OK Baseball after 120-300 repair....

I shot like two hours this p.m. with the repaired 120-300. Autofocus with the new HSM motor was definitely better than when I initially received the lens. However, I still found I had to play alot with the zoom ring, I am not sure whether this is normal or not. For instance, if I zoom out with the 70-200 and then press the star focus button, the AF instantly snaps. This is not happening with the 120-300, it takes alittle more time. This might be the slower responsiveness that everyone seems to refer to. I did not have to touch the focus ring as much to get the AF to snap, although I had to do that a couple of times, but not much (when I initially received the lens, AF would not work at all unless the focus ring was touched - and then it would *sometimes* snap back). Mostly zooming/pressing star button took care of AF snapping back. I am having a bit of trouble understanding when something is in focus or not with this lens, I got alot of OOF shots, which I do not get with any of my other lenses. I might need another outing or two to determine whether or not it needs more work by Sigma, or whether it is me. I did get sharper shots than I initially got pre-repair (when they were in focus), so it definitely might be me needing more experience with the lens.

Meanwhile, some shots of my son - the southpaw. I know, I know, the ump ruined one. He just stood there for alot of the time, and I had to move around him. The sun was in and out of the clouds the whole time, ISO was jumping all over the place to keep up (it would get dark momentarily, then light, [I'm referring to the weather and sun], weird).

First with ump ruining shot:

I guess its an improvement but its very far from acceptable to me.

Pat, the new shots are looking lot better but still not what I would expect. How is your 30d BTW? Reason I ask when I move from 30d to 1dmk2, my shots are much sharper.

Can you post some sample shots from your 70-200mm for comparison?

My 120-300mm f2.8 is on its way and I will let you know how it works once I get it.

bobbyz wrote in post #5588850
Pat, the new shots are looking lot better but still not what I would expect. How is your 30d BTW? Reason I ask when I move from 30d to 1dmk2, my shots are much sharper.

Can you post some sample shots from your 70-200mm for comparison?

My 120-300mm f2.8 is on its way and I will let you know how it works once I get it.

Some recent shots with 30d and 70-200:

can I ask
are you doing any post processing at all
remember these are DSLR images and will need some form
of sharpening.
I cant see the exif for these shots either
but whats your PP on them ??

saggy9999 wrote in post #5589218
can I ask
are you doing any post processing at all
remember these are DSLR images and will need some form
of sharpening.
I cant see the exif for these shots either
but whats your PP on them ??

None -

all sigma shots are straight from camera, NO PP. The 70-200 shots, I probably did a screen method of correcting exposure in CS2 before posting.

I didn't do any PP of the sigma shots, because I thought that's like cheating. I wanted the folks here to see what is straight from the camera. I can PP and apply some USM to them to see if that makes any difference to anyone.

Pat

here is one with some PP including sharpening:

Well in that last one it's clearly focused behind the batter. Look at the ground; it's nice and sharp about two feet behind him.

As to why? That's another question.

JVolz wrote in post #5589842
Well in that last one it's clearly focused behind the batter. Look at the ground; it's nice and sharp about two feet behind him.

As to why? That's another question.

Well that's weird, because I distinctly remember aiming my center point at the chest - it wasn't pointed behind him. Is this further indication the lens isn't right or is it me?

Your very first pic with the ump ruining the pic
if you want to email me a larger version I will take a look
I have had the sigma for a while and it can be soft at the 300mm end
awest@blueyonder.co.uk

Pat, the repaired lens photos do look better IMO. I think most do PP before posting pics here. I could be mistaken. I would think the PP in the first batch would make those pop more. I am in NO WAY a PP guru, but just a quick tweak made it much more acceptable for my taste.

HOSTED PHOTO
please log in to view hosted photos in full size.