Lukacs wrote:
I bought the Air for lightweight set, and when I sell my 35GM, get the 50 1.2GM. That lens is magical.
That's what I did, and in my opinion, the two lenses complement each other really well. No perceptible color variation (at least to my eye), the same sharpness (at least to my eye), and the CA is very well corrected on both (perhaps even better on the Viltrox).
However, my experience has shown that I take the GM with me 95% of the time, while the FE 1.8 and Air 2.0, and even the Nokton 1.2, almost always stay at home these days. But maybe that will change again, who knows.
Here are the comparison images, by the way, from which the bokeh crops in the previous post were taken.
For your enjoyment, I've added the wide open version of the GM, in which, by the way, slight CA can be seen in the chrome.
Jonas B wrote:
I'm not sure about the Sammy 50/1.4 ii. Looking at the Lenstip samples, image 2, make me hesitate. And of course, again bigger and heavier. So no.
The Sigma 50i could have been made a bit lighter. The weight difference may be important (or not).
The Voigtländer 50/2 APO doesn't fit in (for me) as it's a manual focusing lens. I'm looking for two good 50mm lenses; one AF and one MF. The MF will be the CV 50 APO.
Sigma 50mmf2 is a little smoother than samyang 50/1.4 ii when both are at f2 .. I'll do a comparison at some point between the two but in particular focussing on how much f1.4 adds for portraits, main reason I bought it.
Weight wise, it's not a big difference 350g and 420g but the lens diameter is noticeably bigger even if it's not that big - a more intimidating lens, and certainly less nice for walkabouts.
Really, mainly curious about the 24-50 f2.8 at the moment for walkabouts when I don't want to do any switching. Only other zoom I have is the 18-55 variable aperture apsc kit lens from fuji. 16-55 from them is bigger than I want to carry when taking fuji but from what I've seen from samples on this forum, a damn nice lens.
Took a 28mm and 50mm equivalent two camera setup with fuji to the protests yesterday, was so much more convenient, would be nice to have the option for one lens walkabout setup on sony for trips into dusty central london. Had a great time yesterday.
This viltrox is great, not worried about taking it out, great sharpness for punching in to 75mm. If you want to just walkabout with a 50 for example. Brilliant for that I think. But you'd probably have more fun with the CV apo-lanthar but I'm not sure I would punch that one in to aps-c mode.
Sigma 65mm f2 might be interesting to consider for also punching in (shy of 100mm), heard it's their sharpest. Probably would want to pair it with something else though.
Yogifi wrote:
Sigma 50mmf2 is a little smoother than samyang 50/1.4 ii when both are at f2 .. I'll do a comparison at some point between the two but in particular focussing on how much f1.4 adds for portraits, main reason I bought it.
Weight wise, it's not a big difference 350g and 420g but the lens diameter is noticeably bigger even if it's not that big - a more intimidating lens, and certainly less nice for walkabouts.
I wish the Sigma was a tad lighter and a tad smaller. In real life it doesn't matter much though. What that matters is the AF and the image quality. The Sigma has done everything I have asked it to do. The bokeh is reasonably smooth, it doesn't lack anything with regards to resolution/contrast and it has an aperture ring. Here i quickly stopped down to f/9:
Above: Sigma 50i, an image not that demanding and a 24-50mm zoom would surely have worked as well.
Really, mainly curious about the 24-50 f2.8 at the moment for walkabouts when I don't want to do any switching. Only other zoom I have is the 18-55 variable aperture apsc kit lens from fuji. 16-55 from them is bigger than I want to carry when taking fuji but from what I've seen from samples on this forum, a damn nice lens.
Yes, the 24-50/2.8 is interesting. I would like to try it out. It's too expensive though to buy just for the fun of it. I'll go look for more samples from it.
Took a 28mm and 50mm equivalent two camera setup with fuji to the protests yesterday, was so much more convenient, would be nice to have the option for one lens walkabout setup on sony for trips into dusty central london. Had a great time yesterday.
It looks like a great time and no, nobody should have to, or need to, stand up against genocide.
Two cameras... well, surely conveniant sometimes but it is not for me.
This viltrox is great, not worried about taking it out, great sharpness for punching in to 75mm. If you want to just walkabout with a 50 for example. Brilliant for that I think. But you'd probably have more fun with the CV apo-lanthar but I'm not sure I would punch that one in to aps-c mode.
Sigma 65mm f2 might be interesting to consider for also punching in (shy of 100mm), heard it's their sharpest. Probably would want to pair it with something else though.
I have the Sirui 85/1.4 for portraits and similar images. bokeh balls like a 50/0.8 if those had been important... Great lens. The 50/1.2GM is a lens I will never use. I also recently sold my 50/1.4 GM. I can use the Sirui or a 50/2 instead.
You can crop images taken with the CV 50/2 APO (of course). I don't follow you there.
Jonas B wrote:
I wish the Sigma was a tad lighter and a tad smaller. In real life it doesn't matter much though. What that matters is the AF and the image quality. The Sigma has done everything I have asked it to do. The bokeh is reasonably smooth, it doesn't lack anything with regards to resolution/contrast and it has an aperture ring. Here i quickly stopped down to f/9: https://photos.imageevent.com/jonas_b/fotoforum2022andfw/250907_50i-sample_N199.jpg
Above: Sigma 50i, an image not that demanding and a 24-50mm zoom would surely have worked as well.
Yes, the 24-50/2.8 is interesting. I would like to try it out. It's too expensive though to buy just for the fun of it. I'll go look for more samples from it.
It looks like a great time and no, nobody should have to, or need to, stand up against genocide.
Two cameras... well, surely conveniant sometimes but it is not for me.
I have the Sirui 85/1.4 for portraits and similar images. bokeh balls like a 50/0.8 if those had been important... Great lens. The 50/1.2GM is a lens I will never use. I also recently sold my 50/1.4 GM. I can use the Sirui or a 50/2 instead.
You can crop images taken with the CV 50/2 APO (of course). I don't follow you there....Show more →
I remember with my nokton it was sharper than my 50 apo, not across the frame, but centrally sharper (and about the same in the center at infinity) - I could even focus in the viewfinder consistently easier with the nokton. But despite that I really, really (really) like the CV APO 50 images and using it, a nice smoothness to the edges that were still sharp. I don't always need ultra sharpness, and it certainly wasn't lacking, but when cropping in I probably would, especially as I'm using the 33megapixel a7cii ... Could have just been my copy of the CV apo though, which was decentered in the top-left.
It's the same for me with the 24-50 f2.8, a little on the pricier side for something I'm not sure about long-term, even imported prices are high for when I'm not sure. I think I'll try and finally figure out a way to actually rent that one first. Though it is a favourite of a guy I love watching on youtube, Roman Fox.
Cheers for the Sirui 85/1.4 suggestion, I'll keep it in mind. The other one I was considering was the 85mmf1.4 GM (I), but I'll try and find a way to compare the two through samples and comments.
Not super comfortable with the longer focal lengths since most portraits I take are candid/snapshots but did want to try 75 after enjoying 45-50s cropped in (on accident). TTartisan had a sale recently and so I picked up their af 75mmf2 for about £135 which should be on it's way.
It wasn't too bad taking the two bodies becuase they're quite small and fit side by side in my compact carry case for 2-3 smallish lenses. But yeah, extra worry, would prefer not to.
The Sirui:
GMPhotography started a thread about it here:
GMPhotography thread at https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1897586/0?keyword=sirui#16789031
His test ("sharpness" and bokeh) at page 3 and 4, images by cameraman72 and me at page 5. Then we don't have much more about it as people here are very much about expensive OEM lenses.
I had two camera systems for a periods. I found it cumbersome. Now I'm older and don't want to carry too much, I like to travel light and as I believe in "know your gear" I don't want two different cameras in use at the same time. Older and more and more into "Keep it simple". (Haha, I wonder why that is. Maybe not wisdom only.)
Another Sigma 50i image, it's an older image but still on-line so wth (here in the viltrox image thread...)
Jonas B wrote:
The Sirui:
GMPhotography started a thread about it here:
GMPhotography thread at https://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/1897586/0?keyword=sirui#16789031
His test ("sharpness" and bokeh) at page 3 and 4, images by cameraman72 and me at page 5. Then we don't have much more about it as people here are very much about expensive OEM lenses.
I had two camera systems for a periods. I found it cumbersome. Now I'm older and don't want to carry too much, I like to travel light and as I believe in "know your gear" I don't want two different cameras in use at the same time. Older and more and more into "Keep it simple". (Haha, I wonder why that is. Maybe not wisdom only.)
It's definitely a headache, don't blame you for not wanting to do both. One is enough of a headache xD.
Fuji also doesn't recover any highlights whatsoever, but it has a look.
Lovely photo with the sigma and I'm going through that thread now before I forget, thank you.
On topic with the viltrox will try and do that multi lens comparison of just a regular scene at around 8-10m. I suspect it holds up better towards the edges at f2 compared to the 50mmf1.2 nokton, fe 50mmf1.8 and possibly even the sigma 50f2 dg dn but let's see, possibly not a significant difference with the last one. Will have some trees in the background as well, but quite a distance away.
Yogifi wrote:
It's definitely a headache, don't blame you for not wanting to do both. One is enough of a headache xD.
Fuji also doesn't recover any highlights whatsoever, but it has a look.
Lovely photo with the sigma and I'm going through that thread now before I forget, thank you.
On topic with the viltrox will try and do that multi lens comparison of just a regular scene at around 8-10m. I suspect it holds up better towards the edges at f2 compared to the 50mmf1.2 nokton, fe 50mmf1.8 and possibly even the sigma 50f2 dg dn but let's see, possibly not a significant difference with the last one. Will have some trees in the background as well, but quite a distance away....Show more →
Thank you.
I'm looking forward to your comparison. Hopefully the light will work with you!
Nifty Fifty wrote:
To give the Viltrox some fresh air, I took it for a short evening stroll, also to check out the bokeh a bit. All photos at open aperture.
Recently, it's better to click on the Flickr link, as the embedded images seem somewhat blurry.[...]
[images]
I like the first two and yes, they are indeed sharper at flickr than here. I don't know why that is.
Jonas B wrote:
I like the first two and yes, they are indeed sharper at flickr than here. I don't know why that is.
I "think" it has to do with the reformatting to fit the browser window... I'm not sure if done by the forum software or browser in this case, but I notice that sometimes when I share a file at a smaller chosen resolution from Flickr to here, it actually looks sharper than choosing the bigger option from the drop-down list. Maybe because it gets re-sampled twice (Once by Flickr to downsize it to your chosen share resolution and again by the forum software or browser) instead of just coming straight through at 1 to 1? I dunno, I'm not a software display engineer, but I'm guessing it could be something like that.
I used to write a bimonthly column for an international publication and included my photos with the article. The magazine always insisted on high resolution images at a specific size minimum. When I would submit my photos at the size they requested, they would print like highly compressed JPG's, and it would really tick me off. Turned out their publishing software was doing crazy compression to make the pic's fit into the collum. When I insisted on sending what I thought was the proper size image for the column, they printed beautifully. Sure, a larger file might have been better IF the publisher knew how to handle it, but obviously he didn't and let the software just do its thing (horribly).
Sorry, I tend to go off on tangents lately... talk about thread drift, heh.
Erictator wrote:
I "think" it has to do with the reformatting to fit the browser window... I'm not sure if done by the forum software or browser in this case[...]
I hear you.
I posted an (and not a very good one so not important) image in the TTArtisan 40mm f2 thread. It's sharp enough when i look at it in the gallery at my image host. Looking at it here my impression is that it's slightly out of focus everywhere in the image.
There simply happens a lot of things with the images. The last step only, opening in a browser tab, contains an infinit amount of image sizes as the images get resized along with the tab. When people mention they post an 100% crop you have to download the image and open it at 100% size in a proper editor/viewer of your choice.
Jonas B wrote:
I like the first two and yes, they are indeed sharper at flickr than here. I don't know why that is.
I personally like incidental scenes like the third one, and I think the Viltrox is better here than expected. However, the sharpness is somehow too harsh for me, even though I've already reduced it a bit, as is the clarity. I think I'll take some comparison shots with my 50s at this location sometime. That's more meaningful to me than photos like the indoor shots of the chrome-flashing Citroen.
I personally like incidental scenes like the third one, and I think the Viltrox is better here than expected. However, the sharpness is somehow too harsh for me, even though I've already reduced it a bit, as is the clarity. I think I'll take some comparison shots with my 50s at this location sometime. That's more meaningful to me than photos like the indoor shots of the chrome-flashing Citroen.
The first one is incidental enough for me. The second one is documentary. The third one... I would have deleted it. We are different!
I see what you mean about harsh images as I thought about that when looking at the downloaded images. That can be fixed though, don't you think?
Jonas B wrote:
The first one is incidental enough for me. The second one is documentary. The third one... I would have deleted it. We are different!
Well, if we approach it that way, I could write the same thing under at least(!) 95% of the pictures posted in photo forums.
Although I think "I would have deleted it" isn't appropriate and it should more accurately be "I wouldn't have taken it." ;-)
That said, I believe that almost 100% of all amateur photos could be safely deleted without losing anything. The exception is personal memories, especially of family and friends. Seriously. I also realize that I take completely different digital photos than I did analog ones, and that the images essentially mean absolutely nothing to me, whereas I treasure my baryta prints.
But that's a whole other topic, of course, and has absolutely nothing to do with the Viltrox.
Jonas B wrote:
I see what you mean about harsh images as I thought about that when looking at the downloaded images. That can be fixed though, don't you think?
Maybe. But simply reducing sharpness, clarity, and contrast doesn't achieve the desired result, at least for me. That's probably exactly what I mean when I say I can't warm to the Air, no matter how good it is.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
Well, if we approach it that way, I could say the same thing about at least(!) 95% of the pictures posted in photo forums.
Although I think "I would have deleted it" isn't appropriate and it should more accurately be "I wouldn't have taken it." ;-)
As I take a lot of images of all sorts of things remotely interesting I could have taken it. And deleted it. I'm probably a serious case of pixel abuser.
Nifty Fifty wrote:
Maybe. But simply reducing sharpness, clarity, and contrast doesn't achieve the desired result, at least for me. That's probably exactly what I mean when I say I can't warm to the Air, no matter how good it is.
I'll have to look more into the technique for softening images. Thinking about it it may be hard. There is a reason beyond MTF-curves for liking some lenses.
Gerald Brooks wrote:
If the Samyang-ish look is too hard, raise the blacks and shadows, lower the highlights and whites.
Well, it's not that simple with the "look," because it depends on the particular subject constellation, or maybe I'm just imagining it all, I don't know. I mean, just look at the comparison images in post p.7 #1. There's practically no difference in the "look" if you ignore the bokeh. Whatever. There are more important things.
Jonas B wrote:
I'll have to look more into the technique for softening images. Thinking about it it may be hard. There is a reason beyond MTF-curves for liking some lenses.
And I have no desire for such things. Maybe I should just switch to a GFX + 1.7/55 and shoot JPGs with film simulation.
In this thread it seems like all the hard-looking scenes are from dealing with afternoon sunlight, i.e., not an uncommon problem, same issue with the colors. The Viltrox 20 f2.8 is about the same, but, apart from sunstars, it can be encouraged to almost look like a Voigtlander 21 f3.5. Especially with Photomatix Pro set on Creative 3 with the Opacity slider at 95% or so. Takes about 1 minute to export, open the file and do it.
