06-26-2014, 10:33 PM
At first: why did you choose a camera with interchangeable lenses if you don't like changing them?
At second: I'd never use a manual focus lens, if I want to portrait with wide open aperture. Using f/2 or f/2.8 doesn't leave a lot of space to miss the focus. Using the "focus aid" light in the finder is distracting, I don't want to look down the left side when I try to find a nice composition and a nice expression. In my experience, manual focusing eats too much of time and is too much of distraction
At third: If it's really for portraits, why not leave the zoom away? "Improvement" doesn't necessarily mean "more convenience". Just try to use your feet instead the zoom ring. Maybe you'll find another kind of freedom by just leaving one variable away. But that's just me. I find it more helpful to move between the shots. Leaving away the zoom ring makes my life easier when portraying. I can pay much more attention to place the focus frame on the eye, leave a bit space around the face and crop afterwards, if necessary. I don't want to bother about the perfect frame - that can be done afterwards (and I'm used to it). But I DO bother on perfect focus, that's nothing I can do in post.
Of course, the Sigma should be the better lens in summary. But for portraits only, I guess you could be happier with a AF-S 50/1.8 G. Now, maybe other voices also drop into this thread and give their opinion.
At second: I'd never use a manual focus lens, if I want to portrait with wide open aperture. Using f/2 or f/2.8 doesn't leave a lot of space to miss the focus. Using the "focus aid" light in the finder is distracting, I don't want to look down the left side when I try to find a nice composition and a nice expression. In my experience, manual focusing eats too much of time and is too much of distraction
At third: If it's really for portraits, why not leave the zoom away? "Improvement" doesn't necessarily mean "more convenience". Just try to use your feet instead the zoom ring. Maybe you'll find another kind of freedom by just leaving one variable away. But that's just me. I find it more helpful to move between the shots. Leaving away the zoom ring makes my life easier when portraying. I can pay much more attention to place the focus frame on the eye, leave a bit space around the face and crop afterwards, if necessary. I don't want to bother about the perfect frame - that can be done afterwards (and I'm used to it). But I DO bother on perfect focus, that's nothing I can do in post.
Of course, the Sigma should be the better lens in summary. But for portraits only, I guess you could be happier with a AF-S 50/1.8 G. Now, maybe other voices also drop into this thread and give their opinion.