Sigma 85mm f1.4 - New Mid-range Telephoto

Sigma 85mm f1.4 EX DG HSM

The Sigma 85mm f1.4 EX DG HSM Lens was announced months ago. It was due to release in the summer, but it actually became available in November.

Yours truly had great hopes for this lens, but I got tired of waiting and checking to see if it was available. Then, totally by accident, I came across it on Amazon, and to my shock, it is now shipping.
The Sigma 85 turns out to be a wonderful alternative to Canon's own 85mm f1.2 and Nikon's 85mm f1.4. On the Canon side, the price is almost $1000 less and for the Nikon model, you can save a respectable $200.

Right up front, I will admit that if you are a Canon shooter, and money is not an issue, go ahead and get the f1.2 version.

However, if you are not yet decided, by all means check out this comparison, because this new lens has gotten the attention of some "pixel peeping" experts in terms of its excellent performance.

I was personally interested in the release because of the perfect focal length and aperture for portrait photography. At f1.4, you will get superior Bokeh, as good as the more expensive lenses. And this is the goal of portrait photographers.

But aside from portraits, there are two other aspects of a really fast medium telephoto lens.

The first is indoor sports. The wide open aperture will get you some extremely fast shutter speeds in low light at events like basketball (my personal favorite). I have used my Canon 70-200 f4.0 lens with mediocre results. The Sigma 85mm f1.4 with its HSM (hypersonic motor) is "the cat's meow" in this type of light and action.

The second place this lens really shines is when using the video function on your digital SLR. The prime lens has such good image quality that it makes video look absolutely amazing. Again, the bokeh in your video (if taken at the wide open aperture) will look smooth and professional.


Tests against Canon and Nikon have placed the Sigma lens at equal or just below equal in image quality. And Sigma has been working hard to gain the trust of the expert photographic community.
This handsome lens deserves your attention.

Go to www.sigma85mm.com for more about the Sigma 85mm f1.4 medium telephoto lens. You will like what you see... guaranteed.

Canon and Nikon Again ~ Nikon D7000 vs Canon 7D

It truly is another digital slr camera shootout. Nikon D7000 Versus Canon 7D proves to be a war worthy of your attention. Which one is better?

7D sample from ming1967 Photostream on Flickr

Nikon has recently introduced its next generation mid-level digital slr. The Nikon D7000 is basically an upgrade for the D90, and that's a difficult place to fill. The D90 has become, and is still, an excellent camera meant for advanced amateurs and pros as well.


This new launch will fit in the identical grouping as the Canon 7D with regards to functions are concerned. Both are definitely not full frame digital SLRs, however both have elevated the bar regarding "crop sensors" to new levels.


Nikon and Canon have been duking it out for a long time now within the Digital slr market. Whenever a new launch comes by one, you can count on the other remaining right behind with a very similar dslr camera. The Nikon D7000 vs Canon 7D may possibly end up being among the hottest fought battles yet.

Sample image from the Nikon USA website

The truth of the matter is that the die-hard enthusiasts of either trademark are going to have their boasts of superiority for his or her personal manufacturer, and they will in all probability be warranted in what they say. No matter what camera you choose, you will have a great bit of photography design.


And so at this point, what exactly is there to compare and contrast?


First of all, a statement pertaining to sensor capacity. The canon features the larger sensor by just about 2-megapixels, however that is undoubtedly irrelevant. What is relevant is that you may well need to have much more storage area on your personal computer with either one of these cameras. A Raw picture will certainly take up to 16 megabytes of space. Should you shoot a sporting affair making use of continuous shooting mode with six to eight fps, think of how soon you are going to gobble up space both on your computer as well as on the storage media inside your camera.


Talking about storage cards, the Nikon features two slots for two times the images without needing to replace your cards. The canon has merely one position, although it offers dual picture processing for extremely quick efficiency.


One more plus regarding the Nikon D7000 is that auto focus functions while in video capture. For the Canon 7D, the video recording is an impressive function, but you need to manually focus whenever adjusting focal length.


One more difference is in selling price. The D7000 has a cost about $200 less than the 7D for purchasing just the dslr camera body. By the way, it is far better evaluate which lenses you would like depending on the style of Images you are likely to take most often before choosing a camera body with a package lens.


To get more about the Canon 7D and Nikon D7000 cameras visit http://hubpages.com/hub/Canon-7d-VS-Nikon-d7000