Kostas Papakotas writes: : well the same old argument all over : : as a sigma user here is my points : : 1. you get what you pay for well put, sometimes you get lucky though and get better than what you pay for, sometimes the reverse is true but on the whole it's an accurate statement. : 2. most times you pay for brandname/advertising/demos&giveaways This is true too. We ARE marketed to by various companies and we buy what we see others buying. Who here uses Angineaux or Bausch & Lomb lenses over Canon/Nikon? What about Cooke lenses on medium format? They're a little obscure, they don't market to we photographers so they're rarely considered. : 2A. Sigma is the firm that buys its glass from all sources.(like all kinds of optics manufacturers (binocs, lenses, scopes). When a batch of particular specs is not available the factory cannot wait. Believe me the optics world and especially the asian part of it is very dark indeed. Too much subcontracted work all over the basin. Again true. Schneider buy glass from Hoya - I learned that here.. I've heard rumours of respectable Euro companies buying lenses from 'lesser' Japanese manufacturers. Whatever. The fact is bits of all our "Brand Y" goods are sourced from around the word - Strange but true. : 3. the higher the price the higher the satisfaction the buyer feels you've noticed this too? ;) : 4. have droped my long sigma zoom (actually lauched it from my bag) and was chasing it down the asphalt slope. : 5. but that does not prove anything. I praise the lord i was lucky ouch! : 6. for my pocket it is either sigma or nothing. REMEMBER not every photographer in the world can find used equipment at reasonable prices, demos, or even rent some. .. AND not every photographer needs/utilises the benefits of pin sharp, contrasty, distortion free, durable lenses http://www.marktucker.com/plungercam/ http://www.wiretapped.com/HOLGA/ls02.html Come to Australia and try shooting with a high contrast lens (eek!).. Shoot portraits with a distortion free lens - no benefit.. ..horses for courses, and while I'd rather have a cheap body with a good lens, I'd certainly prefer a cheap lens over no lens! : and finally : 8. who was that forum member years ago that dismantled a Canon lens to find glass elements kept in plass by tape? I know I found this in Pentax, Canon, Nikon and Sigma lenses. Snap fit plastic supports exists in all these camera brand lenses, flexible PC boards (which wear), bits of adhesive tape. These are not the sort of lenses that one will pass on to grandkids that's for sure. They're made to be light and fast for AF purposes and they'll do the job until they die. I really should add that I was thoroughly disappointed with the ultrawide 'L' series Canons I tried when I was buying such a lens - I looked at (with increasing reluctance) the Tokina, Tamron and Sigmas before being shown a Phoenix 19-35 (also rebadged as Vivitar series 1) - it was easily the best of the bunch and I bought a pair of them with no hesitation. Since then one has suffered being dropped, kicked out of my hands by an alpaca, a water festival where it was constantly soaked, it survived being leant to friends and enthusiastic students and still performs faultlessly. A good lens is a good lens, no matter who made it. And now a concession to the Sigma critics - I've never been a big fan and found all the Sigmas I've used exhibit poor control of flare. That's my main gripe and the reason I only ever use Sigmas WITH a lens hood in place. : it is not the camera body, it is not even the lens, it is the photographers skill, perception and sight hmmm.. Maybe for us film shooter Kostas, but I don't believe that old adage applies to digital cameras quite so much. They're a bit like buying a camera that only takes one *particular* type of film. As an aside, some time back I posted information relating to anodised aluminium lens barrel guts and the effects this would have on contributing to flare when shooting IR films - it should be noted that plastic lens barrels actually overcome the issue the same way the old black painted lenses did by not reflecting the light around inside the lens like a mirror - so there is some small benefit in using lenses with plastic holding them together :) karl
