Nice! But tell me; which do you think is sharper:

a) Sigma 150mm macro?

-or-

b) ZD 50mm macro with 1.4TC?

Ciao!

I know he's in love with his 150 so his response should be interesting ...... cheers, Ingrid

Leon Plympton wrote:
> Nice! But tell me; which do you think is sharper:
> a) Sigma 150mm macro?
> -or-
> b) ZD 50mm macro with 1.4TC?
> Ciao!
>
Hi Leon,

There is not much different in sharpness i think .But to find out we need to do a few things....!
I will do a experiment and take two shots from an object with the two lenses.
Be aware that the focal length from the ED50mm with the EC1.4 is less than halve from the Sigma ..
For me the Sigma lens is perfect because you can stay away from the object and not disturb it ..
With the ED50mm you have to move in very close with the change the insect takes of before you have pressed the shutter ...
Will come back at this issue.....


Cheers,

Ingrid Matschke wrote:
> I know he's in love with his 150 so his response should be interesting ...... cheers, Ingrid
>
Thanks Ingrid for the interest also , read the comment I wrote to Leon...

Cheers,

Leon Plympton wrote:
> Nice! But tell me; which do you think is sharper:
> a) Sigma 150mm macro? -or- b) ZD 50mm macro with 1.4TC?
> Ciao!
>
Leon here two shots I made ,It's hard to make a shot from a insect with two different lenses (by the time I change my lenses the bug is traveling to the next plant...
There fore I made two shots of a little rose Due of the differents in focal length I had to enlarge the image from the ED50mm macro a little to get the same size.
I notice a little colour different in both lenses there fore the shot with the ED50mm can look a little sharper because it is lighter .
I shot it in RAW converted to JPG and resized for saving to the web.Nothing els was done...
Let me know what you think....

Ingrid Matschke wrote:
> I know he's in love with his 150 so his response should be interesting ...... cheers, Ingrid
>
There two shot to compare Ingrid look at this and tell me what you think...

Cheers,

Fons van Swaal wrote:
> Ingrid Matschke wrote:
> > I know he's in love with his 150 so his response should be interesting ...... cheers, Ingrid
> >
> There two shot to compare Ingrid look at this and tell me what you think...
>
> Cheers,
>
Hi Fons,
The rose in both shots looks very sharp, I cannot decied which is the sharper.
Since depth of field with the 50mm appears much greater, I guess that you would choose according to how close you can get to the subject.
And I like the fly as well...
Regards - Mike.

Well..... I think the rose on the 150mm shot is definately sharper (based on what I'm seeing on my monitor) but I also think that the 50mm has let in more light as the surrounding flowers are slightly paler. I would also add that I think using the 1.4x converter may have had some impact on the sharpness of the 50mm? Just a guess. The little flower to the right of the rose is also clearer in the 150mm shot. It's a fine line though and both are very good. Hope that helps. Ingrid

Ingrid Matschke wrote:
> Well..... I think the rose on the 150mm shot is definately sharper (based on what I'm seeing
> on my monitor) but I also think that the 50mm has let in more light as the surrounding flowers
> are slightly paler. I would also add that I think using the 1.4x converter may have had some
> impact on the sharpness of the 50mm? Just a guess. The little flower to the right of the
> rose is also clearer in the 150mm shot. It's a fine line though and both are very good.
> Hope that helps. Ingrid
>

You have good eye's Ingrid , for me the the Sigma is also sharper and it produced the real colours were the ED50 made the colours a little lighter, I agree the EC1.4 is a piece of glass in front of the lens that acts as a magnifier and due of this you lose a little sharpness as also 1 stop . Maybe therefore the flash compensates ( TTL ) and gives a higher flash and the image becomes a little lighter, i'm not sure of this I would have to do a test in bright sunlight outside to find that out.
In the mean time I'm very happy with my Sigma as you know already not just because it makes quality images but also the distance between camera and object is way better to shoot small insects without disturbing them...

Thanks for you time and opinion ....;-))

Best regards,

G'Day Ingrid & Fons:

Thanks to both of you for your input. I suspected there would be a clear winner, and there wasn't. That in itself seems newsworthy to me. Everyone knows how sharp the Zuiko 50mm macro is - even with the 1.4 tele-extender. But now it appears the Sigma deserves serious consideration.

Which ever lens is sharper is only barely so. As for the colors, the Sigma seems warmer and darker (dimmer). Picking a winner here is a subjective task - unless you are basing your assessment only upon which of the two most closely recorded the exact same colors that were shot in the first place. The truth be known, however, with digital photography colors can be dialed this way and that way; it's something we all do every time we post process a photo-file.

Since I plan on shooting plenty of insects there's no doubt that the Sigma 150 has earned a place in my gadget bag. That still leaves the 50-200, the tele-extender, and eventually the 7-14mm.

Thanks again!

Ciao!

Fons,

Good shot, the lens is perfoming very well for you.
Nearly missed this posting, Karen spotted it for me!

Kindest Regards: Peter

Thanks it's much appreciated ...
Did a few macro's with the ED50-200mm amazing what this lens is capable of doing also....

Best regards,