Sigma 'Fast Prime' Fan Club

[Gdad]

All taken with a D40. I can't wait until we go back and I have the better high ISO capability of the D90!

Very nice- I love the colors.

 

[Todd_H]

All taken with a D40. I can't wait until we go back and I have the better high ISO capability of the D90!

Great work but an especially nice job on this shot. It's already hard enough to get decent exposures in the HM, but this shot is particularly difficult because the bride is so brightly lit compared to the surrounding scenery. It hard to get any detail at all in the surroundings without blowing out the bride. Nice job

 

[WDWFigment]

WDWFigment, I love these photos! But I *really* love your Partners & Icicle Castle Dream Light Bokeh! What lens did you use on that shot? It was at 200mm.

I used the 18-200mm VR for that. I actually went back and reprocessed that image so the background wasn't so blown out and got a lot better of a result.

 

[Hoan & Poopie]

WDWFigment - In the spaceship earth shot the shutter speed shows 1/25. Was your ride vehicle temporarily stopped? I couldn't get a good shot with that low a shutter speed in a moving vehicle back in Feb when I tried with that same lens.

 

[handicap18]

Used this lens in the back yard with the kids yesterday:

 

[zackiedawg]

Well after testing the new lens with wide open performance in low light, low light focus, depth of field, etc. since I got the lens Wednesday, I did something I almost NEVER do yesterday - I stuck the 30mm on the camera, left all the other lenses behind, and went out for some shooting. I was forced to just using the prime, which I'm not used to. Unfortunately it was very hot, threatening to rain, and humid as all get out...I decided to go walk through the cypress and mangrove forest along the coast at my hometown's Gumbo Limbo park and research center.

I tried to shoot some variety, for lens performance in good light, closeups, landscape, small aperture and large, etc. All of the following are with my A300. Here we go!

Some flowers - no closeup or any other filters, at F2.2, 1/2000, ISO100:

Leaf closeup - F3.2, 1/1000, ISO100:

Tree standing on tippy toes (roots):

This is the boardwalk trail that takes you through the mangrove sections - those reddish-barked trees hanging over the boardwalk are the gumbo limbo trees that the park is named after:

Here's a view from the 4-story observation tower poking out of the tree canopy - with the intercoastal waterway and the city of Boca Raton spread out on the horizon:

This is the common Southeastern 5-lined Skink, that let me get right up close to him (something I usually let the zoom do for me so I don't spook the fauna!):

Here's an odd scene - a tree limb that punched through a dead palm tree trunk. This could have been a random incident, old hurricane damage from 2005, or some human intervention:

The park sits along the intercoastal waterway:

An interesting vine-wrapped tree:

I'm quite pleased with the sharpness and detail in the lens, pretty much anywhere from F2.2 to 13 or so. F1.4-2 is solid too, though I would tend to use it when I needed it for lower light - not much need for it in good light, as DOF is still shallow enough at F2.2-4. Above F13, you might start to see some minor detail loss from diffraction as with most lenses. Considering the performance in low light, especially from F1.7 to F2...and how well the lens responds in normal shooting conditions in good light, I'm quite pleased with the purchase.

 

[Gdad]

Used this lens in the back yard with the kids yesterday:

Very nice Kyle- Thanks for sharing those.

I did something I almost NEVER do yesterday - I stuck the 30mm on the camera, left all the other lenses behind, and went out for some shooting. I was forced to just using the prime, which I'm not used to.

Excellent Justin- That is how I pretty much shoot all the time. I take just one lens- and usually a prime- for me it makes me think more about composition and I look for shots that I may not see otherwise.

 

[handicap18]

Excellent shots Justin. Its nice to go out with just the single prime lens and let your creative skills come out. Well done.

Your right, when focus is on this lens is VERY sharp. I like shooting around f/5.6-10. When I head to Disney next month, I may use this around MK for a while. I was real happy with its performance all day at EPCOT on our last trip after my 18-135mm fell apart.

 

[CharacterFan]

Everyone has great pictures. I want to join the fan club.

I'm so putting this on my list. I've got a birthday coming up and this would be perfect for my next Disney Trip.

 

[scoot241]

New member of the fan club. Just got mine yesterday and from the test shots I did, I think this is going to be the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

 

[Code]

My wife was preparing the next 3 feedings for our boys and I thought I'd shoot the bottle lineup.

Buttery smooth bokeh @ f/1.4

 

[annnewjerz]

My wife was preparing the next 3 feedings for our boys and I thought I'd shoot the bottle lineup.

Buttery smooth bokeh @ f/1.4

Very nice---hope you and DW are enjoying parenthood and can't wait to see some updated pics of the boys!

 

[annnewjerz]

Already posted these on a variety of other threads---but I loooove my 30.

This one I was actually amazed by. I can never get self-portraits using my D90--it's just too big! Today, I managed to get one using my 30 at 1.4 and it even seems like the focus point is where it should be!

 

[zackiedawg]

Aah...how nice to sit in a dark shadow in a dim room, crank up to ISO1600, open up a nice lens like the 30mm F1.4, and rattle off nice, bright, clean photos!

Some shots of my cat Mickey yesterday. I liked using the contrast of bright window light in the background blur, while exposing for the cat:

One of many stupid, uncomfortable-looking positions she likes to get in:

 

[scoot241]

A couple of good ones with the 30mm

 

[zackiedawg]

Wow...lots of fun with the Sigma 30 on its first Disney trip! Great lens, and really opens up lots of possibilities...not to mention expanding on what I could do with the 50mm F1.7, as it is not only wider but also a bit more sensitive. And the Sigma really delivers great bokeh and color. Here's a sampling of some of the various ranges of photos I took with the Sigma last week (All shots below taken in jpg fine, not raw. Minimal to no processing, all with Sony A300 DSLR):

First, it took lovely long exposure shots - in this case, no tripod, but steadied on a rail:

This one was 2 seconds, more open F4.0 aperture:

This, a much longer 30 seconds at F9:

Here, I got to enjoy using ISO800 and F2.0 to handhold a 1/6 shutter of some kids playing in the water jets (the added advantage of sensor-based stabilization that I was able to use with a prime!):

Or at Epcot, using ISO800 and F1.7 for a decent 1/100 shutter to handhold the singers at the American Adventure with no flash:

Inside the show, ISO1600 and F1.7 let me shoot the scenes at 1/60 to 1/80:

With the 50mm on Pirates, I can only ever get the redhead and wenches to the side...with the 30mm, I can fit basically the whole auction scene in at F1.4:

And for the first time, shooting the other side of the auction scene finally came out at F1.4..it isn't great, as it was a last minute decision to swing the camera over there for a shot, and I was only at ISO1600 instead of 3200 which might have gotten a little better exposure...but still, I've never been able to get anything there at all:

And I've never managed these guys at ISO1600 before...plus the 50mm cuts off the singing donkey and dog:

And finally, it's easier to get these guys AND the dog in the same frame:

Back at Boardwalk, I took a night walk around with the 30mm to get some handheld low light shots of the boardwalk lights. Here's F1.7 at ISO100 and 1/5 second, handheld:

ISO800, F1.7 handheld at 1/20, playing with the shallow DOF:

And another ISO800 F1.7, this at 1/6 second:

This I could manage at ISO400 and F1.7, for a 1/30 shutter:

The lobby, at ISO400, F3.2, and 1/25 handheld:

Closeup of the elephant at ISO400, F3.2, 1/60:

I'm really going to enjoy this lens on future Disney trips!!

 

[Dcanoli]

Wow, Justin! Those pictures are really great w/the new lens...

I guess that's why I have it on my "wish list!" Thanks for sharing!

 

[Gdad]

Nice series Justin- I like the second shot a lot (f9). That lens makes very nice flares around the highlights when stopped down a bit- kind of like a natural star filter.

 

[annnewjerz]

Nice Justin! The pictures of the Boardwalk get me all excited for our (me and the Sigma 30) upcoming stay at the BWV in December. Glad to see you enjoyed this lens as much as Disney as you did at home.

 

[Quicklabs]

Nice work there, Justin. You've got some steady hands there. The more I use my 30, the more I like it.