Official BeyondUnreal Photography Thread

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[GU]elmur_fud

I have balls of Depleted Uranium
Mar 15, 2005
3,148
31
48
45
Waco, Texas
mtbp.deviantart.com
5gaCwAG.jpg
 

Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
39
Long Island, NY
I tested the 35mm 1.4 and I got one that needed some fine tuning. Its super sharp. In fact I have to say that it is the sharpest lens at 1.4 I have ever seen. I would even go so far to say that its sharper at 1.4 than my 50mm is at F4. This lens is really something special.

Damnit. I just bought the 50mm too. Didn't realize they had a 35mm. Maybe I'll throw the 50mm on Ebay and get this. 50mm on an APS-C is kind of tough in tight spaces.
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
The 35mm carries a much larger price than the 50mm. I am constantly amazed by this lens. Even better than the 50mm sigma you can focus on objects even closer. Its very useful but I have found that I tend to prefer other lenses while the wedding action happens. I'm always taking it off my camera when things get fast. If I did landscapes or constantly had subjects that were really close to me in low light I think I would use it more.

Having said that I'm putting mine up for sale for $150 off the retail price. It has a nikon mount. PM me if you are interested.
 

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_Lynx

Strategic Military Services
Staff member
Dec 5, 2003
1,965
8
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Moscow, Russia
beyondunreal.com
[screenshot]https://fbcdn-sphotos-f-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash3/1014999_548052818565270_1767059781_o.jpg[/screenshot]

[screenshot]https://fbcdn-sphotos-c-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1052962_544831615554057_303416891_o.jpg[/screenshot]
 

Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
39
Long Island, NY
Having said that I'm putting mine up for sale for $150 off the retail price. It has a nikon mount. PM me if you are interested.

Would've bought it in a second if it was a canon mount. I went ahead and bought a new one on Amazon. Should be here tomorrow. I figure I can get at least $300 back for the 50mm.
 

Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
39
Long Island, NY
How do you measure the AF accuracy? I printed a test chart, set the camera to f/1.4 on a tripod, set it to spot focus, aimed it at an angle at the paper, and found that each time I pressed the shutter halfway it would make tiny microadjustments. So some shots had front focus, others had back focus, and some were just right.

Also noticed a fingerprint on the distance meter. Does Amazon really sell open box as new? :(

I can't stand buying expensive things any more. There's always something wrong...
 

Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
39
Long Island, NY
Screw it, I'm exchanging it. There is a scratch, what looks like a 1cm long hair, on the inner lens element, as well as some specks, as seen when looking through the rear element with a flashlight.

Maybe I'm being OCD but it's an $800 lens and when it comes to me with fingerprints on it and now these imperfections it makes me furious.

I have such bad luck. Dead pixels on every device I buy with a screen, specks on every lens I buy. I realize that nothing is perfect, but when you spend big bucks, you expect close to it...
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
How do you measure the AF accuracy? I printed a test chart, set the camera to f/1.4 on a tripod, set it to spot focus, aimed it at an angle at the paper, and found that each time I pressed the shutter halfway it would make tiny microadjustments. So some shots had front focus, others had back focus, and some were just right.

Also noticed a fingerprint on the distance meter. Does Amazon really sell open box as new? :(

I can't stand buying expensive things any more. There's always something wrong...

If memory serves me correctly, you have to set your camera AF mode to "one shot" on the canon models when doing this test.

A lot of people have reported AF issues with this lens. Because 1.4 is so shallow perfect focus can be difficult. This being said, it shouldn't be an issue when you're in one shot mode on a tripod.

A focus test is the first thing I do when I get a new lens.


Screw it, I'm exchanging it. There is a scratch, what looks like a 1cm long hair, on the inner lens element, as well as some specks, as seen when looking through the rear element with a flashlight.

Maybe I'm being OCD but it's an $800 lens and when it comes to me with fingerprints on it and now these imperfections it makes me furious.

I have such bad luck. Dead pixels on every device I buy with a screen, specks on every lens I buy. I realize that nothing is perfect, but when you spend big bucks, you expect close to it...

I agree. If its being sold as new it shouldn't be an open box product. If that is the case then it should be priced for less.

Even if you do get it exchanged, consider purchasing the Sigma USB Dock.

This thing is pretty sweet as it allows you to connect it to your Sigma lens and give your lens a firmware update. This is something that you previously had to send in your lens to Sigma to do.

The software that comes with it also allows you to make manual AF adjustments that affect your focus at different distances. This is way more in depth than the simple AF focus adjuster built into most new digital cameras. I think it is sigmas way of making up for crappy quality control. But then again, anything that gives the user more control is just awesome. Totally worth my $60.


Don't worry about dead pixels on digital camera sensors. Most editing software out there will remap the pixels automatically and so you will never see the dead pixels outside of your camera's preview. All my cameras have dead pixels but I never see them when editing in Adobe Camera Raw.
 
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Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
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Long Island, NY
Sigghhh, the replacement lens has more specks on the *inside* of the rear element. One of them that catches the light and looks like a piece of glitter. Front element looks great though. I can never win. =/
 

BillyBadAss

Strong Cock of The North
May 25, 1999
8,879
60
48
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Tokyo, JP
flickr.com
Sigghhh, the replacement lens has more specks on the *inside* of the rear element. One of them that catches the light and looks like a piece of glitter. Front element looks great though. I can never win. =/

What kind of light are you looking for this in? The tell tale test will be to shoot into varying light condition and see if it shows up.
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
Hey folks!
I'm redoing my website right now. I need some help narrowing down my best work. I want to keep this new website simple and without tons of photos.

I have narrowed down all of my best work but there is still too many photos in each category. I'm very good at narrowing things down to a certain point, after that I feel that I'm too close to my own work to feel the emotional impact that one feels when you see a photo for the first time.

PM me if you would like to take a look. I would love to have your help :)
 

Twisted Metal

Anfractuous Aluminum
Jul 28, 2001
7,122
3
38
39
Long Island, NY
What kind of light are you looking for this in? The tell tale test will be to shoot into varying light condition and see if it shows up.

Honestly it probably won't affect image quality at all but there are people who are like "defects on the rear element are much worse than the front" so that makes me paranoid.

Amazon sent me an email refusing to send me a replacement after I returned the second one, so I'll have to look elsewhere. I'll probably end up keeping the third and just deal with the fact that no lens is perfect.

What bothers me is that my cheap Canon 18-135mm that came with the camera has no such "glitter" on the lens, so why should a $900 lens??
 

OO7MIKE

Mr. Sexy
May 2, 2000
5,022
107
63
Nalicity, NC
I think you were sold a lens that was returned by someone else. Specs on the rear element are not good but unless they are large specs they wont affect the image quality too much. A good way to check is to point your camera at the sky (no clouds) and shoot a few correctly exposed shots at F11 - f22. This will reveal sensor dust as well as specs on a lens.

I remember doing a wedding where a bubble had landed on my lens. I didn't know until after I had shot the bride and groom leaving the location that a large spec of soap was on my front element. The photos are perfectly usable and wonderful, however you can see a slight transparent white spot over and around the bride. It sucks, but it doesn't kill the photo for me. Keep in mind this was a huge blob of soap.

image.php


Post some photos of the dust specs. I'd like to see how bad it is.

I think you have 3 options:

Send it in to KEH to have it cleaned.
Send it into sigma to have it cleaned
Live with it.
 
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