When I first started shooting with a digital SLR I was keenly interested in fast lenses for low light photography. During one of my early visits to the camera store my connection dealer friend Charlie showed me a used Sigma 20mm f/1.8 lens they had available. I jumped on it thinking it would be a great concert lens and give me a much needed wide angle that I was unable to achieve with my 50mm.
As it turned out the lens was a poor performer. Soft, even blurry stopped down to 1.8 or 2.0 making it fairly useless for my needs. Being the procrastinator I am, I never took it back or sought a refund.
Fast forward to yesterday and I decide to revisit the lens.
Keep in mind that the lens wasn’t overly expensive, but it wasn’t free either. I was thinking I might put it up for sale “as is” on EBay and wanted to have one more look at what the lens produced, image-wise.
Holy sharp focus, Batman!
The above shot was taken at f/1.8 and is a 100% crop only reduced in size to fit this page. If you click on the image you will see the full sized crop.
I’ve changed cameras since that purchase and have not tried the lens since then. What a difference a new camera makes. I am guessing that the lens just works better with the Sony A700 than it did with the Sony A100. It makes sense. This lens is rather old and may not have communicated properly with the first gen Sonys.
At any rate, I am very happy I hung on to it. I love prime lenses. I just love them.
This is just beautiful Jay! Very sharp. I want a 1.4 or 1.2 lens but not sure which yet.
Gorgeous shot…and a good lesson about keeping lenses.