How long is the focus throw on the new Sigma 35/2 Contemprary?
Thanks!
The focus throw of Sigma 35/2 Contemporary (E-mount) is about 270 degrees based on my quick test when I turn the focus ring at a fast speed. However, if I deliberately turn the ring very slowly, focus throw becomes 720 degrees or even a bit more.
I get similar result with my 45/2.8 Contemporary E-mount version on my A7C, e.g. 270 degrees when turning the ring fast and about 720 degrees when turning it very slowly.
I also tried the 45/2.8 L-mount version on my Sigma fp and it seems to have generally similar behavior with focus throw being dependent on speed of turning the ring, but seems a bit different from the focus throw of E-mount version (or there might be more variation depending on speed of turning the ring). Hard to measure exactly as I can't turn the ring at a very consistent speed in continuous movement all the way.
Chaliel wrote:
Which means the focus by wire is not lineair...
That's what I do not like of lenses like the FE55mm f1.8
Yes it's focus by wire, not mechanically coupled, but the manual focusing behavior on these Sigma I-series lenses is much better than on FE 55/1.8 which I also used to own. I also think it's not exactly linear when the focus throw is dependent on speed of turning the ring somehow. There can be different degrees to how the speed of turning the ring affects the focus throw and some of the old Sony E-mount lenses like FE 55/1.8 were really annoying to use with manual focus.
I do think that mechanically coupled manual focusing is still the best and most pleasant MF experience, e.g. with the native Voigtländer E-mount lenses, but these Sigma lenses are also quite pleasant to use in MF mode in my experience and among the best when it comes to focus by wire lenses.
With these Sigma 35/2 and 45/2.8 lenses on my Sony cameras I sometimes use MF when focusing on close-up targets, but for infinity and long distance shots I mostly use AF. Then the MF range that gets used is for very limited focusing distance range and having a lot of precision works out well.
Chaliel wrote:
Which means the focus by wire is not lineair...
That's what I do not like of lenses like the FE55mm f1.8
Although the 45/2.8's throw changes when rotating the ring very slowly or very fast, it still "feels" linear when manual focusing a subject. It looks like Sigma found a great balance.
IMO, The FE 55/1.8 and 35/2.8 ZA lenses have the worse FBW implementation. It's a shame Sony could not (or did not want to) tweak their focus behavior via firmware. The Batis line is not that different either but many shooters like the way it works. It just feels unnatural for those used to a mechanical helicoid.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
The focus throw of Sigma 35/2 Contemporary (E-mount) is about 270 degrees based on my quick test when I turn the focus ring at a fast speed. However, if I deliberately turn the ring very slowly, focus throw becomes 720 degrees or even a bit more.
I get similar result with my 45/2.8 Contemporary E-mount version on my A7C, e.g. 270 degrees when turning the ring fast and about 720 degrees when turning it very slowly.
I also tried the 45/2.8 L-mount version on my Sigma fp and it seems to have generally similar behavior with focus throw being dependent on speed of turning the ring, but seems a bit different from the focus throw of E-mount version (or there might be more variation depending on speed of turning the ring). Hard to measure exactly as I can't turn the ring at a very consistent speed in continuous movement all the way....Show more →
That’s great, Juha. Basically two linear modes, and a sharp difference based on speed, rather than a constantly variable throw. Perhaps the best of both worlds.
Dec 23, 2020 at 02:09 PM
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Agreed. I'm a manual focus snob and I have no problem using the 45C as a manual focus lens. It's faster and more reliable for me than AF in many situations (dim light and moving subjects primarily.) Fred Miranda wrote:
Although the 45/2.8's rotation throw changes when rotating the ring very slowly or very fast, it still "feels" linear when manual focusing a subject. It looks like Sigma found a great balance.
IMO, The FE 55/1.8 and 35/2.8 ZA lenses have the worse FBW implementation. It's a shame Sony could not (or did not want to) tweak their focus behavior via firmware. The Batis line is not that different either but many shooters like the way it works. It just feels unnatural for those used to a mechanical helicoid.
Juha Kannisto wrote:
The focus throw of Sigma 35/2 Contemporary (E-mount) is about 270 degrees based on my quick test when I turn the focus ring at a fast speed. However, if I deliberately turn the ring very slowly, focus throw becomes 720 degrees or even a bit more.
I get similar result with my 45/2.8 Contemporary E-mount version on my A7C, e.g. 270 degrees when turning the ring fast and about 720 degrees when turning it very slowly.
I also tried the 45/2.8 L-mount version on my Sigma fp and it seems to have generally similar behavior with focus throw being dependent on speed of turning the ring, but seems a bit different from the focus throw of E-mount version (or there might be more variation depending on speed of turning the ring). Hard to measure exactly as I can't turn the ring at a very consistent speed in continuous movement all the way....Show more →
Have you used the Sigma Dock to adjust the behavior to your preferences?
AF manual focus: no distance or DOF scales, no optimised rotation for focal distance and lens primary use, no tactile fine actuation, no ideal distance setting without eye level use - MF in AF lenses feels like an afterthought once you are accustomed to the better MF lenses.
Modern Zeiss lenses appear to be designed for tripod/video/studio use, as these are slow and deliberate use lenses: 'ZEISS Milvus Lenses feature a large rotation angle which enables pinpoint focusing.'
The 50/1.4 is 225 degrees, the 85/1.4 is 270 degrees, the 35/1.4 is 227 degrees. For Sony, the Loxia 85mm is 220 degrees, the 50/2 Loxia is 180 degrees rotation.
By contrast, the 'street focal length' Voigtlander lenses are made for seriously rapid focusing: the 75/1.5 is just 100 degrees, the 50/2 APO is about 135 degrees, the 40/1.2 is around 130 degrees.
That's the Leica M heritage showing up in their very different philosophy. You can tune the well-damped fast rings for accurate focus after quickly arriving in the ballpark focus zone, but the long throw lenses often need two grabs, and are simply too leisurely and 'spread out' for fast focus needs. With them, it's best to set the focus zone needed before raising the camera to eye level, to help out a little.
RustyBug wrote:
Have you used the Sigma Dock to adjust the behavior to your preferences?
No, I haven't bought any Sigma dock. Lens firmware can be updated on camera with Sony E-mount Sigma lenses as well as on Sigma fp with L-mount lenses and I haven't felt any need to buy the dock for L-mount. No dock is available for E-mount.
Fred Miranda wrote:
Although the 45/2.8's throw changes when rotating the ring very slowly or very fast, it still "feels" linear when manual focusing a subject. It looks like Sigma found a great balance.
IMO, The FE 55/1.8 and 35/2.8 ZA lenses have the worse FBW implementation. It's a shame Sony could not (or did not want to) tweak their focus behavior via firmware. The Batis line is not that different either but many shooters like the way it works. It just feels unnatural for those used to a mechanical helicoid.
Weirdly enough, the FBW is somewhat camera dependent. I’ve used both lenses on the original Nex 5, and they don’t have the acceleration feature on that body. No matter how fast or slow you turn the lens, only the degrees of turn matter not the speed. So it’s very weird Sony doesn’t leave this up to the user to select in camera
Fred Miranda wrote:
MF feels linear...I'd say perfect.
Based on this ^ ... I decided to give the Sigma 30/1.4 a go. Out of the box ... MF is spot on for me.
Works well with the CL. As soon as I touch the focus ring, it pulls up the magnified view. Roll the focus ring, click. Very well implemented. I couldn't even tell it was FBW, just the usual soft stop, for AF lens. Well damped (but, not heavy), yet silky, fingertip control.
Implementation with shutter half-press for MF override works just fine, too.
A bit OT, since it is an older DC Contemporary, but just another data point for folks wondering about MF in the Contemporary lineup (in general).
I visited Map Camera today and picked up the 65/2 DG DN for Sony E-mount. Afterwards I walked around in Shinjuku and Nakano and took a lot of shots to try it out. First impressions are very positive. It's very sharp corner-to-corner at infinity from wide open and I like the close-up rendering as well. Just missing the 24/3.5 from a complete set of 4 now
