Seems unusual - Sigma 100-300 - Owner input please

By chance I was lucky enough to test drive a sample Sigma 100-300 f/4 at Sigma service today. I figured I'd give'em a call before I spent money renting one since they're around the block from me.

I put it on my 30D and take as many shots as I can for about 10 minutes out front of the building. My initial impressions were, wow..lighter than my 70-200 2.8IS, longer, big front element and smooth zoom/focus ring action.

Some of the test shots I took were pointed towards the direction of the sun to see how it handled flare and how contrast/haze was affected. I saw something that looks strange to me, so I'm posting here to see if any owners of the 100-300 experience this as well.

(Pretty compressed, sorry.. )


100mm:

We you using a hood?

gasrocks wrote in post #4548414
We you using a hood?

Yes, of course.

Fabrian wrote in post #4548418
Yes, of course.

It' one seriously long hood too.

I know this might be obvious but did the lens come out of the warmth and into the cold? I have one of these lenses and have never had that problem.

billnick wrote in post #4548449
I know this might be obvious but did the lens come out of the warmth and into the cold? I have one of these lenses and have never had that problem.

Yes, but not that drastic of a difference. I don't think that could be it though. The image doesn't show what is seen in the viewfinder. In the viewfinder you can see a clear and perfect circle that changes size between 225 and 300mm. It got to be some sort of reflection internally where light is bouncing off of the front off the zoom mechanism. I just wondered if anyone else has seen this before.

I have one of these lenses, it does not exhibit that behavior as far as I know. I don't use it much these days but it is a great lens IMHO.

Bob

I've had something like that happen to me one time . But mine was taken at an early morning youth football game. It was cold , with a very heavy dew and I was shooting at the wrong angle to the sun. I've taken over a thousand shots with this lens and it was the only time it happened. I chalk mine up to " user error". Not saying yours was, just mine.

Here's a shot from that day. Not a great one , but one to give you an idea. When I crossed the field , everything was ok and the images where great. Here's a link http://groups.msn.com …ified=467564458​7094374961 where we discussed it.

CountryBoy wrote in post #4548995
I've had something like that happen to me one time . But mine was taken at an early morning youth football game. It was cold , with a very heavy dew and I was shooting at the wrong angle to the sun. I've taken over a thousand shots with this lens and it was the only time it happened. I chalk mine up to " user error". Not saying yours was, just mine.

Here's a shot from that day. Not a great one , but one to give you an idea. When I crossed the field , everything was ok and the images where great. Here's a link http://groups.msn.com …ified=467564458​7094374961 where we discussed it.

It may be so that user error has something to do with it, but I've taken shots similar to this condition with my other three lenses and have not yet seen this sort of affect. Also, most of the shots came out this way. Sigma is closed until Wednesday. I plan on taking some of these images over to them and let them have a look. If there is something funky with the lens then they aught to know since this piece is a show sample.

Although your shot looks similar to what I got today, they're a bit different in terms of affect. You can see that prismatic image within your image which is a clear indicator that direct sunlight hit your glass. That sort of marking never showed up in one of my test images, which still makes me wonder if there is something wrong with their sample. I've seen plenty of hazing in an image from shooting into the sunlight, but never like this.

Eh, I guess Sigma can take a look at the images I took and see if they have a funked lens.

Seems like condensation to me
your lens fogged up slightly when you took it outside.
Was it a particularly dewy sort of day?

Nikolas wrote in post #4549515
Was it a particularly dewy sort of day?

No. I think the key in looking at these sample pictures is that only the far end has an issue. The lens didn't move, so if it were due to the sun, it should have showed up at all focal lengths. In fact, I would think that it would show up more so at the short end before the long end.

Keep in mind that this sample was Sigma's display lens, I don't own it. I'm going to drop the sample images off to the tech at Sigma on Wednesday for his input anyway.

FWIW, this image cleaned up well with only PS auto levels.

I'd tend to test a lens where I knew it would give of its best rather than in a situation I personally wouldn't shoot in. Sunny conditions and shooting into it so flare is inevitable doesn't seem that useful unless that is how you actually shoot. Any lens will show a problem to some degree ... at least in my experience. The 100-300 is a stunning lens. Did you take any 'real world' shooting condition shots and how where they? These shots just don't show what it can do ... not even close.

Regarding the shooting in the sun thing...i have done that several times :X, but there appears to be no damage whatsoever (except high noise -,-)

I rented that lens a while back and I was pleased with the shots, here are a few examples during football season:

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