First Shots with Sigma 70-300mm Lens

06/05/2004 02:34:50 PM · #1

Here are some test shots from the past couple days of me trying out my first 70-300mm lens. I must say I am quite astonished at how shakey things are at 300mm. These were all hand held, so some are a bit blurry. These are also uncropped. Give me a few minutes to figure out how to post just the thumbnails... I am quite happy with this lens, as long as I can keep it still. I was really excited to get it, even if I can only get the cheap stuff! Please comment, pointers anything, its all appreciated, good and bad.

Message edited by author 2004-06-05 14:44:07.

06/05/2004 02:46:01 PM · #2

Which lens is this? The APO Super II w/the red band around the end of the lens?

06/05/2004 02:49:11 PM · #3

Correct, I don't think my photography skills do the lens justice. These are the first shots I've ever taken with this lens and in general I'm very very new to SLRs.

Message edited by author 2004-06-05 14:50:15.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

06/05/2004 02:54:53 PM · #4

I think the pics look fine but it is hard to tell from such small samples. I am thinking of replacing my Canon 75-300 w/this lens.

Can you send me the file as it came out of the camera for the tractor shot and the fist shot of the ducks?

nborton

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

06/05/2004 02:58:03 PM · #5

you may already know this, but you asked for some tips. i had this lens too at one time. the best tip at least for me, was to remember to set the shutter speed to 1/the focal length. so if you are at 300mm then it would be 1/300. but you also have to take into account the 1.6x crop factor, which means 300mm is now 480mm. so now you can't handhold a shot any slower than 1/480 sec, and with f5.6 being the fastest you can go on the long end you have to have a lot of light.

edit: this is all to ensure sharp results

Message edited by author 2004-06-05 14:59:18.

06/05/2004 03:04:42 PM · #6

Originally posted by nborton:

I have heard this before and I know some people live by it. I do think though that this is a rule to be broken. I can hand hold my Canon 300mm which is also 5.6 and get sharp shots at less than 1/300s

I guess this could also be debated but, I would agree that you should be at 1/480s if the DR actually magnified the image but I do not agree with this theory because it is actually a Crop factor. Just cropping the edges off of an image does not actually magnify the image. It would be just like taking a 35mm photo and cropping the edges. If you knew you were going to crop the edges by 1.6 on the 35mm, would you have to take that into account prior to taking the shot to determin what your shutter speed should be? If it were magnification, yes, because it is a crop, I say no.

Thanks!

Message edited by author 2004-06-05 15:05:19.

06/05/2004 03:13:57 PM · #7

Here are the links to the actual photos. Click the Original for the original sized shots. Yeah I wasnt keeping much attention to the shutter speed. Mostly just shot in P mode. I tried not taking shots that were too far from a shutter speed of 1/focal length. I think it would have helped if I wasnt facing the sun. I'm slowly learning. I got a lot of looks at the gardens I was taking pictures at, I just laughed.

//figz.com/~deters/photos/index.php?dirarg=20040603
//figz.com/~deters/photos/index.php?dirarg=20040604

Message edited by author 2004-06-05 15:16:41.

06/05/2004 03:22:34 PM · #8

Originally posted by CptCorN:

Thanks!

pitsaman

Canon EOS-30D

Canon EF 50mm f/1.8 II

06/05/2004 03:31:41 PM · #9

Test shows :
Sigma AF 4.0-5.6 70-300mm APO Macro Super 3.21 (2) = average

average quality,you got what you paid for !

Much better though than Canon competitors

Canon EF 4-5.6 75-300mm USM IS 2.62 (5) = sub-average
Canon EF 4.5-5.6 100-300mm USM 2.45 (4) = sub-average