Lens Talk: Zuiko 50mm F2 vs. Sigma 24mm F1.8

I hope I am not beating a dead horse here, but would really appreciate your opinion as to which would be a better Walk-Around Lens suitable for an occasional Portraiture and/or Macro shots? In my travels, I often run into very colorful and interesting-looking characters, but was unhappy with the results produced by the 14-45 lens. This summer I added the 14-54 and overall am very happy with it, but can't say that it's an adequate portrait/macro lens. Your opinion is very important to me, as I feel somewhat confused. Does anyone here already have the Sigma 24mm lens - please share an image or first impressions.

50mm does seem to be exceptionally good, but its focal length might be a limiting factor for any other uses.

Weight and size do not matter, but sharpness and an ability to produce a beautiful bokeh does.

Thank you everyone who takes the time to post their opinion!

Cheers, Oly-mates!

Alex
Parker, CO

. . . but the Sigma 24mm really isn't a macro per se. It has less magnification than the Zuiko 500mm f2.

For some reason Sigma is macro happy, they label anything as macro.

I have read some posts on the Canon fourm about it being less than stellar performance wise. However, Sigma is known to have sample variation. The sigma is substantailly larger than the Zuiko as well.

I am not dissing Sigma though. They have soem designs, liek all makers, that are good, and some that are stellar.

I have the 30mm f1.4. It is a good lens.

Some of their "real" macros, like the 150mm are supposed to be stellar.

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Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Question has been talked about often, but I like the question and wait for comments... :> )

I guess I should illustrate my point. This one was taken with the kit 14-45 lens: Would a 50mm or 24mm done a better job?

Zach, here is what Sigma claims:
Technical Details
Large f1.8 aperture wide-angle lens for close-up photography
Macro photography at minimum focusing down to 7.1 inches
Super multi coating reduces flare and ghosting
Aspherical lens complex reduces number of component lenses for a compact size

9 diaphragm blades for beautiful out-of-focus images in the foreground and background

so macro capability is built in...

Zach writes "I have the 30mm f1.4. It is a good lens."

What do you use that lens primarily? An image sample would be greatly appreciated.

At F1.4 - is it great for night photography? Does Oly's focus system work faster with it in low light?

If you can explain why you are unhappy with the 14-54 you might get more useful answers.

I find the 14-54 fine for most macro work and the occasional portrait. I use the 50mm when I

want more magnification - I'm not too fussed about the f/2, since I'm usually stopped well down for macros.

I don't know anything about the Sigma, but it's a different focal length - with your zooms, do you do most of your portraits around 25mm or around 50mm?

Danny.

Until people post some samples, here is some on pbase. (not mine)

Here is some samples from each.....(I dont own either lens)

Sigma 24mm f1.8 EX ASP DG Macro
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/24_18_ex_asp_dg_macro

Olympus Zuiko 50mm f/2.0 Digital ED Macro
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/olympus/em_p5020_50_2_digital_ed_macro

NOTE:

The sigma samples are mostly from Canon or nikon bodys, read the exif for more info

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http://www.photomofo.com

Danny - it's not that I am unhappy with the 14-54, it's that I read in this forum that primes are unmatched in terms of sharpness and produce the most beautiful bokeh. I would like that.

Re. portraits - this is a new area for me, so I can't really answer that thruthfully. What do most people shoot at? 50mm, 100mm?

Much appreciated!!!

. . . I guess what I was referring to was the fact that the Sigam 24mm has x.37 magnfication, the 14-54 has .26x magnification.

It gives a little more magnification than the 14-54, but not much.

I am happy with the 30mm, but it is anything but macro.

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Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

low light



bokeh, which is smooth compared to a zoom



but mostly candids of my family : )



It hunts in the dark, like every other lens, including my canon lenses. However, it has a HSM, so when it hunts it hunts faster . . . uhh, I guess that is good. ; )

It is also fairly quiet.

It isn't the best lens ever, but it is a good lens. Especially for low light and unobtrusive photography.

It will not close focus though.

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--
Zach Bellino
'I prefer my lo-mein of the veggie variety.'
--ZJB
'There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.'
Benjamin Disraeli (1804-1881)

Zach - you ARE a gentleman!

I appreciate your insightful information!

Alex

The 50mm F2 hunts too much to be a useful walkabout lens. It will drive you nuts. Works well on manual focus though,
Don

Alex, not a bad question at all. I am also looking for a good walk-about lens that is high speed and good for low light photography. By the way I came from Parker CO recently, but was relocated to the Philippines for business. (Yes a real Colorado native, born and raised).

Manila reminds me of Las Vegas, a city that seldom sleeps. While I am overall happy with my kit lenses, I long for a good "slightly long" lens with very high speed. The 50mm F2 macro and the 30mm sigma F1.4 both appeal to me. the 24mm F1.8 is interesting but I need to see the price for Olympus. Very hard to get good equipment at a reasonble price here. But then maybe I don't know the best places to go in Manila.

AlextheSiberian said:

50mm does seem to be exceptionally good, but its focal length might
be a limiting factor for any other uses.

Weight and size do not matter, but sharpness and an ability to
produce a beautiful bokeh does.

Thank you everyone who takes the time to post their opinion!

Cheers, Oly-mates!

Alex
Parker, CO

Click to expand...

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David
Philippine weblog & gallery at http://www.homepage.mac.com/brdavid/
Other Philippine photos http://www.pbase.com/brdavid