New Sigma 150/600 (2 Viewers)

[Paul - Herts]

Yes I know your link was wrong Paul but I went in and compared the Tammy wide open (f5.6) at 400mm and the sigma wide open (f6.3) at 400mm and to my mind the Sigma slightly shaded it in mid-frame.

Think we are going to have to put it down to personal preference and possibly that the Tamron is a slightly brighter image, but having looked again I still feel the Tamron at 5.6 is sharper than the Sigma at 6.3 and that is across the board. What is really odd is that I think it's noticeably so :smoke:

 

[the black fox]

Enzodiac ,have you tried switching on dynamic o.s with the USB dock that should help ,it changed the way my lens performed completely .

 

[the black fox]

And Roy I hear what your saying about these comparison charts ,but I now know from experience that the sigma sports lens straight out of the box,(which is the logical way they would test one ),is just a ordinary performer .
However once fine tuned via the USB dock it becomes a different beast entirely ,if I had in fact listened to various test reports that have been published or the initial tirade on here I would have returned mine very quickly .or indeed not even bought one however i took the time to acclimatise myself to it and to learn what it can do and personally I,m more than happy with my purchase .
Hopefully the techies that have made all this possible will also come up with further enhancements that can be done via the dock as time goes on .
The only thing I don't like on the lens is the strap lugs tend to let the strap get caught up in use and the tripod mount leg is to tight to the body ,but the new TS-81 foot should cure that

 

[enzodiac]

Enzodiac ,have you tried switching on dynamic o.s with the USB dock that should help ,it changed the way my lens performed completely .

I read your findings earlier but haven't had time to try it out since I don't have the usb dock yet. I will pick one up tomorrow and give it a try.

But from what I understand the different OS settings in the usb dock only effects the viewfinder and not the OS function when taking pictures?

 

[the black fox]

I read your findings earlier but haven't had time to try it out since I don't have the usb dock yet. I will pick one up tomorrow and give it a try.

But from what I understand the different OS settings in the usb dock only effects the viewfinder and not the OS function when taking pictures?

not sure on that aspect of it but it certainly helps with hand holding it steadily .switching on main focus point priority also helps .its a package that has to be put together .two pics below from early this morning the bullfinch at 1/320sec and the dove at 1/250th sec should show thats its working properly .i had a hour or so out with another forum member trying out the sports against the tamron in normal u.k in the field conditions this morning ,it will be interesting to see his appraisal

 

[Mickr]

I read your findings earlier but haven't had time to try it out since I don't have the usb dock yet. I will pick one up tomorrow and give it a try.

But from what I understand the different OS settings in the usb dock only effects the viewfinder and not the OS function when taking pictures?

The changes are made directly to the lens, how would it work the way you mention?

 

[enzodiac]

The changes are made directly to the lens, how would it work the way you mention?

Yes I understand that you reprogram the lens through the usb hub. But my question is if the OS settings effect how the lens stabilizes during shutter release or just how the lens stabilizes the viewfinder before taking the shot. I read a review stating that in fact the OS settings in the hub only effects the viewfinder image.

But I will of course check this out! I'll pick up a hub tomorrow and try your settings the black fox!

 

[enzodiac]

not sure on that aspect of it but it certainly helps with hand holding it steadily .switching on main focus point priority also helps .its a package that has to be put together .two pics below from early this morning the bullfinch at 1/320sec and the dove at 1/250th sec should show thats its working properly .i had a hour or so out with another forum member trying out the sports against the tamron in normal u.k in the field conditions this morning ,it will be interesting to see his appraisal

Looking good, although I never had an issue at lower shutter speeds really. And close subjects work good too. I think longer distances and faster shutter speeds together with OS doesn't work 100%. This could be down to poor technique from my side of course. I'm gonna have to try some more with tripod, OS on, OS off etc.

Here are two examples.
Bluetit was taken with 1/250th of a second. Deer was at 1/2000. The deer occupies more screenspace but is less sharp. Yes the Deer was approximately 30 meters away and the bluetit 10 meters, but I have had much sharper images then the deer before at even longer distances.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc3eg44g9grgwhc/AACs3gKUCX3cnS_HWwTpmNata?dl=0

edit: I removed all kinds of sharpening from these images to be fair.

 

[the black fox]

ah now i see ,BOTH of those shots are similar to what i was getting before i changed the settings via the dock ,look back on my early photos with the lens to see or better still on my flickr stream .i would suggest its 70% the lens in need of tuning and 30% technique on your part ,your also making the basic mistake that i and probably others made in thinking that as i/we have a longer lens we can afford to keep further away from our targets WRONG ASSUMPTION we need to be as close or even closer than before to get frame filling shots ,this will help to achieve the desired quality .when you sit down and run it through you will realise i'm speaking sense ,its not a hubble galaxy searcher just a slightly longer lens

 

[enzodiac]

ah now i see ,BOTH of those shots are similar to what i was getting before i changed the settings via the dock ,look back on my early photos with the lens to see or better still on my flickr stream .i would suggest its 70% the lens in need of tuning and 30% technique on your part ,your also making the basic mistake that i and probably others made in thinking that as i/we have a longer lens we can afford to keep further away from our targets WRONG ASSUMPTION we need to be as close or even closer than before to get frame filling shots ,this will help to achieve the desired quality .when you sit down and run it through you will realise i'm speaking sense ,its not a hubble galaxy searcher just a slightly longer lens

You are totally right about the distances but as you say the quality should be a bit better. I will get back here when I have tried out your settings through the usb hub

 

[the black fox]

another shot from yesterday ,the robin is in a very shaded patch so high contrast involved and lots of shadow lifting but extremely pleased with the results ,it seems to get better every time i use this lens

 

[enzodiac]

Alright I have now tried some different settings on the usb dock. I think you are correct in your findings the black fox (Jeff?)!

The viewfinder is much easier to hold steady with the dynamic mode activated. I also activated the accurate settings for AF point. I will try this out this coming weekend but the small amount of test shots I took now were all tack sharp. Slow or fast shutter speeds!

Take a look at this great tit (hehe). I did use some sharpening on the full size image, but nothing drastic really. Focus is dead on, sharpness is as good as it gets from that distance. I am totally happy with that sharpness! I added a cropped one where I applied sharpness and masks in the "proper" way. Looks good to me

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lc3eg44g9grgwhc/AACs3gKUCX3cnS_HWwTpmNata?dl=0

 

[the black fox]

thanks ,its nice to be vindicated ,as i said yesterday the closer you get the far better this lens is at resolving detail ,the o.s system allows for really slow shutter speeds with good sharpness to .

 

[Mickr]

Yes I understand that you reprogram the lens through the usb hub. But my question is if the OS settings effect how the lens stabilizes during shutter release or just how the lens stabilizes the viewfinder before taking the shot. I read a review stating that in fact the OS settings in the hub only effects the viewfinder image.

But I will of course check this out! I'll pick up a hub tomorrow and try your settings the black fox!

It wouldn't be possible to change anything on the lens which was only seen through the viewfinder, it's not possible.

 

[Mike-P]

It wouldn't be possible to change anything on the lens which was only seen through the viewfinder, it's not possible.

I would have thought if that were the case then turning OS on or off on the lens would make no difference to the viewfinder either ... which it obviously does.

 

[enzodiac]

It wouldn't be possible to change anything on the lens which was only seen through the viewfinder, it's not possible.

It certainly would be possible. In this case though It does effect the picture taking.

 

[the black fox]

By turning on dynamic o.s you get a slight movement in the viewfinder ,enough to ensure its stabilised before triggering the shot ,if you place it on a tripod with the o.s switched on it will also be obvious It's switched on and save messing up any shots

 

[Mickr]

I would have thought if that were the case then turning OS on or off on the lens would make no difference to the viewfinder either ... which it obviously does.

When you look through the viewfinder you're effectively looking through the lens. The Image stabilisation is on the lens so you stabilise the lens and see it through the viewfinder. You can't change anything on the lens regarding stabilisation which will only be seen through the viewfinder and not have an impact on the photograph taken.

 

[Mickr]

It certainly would be possible. In this case though It does effect the picture taking.

How would it be possible? I'm not trying to be a butt or anything, I just can't see any logic which would allow that to happen.

 

[enzodiac]

How would it be possible? I'm not trying to be a butt or anything, I just can't see any logic which would allow that to happen.

If they wanted to they could stabilize it one way before the trigger is pressed and slightly different just before taking the picture. But that would induce some kind of lag in the shutter. Just saying it is possible, but you are right it is not logical in this case.