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Yes, my internet research shows that there were four Sony Alpha (A-mount) cameras with the 14.2 mp sensor: the 290, 350, 380, and 390. The one to buy is the 390 because it has other features than the sensor that make it better than the other three. The 380 is same as 390 except ergonomically inferior to the 390, and the 290 and 350 use old style cards that fit into pins which are easy to bend, effectively ruining the camera. (My card is a SanDisk Extreme III 4.0GB Compact Flash unit.) All the other Sony Alpha CCD cameras used the 10.2 mp sensor: A100, A200, A230, A330, A300, etc. (This is not an exhaustive list as there were several variations of these cameras with the added letters W, S, and K /N as suffixes. (A person having more time and curiosity than I could investigate further to determine the meaning connoted by these letters.) All these cameras are flimsy compared to Pentax, and probably would not survive the kind of adverse handling and weather that Pentax users have come to expect. They are not tactile delights to use, but still perform well and have certain advanced features such as live view and in-body stabilization. I find myself being more careful in handling the cameras in ways that I do not think about with the K-1 or 645N/D/Z or even the old K-10 for that matter.

My interest in these cameras arose from my interest in flower photography and the need for accurate rendering of delicate color variations, particularly in my dahlias. There are those who assert the superiority of the CCD sensor in rendering colors.

There are numerous lenses that work with the Sony Alpha cameras: Minolta Maxxum, Sony A-mount, and several Sigma, Samsung, Tamron, and perhaps other third-party lens makers. I suppose there may also be adapters to allow still other lenses to be used with the Alpha cameras, but I can see little sense in using these with the number of Alpha mount lenses already available. I have just begun using the Alpha cameras, so do not have much to report about lens quality, though I have found the Maxxum 35-70mm to be quite good. I will attach a few shots taken with it and the 390 just this morning. I plan to make a few comparisons of it with the Leica 35-70 though I cannot do so using the same camera or even sensor size to do so, so my results will be particularistic to say the least. Well, all this old equipment is inexpensive to purchase on the internet, so it is a fairly innocuous pastime in any event. I will be interested in any results you may feel like reporting upon.

[disconnekt]

Have a Pentax MZ-S on the way to me from a PF member (MightyMike).

[BigMackCam]

There are numerous lenses that work with the Sony Alpha cameras: Minolta Maxxum, Sony A-mount, and several Sigma, Samsung, Tamron, and perhaps other third-party lens makers. I suppose there may also be adapters to allow still other lenses to be used with the Alpha cameras, but I can see little sense in using these with the number of Alpha mount lenses already available. I have just begun using the Alpha cameras, so do not have much to report about lens quality, though I have found the Maxxum 35-70mm to be quite good. I will attach a few shots taken with it and the 390 just this morning. I plan to make a few comparisons of it with the Leica 35-70 though I cannot do so using the same camera or even sensor size to do so, so my results will be particularistic to say the least. Well, all this old equipment is inexpensive to purchase on the internet, so it is a fairly innocuous pastime in any event. I will be interested in any results you may feel like reporting upon.

Those are nice results indeed, Ivan

I have quite a few different brand lenses in A-mount, including Sony Zeiss, Minolta & Konica Minolta, Tamron, Sigma and Samyang. I also use a few of my M42-mount Soviet lenses adapted to A-mount. As the flange focal distance is a bit shorter than Pentax, M42 adapters cover the whole mount without leaving any gaps, so lenses with a narrow mount area - such as the earlier Helios-44 series and Mir-1 - don't result in light leaks as they sometimes can on K-mount. Unfortunately, the image stabilisation isn't much use on adapted lenses, as - unlike Pentax - Sony A-mount cameras don't allow you to enter the focal length.

I just managed to pick up what's claimed to be (and certainly looks like) a very nice, optically-clean Minolta Maxxum 35-70 f/4 with original hood and caps for GBP £21.25 (just under USD $30). At that kind of money, it's worth a punt - and looking at your photos, I think I'll like it

[ivanvernon]

Those are nice results indeed, Ivan

I have quite a few different brand lenses in A-mount, including Sony Zeiss, Minolta & Konica Minolta, Tamron, Sigma and Samyang. I also use a few of my M42-mount Soviet lenses adapted to A-mount. As the flange focal distance is a bit shorter than Pentax, M42 adapters cover the whole mount without leaving any gaps, so lenses with a narrow mount area - such as the earlier Helios-44 series and Mir-1 - don't result in light leaks as they sometimes can on K-mount. Unfortunately, the image stabilisation isn't much use on adapted lenses, as - unlike Pentax - Sony A-mount cameras don't allow you to enter the focal length.

I just managed to pick up what's claimed to be (and certainly looks like) a very nice, optically-clean Minolta Maxxum 35-70 f/4 with original hood and caps for GBP £21.25 (just under USD $30). At that kind of money, it's worth a punt - and looking at your photos, I think I'll like it

I could not determine which Sony camera you were using with all those lenses, but finally looked at the Hassy HV, then read all the reviews. What a camera! I will watch out for one. From reviewing the camera on eBay, it appears that their price, after these few years, has evolved back to the price levels of the underlying A99 in similar condition.
Any thoughts?

[JoelA]

I took the plunge and am now the very proud owner of a brand new K-1ii.

And WOW! What a step up from the K-50.

All of the legacy K and M lenses are very happy to be back in full frame mode.

And the ability to magnify the live view makes working with the 50mm f/1.2 a delight.

Many thanks to those who contributed to the write-ups and reviews here, I've spent the last couple weeks reading everything and appreciate all of the wisdom herein.

Time to go out and shoot!

[BigMackCam]

I could not determine which Sony camera you were using with all those lenses, but finally looked at the Hassy HV, then read all the reviews. What a camera! I will watch out for one. From reviewing the camera on eBay, it appears that their price, after these few years, has evolved back to the price levels of the underlying A99 in similar condition.
Any thoughts?

It's a very nice camera

Kind of a long story, but Hasselblad released the HV in 2014, 18 months after Sony's A99, and the photography print & online media tore them apart for selling a re-clothed A99 + Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM for $11,500 - which, looking back, isn't at all surprising. You have to wonder how they ever thought they'd get away with it It was a commercial failure, of course, and not long afterwards Hasselblad pretty much washed its hands of the tie-in with Sony, and removed any trace of the camera from its online presence. I believe the whole affair resulted in some senior management changes at Hasselblad too

I bought mine in early 2016 from B&H in New York. They had a very small number of brand-new HV kits priced at just a little less than a full-retail-price Sony A99 plus Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM, and I was fortunate enough to get one. The camera and lens came in a very nice custom waterproof flight case, along with a hand-made Italian leather strap, 8GB SSD card and a full copy of Lightroom 5 (oh, and Hasselblad-branded alloy body cap and lens cap ). The camera body is actually much nicer than a stock A99, with a lot of alloy and titanium in the construction - but, aside from the startup screen and some custom EXIF data, the firmware functionality is identical, with all the good and not-so-good aspects of the Sony version.

Price wise, it's difficult to say what they're worth now. I've seen some well-used, rough-looking examples on eBay for similar money to an A99, but I've never seen a complete kit for sale. Allegedly, only a hundred or so were ever produced, so it's a rare camera. I guess it's worth what someone will pay for it on any given day. A good one should be worth more than an A99 for rarity value alone, IMHO... but only if somebody wants one

[steamloco76]

Three Mercari Lots seller photos
KM with SMC 50/1.4
KX with generic 28/2.8, Vivitar 80-200 F4, SMC 55/1.8
P30 with SMC-A 50/1.4,Sigma 70-210 4~5.6 and Acheiver flash
Total for all including 6% PA tax and shipping $252.43
The SMC K mount 50/1.4 is the only manual focus Pentax/Takumar 1.4 50mm not in my lens collection. Hoping the KM is cleaner internally than the one I currently own. I couldn’t pass up the P30 with A 50 1.4, it was under $50:shipped.

[ivanvernon]

It's a very nice camera

Kind of a long story, but Hasselblad released the HV in 2014, 18 months after Sony's A99, and the photography print & online media tore them apart for selling a re-clothed A99 + Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM for $11,500 - which, looking back, isn't at all surprising. You have to wonder how they ever thought they'd get away with it It was a commercial failure, of course, and not long afterwards Hasselblad pretty much washed its hands of the tie-in with Sony, and removed any trace of the camera from its online presence. I believe the whole affair resulted in some senior management changes at Hasselblad too

I bought mine in early 2016 from B&H in New York. They had a very small number of brand-new HV kits priced at just a little less than a full-retail-price Sony A99 plus Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM, and I was fortunate enough to get one. The camera and lens came in a very nice custom waterproof flight case, along with a hand-made Italian leather strap, 8GB SSD card and a full copy of Lightroom 5 (oh, and Hasselblad-branded alloy body cap and lens cap ). The camera body is actually much nicer than a stock A99, with a lot of alloy and titanium in the construction - but, aside from the startup screen and some custom EXIF data, the firmware functionality is identical, with all the good and not-so-good aspects of the Sony version.

Price wise, it's difficult to say what they're worth now. I've seen some well-used, rough-looking examples on eBay for similar money to an A99, but I've never seen a complete kit for sale. Allegedly, only a hundred or so were ever produced, so it's a rare camera. I guess it's worth what someone will pay for it on any given day. A good one should be worth more than an A99 for rarity value alone, IMHO... but only if somebody wants one

Wonder what you think of this one? It is for sale from UK.

Hasselblad HV Black Body Only Digital SLR | eBay

[BigMackCam]

Wonder what you think of this one? It is for sale from UK.

Hasselblad HV Black Body Only Digital SLR | eBay

Yes, I've seen that one, Ivan. It's a Franken-camera... most of the external parts are from an A99, so far as I can tell... much of the case, many of the control buttons, wheels and joystick. In fact, the only recognisable Hasselblad parts are the screen cover, the rubber grip with "H" texturing, and the little "HV" badge. Even the underside looks like an A99 rather than the HV I wouldn't touch it with a barge-pole, I'm afraid.

This is mine - with Sony Zeiss 24-70 f/2.8 SSM and Sony battery grip fitted (all the A99 accessories are compatible):

[BigMackCam]

Wonder what you think of this one? It is for sale from UK.

Yes, I've seen that one, Ivan. It's a Franken-camera...

This, however, is the real deal... and it's in the US:

HASSELBLAD HV HCD01 DIGITAL BODY SUPER RARE! | eBay

They're asking $1,700... but it's the body only, no lens or other kit... oh, there's a battery and after-market charger, but that's it.

[D1N0]

Sankyo Kohki Japan Komura 135mm 1:2.8 Looks good but a bug died inside on the rear of the second element in an aura of fungus. Front element is easy to get out but the second one looks impossible.