Sigma sd Quattro and sd Quattro H

[shawn]

I am using a Lowepro Toploader Zoom 50 for the Quattro with the 17-50 2.8. Camera fits the bag well and it is about the smallest bag that it would fit in. Front pocket easily holds a couple of filters and spare batteries. Not sure what I will do if I bring another lens along. Maybe attach a lens case to the side of the bag. Only thing to get used to is in removing the camera from the bag it is a little too easy to accidentally open the SD card door.

For the LCD screen http://www.protectionfilms24.com/ has screen protectors sized for the Quattros double LCD display. I just received one of the Airglass protectors but have not installed it yet. I use them on other cameras and they work well.

M42 lenses will work on the Quattro but you have to set AF-S to release priority to get the shutter to fire. I also realized that for macro my Nikon mount Tamron 90mm f2.8 lens will work fine. There are $10 adapters to go from Nikon to Sigma mount. I do not have the adapter yet but it will act like a small extension tube and will prevent infinity focus but that will not matter for macro shooting.

For a very wide angle B&H had a used 10-20 that I have on the way. Pretty sure that is going to vignetting on the APS-H sensor (in 3:2) but I think it will be fine for 21:9.

I'm also fairly convinced you could get a Pentax mount Rokinon/Samyang 14mm (Pentax mechanical mount is basically same as the Sigma) and then use the focus adjust procedure on the 14mm (see youtube videos) to correct for the difference in flange focal length. Not sure if the aperture level on the Pentax mount Rokinon would need to be removed to prevent hitting the dust screen though. The other option is swapping out the mount on a Canon EF version for a DIY Sigma mount. The flange length is the same between Canon EF and Sigma SA. I found one guy that did that successfully.

Shawn

 

[Larry H-L]

Thanks for those tips Shawn. Where did you see Nikon F to Sigma SA adapters? I have an m42 adapter on the way, will give it a try. For the LCD screen I cut two protectors and butted them together at the divider seam between the two screens. A bit crude looking, but it works fine in use.

A Pentax K-mount will fit this camera, but with a different back-focus flange distance? I have an m42 to K somewhere, will look for it to see if it mounts.

 

[shawn]

Sorry, I typed that wrong. I went with a Nikon F to Pentax PK adapter as the PK lens mount is supposed to be almost the same as the Sigma but with a different flange distance.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Camera-Macro-Adapter-For-Nikon-F-Lens-To-Pentax-PK-K-S1-K-3-K-50-K-5-II-K-30/371959850827?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649

Assuming the adapter mounts on the Sigma my Nikon macro lens would be usable for macro but it won't focus to infinity due to the depth of that adapter.

K mount lenses are supposed to be able to mount to the Sigma and actually be usable but they won't close focus as much due to putting a longer flange distance lens on a shorter distance body. Pentax is 1.46mm longer. Depending upon the lens the aperture lever could hit the dust protector/hot mirror in the Sigma. The dust protector can be removed pretty easily though for testing.

Sigma 10-20 f3.5 arrived just as I was losing the light. At 10mm it does have dark corners (3:2) with DC crop off but I think it is less than the 17-50. By 12mm the corners are no longer dark and it stays that way through 20mm. Not enough light to really say anything about IQ yet.

Shawn

 

[Larry H-L]

I'd be curious to see results from the 10-20mm, when you have some. I'll try my Pentax K, and be careful to watch the sensor cover. And thanks for the link.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

If anyone is interested, I just received the SF quattro H camera and the 30mm f1.4 lens. Even though the lens is specified for the aps-c camera, it does not vignette on the larger H sensor (cropped mode turned off). This is a much cheaper method for getting the “Art Lens” image quality and f1.4 speed of the more expensive 35/1.4.

 

[Larry H-L]

Wow Jamie, if I had known that the 30mm would work well with the "H," I probably would have sprung for the larger sensor.

But so far, I am happy with the APS-c. The m42 to SA adapter arrived today, doesn't play well with my Pentax 50mm f1.4, it binds the aperture ring. But it does work really well with an old Helios 44-2, 58mm f2. This gives a nice portrait length on APS-c of 87mm.

Having trouble connecting to my usual FTP hosting today, so I posted a sample here:

https://lhlphotography.myportfolio.com/Quattro

 

[shawn]

I will post some 10-20 shots this weekend. Wide open at 10mm (DC crop off) the edges are blurry (with dark corners) but they improve when stopped down. A tiny amount of zoom (camera is still reporting focal length as 10mm) gets ride of the dark corners and they are gone the rest of the time.

A couple of times it seems like AF focuses past infinity at 10mm but I have not seen that when zoomed in somewhat.

Good to know the 30mm 1.4 works on the "H."

Adorama has the Lowepro Toploader 55 for $25 shipped. Mine just arrived and it will just fit one lens horizontal at the bottom, the divider and then the camera with mounted lens and L plate above it. It fits with either the 10-20 mounted or the 17-50 2.8. Little tighter fit with the 17-50 mounted as it is slightly longer with a filter on it. Lens hood on the 10-20 stored lens makes it not fit as it adds just enough vertical height to the cameras position above it. Front pouch holds the hoods, filters and batteries easily.

Shawn

 

[Larry H-L]

Looking forward to seeing some samples from both your 17-50mm and 10-20mm.

I found an usused Domke F-2 “original” bag in a cabinet, big, but the camera will sit sideways with the 30mm lens attached, and plenty of room for a couple of lenses, batteries, filters.

Anyone tried pulling out the IR blocking filter for B&W? I have an #87 filter around somewhere, hoping to find it and try some IR if the skies clear off.

 

[shawn]

I did pull the filter out to try IR. Make sure you use tweezers to grab the tab at the top of the filter. Looking into the camera the right side of the tab moves the most to hold the filter in place and then lift that side up and slide it out of the left side.

It was overcast when I tried IR so the results were not great (very little contrast). 850nm was very flat and a 700nm filter was a bit better. From other samples I have seen it looks like the camera is capable if there is more direct sunlight. I will try it again when the light is better. Camera was able to focus but hunted a bit more. Trying to set a custom WB in camera on green foliage failed. More light might have improved that.

Shawn

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Wow Jamie, if I had known that the 30mm would work well with the "H," I probably would have sprung for the larger sensor.

But so far, I am happy with the APS-c. The m42 to SA adapter arrived today, doesn't play well with my Pentax 50mm f1.4, it binds the aperture ring. But it does work really well with an old Helios 44-2, 58mm f2. This gives a nice portrait length on APS-c of 87mm.

Having trouble connecting to my usual FTP hosting today, so I posted a sample here:

https://lhlphotography.myportfolio.com/Quattro

Larry, the photo of the gourds is gorgeous! I'm super interested in how m42 lenses play with the Quattros, so if you try any other m42 lenses, let us know what you think of them. Thanks! (I've ordered the m42 to SA adapter today.)

 

[shawn]

Boring hand held test shots of the 10-20mm f3.5 on the Quattro H with DC crop off. Lens hood was on. OOC JPEGs

https://flic.kr/s/aHsm7udirq

You can see at 10mm there is vignetting on the APS-H sensor but it is gone at 12mm. It is actually gone with just the slightest amount of zoom. At 10mm corners are rough wide open but improve stopped down. The older, slower version of this lens is supposed to vignette more (77mm front filter vs 82mm) so it might not work as well on the Quattro H.

Couple of other things I found...

It is annoying that Flickr does not know how to read the aperture properly from the Sigma JPEGs.

The zoom ring on the 10-20mm is opposite the zoom ring on the 17-50. That is going to be confusing.

RPP64 can open X3F files from the Quattro. Have not spent any time there to see how well it handles them though.

Shawn

 

[Larry H-L]

Jamie, thanks for the compliment on the gourd photo, and Shawn, thanks for the 10-20 samples, greatly appreciated.

I tried a few more m42 lenses, all Pentax. The 35mm f3.5 had some color smearing in the corners, I probably won’t use it again. The 50mm f1.4 SMC seems OK, I got it to work on the adapter, I think I overtightened it on the first attempt.

Went out on a snowy walk yesterday and took along a Pentax 135mm f3.5 SMC, it seemed to work great. Although I usually shoot B&W, I did try some in color, and the Pentax does render color a bit differently than the native 30mm f1.4 Sigma. Auto white balance seemed to help. Longer lenses seem to be fine.

Here are some shots from 135mm, leaves in B&W and the color, and another still-life shot:

The 30mm f1.4 is very good, happy with it. A few samples here:

The camera handles well, and battery life is MUCH better than the DP Merrills. I was out in the cold for about 2 hours one battery did the job.

I do think the Merrill cameras have a more organic “film-like look,” but I think I can get close to that with more practice on the Quattro files. Some have said the DNGs don’t look as good as X3F files run through SPP, but I don’t see any difference. And the out-of-camera jpegs are really very good. The Quattro files do seem smoother, a bit more plastic looking.

A few other quirks…

Strangely, aperture priority metering changes when switching from color to B&W mode on the camera. The B&W files seem to need + 0.7 to match. Anyone else notice this?

I find it easier to use focus magnification with peaking turned off.

The secondary LCD panel is handy, but I wish it contained “WB” rather than metering pattern.

I'm still deciding what wider lens to get. It appears on their website that Sigma might swap out mounts on the new 16mm f1.4, for a fee. I'll check with a local dealer to see what that would cost.

 

[Jamie Pillers]

Larry, thanks for all this excellent information. I've just ordered an Industar 50/3.5 m42 lens. As soon as I get it, and the adapter, I'll post some photos here.

Jamie, thanks for the compliment on the gourd photo, and Shawn, thanks for the 10-20 samples, greatly appreciated.

I tried a few more m42 lenses, all Pentax. The 35mm f3.5 had some color smearing in the corners, I probably won’t use it again. The 50mm f1.4 SMC seems OK, I got it to work on the adapter, I think I overtightened it on the first attempt.

Went out on a snowy walk yesterday and took along a Pentax 135mm f3.5 SMC, it seemed to work great. Although I usually shoot B&W, I did try some in color, and the Pentax does render color a bit differently than the native 30mm f1.4 Sigma. Auto white balance seemed to help. Longer lenses seem to be fine.

The 30mm f1.4 is very good, happy with it.

The camera handles well, and battery life is MUCH better than the DP Merrills. I was out in the cold for about 2 hours one battery did the job.

I do think the Merrill cameras have a more organic “film-like look,” but I think I can get close to that with more practice on the Quattro files. Some have said the DNGs don’t look as good as X3F files run through SPP, but I don’t see any difference. And the out-of-camera jpegs are really very good. The Quattro files do seem smoother, a bit more plastic looking.

A few other quirks…

Strangely, aperture priority metering changes when switching from color to B&W mode on the camera. The B&W files seem to need + 0.7 to match. Anyone else notice this?

I find it easier to use focus magnification with peaking turned off.

The secondary LCD panel is handy, but I wish it contained “WB” rather than metering pattern.

I'm still deciding what wider lens to get. It appears on their website that Sigma might swap out mounts on the new 16mm f1.4, for a fee. I'll check with a local dealer to see what that would cost.

 

[Larry H-L]

Too cold and windy today, so some old tools from the garage, SD Quattro, 58mm f2 Helios 44-2.

Looking forward to seeing some photos Jamie.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Sigma Sd Quattro H, Sigma 35mm f1.4 "Art" lens
Walking around - Yokohama, Japan

g

 

[Larry H-L]

Mike, you really nailed focus on the second photo, very sharp.

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Mike, you really nailed focus on the second photo, very sharp.

Thank's Larry, I was pleased with that shot too.

A few more taken with the Quattro H and the 35mm f1.4 "Art" lens.

 

[shawn]

The Nikon to Pentax K adapter arrived. It does mount on the Sigma but has a *slight* amount of play but is very usable. I tried a 85 1.4D, 105 2.5 and the Tamron 90mm 2.8 1:1 macro on it. They all focused out to about 3-4' and couldn't go any further which makes sense due to the depth of the adapter. It is about 13mm so with the difference in flange length it is acting like about an 11mm extension ring.

The Tamron Macro lens seems to work well on the Sigma.

Just a quick test under a lamp. 34 image stitch from JPEG on a manual focus rail at basically minimum focus distance.

Shawn

 

[Yokosuka Mike]

Sigma Sd Quattro H, Sigma 17-70mm f2.8-4 "Contemporary" lens
Naruko Onsen town - Miyagi, Japan

Kokeshi Dolls

Kokeshi doll mail box

Kokeshi doll phone booth

 

[shawn]

Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm f5.6

Sigma 10-20mm at 10mm f5.6

Sigma 10-20mm at 11mm f10

Sigma 10-20 at 13mm f9

Sigma 50mm 1.4 EX at 5.6

Sigma 50mm 1.4EX at 1.4

Sigma 50mm f1.4EX at f4

DC Crop off on the 10-20 shots.

Shawn