[Edgar_in_Indy]

What is he drinking? Salsa?? Lovely, sharp images, by the way. Glorious bokeh.

I'm not sure. That's a kid from church, and I believe his dad is originally from Mexico, so it may very well be some kind of salsa. Not sure why he had it at church though!

Thanks for the compliment on the pic. You mentioned the sharpness and the bokeh, and I think that's what I love about the Sigma 85mm. The focus areas are razor sharp, while the out of focus areas are silky smooth. Allows almost anyone to get stunning images.

[ElJamoquio]

I love your images, Edgar, but I don't think they're really great for bokeh-evaluation. The leaves look wayyyyyy out of focus, a lot of lenses can deal with that IMO. The only thing that's slightly out of focus is the tree behind the boy's head, and I'm not sure I'd notice problematic bokeh in that.

(Not saying that the Sigma doesn't have good bokeh, I'm not that familiar with the lens)

[Edgar_in_Indy]

I love your images, Edgar, but I don't think they're really great for bokeh-evaluation. The leaves look wayyyyyy out of focus, a lot of lenses can deal with that IMO. The only thing that's slightly out of focus is the tree behind the boy's head, and I'm not sure I'd notice problematic bokeh in that.

(Not saying that the Sigma doesn't have good bokeh, I'm not that familiar with the lens)

Yeah, these images were selected more for showing how well the Sigma captures skin tone and texture, as well as showing the colors, and I wasn't really paying any attention to the bokeh. But I mostly shoot people pictures when I'm using the 85mm, so I guess the bokeh in these images is typical of what I normally get. Maybe if I get some extra time later when I get home, I'll see if I can find some different kinds of images.

[Winder]

The Sigma is simply an excellent lens. It really does handle skin tones and bokeh very well. Its razor sharp even at F/2. At F/1.4 is does have some softness, but for skin and portraits its still more than sharp enough. F/1.4 and an 85mm has its own challenges, but the K-3 does a much better job than the K-5 with fast glass. I shot an event tonight with my K-3 and Sigma 85mm. Lived all night at F/2.8 at 3200 ISO.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

The Sigma is simply an excellent lens. It really does handle skin tones and bokeh very well. Its razor sharp even at F/2. At F/1.4 is does have some softness, but for skin and portraits its still more than sharp enough. F/1.4 and an 85mm has its own challenges, but the K-3 does a much better job than the K-5 with fast glass. I shot an event tonight with my K-3 and Sigma 85mm. Lived all night at F/2.8 at 3200 ISO.

Using the 85mm at close range at f1.4 gives you a razor thin focal plane, such that if the pupil is in focus, the nose or even the eyebrows will be out of focus. But used at a distance, f1.4 can be surprisingly useful, as can be seen in the following pictures of one of my dad's cars he owned when he was in his 20's (a Cord Sportsman 8/10).

To get the car to fill the frame, I was standing some distance away (maybe 40-50 feet?). And even though the subject is filling the frame, and I'm at f1.4, it's surprising how well the entire car is captured. Much of the car is actually out of focus, but the fall-off is gradual enough that it still works. I certainly could have stopped down, but I wanted to blur the background a bit, but it was kind of difficult since the airplane is was so close to the car (the back of the car is actually under the wing).

Please note that the picture was taken at midday in full sunlight, so the lighting was not the best, but thanks to the superb optics of the Sigma 85mm and the excellent dynamic range of the K-30, the picture was still very usable, despite the overly bright and harsh lighting. We drove halfway across the country so my dad could visit his old car, so this was the only chance I would have for photographs, so I was fortunate to have such capable gear! A sunset picture would have been nice, but we had to get back on the road before then.

[Mistral75]

@Edgar_in_Indy

EXIF data in your picture say Sigma 30mm f/1.4, not 85mm f/1.4.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

@Edgar_in_Indy

EXIF data in your picture say Sigma 30mm f/1.4, not 85mm f/1.4.

Doh! When I was going through my photos in Adobe Bridge to find the car picture, I was filtering to display only the f1.4 photos, and I thought I had also selected only 85mm, but apparently I had not.

I was using both lenses that day, switching back and forth (the Sigma 30mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4 are my "two amigos"). I know I also took the same basic photo with the 85mm, so I'll have to dig it up when I get home. The two images will not be as different as you might expect, but I imagine in the 85mm version, the airplane will figure more prominently in the background.

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Last edited by Edgar_in_Indy; 06-28-2014 at 04:22 PM.

[mee]

Doh! When I was going through my photos in Adobe Bridge to find the car picture, I was filtering to display only the f1.4 photos, and I thought I had also selected only 85mm, but apparently I had not.

I was using both lenses that day, switching back and forth (the Sigma 30mm 1.4 and 85mm 1.4 are my "two amigos"). I know I also took the same basic photo with the 85mm, so I'll have to dig it up when I get home. I imagine in the 85mm version, the airplane will figure more prominently in the background.

Is that the same Sigma 30mm that was on 'fire sale' a year or two ago?

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Is that the same Sigma 30mm that was on 'fire sale' a year or two ago?

You've got a good memory! It was May of 2013, but it was my 85mm, not my 30mm.

I briefly listed my Sigma 85mm when I was desperately trying to scrape together some play money for a pair of Klipsch RF-7 speakers for my home theater that were listed at a great price on Craigslist. I didn't want to miss out on them, but fortunately I was able to buy them without selling the lens. If I had sold the 85mm, I would have replaced it again as soon as possible with another copy.

So many hobbies, so little money!

https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/81-expired-listings/227491-sale-expired-s...-warranty.html

[mee]

Oh.. no no! I was thinking of this sale here --> https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/94-pentax-price-watch/213737-sigma-30mm-f1-4-289-a.html

That was the lens that got away.. *pouts*

But I grabbed a DA 35 f/2.4 earlier this year so it is OK. not a 30/1.4 but it works.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

Oh.. no no! I was thinking of this sale here --> https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/94-pentax-price-watch/213737-sigma-30mm-f1-4-289-a.html

Oh, that fire sale! Yeah, the Sigma 30mm 1.4 is one of the great bargains in lenses, as far as I'm concerned.

[mee]

Oh, that fire sale! Yeah, the Sigma 30mm 1.4 is one of the great bargains in lenses, as far as I'm concerned.

Well rub it in, why don't you!

[Winder]

the Sigma 30mm 1.4 is one of the great bargains in lenses, as far as I'm concerned.

I guess it depends on how you use it. The center sharpness is excellent. I tend to focus with the center AF point and recompose or use the outer AF points. We used it on my Olympus E-3 a and found the edges so poor that it had trouble AF with the outer points, and when you used the center AF point and recomposed you subject was moved to a rather soft area of the lens. If you shoot everything dead center and crop after then it probably works really well, but that's not how I shoot. I tend to use center AF with spot meter and recompose. For centered subjects it produces great images and the softness of the edges helps to smooth out the bokeh.

[Edgar_in_Indy]

I guess it depends on how you use it. The center sharpness is excellent. I tend to focus with the center AF point and recompose or use the outer AF points. We used it on my Olympus E-3 a and found the edges so poor that it had trouble AF with the outer points, and when you used the center AF point and recomposed you subject was moved to a rather soft area of the lens. If you shoot everything dead center and crop after then it probably works really well, but that's not how I shoot. I tend to use center AF with spot meter and recompose. For centered subjects it produces great images and the softness of the edges helps to smooth out the bokeh.

It's a 30mm f/1.4 autofocus lens. It would have to be pretty bad to not be worth $300. And it's far from bad.

Maybe I got a good copy, but in my experience the complaints of edge softness are over blown. It's sharp in the center, as well as a significant portion of the frame, even if it is not great at the far edges. Here's a picture from the recent birth of my third daughter, shot with my 30mm wide open at f1.4. Click on it for the full size version, and look at the nurse's face, and the texture of the face mask and hair cover. Even though it's close to the edge of the frame, it still has good sharpness with plenty of detail. Mind you the picture was shot wide open with an f1.4 lens that can be had for ~$300. For my uses documenting my family, the Sigma 30mm is fantastic.

Also, I've never noticed problems using other focus points with my copy, and I move my focus points around constantly since recomposing at f1.4 can cause you to miss focus.

[hoq]

I have got this lens and took some photos in this weekend.
This lens performed so excellent, that I really hope Sigma would make another ART 35-70mm F1.8 for portrait if it is possible.

SIGMA 18-35mm F1.8 ART for PENTAX K-mount Shooting Report