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Choosing old primes vs using kit lens

N

newsig

Member
Hello to all,
while researching SD-cameras i came across this forum and found many helpful posts, thanks!
I'm planning on buying a SD14 but I'm not clear on lens choice. I plan to do land/cityscape almost exclusively and I'm willing to put work into my shots. That's why I was thinking about buying just a body and trying to get an old prime wideangle.
I have read about Pentax lenses fitting with some slight modification and I know about the m24 adapter.
What still plagues me are two questions:
1. Are old primes like for example a 28mm 1:2,8 Pentax SMC really sharper than the kit 18-200mm lens?
2. Can I use a 24mm or 28mm on the SD14 or do I get in conflict with that dust protection thing

Any other significant problems with using old cheap primes vs digital zoom lenses? I know I won't have AF, but I have shot MF cameras before.

Thanks for your help!
 
Hi newsig,
I'm by no means an expert and I'm sure you will get better answers that will help you out immensely from other members of this forum, but I'm new to the Sigma system too.
You might consider that lenses meant for 35mm film cameras will give you a 1.7x magnification on the SD 14. So the wide angle prime on a 35mm camera will be more like a normal lens on the Foveon sensor.

There are threads on the M42 adapters on here too that helped me out a lot. Make sure you get the right Sigma SA/SD M42 adapter and not a Pentax PK adapter.

What I did for a starter was to get the kit lenses from an Sigma SA-7 camera and used those. They're pretty good for the price I paid, I got a 28-80 and a 70-300. If you are planning to go that route consider getting any lens that would fit a SA-7 or newer(SA7, SA7n, SA9). The older Sigma film cameras used the Pentax K mount.

For your two points:
1. I know that Sigma(according to their site) puts their digital lenses through special treatments that make them better for digital cameras. But I have seen some really sharp images come from the film camera lenses too.

2. JTAT sells a gauge that you can use to see if the rear of the lens will hit the Dust/IR filter. Although I'm sure there's figures out there with the distance from the front of the mount to the IR filter which you could then use to see if it would be a problem.

Sorry for being longwinded but good luck!
 
Thanks akv!

I'm aware of the 1,7 factor. I'm thinking about getting a 24 or 28mm lens which would be roughly normal 50mm on the SD. I guess my main concern is the resulting image quality.

Most people seem to agree that prime lenses tend to deliver better iq than standard kit zooms. But is this also true when using old made for 35mm film primes vs modern digital zooms?
 
welcome!
I've got the 28-80 Macro II that came as part of a kit, and I am consistently pleased with it's image quality. And close focus on the 80mm end is great. You can really get all up in it as they say. If you wanna give that a try on the cheap I recommend it. I've also got the older 18-125 DC lens but I don't use it all that much. I think the 28-80 has better iq.
But as far as the primes being better iq than the zooms I think that's a generalization that can hold true in most cases, though my experience is more from 35mm slrs and not digital.
 
Non Sigma lenses

Hi, and welcome

There are many examples showing that old primes will produce excellent results on the SD14. But it HAS to be a lens of good quality, not just any lens.

A few factors to consider:

1. Sensors are highly reflective and may reflect the light. Under certain conditions, elements of the lens may reflect this light back onto the sensor, creating flare/ghost images. Modern lenses accounts for this, older lenses does not. You will have to test the lens under different conditions, distances and apertures.

2. The focusing screen is not a good screen for MF. The crop factor makes it small, and contrast is low. The SD14 does not have a split-screen focusing screen. And no useable 3rd party alternatives exist. The screen is not a good screen for MF. An option is to use a finder magnifier.

3. AF confirm might help, if the AF system of the camera is correctly calibrated. AF confirm can be obtained even if you use MF. But this requires a SA lens mounted when inserting a battery in the camera.

4. Focus calibration might be difficult when using non-Sigma lenses.
Many have had to send their camera + lenses to Sigma for calibration. You can't do that with a non-Sigma lens.

I have compiled some information about using non-Sigma lenses:
http://foto.nordjylland.biz/SD14/SD14-NonSigmaLenses.htm

Also, if you need more info on the SD14, have a look at my compendium:
http://foto.nordjylland.biz/SD14/SD-usertips.htm

Kind regards
Øyvind

newsig said:
Hello to all,
while researching SD-cameras i came across this forum and found many helpful posts, thanks!
I'm planning on buying a SD14 but I'm not clear on lens choice. I plan to do land/cityscape almost exclusively and I'm willing to put work into my shots. That's why I was thinking about buying just a body and trying to get an old prime wideangle.
I have read about Pentax lenses fitting with some slight modification and I know about the m24 adapter.
What still plagues me are two questions:
1. Are old primes like for example a 28mm 1:2,8 Pentax SMC really sharper than the kit 18-200mm lens?
2. Can I use a 24mm or 28mm on the SD14 or do I get in conflict with that dust protection thing

Any other significant problems with using old cheap primes vs digital zoom lenses? I know I won't have AF, but I have shot MF cameras before.

Thanks for your help!
Click to expand...
 
Hi Øyvind,
thanks for your thoughtful reply. I'm quite aware of our excellent infos on usiing the SD14 and on using non Sigma lenses. In fact it was your site that made me think that using a sd14 with some old prime would be great idea!

Now your point about the focusing screen being not good for manual focusing has scared me somewhat... So how do people focus their SDs in manual mode?

akv, thanks again, is that 28-80 Macro II an SA mount lens? When looking on ebay I don't seem to find very much SA mount lenses at all...
 
I wouldn't say it's not good for MF, but it's not great, nor ideal unfortunately. Most of my shots lately have been MF.

I have the 18-200 OS, it is a decent lens. Not great, but not terrible either. It works best if stopped down to f8-11, otherwise it's fairly soft. For me, the OS is pretty much worthless. A few others here (klaus) have had great success with the 18-200.

I don't have any experience with M42 lenses yet. I have a Vivitar Series 1 28/2.5, but I am waiting on the adapter to make its way to me.

It sounds like you're ok with primes...I would get the body and at least 1 new lens, maybe the 50mm EX Macro, and then go from there with the old lenses.
 
Thanks, JasonH
if I could afford something like the 50mm EX which sells for like 400 EURO I wuold probably not worry too much about using old primes :)
But your remarks about the 18-200mm made me think about getting a kit for a start, and then eventually see if I get a good old prime.
 
newsig said:
Thanks, JasonH
if I could afford something like the 50mm EX which sells for like 400 EURO I wuold probably not worry too much about using old primes :)
But your remarks about the 18-200mm made me think about getting a kit for a start, and then eventually see if I get a good old prime.
Click to expand...

It's that much? Around here you can get the 50mm EX for $120 less than the 18-200....($280 vs $400)
 
Hello Newsig,

The discussion of manual focus caught my attention, as that is how I shoot my deep waders during birding. 150-500 with TC1.4x. Manual focus with dependence on the viewfinder focus confirmation light. I have eyed the split focusing screen on ebay for some time, trying to glean firsthand information. I have none.


You can check ebay's 3rd party vendor, located in ShangHai and ship through HongKong. search -- Split Image Focusing Screen for Sigma SD14


OvinydS you said,
2. The focusing screen is not a good screen for MF. The crop factor makes it small, and contrast is low. The SD14 does not have a split-screen focusing screen. And no useable 3rd party alternatives exist. The screen is not a good screen for MF. An option is to use a finder magnifier.
Click to expand...
Do you feel it is unusable solely because of the 1.7x crop factor making the viewfinder too dim for visual acuity?

I look forward to hearing any information you or anyone may provide about this viewfinder,

Robert
 
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