[edit, this post is bumped (brought to top) every time there is an important update being made on the X3F Quick look plugin. The original post was made back in 2008 and bumped a couple of times since then. Now it's time again!].

Jeff Sickels, the creater of Sigma X3F quicklook plugin has once more shown his skill and released a new update with OS X Lion support! He writes:

An updated build of the X3F Spotlight Importer and Quicklook generator is now released for Lion. See version 1.5.1 on the software link.

Here’s a movie I made a couple of years ago about the plugin.

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What do you do when you have set day to shoot, and that day turns out to be very dark and rainy? You could reschedule or.. use your SD14 and the Sigma 120-300 OS for every single shot. Why SD14 when I have SD15? Well, it wouldn’t be as much fun now, would it? No. :) And it was tricky to get colors the way i like them – and these are more or less straight out from SPP5 beta.

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The 120-300 OS is such nice lens to work with – I had a monopod and nothing more. I wasn’t afraid of the rain as I know the SD14 can take quite some – and the 120-300 OS is weather sealed so the combo should work fine and as you see in these shots – even if it was raining it wasn’t like cats and dogs.

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I tried to keep a nice distance between me and my objects – Above shot is taken using the full 300mm – they’re all electric bikes so I thought it was a bit fun to shoot with the old gas thingi in the background. Sort of fit the retro look of those bikes as well.

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There was some foldable bike that I had to shoot – I used my little brother as my model, he’s very proud of his work. :) I might also add that the bluish / magenta tint that’s slightly over each shot is more or less a side effect of bad light and sd14. SD14 has a strong tendency towards green and well, I could have fought back using flash and more light which normally solves the issue but this time I didn’t wanna risk them due to the weather. So bare the slight tint – and try to look beyond.

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So, these are all taken using the old SD14, using it’s 4.6MP capability. Please have a look at those full sized versions to fully appreciate the quality.

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Been fooling around with my mirror adjustments and one of my old SD14′s got helped and asked for a last ride – we had our glorious moments in the past and I must say that although the SD15 is a much improved camera with it’s awesome LCD and more realistic colors – the SD14 does indeed have another stop or two of highlights and those colors are much more playful and “foveonish” than later cameras. (including the DP series). Having used the SD15 as my main work horse since it was released the SD14 feelt very old, perhaps mainly because of the tiny LCD! It’s so hard to evaluate anything useful from it compared to it’s bigger brother, the SD15. I was also reminded that bigger buffer is better. :)

I will not write much here, but let these pictures do the talk. It’s some of what’s been passing by the last two days and well.. SD14 is a great camera and somehow I feel that it has a wider spectrum of colors compared to anything out there – especially in ISO50 mode and that will also be the reason for me to keep using it. It has a depth that’s really hard to beat.

The two bird shots are both highly cropped.

Alright a third post with only 120-300 OS images! As heavy as it is, it’s also very well balanced which makes you stable – that plus stabilizer and you will be able to take hand held shots in situations you didn’t think possible (or it only feels heavy.. ). Although, most of these shots was taken at 1/160s and above.

As a street lens it’s kind of big – A bit bigger than what people normally see, and especially bigger than you would mind pointing at you which also makes it kind of harder for someone like me wanting to “blend in”.. That’s also one of the great reasons to why the DP1 / DP2 is such great street cameras.. They blend.

This Dove is one of those great examples of shots where that tremendous amount of resolution shines thru. Have a look at the 100% crop just below and think for second about how it would look if it was taken using the SD1. mmmm.. Yummy!

As someone already pointed out, these are some really yellow flowers! :D Yes, and the secret ingredient is SD15 + color modes! And to get that spicy yellow tone found in nature you need to use “landscape” color mode as I did on the above shot – but beware – some shots just doesn’t look right with it so test but use your eyes and mind. Also at times you might tune saturation down a notch to make it more natural.

This last shot was taken using the SD14 and I’m really happy that I have some of those around as it’s color rendition is quite different and quite interesting compared to the SD15 which is more neutral and perhaps more correct, but not as fancy and the SD15 also lacks some of that extremely wide DR! A bit like changing film in the days.

A while ago I was asked to take sample images for Sigma using their new 120-300 OS. So a month ago they sent me a working beta sample which was said to be alright optically but perhaps not perfectly refined in terms of AF and OS. As an owner of the older 120-300 2.8 and knowing it’s ability to really stun and also having heard that the new lens being among the very best that Sigma ever done – let’s just say I was eager to make it sing..

One of the very first things I noticed was that the stabilizing system (OS) that wasn’t optimized worked tremendously well.  Actually much better than any of my other OS lenses – No, wrong, the very first thing I noticed was that’s it was bigger and perhaps a tad heavier than it’ predecessor, and that the tripod mount came to better use when turned to the top – easier to carry the whole package that way and less intrusive while shooting handheld. And handheld is how this gun is supposed to be used.

Now you wonder, how is it? And I’ll tell you – It’s the very best! It’s so sharp, straight ahead from 2.8 – a good example is this shot of a goose (or whatever) that was sleeping in a lake – and I shot it at 269mm at 2.8. That’s wide open.

And if you’re a bokeh fanatic, then you’ll love this lens as the bokeh is truly awesome. It has it’s own life, especially the part of off focus going your way – but it’s really nice!

Or this seagull, taken at 300mm, 2.8 and using the Sigma SD14.

And I know what you’re thinking – this lens is like MADE for the SD1! And I think it’s the ultimate lens both in terms of sharpness and build quality – as it’s also weather protected as the new SD1 body.

I also did another thing – I bought some freash 123A batteries – and a new package of AA’s – this is something I wanted to do for quite some time! The 2002 Sigma SD9 body amazed me ones more and I’ll tell you, if you have it somewhere around or if you’re thinking about getting one – DO IT! It’s like starting to use a different type of film – a film that is just impossible to duplicate using any other camera. The SD9 is, the SD9.

And two more SD9 images.. I have plenty more but will save those for another post in a couple of days. I’m busy as we speak with a little something, the little something is partly the reason to why I haven’t posted anything in weeks. I’ll be back! And this is only the first post of at least two about the 120-300 OS.

Many years ago I saw some fascinating shots over at the Dpreview forum – most of them was taken early in the morning and they all had nature as the main theme. I was blow away by their unique quality – the light, the calm and most shot at a time of the day that I really really have a hard time to achieve.  The early morning.

Felix is an Austrian photographer – and he’s currently using the Sigma SD14 but started out with the good old Sigma SD9 (and one of my old favorites is shown bigger here below) and I bet he’s awaiting the SD1 – or I know he is. Who isn’t? :D

Anyways, he’s now in my photographers tab and will be able to post here about photography in the future and I’m truly looking forward to that!

I’ve been busy with christmas stuff and also with the trip to Stockholm – it’s now in the middle of the night and I just can’t sleep without having posted at least a few pictures before falling into infinity.. So here’s a little something..

Sigma 8-16mm is incredible. Handheld in full speed. :)

Instead of a hotell I used one of my friends – Let me introduce Anders Gustafsson shot using the 8-16 at it’s widest. Some strange corrections applied in LR3.

And also a few pictures of what we actually did in Stockholm.. These are “real time” stuff edited on the spot using a green screen, chroma key thingi and a mac. We printed directly to customers in a big shopping mall. I was only there as a guide to build the set and make the light etc look good. Here’s a few test shots we did before leaving.

..and Finally we printed some shots and framed as christmas gifts. Hopefully the receivers doesn’t visit this site before christmas eve. :)

Could’t help myself from not being inside the frame as well.. Both above shots taken with Sigma DP2 – Shots inside frame taken using Sigma SD14.

It’s now 02:44 and it’s really really time to go to bed. Good night everyone, wherever you are!

I really can’t wait for the SD1.. Can you?

Btw, my facial expressions isn’t in sync with what is going on in the video – I was eager to make this video and get it OUT as it would make some of you see the light. But my computer was acting like a baby and crunching data a little too often and the teddy shot is truly impossible. That shot is one of the reasons for my computer to — almost die.

Photo prepared using SPP 4.x. I’ll let the video speak for itself.
The lens? 50mm 1.4

Some shots I recently took of my sister Karin and her husband and daughter. :)

Sigma SD14, 10-20 (first shot) and 70mm. And yes, the Sigma 530DG flash is used from a distans – would be better if I for ones started to use some colored gels.. but, no. Not yet. :)

I tried my best to make a shot that more or less looked the same and to my surprise I learned a thing along the way. The DP1x (and perhaps DP2 and SD15 too) is extremely sensitive to what WB you select. Make sure you pick the right one and your colors will look much better! I selected the wrong one first in the scene below and SD14 got it right using auto WB, but DP1x looked correct first after using “Shade” wb – all other options made orange look red! (This is a shade situation)..

All developments done using Sigma Photo Pro 4.2.

Dp1x – f11, 13s iso100. Full size. If I selected Incandescent WB then the greenish corner issue disappear but over all colors will be slightly less pleasing although some parts looks a bit more true. Like the green color. See that version here.

SD14 – f11, 8s, iso100. Full size. Strangely I had a short exposure time here, might be that light fell quickly at the time but .. hmm.. anyways, this SHOULD give the edge to SD14 so bare that in mind.

And some easier to view comparisons shots..
DP1x to the left. SD14 to the right.

Open up those shadows! What happens then? I added som e nasty X3 fill light so see what was behind the darker areas of the picture. How well does the DP1x hold up? The DP1x crop is from the second shot above, using the incandescent WB. Dont’ ask me why.

Another note. The Sigma 10-20 that I used on the SD14 performed very nice before I got the DP1 , but now, knowing how good the lens of the DP1 is everything else looks pretty pale in comparison. True with the DP1x as well. There might of course be a slight difference in focus as well, it’s easier to focus perfectly on the DP1x for sure. LIVE VIEW PLEASE!!! (SD1)

I had the pleasure to have a walk with two of my babies, the Dp1x and the good old SD14. Took a shot using the 10-20 set at 16mm and here’s the result from a scene where light is very tricky, and colors are difficult with the same settings – Tho colors has different settings in SPP as they ended up so far from each other.

You can see that SD14 has a tendency towards green that the Dp1x (and DP2 and SD15) lacks. Also, reds comes out way stronger in the DP1x – perhaps a tad too blue too, but that could be my processing (for sure). And my suspicion about Dp1x (and SD15) that they have slightly less DR is pretty easy to spot in the above image as the door of the car is more or less blown out in the Dp1x shot but not so much in the SD14 shot. I think this has to do with how colors are processed. In order to get better and more realistic colors they had to cut some of them slightly earlier and that results in what we see above. In the monochrome WB version, everything is there!

Ok, Now I’m off to have a cup of coffee together with Surte Fotoklubb.

Today I’ve been very busy taking pictures like the ones above – my dear mother paints for a living and sells reproductions in a huge amount of different frames, and sizes. She has an online store today but the images there is un-buyable and I decided to help her out and make it a little bit more welcoming. The empty frames could be filled with whatever selected art in the online store (at least that’s my thinking – that’s my next headache)..

Sigma SD14 – Sigma 70mm and Sigma 530 strobe.

I went shooting some today with another Sigma photographer – Bengt Werner and one of my former students Jimmy – We went to my grandfathers farm testing out some new toys I got – the 8-16mm super wide zoom and the 17-50 2.8 OS. I used both SD14 and SD15 – Most shots below taken using the SD15. I will review those lenses a little bit closer soon, but please examine these first. :)

Four shots below from here has been developed using Lightroom, the rest is all SPP 4.2.

Above shot is taken by Jimmy.

Someone asked for higher ISO with SD15, so in the barn I went, checking out a cute cat and his friends..  The first shot is a un-processed ISO800 shot taken with the 17-50 OS – light was pretty bad so it’s a pretty good representation of what higher ISO looks like.

When thinks go darker and I need higher ISO then I go monochrome, like in the two shots above. Those are 1600+ (starting out from ISO800) – the cow shot is ISO3200. You don’t want to see that one in color. :) Or perhaps I’ll post one. Later.

Last shot will be one of Bengt.. I must say that light was a bit tricky, not entirely sure what temperature to pick. Light at the time was pretty warm, but air was cold. hmm..

The knife maker. Shot on Marstrand using SD14 + Sigma 50mm 1.4 and using sun as main light and Sigma 530 DG and back shape light.  ISO50. Now, ISO50 is such a compressed format that you really need to expose with great care. His shoulder is totally white and if it was shot at ISo100 it would still be information there. There is, if I convert to Monochrome but because it’s only info from one or two channels (Showing strange colors if still shown) Sigma has decided to erase everything in those areas.. I had lots of overexposed ISO50 shots yesterday and I regret shooting at ISO50. Stupid me.

If you look closer you’ll see a light shadow in his glasses, that’s where the round shape of a tiny beauty dish were before I erased it using LR3. Strong sun from the back and the Sigma 530 DG from slight above using a beauty dish making the sharp light disappear. SD14 + 50mm 1.4 + ISO50 (or more ISO25). Too much light entered the 50mm so I had to emphasizes those shadows and the hat quite a lot.

The oldish couple. Shot using 10-20 with sun as main and 530 DG as side light. Slight green color on the left shows where 530 is placed. SD14 and ISO50.  This came out slightly dark, best viewed at full size.

The above shot was slightly overexposed ISO50 shot, skin was overexposed in the color version – this version is equal to ISO25.  These two guys are well known over at www.99.se Goflorp (handle) and Rei Trulsson.. Nice to talk a bit with to of my readers in real life. :)

Childhood friends passing by, had to take their picture. The 530 from the far right. I should have used one more flash on their legs, that would probably make this shot a lot better. And yes, the 530 was a little too powerful this time. SD14 10-20mm ISO50

And finally, three shots of Linn. I’m so happy to have her around so I can play!! :D

These last two could have been more worked on in SPP or LR but.. I didn’t. In the last shot the flash was slightly to close to her and skin is a little overexposed. Could work better as monochrome. All three  shot using SD14 and 10-20mm. ISO50 on all.

All above images available as full size on flickr. Handle with care.