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Sigma 70-200 2.8 APO EX 3 x pics

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peter budd #174299

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My first real chance to use my new lens . I was lucky enough to have an invite to the Sovereign's Parade at Sandhurst - England - on Wednesday. For those who have not seen this in the press , this is the Royal Military Academy in the UK where young men and women are trained to be officers in the army, and where Prince Harry passed out as a commisioned officer. Her Majest Queen Elizabeth II attended for the first time in 15 years. ( Harry's Grandmother )

This picture shows Prince Harry 2nd from left in the front row



This one shows HRH walking back accompanied by the Commanding Officer after the Inspection. Maybe I should have cropped this more.



Part of the parade of Officer cadets



All shots have been resized etc for showing here.

I took about 130 shots mostly with the Sigma and am still going through them. Very pleased with it so far. I am still on a high learning curve with this lens and tomorrow I am off for a 7 day holiday in Cyprus so it should get some more extended use there.

--
Peter

GMT+1 ( BST )
 
That was quite an opportunity. You certainly captured it well with these pictures. Do you have any others you can share with us?

Oh by the way:
peter budd said:
This one shows HRH walking back accompanied by the Commanding
Officer after the Inspection. Maybe I should have cropped this more.
Click to expand...
If you are referring to the Queen, then isn't she HRM (Majesty) instead of HRH (Highness - for the princes etc)? I may be wrong . . .

--
Cheers,
Greg
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gtjkb
 
Sorry but I can't say I like the colors/contrast. I personally have the 28-70 F/2.8 EX, and the first thing I noticed is the color renedition and contrast. They just both seemed dull. Sure the lens was sharp, but to me, great colors and contrast is more important than sharpness.

Your Sigma 70-200 seems to carry the same signature of color quality(or the lack of thereof).
Just my opinion.
But I'm sure it's a great deal for what it is though.
 
and it is one of my favorites. It always produces very sharp images if I do my part. I recently picked up a Sigma 1.4x TC and the image doesn't seem to be degraded at all.

Re the comment on color I thought the color rendition was fine; everything looked natural, especially the skin tones.

Your first image is the best. If I were you, I'd send a tastefully-framed 8x10 or 11x14 copy of the first shot, with Harry, to the Queen as a present, along with a hand-written note offering congratulations and explaining when the shot was taken and where HRH is (I'm sure they'll find him but it would be nice anyway)... and I'd also offer a gift of another copy for the Prince of Wales. I'd bet you'd get a nice response that YOU could mount next to YOUR copy of the image on your wall... and even if not I'd get a kick out of knowing one of my signed photos was on display at Buckingham Palace or Windsor Castle.
--
'Do you think a man can change his destiny?'
'I think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed.'
 
Hi ,

thanks for all the comments.

I will try and post a few more later today. I will put more on pbase in 10 days or so.

I will also be going to the next Sovereings Parade in August as the reason I got an invite is that my daughter is training at Sandhurst to be an officer and she will be commisioned then.

Here's one to be going on with - This has lost some detail in the web conversion.



--
Peter

GMT+1 ( BST )
 
Hi Peter,

I think you'l find this lens perfect for this kind of event. It has enough length to be able to isolate parts of a scene even at large outdoor event provided you can get to the right position. I always feel confident that the Sigma will "get the shot" (provided I do my bit :-)

Take care and enjoy Cyprus, we have a friend from there (the Turkish part) and I would love to visit so please share some images with us!

Regards,

--
Brett



The Journey is the Thing
 
Just curious, you guys keep saying "as long as I do by part or Bit" what kind of things specifically are you talking about. I hope to get this lens in the next few weeks. I want to know what things I need to make sure I am doing to get the shot. I assume some of it is obvious (shutter speed, apreture).
--
Pat from Western Mass. USA
*ist DS
 
vievetrick said:
Just curious, you guys keep saying "as long as I do by part or Bit"
what kind of things specifically are you talking about. I hope to
get this lens in the next few weeks. I want to know what things I
need to make sure I am doing to get the shot. I assume some of it
is obvious (shutter speed, apreture).
--
Click to expand...
Pat, what I mean has nothing to do with the lens in use, what I means is the photographers artistic eye, ability to judge the moment, skill to get the best position, experience to know what will work and last (and least) some technical ability. Despite the way we cary on here about gear, equipment is the least of the equation as I am sure you know!

There isn't much to know about this lens that is any different to other lenses. Some say that's 1.27kg weight means they must use a monopod or tripod but I don't find that (especially as I use the BGI vertical grip on my *istD) as it is well balanced in the hand. The fast f/2.8 aperture just gives you more shutter options as the light falls and of course low dpeth of field options which is critical from my perspective.

--
Brett



The Journey is the Thing
 
Gorgeous colurs!

Now you mention cropping yourself..... the pic with the queen would have been better if the empty space was to the right of her/them, instead of the left. As it is, they seem to be walking out of the picture, insted of into it. Otherwise very fine pics ;-)
--
Kurt S.
 
Nice shots! I've had this lens for about six months. I've used it mainly for taking shots of my son playing rep hockey. It's a great lens. I received many compliments from other parents saying that my shots were better than the "pros" that take shots at the rink and sell action pics at $30 a pop. I must admit that I was a bit shy at first taking shots next to the guy with the C*n*n and the big white lens but when I saw his shots displayed on the monitor I noticed they had blown highlights, over saturated and grainy.
 
Thanks for the input Brett. I can't wait to get my hands on this lens. My son starts little league in a few weeks and this will be the lens of choice on game days.
--
Pat from Western Mass. USA
*ist DS
 
Here are a final couple of shots for now.

The Officer Cadets are basically housed in two buildings at Sandhurst. Old College , where all the parade photos are taken and New College . Old College houses the new intakes and New College houses the Intermediates and the Seniors ( There a 3 intakes per year ) This is a shot of New college main tower. I have put this in as there is no PP done on this at all except to convert from raw to tif to jpg and a slight crop.



This horse is called Sevastopol.



--
Peter

GMT+1 ( BST )
 
I really like the look of photos taken with this lens. I have an 80-200/4 but would like AF and the extra stop. This lens is one I really am considering.

Also, do not be afraid of pro photogs using big C DSLR's. I have shot with quite a few, even when I was using a K1000 with cheap primes. What counts is the end result and is not determined by the size of your camera body nor white lenses.
 
Kurt Schilling said:
Gorgeous colurs!
Now you mention cropping yourself..... the pic with the queen would
have been better if the empty space was to the right of her/them,
instead of the left. As it is, they seem to be walking out of the
picture, insted of into it. Otherwise very fine pics ;-)
--
Kurt S.
Click to expand...
Hi Kurt,

yes I totally agree. I have recropped it and replaced it. So if you look at the original post it now reflects the change. Much better and thanks for your suggestion.
 
means you have to hold the camera steady, ensure that the desired subject is in focus, that the aperture and/or shutter speed are set appropriately (whether you use Program, AP auto, SP auto, or manual mode), etc.

Despite what the camera manufacturers would have you believe, great photos aren't made by the equipment, they're made by the photographer.

That is what "doing your part" is all about.
--
'Do you think a man can change his destiny?'
'I think a man does what he can until his destiny is revealed.'
 
Some nice first shots, especially the first one.

Hope you enjoy your holiday and take a lot of good photos :)

Cheers and happy shooting.
--
Frank
GMT+8hours
http://www.weisphoto.com/

 
About the only thing I could suggest is that you darken up the top left legs a little as they distract (IMHO of course) from the focal point of the main group.

Here's a real quick and dirty version of what I mean:



Look forward to seeing more of your shots.

cheers
--

Dale

 
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