Hi Darren, Unlike some PDMLers, I don't have hate toward Sigma lenses. I haven't had too many, but in my most recent experience, I've used 24/1.8, purchased from a kind fellow PDMLer (who kindly allowed me to testdrive it before making the decision).
I wanted it for being a fast wide-angle lens, and used it for two purposes: 1. some low-light photos of musicians and dancers: e.g. http://42graphy.org/swing/rachel-jan2011/ 2. photographs of my child: a) when I needed a short distance (so that I can be close) and when I didn't want to use the flash (and I imposed a ban on flash photographs in the first month). Since most of the time, I was using it wide open, or maybe closed down just a step (to 2.0), I was not using it at its sharpest. I was satisfied with its performance but not overly impressed. In contrast, in the past month, I used FA-31/1.8 for some low light shooting, and it performs much better when wide open. In particular, the rendering of colors is much more interesting, although not as spectacular as that of the 77/1.8. I think even FA 35/2.0 performs somewhat (probably just slightly) better wide open than Sigma 24/1.8 even at 2.0. I think (and I was warned about it by th previous lens owner) Sigma 24/1.8 performs much better from about f/2.4-2.8. Igor Fri Feb 7 23:25:30 EST 2014 Darren Addy wrote: > Straightening up my workshop this weekend I saw these three boxes > http://www.flickr.com/photos/pixelsmithy/12376451995/ > and was struck by the sudden epiphany that virtually ALL of my > favorite images were produced with one of these three lenses. As a > Pentax DSLR owner I have, admittedly, not owned any of the proverbial > "really good" Pentax AF glass but I am more than pleased with these > three lenses. Only the 28mm f1.8 was purchased new (for $399 from a > retailer selling on eBay). The 10-20mm was found on Craigslist for > $350 and the Bigma was purchased from a PDML-er who was switching to > Nikon & NEX. All 3 are superb performers, IMHO. > > With the proviso that owner satisfaction is better with the 28mm f1.8 > than its wider focal length siblings, I can heartily recommend the > Sigma EX series to my Pentax-shooting brethren. -- 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.
