Sony Lounge Thread MKIII (All Sony cameras welcome)

mystik610 wrote in post #19227668
Bigma

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUW​4Vh DSC00347 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

GM

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUW​4YZ DSC00340 by Carlo Alcala, on Flickr

Nothing to complain about here. I can say that, to my eyes, your subject looks a bit brighter/better with smoother skin tones with the Bigma.

The harsh Sony 35mm 1.8 G bokeh immediately made me cringe, but the 35GM renders nice and smooth like it should.

The difference between the 35GM and 35i are so negligible that it makes me tempted to ask: “you sure you used two different lenses?”

My rainy day repair project: a de-centered electric MC Flektogon 2.4/35mm Carl Zeiss Jena DDR lens.

It's amazing what one can do with YouTube repair videos and a "What the heck, I can't make it any worse" attitude.

Photo from Timphoto's gallery.
Image hosted by forum (1099911)

For those interested in RE photography, I just created this new tutorial. I thought it might help.

A couple from my weekend visit to Gatineau Park. Sunset photos remain impossible due to curfew (and could be challenging even without, due to the forest walk in the dark this would mean).

Just to make it worse, I completely forgot to mount the L bracket onto my a7 III, so had to rely on the guardrails for support for long exposures.

Image hosted by forum (1099939) © Apricane THIS IS A LOW QUALITY PREVIEW. Please log in to see the good quality stuff.

David Arbogast wrote in post #19227681
Nothing to complain about here. I can say that, to my eyes, your subject looks a bit brighter/better with smoother skin tones with the Bigma.

The harsh Sony 35mm 1.8 G bokeh immediately made me cringe, but the 35GM renders nice and smooth like it should.

The difference between the 35GM and 35i are so negligible that it makes me tempted to ask: “you sure you used two different lenses?”

Second time we've seen this. It's because of the contrast of the 35GM. It's not harsh but is on the aggressive side so deeper shadows. But yes you're right the GM has a nice rendering. I do think the Bigma renders a bit better, but it's a lot larger so there's a give and a take.

The harshness of the FE 35 1.8 stands out pretty immediately.

Timphoto wrote in post #19227673
I think I prefer the OOF areas of the Bigma over the GM. My wallet likes the 35i, but want the f/1.4 of the GM.

I'd love to see more comparisons of the GM and 35i on the A7R4 body.

...inquiring minds want to know which lens you plan to keep to use with the A7R4?

I'm probably going to return the GM and go with the two Sigma lenses.

I find that the Bigma renders the best, so it would be my choice for posed portraits and weddings on the a7rIV. 35i is much more compact than the 35GM, so its my go-to for casual shooting on the a7c. I was out with the fam this weekend and brought the GM out...did not enjoy it nearly as much as the 35i.

There's no "best" lens between the 3. Depends on what you prioritize.

Bigma @1.2

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUY​tB9

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUY​tuv

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUY​tyo

35i

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/2kUY​Rnw

Thanks for all the 35mm comparisons Carlo. I'm not surprised by your decision to keep hold of the sigmas, a cracking combo that can do it all. The bigma consistently produces slightly softer backgrounds than the GM in every comparison I've seen. The size wins for me though - I reckon I'll have the GM for a long time!

Monkey moss wrote in post #19228003
Thanks for all the 35mm comparisons Carlo. I'm not surprised by your decision to keep hold of the sigmas, a cracking combo that can do it all. The bigma consistently produces slightly softer backgrounds than the GM in every comparison I've seen. The size wins for me though - I reckon I'll have the GM for a long time!

I'm pretty much done being lens tester unless someone wants to see something specific. 35mm is a key focal length for me so I needed to test this for myself. There is so much hyperbole and ownership bias on forums and reviewers don't really look at things like rendering critically enough. I think outside of side by side tests, for practical real shooting purposes, there isn't a whole lot that really separates the Bigma/GM/35i. What may sway me towards the GM at the last minute is AF performance, but the Bigma AF is good after firmware updates and I have no issues with the 35i AF.

If I didn't already have the Bigma and were starting from scratch with a fast 35 today, I'd probably grab the GM on the basis of size. But since I already own the Bigma, basically the net cost of buying the GM after selling the Bigma is the cost of the 35i. And then lose out a bit on the rendering of the Bigma, and the size of the 35i.

For those of you that use Lightroom, which do you use, Lightroom or Lightroom Classic?

I'm thinking about installing just to use the Negative Lab Pro plugin for converting scanned negatives to positives.

mystik610 wrote in post #19228026
I'm pretty much done being lens tester unless someone wants to see something specific. 35mm is a key focal length for me so I needed to test this for myself. There is so much hyperbole and ownership bias on forums and reviewers don't really look at things like rendering critically enough. I think outside of side by side tests, for practical real shooting purposes, there isn't a whole lot that really separates the Bigma/GM/35i. What may sway me towards the GM at the last minute is AF performance, but the Bigma AF is good after firmware updates and I have no issues with the 35i AF.

If I didn't already have the Bigma and were starting from scratch with a fast 35 today, I'd probably grab the GM on the basis of size. But since I already own the Bigma, basically the net cost of buying the GM after selling the Bigma is the cost of the 35i. And then lose out a bit on the rendering of the Bigma, and the size of the 35i.

I must say, the Sigma 35i is pretty good imo. It's certainly higher up the ladder than the FE35/1.8

navydoc wrote in post #19228037
For those of you that use Lightroom, which do you use, Lightroom or Lightroom Classic?

I'm thinking about installing just to use the Negative Lab Pro plugin for converting scanned negatives to positives.

Lightroom 5.7

Carlo, thank you for the comparisons. I agree with what you're saying about there being no "best" lens. I like the size and cost of the 35i, but I want the flare control and f/1.4 of the GM.

Like you say, it is a question of priorities. The good news is that these days we have many good options when it come to "E" mount lenses.

Just ordered a star tracker......

I've been on the fence about swapping out my wider lenses but I don't think I'd gain much with regard to light gathering when out with the night skies really.

navydoc wrote in post #19228037
For those of you that use Lightroom, which do you use, Lightroom or Lightroom Classic?

I'm thinking about installing just to use the Negative Lab Pro plugin for converting scanned negatives to positives.

Lightroom classic for me