Sunday 22 September 2013

Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6

For the price (one of the cheapest in any mount) and features (including a moderately fast maximum aperture of f4 at the widest angle - where you'd most likely use the lens), this is in my opinion the best value wide-angle lens for APS-C sized sensor cameras at the moment.

   The lens is very sharp at the centre (even wide open) and pretty sharp in places but is somewhat blurred frustratingly, in other areas, including the corners. I used the word 'other' because it appears sharp only at seemingly non-logical parts of the frame. This might vary by lens copy however.

   Having said that, when stopped down to between f5.6 and f8, it is noticeably sharper proportionately in all areas. So the sharpness of the lens when stopped down is where this lens shines for me, especially at a price point that makes it very competitive to its rivals.

   Because I shoot with this lens stopped down mostly, I find it works best for landscape work. However, it is possible to get very creative shots in interiors, because of the distortion with close-up objects and simply because of how wide the lens goes. If you do a lot of low-light work, then something with a faster aperture like the Tokina 11-16mm f2.8 would serve you better.

   As the lens is so wide it is a good idea to familiarise yourself with the strengths and weaknesses of such a lens, which include the distortion, which can be a blessing or a sin and the almost necessity to have some sort of foreground interest in the frame.

   This lens is criticised for flare and I agree with that but it is quite alright to change the composition slightly so the Sun is blocked or out of the frame. So for me flare is not too much of an issue, as long as I'm aware of it.

   Build quality is superb, with a very solid feel to the lens and the front of the lens does not rotate or change length when focussing. Also the manual focus and zoom rings are smooth to turn but at the same time resistant enough to avoid slipping. The lens is pretty heavy though.

   I think the range is ideal - it is very wide obviously but the long end of 20mm just overlaps your typical kit zoom so there is no gap in focal lengths.

Wednesday 5 June 2013

Sony a57

To keep it short and sweet - it's a bigger, more refined version of the Sony a55!

   To go into a bit more detail, I will outline the many positives this camera, in my eyes, possesses and then nitpick for a while within this review! However, I do feel this is a rewarding camera to use and is one of the best value cameras available at the moment.
  
   The positives:

   Firstly, and most importantly for me is the image quality. It is excellent for me, striking a good balance between resolution and noise at high ISO. It is very similar to the a55's image quality, however I find the high ISO to be slightly better in jpeg. The RAW files remain quite similar. Talking of RAW files I usually shoot in this format and the amount of shadow detail that can be 'opened up' I find outstanding. Finally, regarding image quality the colours are usually rich, with Auto White Balance doing an accurate job in most light (especially natural light).

   Secondly, for me are the ergonomics. While they are not perfect, after a bit of tinkering with the (few) customisable buttons, they are very intuitive, with good placement of most of the buttons and contoured parts to aid with the already comfortable operation. The exposure compensation button is placed particularly well - considering there isn't a rear control dial - this is the next best thing. I also think the electronic viewfinder that is equipped because of the translucent mirror technology helps a lot in difficult lighting conditions or when in manual mode.

   I find the camera to be very responsive and speedy. Little things like the electronic first cutrain shutter make a big difference and big things like the 12fps maximum shooting mode also make a big difference.

   I appreciate the articulating screen in landscape orientation only - it helps enormously with composition both high and low - but unfortunately isn't so useful in portrait orientation.

   Then there are a few extraneous features thrown in, which I think are genuinely useful and not just 'bells and whistles' like some other features this and other cameras possess. The first of these useful features is focus peaking - available in both the electronic viewfinder and on the LCD screen. This is very useful I think for macro photography/portrait photography where the depth-of-field is usually quite narrow. Another feature that has become prevalent within Sony cameras is 'Sweep Panorama', where in daylight and without many moving objects you can create impressive panoramas quickly.

   One feature, which is not that well documented but which I find invaluable, similar to the a55, is the focus magnifier in manual focus mode. Once you have assigned the focus magnifier to a more accessible button you can zoom in - notably using either the electronic viewfinder or the LCD screen - to aquire precise focus. This can also be used along with focus peaking and the fact both are available within the viewfinder is an advantage in my opinion over 'traditional' DSLRs with an optical viewfinder.

   For people who would use the camera for video, there are a lot of nice attributes, which could make it appealing to videographers. These include autofocus during capture, which is not a feature found implemented well implemented on 'traditional' DSLRs in my opinion. However, the aperture does reamin fixed at f3.5 during these videos shot with autofocus on the a57, which limits its usability somewhat I feel. Having said that, if you are willing to switch to manual focus there is no such limitation and you could use focus peaking to aid your focusing. Also there is the possibility of shooting at different quality levels, notably including the highest setting of 1080p at a couple of different framerates.

   The negatives:
  
   The depth-of-field/shot preview button stands out as the only non-logical placement as an accessible, useful button as well as the disappointing lack of any user memory spaces on the mode dial (although cameras at the a57's price point generally don't).
 
   Although the camera offers a few customisable buttons, a lot of these buttons are too valuable in my opinion to substitute. Also some other buttons which are not customisable, probably should be ie. the ? button.

   Although the electronic viewfinder has its merits, I don't think this version is as good as an optical viewfinder in a few areas. Manual focussing is not quite as easy using the electronic viewfinder but can be aided with the focus magnifier/focus peaking. Also the refresh rate is not as quick as some of the better electronic viewfinders that use different technology (notably some are in other Sony cameras). Obviously the refresh rate is much slower compared to an optical viewfinder because an optical viewfinder is, well, optical! However, the ability to get a good idea of what the exposure will look like before you take the picture offsets this, I feel.

   Comparison with Sony a55:
 
   Well, the most obvious change over the a55 is the size difference. This could be seen as a disadvantage but on the most part I feel it works - the augmentations include a larger handgrip and larger battery (which unsurprisingly holds many more shots), a larger LCD screen and a larger viewfinder. It also incidentally couples well with bigger lenses!

   Then there is the reliabiltiy. The a57 does not tend to (in my experience) overheat, either through making movies or through taking long exposures - like my a55 did.

   Finally, the ability to choose which displays/overlays you cycle through in both the LCD screen and in the electronic viewfinder is a seemingly small but welcome addition.

Wednesday 2 January 2013

Sony 35mm f1.8

This is my favourite lens. There are quite a few shortcomings, which I will go into detail about later on but ultimately it is very sharp and I find the 'standard' focal length to be very useful for a variety of uses.

   The lens auto focuses very snappily and accurately, which could be a product of the lens only turning a small fraction of its rotation between infinity and 3 metres. There is then a large rotation until the lens reaches its minimum focus distance, which is usefully short at 23 centimetres. That is one of the features of this lens that I like most: its versatility. You can use the lens for street photography or semi-macro photography even though the lens can't zoom. Or you can use the lens for 3/4 to head and shoulder portraits or for effective available light photography (if you don't want to use a flash).

   That brings me onto my next point, which is making the most use out of a prime lens. Prime lenses probably still offer the best optical quality over zoom lenses but their more profound advantages are the amount of light they can gather and the manner in which they make you think about how you approach each photograph.

   The amount of light gathered by this lens is crucial for handheld low light or night time photography and the lens backs up the fast aperture (which enables the user faster shutter speeds) well with useable amounts of sharpness and only a little bit of vignetting at f1.8. In my experience by f2.2 there is almost no vignetting and the sharpness is superb, while stopping down further increases the sharpness marginally.

   The narrow depth of field on this lens gives the photographer the ability to isolate their subject well at close to mid-range focal lengths at larger apertures. The lens also encourages the user to 'zoom with their feet' where the framing is performed by the photographer themselves, which potentially encourages more refined compositional skills.

   One of my few major quibbles with the lens is the manual focus ring. I know the idea of the lens is to be very cheaply built but with a low price-tag and excellent optics. However I feel it would have been nice to feature a manual focus ring that has at least some kind of resistance.

   On the other hand the front element doesn't rotate when focusing, which is handy if using a polariser. I find a polariser works well on this lens because of firstly the aforementioned, secondly the 'standard' focal length so there aren't any uneven areas of polarisation in the sky for example and lastly the fact you can use larger apertures if required to counteract the light loss from the polariser.

   It is supplied with a lens hood to prevent flair although I personally prefer to leave it off as I can then easily attach a polariser and also the breadth of the camera and lens is significantly smaller.

   The auto focus noise is quite apparent, which could be detrimental to your style of photography, for example street photography or even for users who shoot a lot of videos.

   Overall this lens is very much worth the relatively (compared to other lenses) small amount of money. This is mainly down to the optical quality and the benefits of having any fast prime lens in your bag. You can use such a lens creatively because of the shallow depth of field at f1.8 and partly because of its small size it is the lens that is 'stuck' to my camera most of the time.