amehta Loc: Boston

With the great press the Sigma Art lenses are getting, I decided to get the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 DG|A since the local Hunt's store had it in stock. My first attempt to do a comparison of several lenses failed miserably (used back button focus while camera was set to half-shutter press :oops: ). I then had a chance to shoot in a fairly small studio where the 85mm is often too long. In a nutshell, the Sigma lives up to the hype.

amehta Loc: Boston

Here are two shots, one with the Sigma and one with the Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4G, which has been my most used lens with the D800. These are the jpegs extracted from the nef files, cropped to 2000x2000. When I get a chance, I'll compare the Sigma and the Nikon AF-S 50mm f/1.4G.

Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art

(Download)

Nikon AF-S 85mm f/1.4G

(Download)

RWR Loc: La Mesa, CA

Excellent IQ (for such a boring focal length! :lol: ) Couldn't resist that one. :)

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

You can't beat the 85mm Nikon lenses, however; here is a shot that I'd taken with the Sigma 24-105 and the photo is cropped from a large image.. Being that the camera used was our Nikon d800e, I wasn't too surprised, but also quite impressed being that the crop was from an image that could had made a 40"x65" print, if wanted :thumbup:

(Download)

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

Here is a copy of the original that had been taken with the Sigma 24-105mm mounted on our Nikon D800e.. When looking at the photo, you will note just how much it had been cropped to make the face shot.

Sigma's art lenses are pretty darned good when used on a top notch camera :thumbup:

(Download)

SharpShooter Loc: NorCal

Anand, It would have been better, had you shot the same exact pose with the same exact light.
It would have been apples to apples. This was not!
SS

amehta Loc: Boston

I completely agree. I will be doing a much better test soon, with all three lenses (and the 24-70mm).

To simulate "real world shooting", though, I want to take a set of photos with each lens to also get a sense of how many shots are not razor sharp.

amehta Loc: Boston

No reason to resist, I knew I would have to explain this. :-)
I have set up the second bedroom of my apartment as a studio, but it is small enough that I have to shoot from the room across the hall to get a full body shot with the 85mm. With the 50mm, I can shoot from the far wall.

I'll also be testing with the 35mm to see if that is also fine after lens correction is applied. I've been learning about "documentary wedding photography" were 35mm (full frame) seems to be the focal length of choice. For most of what I shoot, either 85mm or 24mm seems to be good, but this sort of people photography seems to need the 35-50mm range.

Zone-System-Grandpa Loc: Springfield, Ohio

Ametha, I'm proud of you :thumbup:

You and your situation remind me of myself and a similar situation that I once had too..

For starters, guys like us will find a way to set up a studio in our homes. no matter what ! I say this because over the years, my wife and I have our home filled with so many items such as collectibles and furniture, along with toys and different needs for Maggie (our cockapoo puppy), there was no room for me to have an in home studio, not as a business, but for our own family needs and enjoyment..

Well, in order for me to have a makeshift studio, we had to get rid of many items that had amassed over the years down in our basement and, wow, were there ever lots of items for us to get rid of !

Some of our friends had told us to have a garage sale, but I was not into having crowds of people rummaging around and randomly walking about our property. therefore; I had decided to hire my stepson and his wife to rummage through our basement, box things up, and do whatever they would like to do with the many items that we had amassed..

Some of our items had value and if my stepson and his wife didn't want to keep them, I was certain that they could sell them and make some extra money for themselves. Also, hiring them to do the work helped them by having made some extra pocket money too..

Lastly, once enough space had become free in our basement, I had taken my time and had slowly begun taking my Einstein strobe lights, light boxes, umbrellas, light stands, a tripod and canvas backgrounds down into the basement whereby an in home portrait studio was slowly beginning to take shape..

Being that I have spinal stenosis, climbing up and down the basement steps has become a chore, but it surely beats the alternative which would be having no studio at all :D

Obviously, if there is a will, there is a way !

Best of luck with your project and hopefully, you finally get that which works best for you !

~Doug~