techniques specific for a sigma 150-500 lens

[cacawcacaw]

Goofing around with friends, taken after returning from a hike, at 500mm on a crop (800mm effective) hand-held, low light.


When I first received this lens, I tested it against my buddy's Canon 70-200 f/2.8 with a Canon 2X extender. I couldn't see any significant differences in the images. I like to keep my monopod attached to this lens. It gets heavy very fast.

Edit: With any telephoto, there is going to be some image quality loss due to the increased amount of haze and dust that goes hand-in-hand with shooting over longer distances. And, by using Live View, zoomed in to the maximum enlargement, it's apparent that there is almost always a little bit of vibration, even with the best shooting techniques.

I think a lot of people expect a telephoto lens to work like the CIA satellites in the movies, that zoom in from a thousand miles away to read a license plate.

[Muteki]

Originally Posted by aftab_alam

I fully agree with you Muteki. I used to crop the image more than 25%. I have taken good and sharp photos of subjects lesser than 50 feet. However, my problem is that even by using tripod, even the panoramic scenes are not as sharp as expected. Even a slightest crop (say 10%) shows very bad and blurred picture. I have tried all settings, all ISOs, all shutter speeds, but still facing the problems. Whereas others have got very good results (like you) with same settings. However, congratulations for your beautiful and world class photos you have shot. I think there is something wrong with the lens.

If that's the case, just send it in or return it! No need to hold on to a problematic lens. Before you do so, you should try a Canon 400/5.6L, which is guarantee quality if you handhold the lens well. That way, you can identify is it the operator or is it the lens's issue. I currently use a 400/5.6L after my 150-500 broke from a bad drop, and personally I think the 400/5.6L is sharper especially at the widest aperture and faster AF, but when shooting 150-500 at f/8, I think it's still fairly sharp as seen in my photos as well as from a few locals in our area.