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Post by aitch on Jun 23, 2023 12:07:10 GMT
Hmmm. I have an old Sigma 60mm in m4/3 fit. Must check if it works with my recent bodies...
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Post by Chester PB on Jun 23, 2023 16:02:49 GMT
When seeking impartial advice, do not only consult somebody who is trying to sell you something. Their advice may be part of your decision making process, but to what degree depends on your relationship with them. This applies to mortgages and pensions just as much as it applies to lenses. I always liked the 'would you buy a used car from this man?' cover of Private Eye many years ago, featuring a minister in the current government. Why are you telling me this? Your 'quite close to' phrase suggested you may also have opinions about the impartiality of some advice, so I was confirming my agreement and giving some examples. It appears I misunderstood you. |
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Post by geoffr on Jun 23, 2023 16:17:38 GMT
I have just looked at the website again, and found that more stuff about buying second hand has been added, including recommendations. This article about buying second hand lenses for DSLRs caught my attention, since I own 3 of the lenses listed (I purchased mine after looking at the very helpful reviews in the Pentax Forum reviews section). amateurphotographer.com/buying-advice/second-hand-lenses-ultimate-buying-guide/These are the ones I own, although my 90 mm is the original 'non Di' model. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Conspicuous by its absence is the old-model Sigma 10-20, which is a decent lens and anybody wanting one to fit a Canon or Nikon APS-C body can now find one in good condition for less than £100 at LCE (the more recent larger and heavier model can be found for £150). I would also have included the Sigma 50 mm F 2.8 Macro, but there are probably fewer of these about. Mine works well with a Nikon slide copier made to use with their 60 mm macro lens, so I only needed a cheap stepping ring to fit it on the Sigma. Has anybody else seen this AP website article and have more possible additions to offer? I really don’t care how good they are optically, I wouldn’t buy a used Sigma F mount lens without knowing its date of manufacture and firmware version. Nikon never licensed the F mount meaning the interface has been reverse engineered. Issues with Sigma lenses on Nikon, and Canon, cameras are well known. Older lenses don’t work properly on newer bodies, been there, done that, got the tee shirt when I bought my first D3. I haven’t bought a third party lens since. |
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Post by JohnY on Jun 24, 2023 19:09:46 GMT
I have a Sigma lens that works perfectly with D200,D300, D500, and Z 8 (on the DTZ ii). It used to work on the the D800 but stopped doing so when I updated to the last D800 FW (which I did to use the latest 70-300 Nikkor).
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Post by Chester PB on Jun 24, 2023 22:03:31 GMT
I have just looked at the website again, and found that more stuff about buying second hand has been added, including recommendations. This article about buying second hand lenses for DSLRs caught my attention, since I own 3 of the lenses listed (I purchased mine after looking at the very helpful reviews in the Pentax Forum reviews section). amateurphotographer.com/buying-advice/second-hand-lenses-ultimate-buying-guide/These are the ones I own, although my 90 mm is the original 'non Di' model. Sigma 30mm f/1.4 EX DC HSM Sigma 17-70mm f/2.8-4.5 DC Macro Tamron SP AF 90mm f/2.8 Di Macro Conspicuous by its absence is the old-model Sigma 10-20, which is a decent lens and anybody wanting one to fit a Canon or Nikon APS-C body can now find one in good condition for less than £100 at LCE (the more recent larger and heavier model can be found for £150). I would also have included the Sigma 50 mm F 2.8 Macro, but there are probably fewer of these about. Mine works well with a Nikon slide copier made to use with their 60 mm macro lens, so I only needed a cheap stepping ring to fit it on the Sigma. Has anybody else seen this AP website article and have more possible additions to offer? I really don’t care how good they are optically, I wouldn’t buy a used Sigma F mount lens without knowing its date of manufacture and firmware version. Nikon never licensed the F mount meaning the interface has been reverse engineered. Issues with Sigma lenses on Nikon, and Canon, cameras are well known. Older lenses don’t work properly on newer bodies, been there, done that, got the tee shirt when I bought my first D3. I haven’t bought a third party lens since. Some years ago, a lady I worked with asked me about buying a second hand old-model Sigma 10-20 like mine, to use on her Nikon DSLR body (probably one of the 10 megapixel models), because the local LCE had one in stock. I suggested she take her camera body to the shop, and it must have worked as expected because she purchased the lens. The shop staff must have been aware of compatibility problems with some camera bodies, because they agreed that it was a good idea to take your camera body to the shop when buying older 'third party' lenses. |
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Post by geoffr on Jun 25, 2023 5:57:01 GMT
I really don’t care how good they are optically, I wouldn’t buy a used Sigma F mount lens without knowing its date of manufacture and firmware version. Nikon never licensed the F mount meaning the interface has been reverse engineered. Issues with Sigma lenses on Nikon, and Canon, cameras are well known. Older lenses don’t work properly on newer bodies, been there, done that, got the tee shirt when I bought my first D3. I haven’t bought a third party lens since. Some years ago, a lady I worked with asked me about buying a second hand old-model Sigma 10-20 like mine, to use on her Nikon DSLR body (probably one of the 10 megapixel models), because the local LCE had one in stock. I suggested she take her camera body to the shop, and it must have worked as expected because she purchased the lens. The shop staff must have been aware of compatibility problems with some camera bodies, because they agreed that it was a good idea to take your camera body to the shop when buying older 'third party' lenses. I wouldn’t say it was a bad idea but with one of the Sigma lenses I tried on the D3 the problem was not immediately apparent. It took a while before I realised something was wrong and returned the lens. That was about ten years ago and lenses have become more complex since then. Unfortunately visiting the local camera store isn’t always practical either, local being a relative term these days. Sigma produces some interesting lenses but as I said, I won’t buy them because, even if I were to find one that worked properly on my current camera, there’s no guarantee that it would do so should I upgrade. Upgrading from the D5 is a very short path so is an unlikely prospect but ten years ago that wasn’t the case. When AP runs a lens test with the latest Sigma products there’s not going to be a problem. When they recommend a used lens they base the recommendation on the earlier lens test. I doubt they take a used lens and try it on the latest body. Yes I am a cynic! My excuse is that I keep things for a long time, except camera bodies. |
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Post by John Farrell on Jul 3, 2023 6:14:06 GMT
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Post by mark101 on Jul 4, 2023 7:38:23 GMT
Read that article and what bemuses me is the massive range of publications currently on sale. Years ago you could walk into a WH Smith (Other shops were available) and know exactly where to find your favourite magazine. The range was limited, but what was there tended to be good quality, well written and interesting. These days they tend to throw the masses of titles anywhere meaning a hunt for your favourites in the shop, which can be quite bland and often contain articles either seen elsewhere, or very close rewrites. A case of more is less if ever I saw one and given the price of some publications I'm very careful over my magazine purchases these days. |
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Post by geoffr on Jul 4, 2023 7:50:42 GMT
Read that article and what bemuses me is the massive range of publications currently on sale. Years ago you could walk into a WH Smith (Other shops were available) and know exactly where to find your favourite magazine. The range was limited, but what was there tended to be good quality, well written and interesting. These days they tend to throw the masses of titles anywhere meaning a hunt for your favourites in the shop, which can be quite bland and often contain articles either seen elsewhere, or very close rewrites. A case of more is less if ever I saw one and given the price of some publications I'm very careful over my magazine purchases these days. Aside from AP on subscription I don’t “buy” magazines but I do receive several as a result and memberships. I don’t visit the high street very often either. |
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Post by JohnY on Jul 6, 2023 20:38:49 GMT
Back to inexpensive, possibly second hand lenses. As expected the Nikon AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm 1:2.8G ED VR did not appear in the AP article. It was a very pricy lens and is very good. MPB have around ten of them @ £229 to £329. Those prices are well within the scope of the article. I reckon those are a bargain to Nikon F and maybe Nikon Z users.
The new Z equivalent lens,according to influencers, is better. On real 3D subjects and displaying at normal sizes I suspect that I wouldn't notice the difference. The new Z very expensive near perfect lens does not accept teleconverters.
The old F lens does accept teleconverters. On the old AP site,many years ago, I published photos of butterflies using a 1.7 converter with my D500. The AF was sluggish but worked.
I have just tested my old lens with 1.7x converter, FTZ (i and ii) and Z 8. It works very well indeed.The AF is fast and accurate.The original FTZ is better for tripod use. Either FTZ is OK for hand held use but the second version is more comfortable. I am not posting pictures now. My experiments were just that and have no photo merit. Hopefully I will capture something decent soon.
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Post by John Farrell on Jul 6, 2023 21:08:27 GMT
The last inexpensive lens I bought was a Pentacon 50mm f1.8, on a Praktica LTL3. I had to strip it down, clean the glass, clean out and regrease the helicoids, reglue the focusing ring and carefully lube the operating levers for the diaphragm.
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Post by spinno on Jul 6, 2023 21:18:22 GMT
The last inexpensive lens I bought was a Pentacon 50mm f1.8, on a Praktica LTL3. I had to strip it down, clean the glass, clean out and regrease the helicoids, reglue the focusing ring and carefully lube the operating levers for the diaphragm. Apart from that it was in great condition... |
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Post by John Farrell on Jul 6, 2023 21:38:27 GMT
The last inexpensive lens I bought was a Pentacon 50mm f1.8, on a Praktica LTL3. I had to strip it down, clean the glass, clean out and regrease the helicoids, reglue the focusing ring and carefully lube the operating levers for the diaphragm. Apart from that it was in great condition... It still has marks in the coating on the front lens element... |
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Post by spinno on Jul 7, 2023 9:04:50 GMT
Apart from that it was in great condition... It still has marks in the coating on the front lens element... Crikey, you have the patience of a saint |
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Post by JohnY on Jul 11, 2023 18:05:36 GMT
It still has marks in the coating on the front lens element... Crikey, you have the patience of a saint But it has real character. Some folks pay real money for that sort of thing.  |
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