Trying a Sigma lens at the Travel Exhibition
Sigma 85mm f1.4 ex dg hsm. photo: dslrphoto.com
Last weekend we went to the annual Travel Exhibition (you can read about the previous one in the link section). The previous years this exhibition has been held in Lillestrøm in co-operation with the Photo Exhibition, which has (at least for me) been a perfect combination. This year they separated the two exhibitions, to my huge disappointment.
The Photo Exhibition will be held later this year in co-operation with the Garden Exhibition… The Garden Exhibition? What the fuck?!
“Oh, hey! Sharon! Come quick! Look at this awesome artificial lawn!”
“That’s wonderful Randy. And that urn over there will be perfect next to the pond fish”
*yawn*
Well, let’s look at the bright side: I won’t have to waste my money going all the way to Lillestrøm for the Travel- and Photo Exhibition this year.
The Travel Exhibition this year was smaller than before: the exhibition area was smaller and there were fewer stands, plus all the photo gear was gone. Well, not all of them. FotoVideo.no had a small stand with some lenses and cameras, mostly meant for safari and nature photographers. Since I’d brought my camera I asked if I could try a couple of their lenses, which they generously allowed me to.
The one I liked the best of the two I tried was Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM.
You can see the results in these 3 photos:
Shot with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
This Sigma lens is basically meant for portrait photography. Some of the Sigma products are cheaper than brand manufacturers such as Nikon and Canon. The Sigma lens isn’t weatherproof and some parts were plastic, but then again the price on this lens is also cheaper. The photo quality is still good and the lens was a pleasure to use. With a maximum aperture at f/1.4 this lens is perfect for shooting low-light/indoor portraits – getting the background out of focus, thus separating the subject from the background.
Shot with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
Sigma 85mm F1.4 EX DG HSM
Specifications:
Focal length: 85 mm
Filter Diameter: 77 mm
Minimum Focusing Distance: 85cm
Macro Ratio: 1:8.6
Maximum aperture f/1.4
Minimum aperture: f/16
Weight: 730 grams
Available for: Nikon, Canon, Sony A, Pentax, Sigma
In Norway the prize for this lens is between 6500-7500 NKR (app. 1200-1350 US$). So, even if it’s cheaper than the brand manufacturers, it’s still too much for an ordinary Joe with a lame job (like myself)…
Shot with a Sigma 85mm f/1.4 EX DG HSM
Links:
Impressions from the photo and travel exhibition 2012 (cardinalguzman.wordpress.com)
Sigma-85mm-F14-EX-DG-HSM (fotovideo.no)
Very nice results in those images! I’ve heard about Sigma but never tried one. I have a Nikon camera. The lenses I own are Nikkor and they have vibration reduction. I guess that would be missed if I had a Sigma?! Lenses cost a lot of money … money that I’d never be ready to invest in my little duck photography
January 15, 2013 at 00:00
I don’t know if the lens had vibration reduction or not. I would love to get a new lens or two, but I don’t have the money either. Photo equipment is expensive, but luckily we don’t use film cameras anymore!
January 15, 2013 at 06:31
That’s so true … about the film! Not only the cost, but having to think about it all the time … that you had enough! Digital certainly was a game-changer!
January 15, 2013 at 12:21
Digital was a game-changer, that’s true. I love it!
January 23, 2013 at 22:58
Like your pic of the stalker lens – guess you’ d have to be paparazzi to get good use out if it!
January 15, 2013 at 02:28
The perfect lens for a shy street photographer
January 15, 2013 at 06:32
True – I always end up catching interesting people in the corner of a shot for that reason….
January 15, 2013 at 14:09
Geez Luiz! That’s like the price of my four lenses. Looks awesome though.
January 15, 2013 at 05:10
I just shot a few test photos, but I liked this lens; it feels good in the hand, the weight wasn’t too heavy and the manual focus was easy. The maximum aperture is also a big plus.
January 15, 2013 at 06:38
Nice review and nice info apart from the price of the lens, LOL.
Last week there was a big camera shop in UK, Jessops, closed down due to their inability to compete with their competitor. I wasn’t surprised by that since their prices could go twice more expensive than others.
I just wondered why there were so much different in their prices.
January 15, 2013 at 06:06
If Sigma is cheaper than Nikon/Canon lenses, I don’t want to know the price for the brands
Once I bought a plastic lid for a lens and it cost me around 30$. I asked the guy in the shop why it was so fucking expensive and he said: “because it says Canon on it”.
They’re ripping people off, but I guess that’s the whole essence and soul of capitalism.
January 16, 2013 at 19:34
I can’t agree more with you. They rip us off, LOL. So we not only buy for a product but also a brand name as well.
January 17, 2013 at 00:37
Ouch! Won’t be buying one of those then. Nice shots though, Cardinal – particularly like the first one.
January 15, 2013 at 22:24
Lens porn, that’s what it is.
January 16, 2013 at 19:36
Nice that you could take the lens for a test drive. I have a bigger lens on my “someday” list, but you take photos with whatever it is that you have.
January 16, 2013 at 13:45
I’ll might get a new lens someday too, but with prices like this it’ll probably be in something like 62 years from now.
January 16, 2013 at 19:38
I just wrote a little bit this morning about the whole macro vs. kit lens thing. The macro is next on my lens list, but not for today.
January 17, 2013 at 13:54
Hello CG
I can see that some poor halfwit did not rate this post properly, so I had to correct him. I was very interested to see your lens review. Hubby has a few Sigmas in his collection, and he even gave me one of them. This one looks beautiful. I am sorry I got Tamron macro lens instead of Sigma. Well, next time…..
January 16, 2013 at 19:23
That halfwit… Let me quote something like 348 million teenagers: “haters are gonna hate”.
I would love to try some more lenses and I must say that I was really impressed by this Sigma lens. I’ve never tried Tamron, only Canon and Nikon.
January 16, 2013 at 19:44
Hubby loves old Tamron lenses .. he is converting some of them for digital cameras – just for his own purposes and as a hobby. I was pretty happy with the one I bought till he pointed out it was not sharp enough, and I would have done better with a macro Sigma ….
January 16, 2013 at 19:51
There’s NOTHING like an L-Series lens but Sigma (actually owned by Canon) does make some impressive glass. I have an interest in the following models:
DC Series
-10-20mm F4-5.6 EX DC
-12-70mm F2.8-4.5 DC Macro
DG Series
-17-35mm F2.8-4 EX DG Aspherical Macro
-24mm F1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro
-15mm F2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye
-APO 120-300mm F2.8 EX DG HSM
-APO 50-500mm F4-6.3 EX DG
-APO 500mm F4.5 EX DG
-Macro 70mm F2.8 EX DG
January 19, 2013 at 01:09
Fisheye would have been great. A tilt-shift would have been awesome too! First I’ll just have to win the lottery
January 23, 2013 at 23:01
Very nice! Although your story about the artificial lawn made me laugh, reminded me of last summer when I was innocently walking Mercy and this guy said hey nice dog, will she pee on artificial grass? My reaction was pretty much the same as yours.. “what the fuuu….” lol! Of course I responded, uhh I don’t think she’s had much of an opportunity to… and carried on my way – he started saying something about how the a lot the big houses by the river have them now but I wasn’t sticking around to hear more
February 6, 2013 at 01:51
An artificial lawn..? Who wants to have that disgusting stuff? If Mercy won’t pee on it, I will!
February 7, 2013 at 19:06
Sweet, bring the whole family – we’ll do a photo shoot.
February 25, 2013 at 03:56
Sweet, bring the whole family – we’ll do a photo shoot.
February 25, 2013 at 03:56