ghaaaa... also 1st time shoot fireworks..

hand held since no tripod yet...

most other result blur2

only this acceptable for me ( dont know others lol)

my shot..
during last CNY..

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Added on January 1, 2010, 4:08 amanyone shooting lunar eclipse now?



This post has been edited by lehtung: Jan 1 2010, 04:14 AM

And now, for more from the Opteka 85mm F1.4!


I also took the opportunity to compare it to the Sony Carl Zeiss Planar T* 85mm F1.4 ZA - something I may not want to do in fear of finding my lens inferior. Fortunately, it wasn't the case... strongly. Here's the Opteka 85mm F1.4 focused to 1 meter, its minimum focusing distance.


The Zeiss 85mm F1.4, however, magnifies a lot more because:

1) it can focus to 85cm close
2) it has external focus

Internal focus lenses tend to widen the angle of view, thus causing lesser magnification.

For example, the Sony 135mm F2.8/T4.5 Smooth Transition Focus lens focuses to 87cm close, giving a 1:4x maximum magnification. It is an external focus lens.

The Sony Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* 135mm F1.8 ZA can focus to 72cm close... so logically, it should be able to get closer and get a better magnification, right? However, as it is internal focus, its angle of view widens at close range, and so it gets the same 1:4x maximum magnification as the STF!

So, there are benefits to external focus lenses.


Size-wise they are quite similiar. Both use 72mm filter threads.


The Zeiss hood can literally eat the Opteka hood!


And how about a portrait comparison? Opteka 85mm F1.4 at F1.4 1/100s ISO800.


Here's the same thing from the Zeiss at the same settings.

Honestly, at a glance, the overall contrast looks very similiar! Also, the Opteka is very capable of picking up ambient colors the way the Zeiss does. Please pardon that the Opteka has a slightly different focus plane.


It is only when you start pixel-peeping that you see why the Zeiss costs 4 times the price... this is a 100% crop from the Opteka. It is pretty sharp wide open!


However, this is a 100% crop from the Zeiss! The keyword here is microcontrast - it has far more contrasty details.

I would say that after this exercise, I understood what the Zeiss microcontrast thing was all about. The Opteka is really 80% of the Zeiss, for 25% the price!

I also tried the Opteka on the Sony Alpha 550 - this used MF Check Live View. Works great even at 7x zoom (14x zoom is a bit too shaky for a 85mm lens.)


Accuracy even at no zoom using MF Check LV was pretty good!


However, when I tried to use the Quick AF Live View mode, manual-focusing using the LCD, it just seemed to be off all the time. However I could notice a slight sharpening happening in Quick AF Live View mode.


Finally, don't fear the 1 meter minimum focusing distance - you can dismount the lens and turn it the other way around. You can even control the aperture using the aperture ring!


It gives about 70mm for a 36mm-wide sensor, or 1:1.94x maximum magnification.

In other news, there might be a Samyang 35mm F1.4:

http://www.lenstip.com/index.php?art=122

I would buy that no questions asked! Knowing the obscene quality of the Samyang 85mm F1.4 you can bet the 35mm is going to be a winner. Since it is a full-frame wide-angle it should have a better MFD than the Sigma 30mm F1.4's mediocre 40cm. (The Sigma looks nice on FF despite the vignetting!)

@albnok
i think the mustache on the 2nd pic looks purple-ish... it that wat u mean by microcontrast ?

This post has been edited by cjlai: Jan 1 2010, 06:14 AM

reverse macro? wow nice!

thanks bro, happy new year !!

Let's have TT on that day?

yummy new year

guys, do u think getting the alpha stuff would be cheaper at singapore?

planning to get it from there since the warranty is internationally covered.

any comment?

hi everybody, one question..is Tamron 17-50 2.8 worth it if i wanna shoot indoor..?

Using bulk mode to shoot?>

it depends on the lighting of the indoor area
if its dark like this, you still need flash >_<

F2.8, flash bounce

alternatively, iso800/1600 to compensate no flash

get a flash 1st if u wan to shoot indoor....

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Added on January 1, 2010, 12:00 pmdun think Singapore is cheaper.... but they do hv more complete range of product...

This post has been edited by cjlai: Jan 1 2010, 12:00 PM

the constant aperture really helps if u choose not to use flash indoors..

go for it!

where go get Opteka lens

which Opteka lens r u getting?

i bot 1 Opteka 85mm F1.4 for my belated x'mas gift & 1 Samyang 8mm FishEye for new yr

reaching soon in couple of weeks

This post has been edited by cjlai: Jan 1 2010, 12:39 PM

ohh, i changing my whole rig now

getting a550 wif sal16105

any comment n recommendation for good deal?

to me if not something rare better get it locally

go check out the A550 + SAL1680Z package la....

to me i rather get a Zeiss

u can check out the price fr the thread/seller below
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/885593/
http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/799244/

Ya wei lets go to Zaloon on the 9th and TT after that la. (: Was at Solaris Mont Kiara last night for countdown and saw some one using a900 + VG + 70-400G. (: