June 2011

Ultra-wide-aperture lenses (roughly those capable of going to f/2 or wider) have always been favorites of portrait photographers because of their immense isolating power. The wider the aperture (indicated non-intuitively by a smaller “f-number”) the more shallow the depth of field and therefore the more out of focus the background. In the past I haven’t been too inspired by my 50mm f/1.4 so it usually sits at home. But when Sigma told me about their new 85mm f/1.4 the extra reach of the 85mm appealed to me both for its isolating ability and low light possibilities. I wasn’t disappointed. Read on to see how it performed and how it compares to the competition…

After many years wearing a photo vest stuffed with lenses and film that made me look like a cross between an Empire Stormtrooper and a stuffed chipmunk I was thrilled to park it permanently in my closet with the advent of digital. For situations where I needed a few pieces of gear in the field the clever Thinktank Skin system belt and pouches were a lighter, cooler and frankly more comfortable solution.