This is driving me nuts. I took some pics of my 1917 Harley Diecast for my ebay auctions with a FP-1 and it's 40mm pancake lens. Very sharp, color was great. This lens lived up to all I had heard about it. The other day, I took more pictures for a customer who wanted shots from a different angle. I used the same camera but with a sigma 35-70 macro zoom. It gave the same results. I can't tell the difference, neither can my camera repair guy. Are sigmas this good? I'd be glad to post the photos somewhere for you to judge.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2000

Answers

Sigma lenses

I currently have two Sigma lenses I use on my Konicas: a 16mm semi-fisheye and a 200mm macro. Both are great lenses. Sharp, excellent coatings, nice operation.

The 16 has a neat effect, not the usual round fisheye look, but a full frame. Still it has the typical bend type distortion, which is neat in some pictures, but also limit when & where I use it. Very much a specialty lens.

The 200/3.5 is great, too. It focuses from infinity to about 3 feet in one quarter turn of the focusing ring! This is also internal focusing (IF), so the aperture stays constant. Then it has a separate "fine focusing" ring on the front that can be used to get well into macro range (I haven't figured out the actual magnification, but it focuses within about 12 inches of the subject matter). I've only seen one other lens like this, in Nikon mount. As you might imagine, tele-macro sees a lot more use than the 16mm.

Both lenses are nicely made. But, as compared to Hexanons, I'd say they don't look as durable. Only time will tell.

Sigma had some problems years ago, with build quality and such. They have since spent a long time & a lot of effort trying to rebuild their reputation.

I personally think their strengths are in wide angle lenses. I haven't tried one of their short zooms, but I'd like to. I'm watching for a good deal on their 18mm in K/AR mount! I've used one of their 28mm lenses in the past and it was quite good. Also, I've heard from other folks who really like their 500 or 600 (I forget which)f/8 mirror lens.

Happy holidays!

Alan Myers San Jose, Calif.

-- Anonymous, December 21, 2000

Sigmas in Use

Alan,

I have a pair of Sigmas, 28/2.8 "mini-wide" and 135/3.5 "mini-tele" that I picked up new for next to nothing. I keep them in my "run" bag with my TC-X, and both have given excellent results. The diaphragm operation is not as "silky" as the best Hexanons, however. That said, I still believe the 135/3.2 Hexanon is the best 135 ever.

-jwk-

-- Anonymous, December 22, 2000