Hin's Photo Corner

I like to get your inputs in choosing one over the other between Sigma Art 30mm f/1.4 and Sony E 35mm f/1.8.  I like the faster speed in Sigma but I have A6000 without IBIS and I like the smaller size in the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 and with OSS. I currently don't shoot much video but I see myself wanting to get into casual video and I see the value of OSS in E 35mm f/1.8. What about image quality, is one better than the one? Please comment and share your thought if you have to choose one of the two.

At mirrorlesscomparison.com:
Sony 35mm f/1.8 vs. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 DC DN vs. Sigma 30mm f/2.8 DN A – The complete comparison


I ended up picking the Sony E 35mm f/1.8 over the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. This is solely based on my wish to keep my A6000 longer as I don't want another camera for now and this prime with OSS is more suited for me when I go for video or single lens out. I know in photos, I may prefer the faster speed and sharpness in the Sigma 30mm f/1.4. If money is not a matter, I will actually get both and sell my Sigma 30mm f/2.8.

I happened to help my friend taking pictures for the graduation ceremony of Bharatanatyam Arangetram for their daugther. Bharatanatyam is a Southern Indian Classical Dance. It was my most challenged shooting where flash was not an option and fast movement of the dancer posed both excitement and difficulties in the shooting. Due to the lighting and need of speed, I took my best prime and zoom lens for the job.


Best Pentax Portrait and Event Lens

• Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited -- shots on the red dress
• Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 -- shots on the green dress
• Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8 -- used in family and banquet shots when I could use flash
  

Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited

The lens delivered good results and I chose it for red dress in the first portion of the dance when the dance movement was faster. Unfortunately, I pushed the lens into wider aperture as in f/2.0 and f/2.2 hoping to leverage the ISO to within 400 to 800. I might have done better with f/2.8 and iso from 800 and up to 1600. And in using Av mode with f/2.0 and f/2.2 in ISO 500, I get shutter speed not quite matching the fast movement in the dance. 1/200 of a sec is a safer speed in the dance. Another difficulty comes from the fixed prime and awkward decision to make in NOT zooming with my feet as my position would block the views of audience behind me. I ended up crouching in the front row and took as much shots as I could for the faster part of the dance.

Framing of the shots became a difficulty in the shooting. WB and color was also an issue with the strong stage lighting along with the reflective golden stripes in the clothing. My Pentax gear are not the best in dealing with red color, I shot all in jpg. In hindsight, I should have shot that portion in raw but I could not afford the time in post processing 1K+ pictures after the shooting.








Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8

In the second half of the dance, I used the DA* zoom and the dance was slower in the greeen dress. I used TAv mode throughout 1st and 2nd half of the dance, the mode really helps me to freeze the motion when speed is critical in the 1/125 to 1/200 sec range. Though the dance was slower, I did the right thing to shoot more in ISO 800 to ISO 1600. Though heavier, the DA* zoom surprises me with the performance that seem to rival squarely with the prime lens. The ability to zoom also help tremendously in framing the shot in place.


Impressions and Notes

• Both lens really help me in the difficult shooting. I call them the best event and portrait lens that I have used.
• Though it is not a fair comparison, I prefer the results and consistency from Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8 in the shooting. The IQ of the DA* zoom rivals the quality of my insanely good Pentax prime in the 77mm. It is simply amazing.
• The 77 limited is much easier to use for long duration due to its small size and lightweight. I felt sore arms half way in the shooting with the DA* zoom that I found myself crouching in the seat to find the needed extra support for my arms in framing.
  
• The FA 77mm f/1.8 did allow me to have pristine shots in extremely dark scene in the intermission where I could comfortably take pictures of the musicians and backstage.
• It was a lesson to be reminded to trust the higher iso in Pentax to work with faster movement.
  
• TAv mode is found invaluable when shutter speed is critical in making the shot
• The quiet SDM in the DA* zoom is suitable in stage shooting. If I had the Pentax K-7 with quiet shutter noise, I would have the least chance of disturbing the audience
  

Related:

• Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited Insanely Good with K-x
• Bharatanatyam Rehearsal with Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8
• Pentax DA 70mm f/2.4 limited Test Shots
  
• Pentax DA* 50-135mm f/2.8
• Pentax FA 77mm f/1.8 limited
• Tamron 28-75mm f/2.8
• Pentax FA 50mm f/1.4
• Cosina 55mm f/1.2
• Pentax K-7
  
• Hin's Camera Gear

v1 from Kiron

• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, v1 from Kiron
  
• serial number starts with 22
• best in color and contrast
• bokeh is very nice, next to Komin and better than Tokina
  
• heaviest unfortunately, it is actually not much heavier than Komine copy, but it is bulkier
  
• best build quality in construction
• very inexpensive to get
• sharpness square evenly with the Komine copy. But I do prefer the Tokina on sharpness when stopped down
• close up is at 1:2.2 and I think the weight and the bigger size in barrel may hinder the usefulness in close up

v2 from Tokina

• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5, v2 from Tokina
• serial number starts with 37
• best in sharpness when stopped down to f/5.6 and smaller
  
• lightest of the three and much usable in walk around
• does quite poorly in close up with magnification at 1:4, I see ghosting in close up
• color and contrast are reasonable, but I like the Kiron and Komine copies better for color, contrast and saturation
• best in focusing ring, maybe my copy with Tokina is newer than the other, the focusing ring in my tokina copy is the best among the three versions that I have tried.
• very inexpensive to get, a less competed model that should go well in terms of cost and value
  

v3 from Komine

• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/2.8-4.0 from Komine
  
• serial number starts with 28
• the only version among the three that has 'A' settings
• weight is middle tier in 860g in between 710g Tokina and the 879g Kiron
• perhaps the barrel are not as big, I feel similar handling to the Tokina
• close up is found quite decent at 1:2.5
• I still prefer the color and contrast from Kiron but I will give the Komine slightly better than Tokina
• sharpness is middle as 2nd runner after Tokina
• Bokeh is best among the three versions, very close with Kiron copy
• Some moderate Purple Fringe noted in test shots,
  
• best overall due to the 'A' setting, faster speed in f/2.8 in the shorter end.
• cost more than twice of v1 and v2
  

Related:

• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 from Kiron (v1)
  
• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/3.5 from Tokina (v2)
  
• Vivitar Series 1 70-210mm f/2.8-4.0 from Komine (v3)
• Tamron SP 70-210mm f/3.5 adaptall-2 (19AH)
• Tokina AT-X 80-200mm SD f/2.8
• All adaptall-2 related articles
• Tamron SP 80-200mm f/2.8 adaptall-2 (30A)
• Hin's Camera Gear

This is a follow up to previous post on Embedding Video into blog page. More samples of identical videos from my Casio ex-z750 uploaded to youtube and photobucket.