Sigma 24 - 70mm IF EX DG HSM

greenoak

greenoak

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Carl
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Well i was lucky enough to get this lens from the classified section last week and I have finally got to put it on my D90.

All I can say is that this feels light years away from my kit lens and my 18 - 200 jack of all trades.

I look forward to firing a few shots tomorrow at lunch time. I have to do a simple head shoulders shot of one of our directors tomorrow so that will be fun.

Sure samples can be uploaded tomorrow.

Only downside is 82mm filters.

Lovely sigma box too.

Looks like I will end up with the siggy 10 - 20 this and the sigma 70 - 300 once i sell my 18 - 200.. Happy days
 
Mine lives on the front of my D700 and I love it! On FF, it's wide enough for most things and on Dx, it has about the same FoV as a 35mm. As an EX lens, it's one of Sigma's higher end products and is probably only bettered by Nikon's own offering at about 3 times the price! Mine came from Jessops in January '09, when they were knocking them out at just £234.88, a real bargain!
 
Nod said:
Mine lives on the front of my D700 and I love it! On FF, it's wide enough for most things and on Dx, it has about the same FoV as a 35mm. As an EX lens, it's one of Sigma's higher end products and is probably only bettered by Nikon's own offering at about 3 times the price! Mine came from Jessops in January '09, when they were knocking them out at just £234.88, a real bargain!
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Is yours the updated IF version or the older one. AFAIK the new one was only released in December 2008 and was £600+...
 
Love my sigma 24-70 such a good lens had it for a good few years now and hasn't missed a beat, I'm canon and never thought of going for the canon l version
 
I got one of these for my birthday/anniversary present in late august and it only came on the camera yesterday to get some aircraft shots. It's a great performer and the IQ is fantastic. I decided to get it as a partner for my Canon 70-200 f2.8 MkII, and although it's not as sharp asa the 70-200 it does a damn good job. It's so good in fact that I've almost stopped using my Canon 24-105 f4 L, which used to be my favourite lens before I got the 70-200 MkII. The Sigma case is very good for it, but I don't see it spending much time in it.
 
I am at the point of giving up I just dont seem to be able to get any decent photos with this lens. Everything looks like awful. I dont think Ive taken a single photo with this lens and thought wow thats sharp. I even gone back to my kit lens such is my lack of believe in this lens.


_DSC2893 by Koprano, on Flickr


_DSC2782 by Koprano, on Flickr

the one of the 4 boys was even on a tripod so not camera shake

Any ideas, before I give up and sell the lot. Very depressed
 
Maybe its me but they are OK...maybe a bit of a play in Photoshop to give them a bit more "warmth" but otherwise they look pretty good on my screen
 
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Have you checked the lens for AF issues? Back or front focus? I have a sigma 24-70 and its really really sharp. Even better than any other mid range zooms Ive had in the past, Tamron 17-50 and Canon 17-55 IS back when I had a canon system. There is always sample variation but I know how you feel when you just know something is not right with the lens
 
Sorry Tony I have not checked as I am not sure what I am looking for...
 
topgazza said:
Maybe its me but they are OK...maybe a bit of a play in Photoshop to give them a bit more "warmth" but otherwise they look pretty good on my screen
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I'm inclined to agree. Just opened them both up full size. Both appear to be sharp enough to me. The first at a glance has an appearance of softness but I think that might partly be down to the light.
 
Theres nothing wrong with the sharpness at all judging by your 2048px shots on flickr! Get some post processing on them to give them a boost as they are just a tad flat due to the lighting.
 
Thank you all for your comments. I am just expecting too much it seems
 
The 2nd photo looks sharp to me.

I just read your other post. Sorry if I am teaching my grandma to suck eggs, lord knows I am a rank amateur compared to some of the guru's on this site. But if you are using apertures of around 2.8-4 then I would change your focusing method from auto to single.

If doing a portrait shot what I do now is move the focus point to the eye rather than half press and reframing. At those shallow DOF's, you only need to be a bit off and your shot won't be sharp. Esp. if you are pixel peeping.

The other thing to bear in mind if shooting a group of people like in your first photo that they are all in the same plane. Otherwise the person who the camera has focused on will be sharp but the others might not be. With group shots I always tend to err on the side of caution and use at least f5.6. The background may not be as blurry but I'd rather have that than people not in focus. I can add blur if absolutely necessary....i can't unblur someone.
 
Don't raw files (if shooting in raw format) need a little sharpen on every photo - if you want it really sharp I mean? Or am I completely lost there? I'm on my phone so no way of checking the format of the images, but to my untrained eye they look good too?
 
Both of the posted photos were at f8

If doing groups would you still keep single point AF focusing.
 
StephyB said:
Don't raw files (if shooting in raw format) need a little sharpen on every photo - if you want it really sharp I mean? Or am I completely lost there? I'm on my phone so no way of checking the format of the images, but to my untrained eye they look good too?
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Only a tiny bit normally. Lenses like 135mm f/2L or 70-200L require almost no sharpening, LR default 25 level is certainly loads for a clean shot. If it needs a lot more something is totally amiss (missed focus, movement, or bad lens itself)
 
I don't see any problem with sharpness on either of these.

The first one suffers from horrific lighting and both have issues with composition. White balance, contrast and levels could do with some tweeking on both.

The second one at full resolution on flikr is razor sharp.
 
Soda Farl said:
I don't see any problem with sharpness on either of these.

The first one suffers from horrific lighting and both have issues with composition. White balance, contrast and levels could do with some tweeking on both.

The second one at full resolution on flikr is razor sharp.
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pretty much what Soda says, midday/early afternoon I would suspect, harsh light with hard shadows on the first.. 2nd one is okay some basic tweaks PP and jobs a good un...

flash would have probably helped you out in that situation..don't think there is anything wrong with the lens.
 
To be honest these were just snaps quick and dirty testing the lens. I can now stop worrying about is the lens good enough. I know I'm clueless at composition where people involved. I mainly shoot landscapes and buildings

I now have a full range of lenses and can start learning properly
 
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