p.37 #1 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
wind30 wrote:
After using this lens for a short vacation, I kind of regret selling my sony 12-24mm for this lens.
It is heavier and harder to shoot with.
The f2.8 isn't really useful for my kind of shooting and I misses the 12mm more.
For my usage, the additional corner sharpness at wide aperture is just useless as I am usually limited by DOF...
The AF feels less reliable, I don't remember so many OOF pics with the sony 12-24mm...
Can you tell me more about the AF reliability of this lens ? I pulled the trigger on a 14-24 but the package was so damaged at the arrival that I even refused to check for the lens and sent it back immediately. I'm waiting for the refund to buy another one. But reliability is important for me. Can you tell me more about that ?
p.37 #2 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
I have been very satisfied with my copy of this lens. I have not experienced any AF issues and I have taken over 1,000 images with the lens since I received it as a pre-order. I have used it very successfully in both daylight and at night and have no complaints. This is am outstanding lens and sharp across the frame. I've pre ordered the new Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 DG DN Art lens and hope it is equally as good as this lens.
p.37 #3 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Ayoul wrote:
Can you tell me more about the AF reliability of this lens ? I pulled the trigger on a 14-24 but the package was so damaged at the arrival that I even refused to check for the lens and sent it back immediately. I'm waiting for the refund to buy another one. But reliability is important for me. Can you tell me more about that ?
p.37 #4 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Ayoul wrote:
Can you tell me more about the AF reliability of this lens ? I pulled the trigger on a 14-24 but the package was so damaged at the arrival that I even refused to check for the lens and sent it back immediately. I'm waiting for the refund to buy another one. But reliability is important for me. Can you tell me more about that ?
ok with regards to my AF comment, I came from sony 12-24mm. My use case is I would point the lens at somewhere mid point where I think it would maximise DOF and pre focus and shoot off a bunch of shots. I usually end up with very useable shots, ie the background is sharp with foreground sharp too.
The 14-24mm seems to behave differently. Maybe it is the 14m vs 12mm difference but the DOF of the 14-24mm seems to be smaller and I have a much harder time maximizing the DOF.
Maybe the sony is clever and would stop the focusing point at the right point depending on aperture to maximise DOF. I don't know..
I am thinking of switching to manual focus and prefocus using the distance scale. I never had to resort to this with the sony 12-24mm.
Also some of my night shots were badly misfocused but could be user error. I did not really do a test. It is more of like impression after using it for a short 3 day vacation.
I also saw some monster flares in those three days which I never saw in my 1 year plus with the 12-24mm. I hope those flare does not occur often because they are deal breakers to me. I never seen those flares when I did my test shots. Maybe the lens were dirty..
p.37 #6 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
http://www.keehian.com/images/sigma01.jpg
http://www.keehian.com/images/sigma02.jpg
http://www.keehian.com/images/sigma03.jpg
http://www.keehian.com/images/sigma04.jpg
A bit of experiment I did today. 14mm f6.3. I focus on the rubbish bin close in front four times each time i refocus in infinity. As you can see, the focusing point is quite different each time although the bin is sharp in all four.... One of the pic has the background badly OOF, one is a bit soft in background
I am not sure if this is normal but I never had an issue with the sony 12-24mm. When I set the 12-24mm and focus on something mid range, I get pretty consistent results I feel, at least not bad enough in my 1+ year of use that forces me to look for alternative
p.37 #7 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
This to me might be a deal breaker... if I stop down to f6.3 for dof I would expect the lens to have dof in front and behind for most shots and not focus on the edge of the dof...
p.37 #8 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
When both lens are set at same focal length and aperture, depth of field should not change. You may be referring to different field curvature strength or shape, not sure.
p.37 #9 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Fred Miranda wrote:
When both lens are set at same focal length and aperture, depth of field should not change. You may be referring to different field curvature strength or shape, not sure.
I am not saying the dof changes but where the lens focus on every time is different because the dof is big, the lens could choose quite a wide range and still get the subject in focus.
But ideally, I would want the background and subject both in focus so if the lens chooses the a much closer focus point sometimes, the background will be oof as seen in one of the shots. The subject is still in focus though.
Not sure if other lens behave this way as I never had to test them like this ... ie did not have a problem.
I am thinking the Sony focusing point is more consistent than the sigma , ie it chooses a specific focus point in the MIDDLE of the dof repeatedly.
p.37 #10 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
wind30 wrote:
I am not saying the dof changes but where the lens focus on every time is different because the dof is big, the lens could choose quite a wide range and still get the subject in focus.
But ideally, I would want the background and subject both in focus so if the lens chooses the a much closer focus point sometimes, the background will be oof as seen in one of the shots. The subject is still in focus though.
Not sure if other lens behave this way as I never had to test them like this ... ie did not have a problem.
I would focus at f/2.8 and change the aperture to whatever the scene needs in terms of depth of field since this lens has practically no focus shift.
Also, try using AF-S in magnification mode to really nail the focus area you want. (That goes for all lenses)
p.37 #11 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Fred Miranda wrote:
I would focus at f/2.8 and change the aperture to whatever the scene needs in terms of depth of field since this lens has practically no focus shift.
Also, try using AF-S in magnification mode to really nail the focus area you want. (That goes for all lenses)
Pretty much exactly how i do it, AF-S, focus magnify then click
p.37 #12 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Fred Miranda wrote:
I would focus at f/2.8 and change the aperture to whatever the scene needs in terms of depth of field since this lens has practically no focus shift.
Also, try using AF-S in magnification mode to really nail the focus area you want. (That goes for all lenses)
For my kind of shooting I don’t have time to fiddle with the settings like this. Only way out is to prefocus using distance scale. I wonder if other lens behave better. I did not do a comparison testing when I had my 12-24mm
I found for f6.3, setting the af at the 3m to 4m transition point gives me the widest dof.
p.37 #15 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Inconstant on the same lenses or any lens. I used a tape measure both of my Sony bodies and rarely got the same results. Even the error rate was different. That was on my A7riiis. I now have a A7riv and A9. I have not measured with them since I do not rely on the scale.
p.37 #16 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
The distance info that is displayed in Sony cameras has less resolution than what lenses actually send to the camera, so multiple lens settings can show the same distance value in camera, which can give the impression of "inconsistency". It's particularly troublesome at displayed distances of "1m" and "2m". You can check this using exif data.
But if you use transitions between displayed distances, I found they are very consistent for any particular lens, including my Sigma 14-24 (E.g. the transition between displayed values of 1m and 2m is always very close to 1.4 according to the exif). I posted a note to this effect here.
How well the exif value agrees with actual focus distance is a separate question that will depend on lens calibration (and field curvature), but it should be consistent. It might actually be better than average with the Sigma because quality control for the art lenses is very good according to Roger at lens rentals, and the lens has very little field curvature.
Note also that this lens has a speed dependent focus step size. Use slow rotations for better "consistency".
p.s. with regard to flare, the Sigma is imo actually very impressive for an ultrawide zoom, and MUCH better than the Sony 12-24 (as shown in multiple posts on this forum). You can make any lens flare badly if you try hard enough, even Loxias.
p.37 #17 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
After testing, I am going to focus at 3-4m transition at f6.3 and 9m at f2.8. Both settings to get background sharp and as much foreground DOF as possible.
p.37 #18 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
I will receive the new Aurora rear filter prototype this week. This ND glass will only have 0.2mm thickness and it’s likely to perform very well compared to the other alternatives. Initially, I tested a 0.5mm version and induced field curvature was very noticeable at the wide range. Not sure about the glass thickness for the Haida, but from the pictures, it looks a bit too thick.
p.37 #19 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
Fred Miranda wrote:
I will receive the new Aurora rear filter prototype this week. This ND glass will only have 0.2mm thickness and it’s likely to perform very well compared to the other alternatives. Initially, I tested a 0.5mm version and induced field curvature was very noticeable at the wide range. Not sure about the glass thickness for the Haida, but from the pictures, it looks a bit too thick.
Thanks for the update Fred and very interested in your test results.
p.37 #20 · Sigma 14-24mm f/2.8 DG DN first impressions
I just found this Haida filter in Photofair tradeshow in thailand. The filter is very thin but great build quality. It has multicoated. So It's easy to clean. It's just a demo, not on sale yet.
