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Sigma 150-500 OS - 2 months of results

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John_I

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Sigma 150-500 OS - 2 months of results in Florida confirm to me the value for this lens mainly with the D300 but also the D700.

Most photos including today's (Sunday April 5) were shot hand held with OS many at 1/500 and f8, the camera's sweet spot for me.

I shoot raw and adjust in NXView or NX2 then convert in either with adjustment and resizing for the web in Picasa.

http://jbipix.blogspot.com/search?q=150-500

Suggestions and/or questions welcome.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
John, nice shots you have there with this lens. I have been having a ball shooting with mine also on my D200. I have not shot hand held yet as I usually prefer to shoot from a monopod...

I'm loooking forward to nicer weather to get out and use mine even more...

Bob
--
Photography is more about depth of feeling than depth of field
http://www.pbase.com/mofongo
 
Mofongo said:
John, nice shots you have there with this lens. I have been having a
ball shooting with mine also on my D200. I have not shot hand held
yet as I usually prefer to shoot from a monopod...

I'm loooking forward to nicer weather to get out and use mine even
more...
Click to expand...
Mofongo said:
http://www.pbase.com/mofongo
Click to expand...
Thanks Bob. I usually shoot hand held, occasionally with a monopod and on rare occasions use a tripod as at the Venice Rookery. I haven't noticed much of a difference in results. Good luck on the weather. We are blessed with good light and warm temps in SW Florida.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
Looks good and sharp.

I think this lens is under-rated. Congradulations that you get a very good copy.

Eric.
 
Those are very nice pictures.

I notice that some of the White Egrets photos lack a little detail in the feathers. White birds are not easy to exposure, I had found that if you spot meter the bird and then dial from +.7 to +1.3 Ev sometimes would give you better results.

Juan

--
http://www.pbase.com/juanfotos
 
Thanks for the pics. I have this lens also and really like it.

Any tips or words of wisdom for a fellow bird shooter?

--
Catallaxy
 
josh007 said:
Those are very nice pictures.

I notice that some of the White Egrets photos lack a little detail in
the feathers. White birds are not easy to exposure, I had found that
if you spot meter the bird and then dial from +.7 to +1.3 Ev
sometimes would give you better results.
Click to expand...
josh007 said:
http://www.pbase.com/juanfotos
Click to expand...
Thanks for commenting Juan. Right on about the challenge of exposing for white birds. I do try spot metering but would think that the +.7 to +1.3 Ev would blow the highlights.

In fact I often find myself dialing back in pp to retain detail and do use the highlight protection feature.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
Catallaxy said:
Thanks for the pics. I have this lens also and really like it.

Any tips or words of wisdom for a fellow bird shooter?
Click to expand...
Thanks for the message. So far the key factors are the OS along with 1/500 sec and f8 settings. I would strongly recommend RAW so you can experiment with settings.

Good light and an abundance of larger birds help to hone skills for the smaller faster birds. It does take a lot of time and patience as well as a helping hand from Mother Nature!

... and do take a break with other lenses and opportunities. You come back refreshed! I will post a series from a local concert tomorrow with the D300 and 18-200 VR.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
John_I said:
Thanks for commenting Juan. Right on about the challenge of exposing
for white birds. I do try spot metering but would think that the +.7
to +1.3 Ev would blow the highlights.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind I said "spot meter"; you have to switch from matrix, with dark birds is the opposite, you dial -EV and try always to meter the white or black of the bird.

Remenber the famous 18% gray? What happens is that the meter will try to render white as 18% gray and it will try to turn black into gray as well, you have to compensate and adjust properly.

The next time do this: don't do EV, spot meter the white egret and take the picture; your picture will be underexposed.

So +EV for white feathers or -EV for dark birds if you spot meter, try it the next time you are out.

Juan

--
http://www.pbase.com/juanfotos
 
Really good shots and hand held too. Received mine last Wednesday, having fun shooting backyard birds for now and mostly using a tripod.
Thanks for the tips and for sharing.
--
Detty
 
REBlue said:
Nice shots. I love mine. When the light is plentiful, it is a darn
nice lens. Although, on a D300 with an MB-D10 attached, it is quite a
handful. I have a Feisol carbon fiber monopod arriving tomorrow, and
I intend to give it a whirl shooting soccer this weekend.
Click to expand...
REBlue said:
http://community.webshots.com/user/REBlue01
http://www.flickr.com/photos/reblue/sets/
Click to expand...
Thanks for looking. I would be interested to see some shots from soccer and other sporting events as I have not had that opportunity for this lens. Let us know your observations and post a few results when you have the time.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
John: could you elaborate more on the Learning Curve for the 150-500. I had on for three weeks and sent it back and have a replacement coming Wednesday. I found that everything I shot over 300mm was not sharp. Lots of bluriness at 500mm with a 100% crop. I have seen lots of sharp images posted with this lens so I am giving it another try. I am shooting with a d80 and used a range of f stops and shutter speeds.
 
burton gearhart said:
John: could you elaborate more on the Learning Curve for the 150-500.
I had on for three weeks and sent it back and have a replacement
coming Wednesday. I found that everything I shot over 300mm was not
sharp. Lots of bluriness at 500mm with a 100% crop. I have seen lots
of sharp images posted with this lens so I am giving it another try.
I am shooting with a d80 and used a range of f stops and shutter
speeds.
Click to expand...
Good move as that has not been my experience. I suppose I am making more of an effort to hold rig more steadily. I use f8 and 1/500 or higher in shooting even in good light. All that said it is not a Nikkor at many times the price for the focal length supplied. Good luck with new lens and best wishes.
--
John from Toronto
JBIPix Photoblog - http://jbipix.blogspot.com
 
those are great photos. i use the same combination (d300 and sigma 150-500). here's some recent ones (mixed with some obvious wide angle shots with my d700 and nikkor 17-35 f2.8)

http://flickr.com/gp/darrinzoolander/38gP7q

--
Darrin Lingle
 
burton gearhart said:
John: could you elaborate more on the Learning Curve for the 150-500.
I had on for three weeks and sent it back and have a replacement
coming Wednesday. I found that everything I shot over 300mm was not
sharp. Lots of bluriness at 500mm with a 100% crop. I have seen lots
of sharp images posted with this lens so I am giving it another try.
I am shooting with a d80 and used a range of f stops and shutter
speeds.
Click to expand...
did you stop down all the way to f11 - f14?
--
Darrin Lingle
 
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