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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Anyone try the Sigma 20mm f1.8?

Stephen Pruitt

Stephen Pruitt

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I'm curious if we have focus control with the Birger. I've seen so many contradictory things about this lens, it really intrigues me.

Anyone try this $500 lens yet?

Thanks.

Stephen
 
Hi Stephen

Yes we have one. It is a great and horrible lens all in one. It can deliver real nice and sharp images when used not all the way open. When used all the way open, the characteristics change a bit. It is still fairly sharp, but the place where it focuses changes and is small. So say the middle of the image has a focus distance is of half a meter, then the side focuses who knows where. This gets better when focus is more in the distance, but still... If you plan shooting interiors wide open and they need to be tack sharp edge to edge this is probably not the wisest to go with. There are better but more expensive lenses out there for that. It can give cool results and we use this lens a lot. It affects the bokeh too, which ends up a bit distorted every now and then.

It is a weird lens, but if you learn how and when to use it, it can be very useful. It focuses really close too. Say you want to film someone going mad real close to the face, this is lens is brilliant.
 
Hey there, Henk. . . thanks for the input!

Can you put a screengrab of a typical interior scene shot wide open? That's why I'd want this lens. . . interiors at night. . . wide freaking open. We just crave the speed of that f1.8. At f2.8 we just can't seem to get an exposure we like without using a whole lot of fill/lights.

Does this lens work with the Birger for focus?

Thanks!

Stephen
 
Sigma lenses

Sigma lenses

Are known for inconsistent quality. AFAIK it has to do with their glass supplier. But if you test enough samples you can cherry pick a real gem...
 
I have no knowledge of this lens. I've had precisely one Sigma, and I won't have another one. 'nuff said.
 
I really like the one I have. I use it on my RED MX and on my 5D2 for timelapse. It does get a little weird all the way open. But I have just come to expect that with all still lenses. Still it can produce some really nice images, especially for the price.
 
Oddly enough we shot with this lens this weekend on Project Arbiter.

Jason, DP on the film owns the lens and said similar to Henk and Stephen. Wide open... super soft. I have not looked at the footage yet, so this is coming from his experience. But he knows his kit well.
 
I'm gonna have to check it out. That 20mm space is just pretty intoxicating. I crave the speed, but if it's too soft, it's too soft. I sold my Canon 16-35mm L II because it was so darn slow (f2.8). I can live with the Tokina 11-16mm at f2.8, because it is just such an incredible lens. But I'd love something between my Canon 24mm and the 16mm of the Tokina. If there was a manual focus 20mm Nikon that was really quick, I'd buy that, but. . .

Thanks for the input, guys.

Stephen
 
Stephan,

Have you tried or looked at the companion to the Tokina 11-16 F2.8? They have the 16-28 F2.8 and the 16-50MM F2.8 lenses. I have the 11-16, the 16-50 and have shot extensively with both. Although I have never pixel-peeped the results, I have never had an editor or DP complain about the results in "real-world" shooting.

YMMV :)
 
20mm is a great focal length. Was one of my standard focal lengths I had in my kit for years when I was stills shooting. On full 35mm still frame the 20mm are super wide but not overly distorted.

20mm at f1.8 is even more amazing. Though I would suggest that the Sigma 20mm@f1.8 is more suited to low light scenes. Low light scenes are, more often than not, low contrast and if one designs lenses to perform under those conditions they can produce results that seem a little odd (soft) when shooting in brighter, higher contrast environments. This can have as much to do with how the lens copes with/reproduces contrast as dodgy optics.

And don't forget back focus is critical with wides! (I've seen a lot of DSLR's where the BF is out on the camera giving a false impression on the quality of a lens)

Here is a (very old) thread on Reduser where Andrew Walker posted some stills and tests shots from the Sigma 20mm.

JohnF
 
Stephen Pruitt said:
I'm gonna have to check it out. That 20mm space is just pretty intoxicating. I crave the speed, but if it's too soft, it's too soft. I sold my Canon 16-35mm L II because it was so darn slow (f2.8). I can live with the Tokina 11-16mm at f2.8, because it is just such an incredible lens. But I'd love something between my Canon 24mm and the 16mm of the Tokina. If there was a manual focus 20mm Nikon that was really quick, I'd buy that, but. . .

Thanks for the input, guys.

Stephen
Click to expand...

I have the Tokina 11-16 and the Canon 24mm 1.4 as well. One option I am considering to bridge the gap is the uniQoptics 18mm t1.9 in the Razor 7d series. It is in a Canon mount so it would work with the Birger mount or an Epic with a Canon mount or a 7D but manual focus and iris only. It is at the opposite end of the price spectrum from the Sigma at $4,250. Although I suppose that is cheap compared to a Master Prime.
 
I'm always using it on still. I think a few pale so it's modern lens.
 

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I second what Richard said about the Nikon 24mm F2. Great lens.

Maybe I am lucky and have a good copy, but I have been getting great results with the Sigma 20mm F1.8. It has been remarkably sharp even wide open. The biggest problem is the really short focus throw. Hopefully, that will resolve itself with the Redmote Pro.
 
I have it and love it. I haven't put it on a RED, but I love it on my 5D/7D/T2i. It's an awesome lens for steadicam work on a DSLR, I did a whole day shoot on a 7D on a steadicam sk2 and only used the sigma 20mm F1.8. I shot the whole day wide open and loved the results(as did the band I was shooting for).

Here are a frame grabs from the 7D on the steadicam with the Sigma 20mm F1.8 @ F1.8.

5018551807_3f317df0e8_z.jpg


5019158420_7d2dd7ba17_z.jpg
 
Alright. . . that's it. I'm going to go for it.

I shall report back when it is in my possession.

Thanks, guys.

Stephen
 
One last question before I order: Has anyone used this lens with the Birger mount? Does it, indeed, work with the Birger?

Stephen
 
In one of the other threads I read a tip from someone that back focus is really critical on wide-angle lenses. And so I did a check. With great result.

It turns out it was way off for the use with this lens. I had set it once with the use of different lenses. Not sure actually whether that may have been reset when sending the camera for the audioboard change. Never noticed it. On all the other lenses we have, it was no problem, all good. But for this lens it was way off when used wide open. It took some time but I got it right now and the lens is sharp wide open from edge to edge.

So please forget what I posted earlier on, this is a fantastic lens all the way. Just did some quick tests. It's really nice and I like the bokeh on this one (also when back focus is in funky-mode by the way, makes it all distorted to oval shapes in the corners) And it makes me wonder about reports that talk about good and bad lenses of this particular type..

I do know now, that if I want to have the funky effect again to just undo the backfocus to 'wrong' :)
 
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