I was recently looking for a good mobile phone with decent music quality.
I found tons of reviews like the one below:
http://www.squidoo.com/best-music-phones
This review site is no better than any other... It's all rubbish.
And here is why.
Why is all the sites offering a review of "x best music phones" are so locked up on features such as supported formats or player features but none actually bothered to test or at least get up the specs or characteristics such as frequency response? It looks like all the phone owners are only ever listen to the music using dingy earplugs never trying to plug it up to a HIFI?
I was looking to buy a phone for both purposes and failed - three times!
I tried/owed:
1. Sony Ericsson W995 Walkman - mediocre sound quality out of HIFI and very soft bass.
2. HTC DesireC with "beats" - quiet pukey sound and rubbish radio with that
3. Sony xperia U - same as number 1 above, only worse.
I have never been fan of Apple - tell you more I hate it, but now I understand why all the HIFI doc systems are designed for iProducts.
I am not an audiophile and my HiFi is largely hand-made but it's enough to distinguish the lack of quality at the source - for example between a laptop (that sounds good and punchy) and a mobile handset (that is soft and muddy).
For Chrissake, Droid designers, do attend to audiophile needs and stop treating your users as idiots or you will always be trailing behind Apple.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Saturday, June 16, 2012
Head-on comparison Sigma 18-125mm 3.5-5.6 DC vs Tamron 18-200mm 3.5-6.3 XR DII vs Pentax 18-55mm 3.5-5.6 AL
Ever since my lovely Minolta 5D which I used with Minolta 24-105mm lens gave up a ghost and I switched to Pentax K-x i was looking for a decent all-in-one zoom lens to compliment the K-x (which I think is a great camera).
I'm a medium-level amateur who nonetheless pays a lot of attention to image technique and quality, and yet my budget is not great The 18-55 Pentax kit lens is an obvious cheapo, whose range in addition is not great.
After much googling I bought a Tamron 18-200 on ebay, and at first I was quite pleased with the colours and range. However I never could get rid of the feeling of cheapness of the images produced with the lens. Plucking up courage I shelled out anouther £100 on a Sigma 18-125 to see which lens would better suit my needs, to sell the other one. I run a head-on comparison between the above two lenses, adding the Pentax 18-55 kit lens for a bottom-level comparison. See the results of my tests below.
Seeing how heated the debate which lens is the best I hope the comparison would help the others to make up their minds.
What is it with Tamron? Dont know about you folks, but for me, the show stops right here. Too bad. Terrible. unacceptable. muddy. Sorry Tammy, but that is not my fault...
Sigma seems to be on the par with Pentax here. Not great, but that is acceptable.
Pentax is a clear winner for the corner shots, with both superzooms trailing far behind. I can hardly make out Tamron shot's content, and CA is wild.
Here, Sigma is on the par if not better than Pentax. Tamron is still very muddy
Gee, we have a new favourite here. And it's Sigma!Pentax is next, and Tamron is trailing somewhat not too far off!
All 3 lenses are doing not too bad here, with Sigma and Pentax leading with a slight edge on Tamron. CA on Tamron shot is still quite bad, with Sigma controlling it best.
Pentax takes its 1st place back, with Sigma lagging just a little behind. Tamron is all muddy once again.
Tamron fares slightly better than the other two here.
Both Sigma and Tamron are equally ineligibly bad; with Pentax being nice and sharp.
Pentax is in the lead here once again, with Sigma and Tamron being equally soft.
All three are equally good this time, with Sigma having a slight edge on the other two.
Pentax clearly wins here, with Tamron doing a bit better than Sigma
Pentax is in the lead here, with Sigma going a bit softer. Tamron slips off into slime mud once agian.
All three are equally good this time, with suprezooms in the lead, with Tamron edging ahead.
Pentax and Tamron are almost equally good, with Sigma slipping off to the rear.
Tamron is in the lead, Pentax 2-nd and Sigma at the rear.
It's not the best subject for comparison. I'd say they both are equal, with Tamron's exposure a little more contrasty.
Sigma is clearly sharper.
Once again, Sigma beats Tamron, although Tamron seems to have better controlled CA (or is it just watered down being not sharp?)
About the same? Although Sigma looks a bit more natural to me.
Once again, Sigma is sharper and even CA looks more pleasant being thinner.
Sigma beats Tammy again. Sharper, better articulated.
Perhaps CA is a bit worse in Sigma on long-zoom range.
Which is a remarkable taking Sigma is working at the top of its upper range, while Tamron is still well within its "comfort zone".
May be I'll post more pictures here in the future so I'll keep the tempalte table just in case - forgive me the junk!
Update 12/11/2012
Okay, sold off the Tamron and was happily snapping with Sigma, then I noticed in certain conditions it turns out too soft on the whole left part of the frame - for example in sunny conditions.
Here is an example:
Check out the left hand side - most of it is just a blur. F/4.5, 35mm.
I wonder if that is sensor/metering, lighting conditions or if it's my copy playing tricks. If anyone experienced something similar I appreciate to hear from you.
I'm a medium-level amateur who nonetheless pays a lot of attention to image technique and quality, and yet my budget is not great The 18-55 Pentax kit lens is an obvious cheapo, whose range in addition is not great.
After much googling I bought a Tamron 18-200 on ebay, and at first I was quite pleased with the colours and range. However I never could get rid of the feeling of cheapness of the images produced with the lens. Plucking up courage I shelled out anouther £100 on a Sigma 18-125 to see which lens would better suit my needs, to sell the other one. I run a head-on comparison between the above two lenses, adding the Pentax 18-55 kit lens for a bottom-level comparison. See the results of my tests below.
Seeing how heated the debate which lens is the best I hope the comparison would help the others to make up their minds.
18 mm
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax 18mm f3.5 | Tamron 18mm f3.5 | Sigma 18mm f3.5 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax 18mm f5.6 | Tamron 18mm f5.6 | Sigma 18mm f5.6 |
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax 18mm f8 | Tamron 18mm f8 | Sigma 18mm f8 |
55mm
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax 55mm f5.6 | Tamron 55mm f5.6 | Sigma 55mm f4.5 |
Close-up details
Let's take closer pick now, shall we? Below I offer 100% crops at centre, top left and bottom right corners for each of the respective focal and aperture ranges.18mm f/3.5 Center
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
What is it with Tamron? Dont know about you folks, but for me, the show stops right here. Too bad. Terrible. unacceptable. muddy. Sorry Tammy, but that is not my fault...
Sigma seems to be on the par with Pentax here. Not great, but that is acceptable.
18mm f/3.5 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
18mm f/3.5 Bottom Right
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Pentax is a clear winner for the corner shots, with both superzooms trailing far behind. I can hardly make out Tamron shot's content, and CA is wild.
18mm f/5.6 Centre
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Here, Sigma is on the par if not better than Pentax. Tamron is still very muddy
18mm f/5.6 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Tamron is closing in here, Sigma is somewhat gives a slip and Pentax beats the both hands down.
18mm f/5.6 Bottom Right
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Pentax is very muddy, with Sigma not playing a good catch-up. Pentax is a winner.
18mm f/8 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Gee, we have a new favourite here. And it's Sigma!Pentax is next, and Tamron is trailing somewhat not too far off!
18mm f/8 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
All 3 lenses are doing not too bad here, with Sigma and Pentax leading with a slight edge on Tamron. CA on Tamron shot is still quite bad, with Sigma controlling it best.
18mm f/8 Bottom Right
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Pentax takes its 1st place back, with Sigma lagging just a little behind. Tamron is all muddy once again.
55mm f/5.6 Center
Please note for the shots below Penntax' min f at 55mm is 5/6, whereas Sigma and Tamron are 4.5. |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma f/4.5 | Tamron f/4.5 |
Tamron fares slightly better than the other two here.
55mm f/5.6 Top Left
 |
 |
|
| Pentax | Sigma f/4.5 | Tamron f/4.5 |
Both Sigma and Tamron are equally ineligibly bad; with Pentax being nice and sharp.
55mm f/5.6 Bottom Right
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma f/4.5 | Tamron f/4.5 |
Pentax is in the lead here once again, with Sigma and Tamron being equally soft.
55mm f/8 Center
Stopping down a little turns the cards to some degree, but how much? |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
All three are equally good this time, with Sigma having a slight edge on the other two.
55mm f/8 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Pentax clearly wins here, with Tamron doing a bit better than Sigma
55mm f/8 Bottom Right
|
|
|
| Pentax | Sigma | Tamron |
Pentax is in the lead here, with Sigma going a bit softer. Tamron slips off into slime mud once agian.
55mm f/16 Center
Note on the below 3 images Sigma was tested at f/13, whereas the other 2 at f/16, so do give Sigma some extra credit! |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma f/13 | Tamron |
All three are equally good this time, with suprezooms in the lead, with Tamron edging ahead.
55mm f/16 Top Left
 |
 |
 |
| Pentax | Sigma F/13 | Tamron |
Pentax and Tamron are almost equally good, with Sigma slipping off to the rear.
55mm f/16 Bottom Right
 |
 |
|
| Pentax | Sigma F/13 | Tamron |
Tamron is in the lead, Pentax 2-nd and Sigma at the rear.
... Final face-off: Sigma vs Tammy...
With Pentax left behind at 55mm, here is a big guns time.125mm f/5.6 Center
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
It's not the best subject for comparison. I'd say they both are equal, with Tamron's exposure a little more contrasty.
125mm f/5.6 Top Left
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
Sigma is clearly sharper.
125mm f/5.6 Bottom Right
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
Once again, Sigma beats Tamron, although Tamron seems to have better controlled CA (or is it just watered down being not sharp?)
125mm f/8 Center
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
About the same? Although Sigma looks a bit more natural to me.
125mm f/8 Top Left
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
Once again, Sigma is sharper and even CA looks more pleasant being thinner.
125mm f/8 Bottom Right
 |
 |
| Sigma | Tamron |
Sigma beats Tammy again. Sharper, better articulated.
Perhaps CA is a bit worse in Sigma on long-zoom range.
Which is a remarkable taking Sigma is working at the top of its upper range, while Tamron is still well within its "comfort zone".
May be I'll post more pictures here in the future so I'll keep the tempalte table just in case - forgive me the junk!
125mm f/5.6 Top Left
| Table Cell | Table Cell |
| Sigma | Tamron |
Verdict
Well, Tamron goes on ebay - no doubt of it.Update 12/11/2012
Okay, sold off the Tamron and was happily snapping with Sigma, then I noticed in certain conditions it turns out too soft on the whole left part of the frame - for example in sunny conditions.
Here is an example:
I wonder if that is sensor/metering, lighting conditions or if it's my copy playing tricks. If anyone experienced something similar I appreciate to hear from you.
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