If you think you have a use for this lens...

micksh6 wrote:

dougjgreen1 wrote:

micksh6 wrote:

dougjgreen1 wrote:

pinnacle wrote:

Just buy it. I can't really add anything that hasn't already been said. The lens excels in everything you would want it to excel in. Razor sharp. very low in optical aberrations, coma, astigmatism, and distortion. Absolutely wonderful bokeh!

If you can justify the cost based on your style of photography, get one.

I went with the Sigma 60mm f2.8, as well as an adapted used Samyang 85mm f1.4, as well as $300 remaining in my pocket awaiting some other expenditure

But Samyang 85mm F1.4 is too soft on micro 4/3 wide open, isn't it? You would have to stop it down to F2.8 in order to make it "more or less" sharp, no? Please share 1:1 crops if you think I'm wrong. I haven't seen a single sharp photo made with Samyang 85mm wider than F2.8.

As opposed to that I don't hesitate to provide 1:1 crops from 75mm F1.8 lens wide open. 1:1 crops are so sharp that people can confuse them for scaled-down full frame photos. See thread here:
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50015753
http://www.dpreview.com/forums/post/50018973

You can't do that with Samyang, can you?

It always amuses me when in discussion of 75mm F1.8 lens people bring Sigma 60mm F2.8 to compare. These lenses aren't comparable. I can stop down 75mm lens to F2.8 but I won't do that, as it won't do anything good for quality. F1.8-F2.0 apertures simply allow better photos.

And you can't open Sigma wider than F2.8 to see what you actually miss. Why do you have to bring it to discussion?

I choose not to post photos on DPreview. But that being said, I agree that the Samyang 85mm is a bit soft (not TOO soft, just a bit soft) at f1.4. And that softness is NOT a lack of resolution, just a lack of contrast - which can be punched up in post processing.

IMHO, it's fine at f2, which allows it to be at least as effective at isolating the subject as the 75mm f1.8. And just because a lens is slightly soft wide open doesn't mean it can't be highly useful as a photographic tool at that aperture, especially for stuff like portraits. S

High contrast and high sharpness is not by any means the be-all and end-all of any lens. And if it were, the Sigma 60mm is just as sharp and contrasty as the Oly 75mm, for less than 1/3 the price.

Making a statement that you WON'T shoot the Olympus at f2.8 because you can't take as good photos with it at those settings might say much more about your limitations as a photographer than about the lenses. I bring the Sigma lens into the discussion because it (in partnership with the Samyang 85mm) BETTER serve my particular needs than the Olympus 75mm lens would. When I want it to be (with the Sigma) it's lighter and smaller, and I generally prefer the 60mm focal length perspective to the 75mm perspective for many needs. My tandem can also be MORE effective at isolating the subject from the background (with the Samyang). The Samyang can also give me more pleasing portraits - the Oly, AND the Sigma, are actually both TOO sharp for optimal portraiture at any aperture, whereas the Samyang wide open is not.

You make valid points, of course. The only thing I disagree with is that a lens can be TOO sharp. You can always make lens softer in post-processing but you can't make soft lens sharp. For portraiture with 75mm lens, if there are too many unpleasant skin details you can use software like Portrait Professional studio, which will keep eyelashes strikingly sharp but will smooth skin.

I prefaced this entire discussion with the statement that it was my personal preference. If you wish to contend that your personal preference is different, I have no issue with that. If, on the other hand, you are positioning your view as an absolute objective statement on the superiority of YOUR preference, without allowing that yours is an opinion, just as mine is, and neither is ABSOLUTELY correct, well, only a fool would make that assertion.

I actually never wanted to make so serious claims and to declare my opinion as an absolute truth. It's an internet discussion, sometimes it's hard to see what people are up to.

In this era of pixel peeping, IMHO, people over-obsess about sharpness.  Generally, sharpness is an asset, but not always, and I frankly prefer to be able to control it PRIOR to post-processing during composition.  In any case, the Sigma 60mm lens is just as sharp as the Olympus 75mm.  The Samyang is softer wide-open, but sharpens up noticeably at f2.