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Test/ First Impression Sigma 65mm f/2

xaviergut

xaviergut

LMF-Patron
Thanks to the firmware update of the S5II/x and the new E-stabilization (high) mode I no longer need the gimbal and I sold it to get the Sigma 65mm f/2 lens. It's my first sigma prime lens and I have to say I'm impressed.

The lens arrived last Friday and this weekend I had a free hour on Sunday to take photos after finishing the Vienna marathon. Here are some photos with the S1R:

21042024-_1090703.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/6.3
  • 1/160 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • -2
  • ISO 100




21042024-_1090734-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/11
  • 1/320 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • -2
  • ISO 100



21042024-_1090750-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/11
  • 1/200 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • -2
  • ISO 100



21042024-_1090769-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/11
  • 1/80 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 250



I have taken many portraits of my family but I don't like to share them on the internet. Here one of our dog at minimal focus distance (not the best dog portrait out there but just to have an idea...)

20042024-_1090649-3.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/4
  • 1/80 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 400



I have to say that it is an excellent portrait lens, and I'm afraid that the 50mm 1.4 Lumix PRO and the 85mm 1.8 Lumix are going to have to share the camera with this Sigma 65mm f/2. I have always thought that for portraits at typical focal lengths there is something like a jump between 50 and 85, and this 65mm fills the gap perfectly.
 
Love the shots, Xavier!

Now that I have the Sigma 35mm f/2 and the 45mm f/2, I have been seriously thinking about getting the 65mm f/2. I had been thinking that I'd get the Lumix 85mm but I think the 65mm might suit me better.

So did you run the marathon?
 
Pete_W said:
Love the shots, Xavier!

Now that I have the Sigma 35mm f/2 and the 45mm f/2, I have been seriously thinking about getting the 65mm f/2. I had been thinking that I'd get the Lumix 85mm but I think the 65mm might suit me better.

So did you run the marathon?
Click to expand...
or... add the Sigma 65 and the 90 :)
 
60-65mm is one of my favorite FOV/focal lengths. I loved my 40mm pancake on APSC, & 30mm Sigma f1.4 on m4/3. It's much easier to work with than 85mm equivalent when space is a bit limited, it's still a narrow enough FOV that it's relatively easy to isolate/crop out your subject, & long enough that you don't get any sort of noticeable perspective distortion. I really really like it.
I was planning on getting one, but a Lumix 50mm f1.8 popped up for a price that I simply couldn't resist. Maybe I'll see one on sale at a later date, & I'll bite :) Enjoy yours. I know I would
 
Pete_W said:
Love the shots, Xavier!

Now that I have the Sigma 35mm f/2 and the 45mm f/2, I have been seriously thinking about getting the 65mm f/2. I had been thinking that I'd get the Lumix 85mm but I think the 65mm might suit me better.

So did you run the marathon?
Click to expand...
Thank you, Pete, noooo, I'm not that fit... ;) and also with an 11 month old daughter I don't have time to train.

The 45mm f/2 is a very interesting lens. I like the pictures that you post.
 
xaviergut said:
Thank you, Pete, noooo, I'm not that fit... ;) and also with an 11 month old daughter I don't have time to train.

The 45mm f/2 is a very interesting lens. I like the pictures that you post.
Click to expand...
Thanks Xavia! I made a typo - it should have beeb f/2.8 for the Sigma 45mm. It has nice rendering of OOF areas which I really like.

I was impressed with the number of paper cups on the streets after the marathon and that vaccuum device to pick them up.

I am still running but max out around 12km as my knees are not happy by that stage.
 
For a couple of years I used a 43mm lens on APS-C which would have given an identical field of view and it worked very well. I have read that the 65mm is possibly the best of the I-series, which is a high bar indeed. I'd like to have one but I really couldn't justify it as I already have the 50/2.
 
Jonathan-Mac said:
I have read that the 65mm is possibly the best of the I-series, which is a high bar indeed.
Click to expand...

I'd qualify that a bit: the 65mm is the sharpest and has the most 'modern' rendering of the i-series, with the 45mm at the other end of the scale and the rest fitting somewhere between the two. It's also significantly larger / heavier than the others.

Lenstip have reviewed most of the i-series (in their Sony E-Mount versions) and the 50mm is the only one to win their "Editor's choice" award.

I've now got five of them (17/4, 24/3.5, 35/2, 45/2.8 and 65/2) and like them all, with the 24/3.5 probably being my favourite.
 
Thanks Alan, valuable information.

I just put four of the Sigma contemporary lenses on the S5II on the camerasize web page out of interest. The image of the 45mm included the hood so I had to crop that off which means it is missing a few mm on the top, but it's still the smallest by far.

Sigmas on S5II.png
 
Here are three more photos of Vienna City Skyline with the Sigma 65mm f/2 on the S1R at different times of the afternoon:

21042024-_1090818.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/8
  • 1/500 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100



21042024-_1090819-2-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/8
  • 1/125 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100



21042024-_1090820-2-2.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S1R
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/8
  • 1/80 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 250
 
I am so impressed by this Sigma 65mm f/2 lens, that I have to share more images. This time rural stuff from the deep Austria:

P1425348.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/9
  • 1/80 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100



P1425345.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/9
  • 1/500 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • ISO 100





P1425284.jpg
  • Panasonic - DC-S5
  • 65mm F2 DG DN | Contemporary 020
  • 65.0 mm
  • ƒ/14
  • 1/100 sec
  • Pattern
  • Auto exposure
  • -1
  • ISO 100
 
This is really tempting me, Xavier!

I am still looking for this lens at a decent price in Australia. Seems in short supply at the moment in L-mount.
 
Pete_W said:
This is really tempting me, Xavier!

I am still looking for this lens at a decent price in Australia. Seems in short supply at the moment in L-mount.
Click to expand...
Yes, it is a keeper!!

The lens piqued my interest when I saw this video by Mattias Burling, my favorite camera gear YouTuber, about the Sigma FPL:

A bit later I saw this video of Matt Osborne, who tried the 65mm with a Leica SL, and I decide that I wanted to try it too:

In MPB Germany this lens appears every two weeks or so.
 
Thanks for posting those videos Xavier!

I shall keep scouring the 'net for a good price!
 
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