Tripod question

I got a 150-600 sigma sport about two weeks ago to go with my 7D Markll. I have been playing around with it and learning what to do and not to do. I got out today with a tripod and took a number of shots at a marsh of waterfowl and birds. Most of the shots look like there is just a slight movement and makes the photos look soft. I had the OS off and I could notice a little movement while taking the shot. There was some wind. My question is, should I leave the OS on if I can see the tiniest of movement while taking the shot? A lot of my shutter speeds where up around 1/1000 and some down to 1/600.

It sounds like your issue is that you THOUGHT that OS should be off while tripod mounted. That would be true if the tripod truly held things absolutely still. But any torsional motion which the tripod could not prevent is indeed showing up in the photos...leading one to need to turn ON the image stability feature of the lens neverthesless.

The problem is that many tripods do not have sufficient TORSIONAL RIGIDITY...wind blows on a long lens, the lens acts like a sail and causes torsional forces on the tripod, and the tripod/head twist in the wind. Folks get so intent on sufficient 'load capacity' of a tripod that the issue of torsional rigidity is not ever a characteristic that they evaluate before buying. Then, in the field, they discover the issue which you encountered.

I'm a bit surprised that you would see movement due to tripod instability appearing in your photo at that fast a shutter speed, but then I don't usually use such long lenses.

I am pretty sure it was the movement as some shutter speeds were down at 1/400 and they were worse. At 600 a little movement adds up to a lot the farther the subject is away. I have never had a lens this long before and my tripod was fine for my 100-400. Looks like I will have to look at a better tripod. As far as the OS being on or off, if I am not getting movement and the OS is on will it mess up the photos? Some of my tripod issue may have been the ground I was on as well. It was tall grass laid over with a inch or two of water underneath.

My most used tripod, due to my advancing years, is this shot of my daughter.

IMAGE LINK: http://s329.photobucke​t.com …y43/media/Tripo​d.jpg.html

Nascar Nut wrote in post #17523447
I am pretty sure it was the movement as some shutter speeds were down at 1/400 and they were worse. At 600 a little movement adds up to a lot the farther the subject is away. I have never had a lens this long before and my tripod was fine for my 100-400. Looks like I will have to look at a better tripod. As far as the OS being on or off, if I am not getting movement and the OS is on will it mess up the photos? Some of my tripod issue may have been the ground I was on as well. It was tall grass laid over with a inch or two of water underneath.

So long as your shutter speeds are high (say 1/500th +) then IS/OS will offer little advantage and may cause problems. Stabilisers are designed for circumstances where you cannot get the required shutter speed without compromising on aperture and/or ISO. Additionally IS/OS can misbehave when you are using a tripod, which is why some Canon lenses (the big Whites) have "Tripod Sensing" IS, this is where the IS switches into a different mode (automatically) for tripod use. I don't believe your Sigma has this facility - but I could be wrong!
For what it's worth, I use the Canon 800 F5.6 L IS, both hand held and on a tripod, and I rarely (if ever) use IS (OS). This is because both my subjects and the focal length demand higher shutter speeds than those where stabilisers are effective. At the long end of your lens you are in the same territory, more so if you are using a crop sensor camera.

P.S. Love the shot but why is she looking so puzzled?