Chester Zoo today - Gutted

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peterc2609

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Peter
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Had a trip out today to Chester Zoo, to try new lens - Sigma 70-300mm.

Its awful... never got one decent photo... I'm only a beginner but I can't believe how unsharp some of the shots are...

I had my 50mm as well, and the shots from that are 1 Million times better and sharper, I think its a really bad lens.

Anyone got any decent shots from the Sigma 70-300 handheld not tripod??

Cheers
 
What appature were you using what speed was you on but more to the point what was yuor ASA,post some photos so we can see


Dave
 
I hope it was user error, in a way, as I am reading more and more bad things about Sigma over the last few months.....would be a shame if it is the QC
 
I was planning to get that lens(the cheap non VR one) for my Nikon D60 but was put off by some of the comments which always advised getting a better one.I'm almost temped to sell the Nikon and get a better bridge camera instead. If I have to spend loads on a decent zoom then DSLR photography is pointless to me.
 
peterc2609 said:
Had a trip out today to Chester Zoo, to try new lens - Sigma 70-300mm.

Its awful... never got one decent photo... I'm only a beginner but I can't believe how unsharp some of the shots are...

I had my 50mm as well, and the shots from that are 1 Million times better and sharper, I think its a really bad lens.

Anyone got any decent shots from the Sigma 70-300 handheld not tripod??

Cheers
Click to expand...

In addition to my above comment, if you`re hand holding this at the 300mm end you should be looking to use at least 1/400th of a second shutter speed or you risk camera shake. ;)
 
Could be worth posting a couple of shots to people can help with their comments...
 
^ what he said - it's not the best lens out there, but neither is it the worst...
Let's see some images and maybe helt out a little...all may not be lost.
 
I would agree its not the best lens, but it isn't that bad either for such a cheap piece of kit. It was the first longer zoom I had and it does require careful thought - only really sharpens up at f7.1 and higher though it shouldnt be ultrasoft below that. As already mentioned, at 300mm, you need a shutter speed at same or above for handholding [although tbh, its not a heavy weight and I regularly shot below the focal length with no real issues] However, I also think its unfair to compare it to a 50mm, a lens which will inherently be superior in terms of IQ.
 
My wife went to Marwell a while back with her Nikon D50 and a Sigma 70-300 APO. She was a total DSLR newbie at the time, this was the first time she had gone shooting on her own with the D50. These were the results: Marwell.

The APO version is supposed to be a bit better for IQ than the standard, but there should not be a huge difference.

As said, post some photos, preferably with EXIF, to see where you went wrong.
 
The Sigma 70-300 is a quite capable lens within certain parameters. In good light it will give good results and in excellent light it gives very good results in poor light it really struggles. I also find it starts to go soft after 220mm or so.
As Arkady said " it's not the best lens out there, but neither is it the worst...". If you know and work within it's limitations some good shots are possible, I've had a few camera club competition winners with this lens.
 
I had the APO some time ago and got some really good results on the 300D I had at the time. It may not be the last word in image quality but if the results you are getting are awful then the two most likely causes are AF calibration and shutter speeds too low. I guess you could have one that is totally faulty but this is less likely.

Take a shot of something (headshot say) at the wide end at close in daylight with ISO400 say checking the shutter speed is above 1/500s and aperture is about f/5.6. Adjust the ISO as necessary to get the required shutter speed. If this results in a sharp shot you have eliminated the possibility of a totally duff lens.

Next take a shot under similar conditions but of a subject further away - say 10m or more. If this is sharp then I suspect your lens is ok, but I'd do further tests at longer focal lengths using a tripod or monopod to reduce camera shake.

HTH

Phil
 
I had the 70-300 for a while and it was a great lens for the price, which one have you got the APO one or not? I had the APO one, sometimes you'd need to hike up the ISO to get a decent shutter speed, but after using the Canon 70-200 2.8 IS I long for the weight of that lens ;).

Make sure you keep your shutter speed up.
 
I've got the APO version, and looks like it was error on my part...

I never put the ISO above 100 as it was outdoor and quite bright... maybe i'm not cut out for wildlife photography... I like the sharpness ans easiness of portraits etc...

I didn't have that high of a shutter speed either as they were coming out too dark...

Here are some I managed to salvage... I think, but they are nothing special and dont do anything for me!

1.

4498325022_8f0c836984.jpg


2.

4498314332_69bf7fdb73.jpg


3.

4497674647_1411956a62.jpg


4.

4497671787_d1671f093f.jpg


5.

4497667361_c177a49585.jpg


6.

4497663357_06d283b40f.jpg
 
I had one too and got some pretty okay results with it. Mind you, my results were a lot worse than yours to start with until I learned to stop it down a tad (f5.6+) and made sure the shutter speed was at least 1/500 at the 300mm focal length.

Might be a good idea to try Phil's suggestion in post 12 to put your mind at rest about the lens.

Don't give up on the wildlife, keep at it (y) you in the right forum to ask advice for improving (y)

EDIT: Actually, 2,5 & 6 don't look that bad at all!
 
As said the lens is not the best, but not the worst either
I hope this gives you a little more confidence (y)
2 minutes in photshop, highlights / shadows and a sharpen
its only a tiny file to work with but you get the idea

yours

4498325022_8f0c836984.jpg


Mine

Copy_Graff-.jpg




I've just realised that you edit button isn't ticked, shout and its a gonna (y)
 
Taking a decent photo using a DSLR is a combination of lots of different things and you need to make sure you look at these things.

Aperture (the higher the f number the LOWER the aperture ie the LESS light gets in)

ISO (the higher the ISO the more noise and lower quality of your images)

Speed (the speed needs to be high enough that the image does not move whilst the shutter is open)

So.....

In aperture mode select the aperture you want and LOOK at the shutter speed. What is it? If it is too long then you will need to increase the ISO or alternatively you need to use a tripod. If you do not look at the shutter speed then you could end up with a shutter speed that is too long and this might cause your image to be blurred. This is the reason why we are all asking to see the image and preferably the EXIF data.

If the day is quite dark and you have an ISO which is low then you will very easily end up with a shutter speed that is too long. It is this reason that your 50mm with it's large aperture (low f number) is getting sharper images.
 
It does look a lot better... I didn't attempt to do anything with them...

Maybe the thing that ******ed me off was just the zoo in general and the fact that you can't 'direct' wild animals ha ha

Thanks for the comments, I'm not sure whether to just get rid of the lens ***... frustrates me too much! lol

Darren - I've been using manual mode on my cam for a while so try to set it myself... I suppose I just need to think a bit more and tie eveything together instead of just choosing and crossing my fingers!
 
Every lens has its limitations, thats the reason we have such a wide variety to choose from, for a "newbie" with a new lens i don't see too much wrong with your shots.
I went to chester zoo with a 70-200 2.8 a while back and didn't get one shot that was useable straight from the camera.
 
look in my gallery adn they were probably all taken with the APO version.
most of them taken at small apertures however i had good light on my side!
The one of the lioness was whilst it was raining!






<------- Gallery located over there.
 
Pog said:
I was planning to get that lens(the cheap non VR one) for my Nikon D60 but was put off by some of the comments which always advised getting a better one.I'm almost temped to sell the Nikon and get a better bridge camera instead. If I have to spend loads on a decent zoom then DSLR photography is pointless to me.
Click to expand...

I had the D60 prior to the D90 and I thought it was an excellent camera. I bought (and still have) the 55-200 VR lens and I think its a really good lens for the money. I would go for that lens if I were you and consider a 300mm zoom further down the line.

My advice is dont get caught up in the "collecting kit" syndrome, buy the 55-200mm and practice with it. You will probably find you don't need the 300mm.
 
ha ha

Its easier in so much that you can tell a model what to do... I tried at the zoo but the giraffe just looked at me strangely ha ha
 
Just so you know OP, I had a similar issue when buying a 50mm 1.8 for my D60.

Could not get a decent sharp image, however, when attached to a tripod they were all sharp.

Problem was me, I just needed to learn to use it which I now can :)

Keep playing with it and once you've eliminated user issues you can then decide if you want it or not :)
 
Hi,

No, not the best lens! but have had some nice shots with it. You need optimum light, and for best results at full focal length a mono or tripod! or extremely fast shutter speed.

But then I think that goes for any longish telephoto..... :shrug:

Both of these with the Sigma 70-300 APO.. different cameras, first one was with 400D, second with 50D...



 
I have this lens (well, I have a Sigma 70-300, if there's more than one version I don't know which mine is) - don't give up on it yet! When I first got it, I tried it handheld, got nothing decent, and stuck it back in the bag for ages. Just this last week or two I've had it out of the bag again and really concentrated on my camera settings (especially making sure I have a fast enough shutter when I'm handholding) and focusing carefully, and to be honest it's pretty much lived on my camera since. Even my nifty hasn't had much of a look in this week!

It does take some getting used to, and yes it might not be the best lens out there, but I'm definitely happy with the results I'm getting with it now.
 
Looking at the piccies 1 and 4 have movement blur- so the shutter speed must be slow. The other piccies look fine. I can't see the exifs what shutter speed did you have?
 
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