SRS should have their lens rental up & running soon. Why not rent a 50-135mm for the day ?

Just to throw another fly in the ointment. Seen as you do not require AF

What about the Voigtlander Nokton 58mm f1.4 ?

Compared to ?

It's certainly far better built than the other modern 50's I've owned (Pentax FA f1.4 & Nikon f1.8 )

I've always wondered why Sigma didn't have an 85 in their line up.

If the 85mm performs as well as their 50mm f1.4 it'll be very interesting indeed. Dependant on the price of course. I paid more for a Sigma 50 than the manufacturers equivalent, I'm not prepared to do that for the higher priced 85's.

I hope they continue to develop fast primes. A 105mm f1.8 or 135mm f2 would be a welcome addition.

Pixmania are part of the Dixons group. Based in France so much of their stuff is grey imports I believe.

Big companies who try & shift bulk like this often get the pricing way off. When they sell a grand total of zero lenses they will discontinue them & sell them off at £10 no doubt !

I don't see too much of an issue here Andrew.

You only took one shot & as you took your time, the girls who wished to hide their face have done so, so there should be no issue on deleting the photo imho.
Now if you had loitered, taking many shots. Or moved around obtrusively trying to catch their faces in shot then I'd say you were exploitative.

Irrespective of the law, you surely cannot object to having your photo taken in public. That's what public means; in public, not in private; in a situation open to public view or access.
Now if someone was trying to catch you in a blatantly derogatary manner by means of deception, or was to obstruct or intefere with you in any way whilst taking photos then that would be seen a violation of your civil liberties & at that I would take indignation.

As an outsider Andrew I think there should be less suspicion. What was an everyday part of life for those girls was a scene of more interest to you I'd say & that's why you took notice & decided to capture it.

On a more blatantly "cut & dried" example. How many of us have looked twice when we've seen hoardes of Japanese tourist taking photos in every direction ?

A nice set of improvised portraits.

I think the close-ups in particular could have done with a little fill from the left (reflector?) as the right sides are ever so slightly blown. Having said that, the directional light in #2 gives a nice 3d effect, with just enough wrap from the umbrella to avoid a harsh light/shadow divide.

A treasured addition to the family album I'd say.

It's the hassle factor Mike, dealing with broken english & trying to get accurate postage estimates to various countries.

Auction on ebay ending Sunday. item 180466675787

I have a Samyang branded 85mm.

As Mike says, build quality is pretty good, bar the hood & lens cap (which reminds me to pick up a "pinch" style cap for it. Focus action is better than alot of AF lenses.

I don't have any experience using it as a portrait lens, but you can see a few of my shots taken with it here there is also a "vivitar 85mm" group on flickr you may want to browse for portrait examples.

I'd certainly buy it again for the price, it performs very well.