Sigma 18-50mm 2.8, Canon 135mm 2L - pics from Rock Concert, Opinions?

[CanonXTuser]

The galleries contain what I consider representative of the best from both lens. Pics are between 250k and 550k and generally around 800 x 500 pixels. EXIF info. will also display with the full photo.



http://warangel.typepad.com/photos/canon_concert/ (http://warangel.typepad.com/photos/canon_concert/) - Canon EF 135mm 2L

http://warangel.typepad.com/photos/sigma_concert/ (http://warangel.typepad.com/photos/sigma_concert/) - Sigma 18-50mm 2.8

Pics are straight out of the camera - no processing - and shot in jpeg in auto mode at iso 1600 with some exceptions [have since switched to shooting in .raw].

I just got a Canon XT and these are pretty much my first pics with it and I'm not quite sure what to think about the quality. In fact, I wonder if maybe I got bad copies of both as both get "out of the world" reviews. Could really use input from others whether these straight out of the camera pics are representative of the quality of these lenses and otherwise, what people think.


F(Yi, I was mostly shooting from at least 15 to 30-40 plus feet away. And some of the Everlife and all the By the Tree pics were shot in darkness, except for stage lighting.

[buze]

Whats wrong ? I looked at a few, and they are nicely in focus, plenty sharp too. Both sets.
'
Now, I don't particularily *like* some of the photographs, but the lens seems to have behaved admiringly there, and a few of the shots are really good; the drummer at 1/100s ISO1600 on the 135 is very good!

Now the shot at 1/15s on the 135, dream on :D :D :D I can barely pull that off on the 50!

Also, some have totaly bonkers settings :
"Aperture: f/14
ISO Equivalent: 1600
Focal Length: 135mm
Shutter Speed: 1/125s"

Whats that ? ISO 1600 f14 ? the joke ! You could have shot at ISO 200 f2 easily, probably with more speed to spare, better contrast, a LOAD less noise too.

Overrall, I think you should be delighted :D

[Andy_T]

Yep. The pics look very good to me, as well.

Of course, it's hard to judge from the small images, maybe the 100% crops left you less than enthusiastic. But my prime suspect would be motion blur, as well, given the slow speeds at many of the images.

Then ... on the other hand, maybe you have *very* steady hands. Really hard to judge with only the small images.

Best regards,
Andy

[buze]

Actualy, what am I saying, the Sigma set is terrific! You captured superb colors, excellent contrast, ans some of the shoots even happends to be moody. My fav is
http://warangel.typepad.com/photos/sigma_concert/sigma_by_thetree_03.html

Gee, if I didn't have these lens already, I'd buy them ! :D

[aparmley]

I agree with everyone. of all the photos I looked at from both sets, they were sharp, excellent images. I'd be thrilled with those.

[CanonXTuser]

Thanks everyone. Yes, for my first time shooting a dslr and a concert, I am happy with the pics. I learned a lot and look forward to further improving [have no idea Buze what I was thinking at f14 :lol:

As a newbie, I'm concerned about not being able to spot a bad or mediocre copy of a lens and I find it difficult to find images to reference against as they are almost all post-processed.

Thanks a lot for the comments.

[Andy_T]

CanonXTUser,

you don't have to use other images as reference.
Important for you would be to find out under which conditions your lenses are sharp.

Take a look at the lens comparisons at this link: http://www.pbase.com/fstopjojo/lenstests

This should serve as a starting poing for you to determine if your lenses are good or not.

Most helpful for you might be to do some test shots (on tripod, with mirror lockup/timer, target exactly perpendicular to the lens) to find out whether your lenses are sharp at f/2, f/2.8, f/3.5, f/4.0, ...
This will help you to determine your optimal settings later.

Another thing to do would be a focus test.
Take a look at this thread, the most important tests should be mentioned there: http://photography-on-the.net/forum/showthread.php?t=58493

Best regards,
Andy

[kalmo]

Hey,
Some are some SWEET pics...
Dont you worry about your lenses, they are WELL up to the job.
Concentrate more on the shootng technique, I also have the XT, and for concerts and generally 'people' photography you need to keep the eyes in focus, as they say 'the eyes are the window to your soul' or something.
Use the Selective AF point, you know, the red dots that come up and you can pic which one to focus on, and make sure the eyes remain sharp regardless.
But that will come with time, apart from that....im impressed!!!:D:D:D:D
Those could easily go into a magazine, i have seen much worse published...!
Keep the good work up!
K