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Korean site publishes sample images from Sigma 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM

Apr 22, 2013 at 19:23:25 GMT

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Korean website lcap.tistory.com has published what it claims are sample images from the new Sigma 18-35mm f/1.8 DC HSM lens, which purports to show its performance in a range of different shooting situations, on both a Canon EOS 600D and 5D Mark III. We doubt very much that the site had Sigma's permission to publish the images from a pre-production lens, but if you're curious, you can click the link below to go to the original 'preview' at lcap.tistory.com.

You should also check out our hands-on preview of the new 18-35mm F1.8 here

Click here to view the original article (in Korean) at lcap.tistory.com

Comments

Total comments: 36

@DPR: your link to lcap.tistory.com is broken.

0 upvotes

The deep image links are working still.

There are no corner crops and a few center crops only. So, the samples have limited use only. A few deep links for you:

- http://cfile28.uf.tistory.com/image/220F544B516F989E22B7DC (distortion)
- http://cfile29.uf.tistory.com/image/19373F4D516F8D7520B57F (EOS 600D 1/800sec F/1.8 18.0mm ISO-100)
- http://cfile10.uf.tistory.com/image/21711B3951702DC204B74A (EOS 600D 1/200sec F/1.8 35.0mm ISO-100)
- http://cfile23.uf.tistory.com/image/176E673951702DC3058B87 (crop from above)

there are more samples, mostly at 18mm. But no corner or edge crops, or full resolution.

There a 4 more center crops. They all appear a bit soft to my eye. But this may be due to some front focussing (watch the hair in the middle of the crop above) and the AA filter of the 600D.

Overall, I think the "lost images" are not suitable to judge the lens other than for vignetting, distortion and bokeh.

0 upvotes

I don't have links but there was a resolution test including extreme corner. they look right to me. resolution drops towards the tele-end but still quite good compared with APS-C f/2.8 zooms.

Sigma's MTF looks too good but it could be true for this Korean sample. the shots are of high quality for real world (if selected from a dozen but not dozens of shots).

but still we have a wide performance gap between APS-C and 35mm format now, and my question is how it can compete 35mm format, which is the real value it can have.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 1 minute after posting

0 upvotes

Did anyone cache this site, as the images arent there now?

0 upvotes

Google/images the lens name and you'll still find the cached versions of the photos.

0 upvotes

delete pls

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

0 upvotes

Which bit of the free speech above due you want removed? Are you writing from North Korea?

1 upvote

Can't seem to find sample images, just images of the lens (following the last link).
Maybe that's because I'm not all that fluent in korean...

Vignetting graph looks terrible at f/1.8

Comment edited 57 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

It will be best fit to Canon T31...

0 upvotes

The tone of dpreview's link sounds rather disapproving and a little bit high-and-mighty.

If a photography news website manages to get its hands on a pre-production lens and get some images with it then I say good on them.

That's what good journalism is all about.

7 upvotes

Good journalism also means ethical journalism. As DPReview infers in both the article and Barney's comment below, Sigma had not given ANY photography news websites permission to post photos taken with pre-production copies of its new lens. Look up the term "News Embargo," and think of it as a hardware company's version of a model release.

As an example, this is why you have been seeing DPR Previews of some cameras on the same day the camera is officially announced. They were given a copy of the camera long before, but on the condition that DPR could not talk about it until after the manufacturer officially announced its existence.

Comment edited 51 seconds after posting

2 upvotes

Not many ethics needed in lens reviewing. Its hardly "news" as I see it.

5 upvotes

Rad: I'm fully aware of what the term "news embargo" means, as I am a journalist by trade. There is much discussion in the world of journalism as to whether or not news embargoes should be honoured. Newspapers that I have worked at will break embargoes in some circumstances. For example, if a news outlet has no other source than the official one then they will generally honour an embargo. However, if they manage to obtain information (or,in this case, a lens) from a non-official source then many of them will break the embargo, citing third-party sources.

Comment edited 2 minutes after posting

1 upvote

Er,

Dear DPR,

In the news summary you state that, 'We doubt very much that the site had Sigma's permission to publish the images from a pre-production lens...' and then go ahead and, effectively, encourage members here to look.

Whilst interest in the lens might be high right now, I am fairly certain that you would not like a third party to publish/use some of your own reports/test results without permission and before you had released them yourselves. Would you complain if someone did?

Puzzled at your stance here.

3 upvotes

I'm puzzled as to your point.

Do you mean that we shouldn't have pointed you towards an article elsewhere on the Internet?

Or do you mean that we should have asked permission from that site before posting a link to their article?

Or maybe you mean that we because we think that this site might have published pictures from this lens *without asking Sigma first*, we shouldn't have pointed you towards them?

This 'preview' has been doing the rounds since late last week. We saw it, spoke to Sigma, placed it in context (i.e. said loudly and clearly that this is probably a pre-prod lens), and posted a short news story. That's all.

4 upvotes

Thanks for the reply, appreciated.

My point is your third option, of course. And, if I now read you correctly, you are saying that you drew the attention of Sigma to this 'preview' before drawing our attention to it as members/users of DP Review.

Does that make a difference? It makes your position clearer, that is for sure, but telling someone that you will post something they might not like to see is not quite the same as asking if they mind.

In reading your original message, I was left with the impression that Sigma had not given you the go-ahead.

The reason why I find the tone of the original message strange is that you need to have a very good working relationship with manufacturers in order to secure pre-release models of lenses/cameras/kit. I have no doubt that you do have such a relationship with Sigma. Could messages such as the one in question test this relationship?

No offence intended. I have a lot of admiration for this site.

3 upvotes

We have a great relationship with Sigma, and one which is important to both parties. We also have a responsibility to our readers, to give them access to content, both original and from elsewhere on the web, which Sigma understands.

0 upvotes

Harry, respect is hard to come by these days; especially from the media. Your point is actually a pretty good one, but others will not see it that way because of the level of respect of most.

0 upvotes

I don't just buy the product but also "the company" in that post-purchase support affects our decisions. Well I have to say, in my country Sigma are very helpful!

This is an admission from someone who initially thought their DSLR pricing was idiotic, and their picket cam fans ranged from delusional to creepy (upon further reflection I was right about the DSLRs, and as for the other cams I now like them less...). Sigma have good customer support in my experience! This makes a difference I think.

Looking forward to full review.

0 upvotes

These shots look great! if its street price is around $1200 it would sell really well.

1 upvote

Do not see many naysayers now these pics are up. Obviously will be of use to pros or people with lots of change that shoot crop cameras, That extra crop setting on the D7100 looks even better now.Just because I can not afford or justify what this lens will cost is no reason to slight an obvious leap in lens design.

1 upvote

Sigma makes it optimized for FF please.

0 upvotes

Not going to happen, it only covers APS-C.
If they were to create a similar FF lens they'd have to start from scratch and then it will probably not be f/1.8.

1 upvote

A full-frame version of this lens would be much larger, heavier, and more costly.

0 upvotes

Wow! Seriously impressive performance. Finally, Sigma is being recognised as a producer of very, very fine lenses. Haven't seen any pricing info, but this lens will not be cheap. I'm thinking along the lines of the GDP of a third-world country to claim ownership of one of these. Would be sweet on my D7100 though.........

1 upvote

Looks very nice, not only sharp, but the colors and out-of-focus rendering is very nice as well. Quite sure this Sigma will be THE best crop zoom lens of this moment (probably one of the most expensive as well :-( )

6 upvotes

Wow.

2 upvotes

Sigma is pushing hard, finaly! I think they (CanNik) must be scratching they heads.

2 upvotes

Why would Canon and Nikon, who have the two most impressive SLR lens catalogues in the world bar none, be scratching their heads because of some third party crop sensor zoom?

2 upvotes

...because this Sigma zoom could give users a very interesting option that isn't available in Canon/Nikon's lineups. Staying purely within Nikon/Canon's setups:
-> you can get a 17-55/2.8, which goes a little longer, but is more than a stop slower (and a stop of extra light makes a difference!)
-> you can get a 35/1.8 (nikon) or a 28/1.8 (canon/nikon) to match what Sigma delivers at the long end of this lens, but you can't get that kind of speed at the wide end staying within the Canon/Nikon lineups. There's a 20/2.8, but that still >1 stop slower.

Canon/Nikon might have impressive looking catalogues, but that doesn't mean their lens lineups cover everything, or that there's no room for improvement. I think this lens is an excellent example of a "hole" in Canon/Nikon's APS-C lineups.

7 upvotes

Also stick this lens on a pentax or sony and you would also get image stabilization... That's pretty impressive.

It's always better to think outside the box, it seem's sigma is doing this and not just copy/pasting a first party option but bringing something new to the table.

2 upvotes

Incredible!

2 upvotes

They look pretty good. There are also some FF shots from the 5d2 on their site as well - doesn't look like it will be usable on FF - no surprise there.

Comment edited 2 times, last edit 26 seconds after posting

0 upvotes

I will wait till the majority loves it or hates it then belittle the minority.

13 upvotes

The enlargements from the kids, at 1.8 seem almost too good to be true!

3 upvotes

The wide open images of the kids, the bokeh looks good, but the eyes are pretty soft. The shots at f2.2 seem only a little bit sharper. But they could just be mis-focused because of the shallow DOF.

However, at this Samyang 35 1.4 shot at max aperture to see the difference:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/michael_rodriguez/8620194998/sizes/l/in/pool-1642450@N25/

0 upvotes

Total comments: 36


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