Bigma soft or blur due to other factors?

[Lightstream]

A 100% crops from today's work with the Bigma.

http://pix.lightrefineries.org/albums/photos/abk.sized.jpg


I did think it looked a little soft despite the fact it was shot wide open 1/1000 shutter speed, handheld though, but the speed should be fast enough to overcome handshake blur and I have held the Bigma at lower speeds before and gotten away with it.

Unsharp masking has been applied to these crops, 200% with 0.3 pixel radius.

http://pix.lightrefineries.org/albums/photos/abl.sized.jpg

The second shot was taken with my 70-300 IS USM at full 300mm and USM'ed as well, it looks a whole lot better.

What do you guys think? I suspect it may be operator error really, but I'm not sure.

[cdifoto]

I would say there's some blur there, perhaps wind + camera shake despite the high shutter speed. Bigma's rather sharp, even wide open.

Run some controlled tests if you want to rule out user error with absolute certainty.

[farrukh]

It looks motion blur to me.

[condyk]

If you've had good shots before and today you haven't then it implies most likely cause was either shake in you or shake in the bird/branch. I also got good handheld shots with my ex Bigma but the keeper ratio is much lower than using a mono or tri. Taking a good shot of a small bird at distance is also an art in itself. You really do need as stable a platform as you can get and, with a slow lens, enough light.

[Lightstream]

Ahh, thank you all. Some very good points made here. I wasn't ready to blame the lens for an operator deficiency, I just wanted to be sure. If it's me, it's easier to fix than the lens. I can always switch to a tripod, I have a nice sturdy one here with a max loading of 15 pounds.

You're right.. there might actually have been shake in the branch. Interesting.. I never thought of that, even if I eliminate shake on my part using the tripod, MLU and remote release, I couldn't eliminate shaking of the tree. I will definitely set up a controlled test with a static target and see what I can get.

I don't usually shoot birds, but I was just playing with the Bigma today and happened to see a bird in a tree that stayed still long enough for me to change lenses for.

[ron chappel]

I'm not convinced the problem is motion blur -wether the handholding or branch movement.It doesn't really look like typical motion blur.What it looks more like is missfocus or a bad lens
Perhaps it's front focussed? Not that i'm implying that the lens is faulty -more that the focus sensor may have caught a closer branch,forcing the bird to be just behind the main focus point ?
How does the lens perform elsewhere?

[BigAl-SA]

I'm not convinced The problem is motion blur -wether the handholding or branch movement.It doesn't really look like typical motion blur
Not sure how you measure motion blur, but look at the bill in the first pic. That's motion blur with the doubled bill.

I think the biggest problem is that you're too far from your subject. I don't think it matters what lens you're using, if that's a 100% crop you're going to see some blur. You need to get closer to your subject.

Check this gallery of mine where *everything* was taken with the Bigma:
http://bigal-sa.smugmug.com/gallery/1545869

[ron chappel]

Not sure how you measure motion blur, but look at the bill in the first pic. That's motion blur with the doubled bill.

Maybe not.That could be a shaddow or darker section of the beak (allthough it certainly is blured to some extent).Little of the same effect shows elsewhere in the image



I think the biggest problem is that you're too far from your subject. I don't think it matters what lens you're using, if that's a 100% crop you're going to see some blur. You need to get closer to your subject.
But the other image is shown at 100% as well (as i understand it) and it's a whole lot better as lightstream says.
The 70-300IS may have a good rep but then so does the bigma.And besides,i've seen cheapo consumer zooms that do better at 100%

[BigAl-SA]

Maybe not.That could be a shaddow or darker section of the beak (allthough it certainly is blured to some extent).Little of the same effect shows elsewhere in the imageNot sure how you get a shadow against the sky!! There is a dark halo around most of the bird which really does suggest shake, rather than USM artifacts.

[ron chappel]

In any case it looks much more like dud focus than movement blur ,that's what i'm trying to say

[CyberDyneSystems]

A 100% crops from today's work with the Bigma.

... shot wide open 1/1000 shutter speed, handheld though, but the speed should be fast enough to overcome handshake blur

No guarantee at 500mm hand held @ 100% crop

How long have you had the Bogma?

I ask because making the switch from mid tele to super tele 500mm takes some getting used to. miniscule movement of the camera that would not be so visible in an image taken at 200mm will be very blurry at 500mm
100% crop really shows why a tripod is a must.

[Steve Parr]

A 100% crops from today's work with the Bigma.

How do they look when you're not looking at a 100% crop?

[RikWriter]

The Bigma is not easy to use hand-held. Try it from a tripod on a similar subject and see if you see a problem then.

[Lightstream]

No guarantee at 500mm hand held @ 100% crop

How long have you had the Bogma?

I ask because making the switch from mid tele to super tele 500mm takes some getting used to. miniscule movement of the camera that would not be so visible in an image taken at 200mm will be very blurry at 500mm
100% crop really shows why a tripod is a must.
Definitely consider me a 'trainee' shooter with the Bigma. I have less than 50 frames on it!!

That's why I'm asking because I just need to be sure that it's my fault, so I can work towards correcting that. At this point in time I am getting sharper results from my 70-300, but that is a lens I am very familiar with and it has IS, which helps. The halo around the bird's back also gave me the impression it is handshake blur. I've been incredibly busy this couple of weeks since I got the Bigma, but I'll give it a shot with the tripod next weekend and see how things turn out.

[GyRob]

i would try the battery test manual focus and then auto it proved i had to be more carefull with a 500mm - DOF is tiny and even a bird turning its head just a little can often lose focus on the eye .
in your top shot the twig to the right looks sharper than the twig the birds on i say you missed focus.
Rob.

[Lightstream]

I did a little bit of testing with the Bigma securely seated on the tripod, indoors. Didn't have enough 'range' indoors to get to 500mm, but at 368mm it seems pretty daaaaaaang sharp. Nailed the focus right on the lampshade I pointed it at and you can see the texture of the lamp shade. Beautiful and nothing wrong that I can find with it.

As you guys said it is likely operator error. Will follow up with more tripod mounted shots when I have the time. Will also try and get a clear shot of my subject without other things that the AF might lock onto.