On Jul 17, 2012, at 4:44 PM, Darren Addy wrote: > Thanks to Ann and Larry for the comments. > > To my >>> In other news, the Sigma EX 28mm f1.8 makes an *awesome* lens for >>> aurora on the K-5. > Larry added >> Congrats! I wonder how that lens compares with the FA 31/1.8 > > Never having had one, I can't comment directly but by all accounts the > FA 31 Limited is a wonderful lens and sharp, even wide open. For that > feature alone, it would probably be a big improvement over the Sigma > (which I stopped down to 2.8 for my images) and worth the > 2-1/2-times-the-price-of-the-Sigma to many people. Shorter exposure > times = more frames if one is doing intervalometer work to turn > something into a video from the stills. I probably should have tried > some wide open for comparison, but was pretty happy with what i was > getting with my 15 sec. at f2.8 exposure times. The Sigma registers on > my K-5 as a f1.7 wide open (but is officially called an f1.8 lens).
So does my Sigma 20/1.8 > I'm sure the 31mm limited is smaller & lighter, too. I'm not. The 31 is pretty big, especially with that godawful integral lens hood, which is basically useless on an APS sensor. > > On the other hand, wider is better for aurora photography and the 42mm > (equiv.) view for the Sigma vs the 46mm (equiv.) view for the 31 > Limited, on a crop camera is a plus. Bottom line is that I'd have to > sell a bunch of stuff (that I'd rather keep) to be able to afford a FA > 31 Limited right now and I'm very happy with my bang-for-the-buck with > the Sigma EX (which was the first *new* lens that I've ever purchased. > It would be fun to see someone do a head-to-head comparison. Drive on out to California sometime and we can go head to head with the two. When I got the FA31, I was debating between it and the sigma 30/1.4. For a lot of the photography I do, the extra 2/3 stop of the 1.4 would come in very handy. I've got a love/hate relationship with my Sigma 20/1.8, which is well documented in this august forum. When it is the right lens, it works brilliantly, unfortunately, just as often, it fails brilliantly as well. If I had a K-01with focus peaking and no mirror change shutter lag, it might actually be a pretty good lens for what I bought it for, i.e. low light indoors photography. -- Larry Colen l...@red4est.com sent from i4est -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List PDML@pdml.net http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net to UNSUBSCRIBE from the PDML, please visit the link directly above and follow the directions.
