Forum Member Registered: March, 2020 Posts: 70 | | Review Date: March 30, 2020 | Recommended | Price: $25.00
| Rating: 7 |
| Pros: | Cheap, good center sharpness, relatively fast, nice colors and contrast, smooth vintage bokeh, above-average performance in the MF-only close-focus mode at 135mm | | Cons: | Not-so-smooth push-pull action, MFD and awkward macro mode, lacks resolution for modern APS-C sensors, green fringing, corner softness and vignetting on FF, glares and veils easily leading to overexposure | | Sharpness: 7
Aberrations: 5
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 5
Value: 10
Camera Used: APS-C, FF
Autofocus: 7
New Or Used: Used
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I agree with dronegeek, this Sigma is a nifty old-school AF lens. One of their very first, actually. I've found performance and image quality to be surprisingly good for a budget lens of this era, but it appeared to depend on the camera used. There was little to worry about when mounted to old APS-C up to 10 MP or of course FF, and here center sharpness was consistent throughout the focal range and really quite decent! F3.5 was alright in a pinch excepting backlit situations and harsh daylight scenarios, but a somewhat dreamy-soft look and some ghosting were noticeable. Stopping down to just F4.5 improved results considerably.
On more modern APS-C cameras, performance was not as stellar due to reaching its limits in terms of resolution. Too soft wide open, more ghosting, need to add at least two stops to achieve acceptable sharpness depending on the distance to subject. Don't even bother with anything wider than F7.1 in the close-focus mode.
Overall, I'd say this Sigma's strengths and weaknesses are characteristic of old budget push-pull glass. Susceptible to glare, overexposure, veiling, loss of contrast and overblown highlights when not equipped with a proper lens hood and the sun anywhere near the frame, some green fringing due to not featuring any achromatic elements, and very soft corners especially on FF. While not really an issue on APS-C, these never really improved any and could be downright detrimental for certain application; I'd not pick this lens for architectural photography to name one. Barrel distortions didn't seem bad enough for me to notice, however. Strong vignetting on FF on the other hand was hard to ignore!
Positive aspects included nice, smooth and vintage-looking push-pull bokeh I found especially pleasing in the close-focus mode at all apertures. Perfectly acceptable at F4.5 if maximum front-background separation was desired, and possibly even better when stopped down just a little. F6.3-7.1 seemed to be the soft spot for most subjects. Lovely! Depending on the strength of the light sources, highlights were mostly round and glowing with a hint of cat eye wide open, turning progressively into irregularly shaped hexagons as the lens was stopped down, but never in a distracting manner. This model has bright and warm Sigma colors you either like or don't.
The 1:4 close-focus mode warrants special mention. It’s only available at the tele end, limited to MF and has to be manually unlocked by holding down a small button at the side of the barrel, then moving the focus ring past the middle hard stop. Doesn’t get one very close either (0.75m), but at least it’s considerably better than the default MFD of 1.8 meters. Compared to a modern superzoom, this Sigma doesn’t provide the smallest or lightest package either considering the modest focal range. The push-pull action also lacked the smoothness and refinement I’ve come to like in MF-only zoom lenses.
Autofocus seemed reliable enough thus far. Nothing exceptional to add.
Conclusion time then. This might be a bit of a sleeper actually, given its relative obscurity and affordability, however in case you’re looking for an old-fashioned-but-well-performing push-pull AF lens and could live with its quirks, this Sigma might be for you.
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Loyal Site Supporter Registered: October, 2016 Location: Euless Texas Posts: 271
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: April 6, 2018 | Recommended | Price: $38.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Can be sharp, relatively fast, aberrations well controlled | | Cons: | weird macro mode at 135mm only, Overly sunny conditions blow out shot | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 7
Handling: 6
Value: 9
Camera Used: K-S2
Autofocus: 8
New Or Used: Used
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I found this lens on Fleabay attached to a SF-10 and my curiosity and LBA got the best of me.
The lens has a weird macro mode at 135mm where you push a button on the side of the lens to get the lens into Manual Focus only macro mode.
Really bizzare. So on to the categories...
Sharpness - This is not a small lens as it is the same size as my Pentax 55-300mm and heavier, As you can see from the examples this lens can be very sharp. A bit soft wide open but from 5.6 on it is really sharp.
Aberrations - Even on over exposed sunny shots I dd not see any PF. Well controlled
Bokeh - Not bad at all. I did take a shot with grass in the background and it was a bit busy and not a creamy as I would have liked
Handling - The weird manual focus macro mode is strange.. It is a push pull zoom and was not as smooth as other push pulls I have such as the Tamrons or Vivitars. Also the minimum focus length is something like 2.5 feet (closer in macro mode) which is not always convenient.
Autofocus - Funny story - At first the lens would not focus and I thought it was bad.that is until I saw my battery was low. This lens is so heavy that with a low battery it would not focus. Changing to a fresh battery solved the problem and the AF was snappy.
Value - This seems to be a rare find and based on some of the sharp shots I got in my test run in the back yard I think it is a good value.
Pictures below
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