Evan's photography phun

I'm not sure that what I took yesterday is a good gauge for this lens as I am still getting used to the nuances of it. That being said, I have a few shots that show what it does, to the best of my ability on a first run with the lens.

It's a Sigma 50-500mm F4-6.3 APO DG. There are 2 versions of this lens, one is non-DG. Make sure you look at the DG, as it is optimized for Digital cameras. I took it out and had the Auto-ISO turned off on my camera (D'oh!). Because of thia, a lot of the shots were a little over-exposed, which will make things look a bit less sharp.

Right out of the camera though, I noticed a marked difference in not only the color representation on this lens, but the crispness of the shots (when I did it right). The chromatic aberration that has plagued me with the 70-300 Nikkor ED lens is GONE! That's where some of your white sections that are bright have a purple hue to it, or outright purple. The lens glass and coatings are very sharp. The focus elements are in the rear and the servo control is quick and extremely quiet, especially when compared to the Nikkor. The focus is smooth and consistent across the spectrum, which I found quite surprising for the range it goes through.

Keep in mind, Lee, if you are looking at this lens, there is not VR (vibration reduction), so it's all up to either being steady, or upping the shutter speed. It's heavy, but not as heavy as some of the other lenses of it's size on the market. It's 4.5 pounds, but well balanced. The tripod mount shoe is great to flip to the top of the lens to get it out of the way while making a good carry handle. The lens has it's own strap. At first, I though "Eh, who needs it". Then I thought about what would happen if my stock strap breaks... The strap immediately went where it belonged.

If you do order one, I highly recommend sigma4less.com. They answered the phone within 3 minutes every time I call, and they follow up with an e-mail with the shipping info. I had a bad experience with adorama.com, which I know many people praise. It should be noted that the lens at sigma4less was also almost 10% cheaper.

Here are some shots that show the lens workout I did yesterday. Keep in mind that I am still doing some shakeout with it, so the complete clarity will come after a few more hours with it.

The Hellcat images are at 500mm first, then 300mm to give you an idea of how much closer you get. The two helicopter images are a full frame reduction first, the second is a completely unedited section, cropped from the picture to show the lack of vignetting.

Thanks for the info Eric and the images.
I also note the lens seems to have a nice flat field judging by the verticals on the helo lettering.
Thats been a lot of help cheers Eric I think Nikon have really sacrificed alot in their lens quality to make them down to a price the higher spec lenses they make I think stand well along side even Planer and Schnieder ones but at the price they charge they should do.
As you say a bit more jiggery pokery and you'll be able to get the best out of the lens but even out of the box your shots look very impressive the last image is very useful for me and gives a good Idea of the clarity, Very suprisingly high for the price.
I know exactly what you mean about DG lenses I have found that non digitally computed lenses dont have a patch on the DG even on the cheap vest pocket jobs I have noticed the difference between a lens made for a 35MM then used on a digital and digital specific ones. IMO Its not always how many Pixels your camera has once over 4 meg so much as what the lens quality is.
As I say Eric I'm much oblidged to you for your help more power to your shutter my friend.

Cheers, Lee. I have done a few edits today and the statics seem a bit better than the aerial stuff, but that was true initially with the other lenses until I got used to them. If you read some of the reviews of this lens, almost everyone loves it. I read a couple of bad reviews about it on Amazon, but I think those people were people that didn't really know what they were doing, nor what they were talking about. A good place to compare lenses and see example shots is pbase at PBase Photo Database - Photo Hosting - Photo Sharing - Web Photo Galleries Go to the camera section and you can select manufacturer, where it will show you a broad range of their products.

Thanks again Eric had a quick look at work last night I agree with you the moaners seem like people with no patience and they believe all you have to do is point and press and you get an Ansel Adams instantly.
f 6.3 at 500mm is pretty good for a 16 element lens you have us in the UK at a bit of an advantage there Eric as Your weather tends to be a bit more sunny, sometimes It makes it a real pain with the flat lighting we get from blanket cloud which we get alot of the time even for on the ground photography everythings comes out 2 dimensional and lacks definition.
Its ok if I use a flash and better still with an additional slave unit for modelling of static objects, but Ive not come across a flash with a 6000 ft range and the pilots may be a tad upset if they got zapped on every pass.
But hopefully this year will be as sunny as 2005 specially At Duxford flying Legends I suspect I wont have the lens by then though as this Italian holiday Im on in a couple of weeks time has drained the old bank balance . Fingers crossed though rumour has it the the bonus at work is going to be around £600 so you never know I may be able to afford one by July not much time to get used to it but Duxford is a great place to practice.
I still have a couple of lenses to compare but I must admit the one you have picked is a very good compromise between cost and quality I look forward to seeing some of you pictures once you get in full flow. I suspect we will all be running out of expletives to describe your super images ,I may have to invent some, aerovantabulous or howabout Evantastical (sorry that sounds like Evanstestical).

Cool shots, I really enjoyed the Huey shots.

My wife has a Nikon D80. I'm beginning to think it is more camera than she will ever use.

That's a nice one. You never know. If she learns about it, she should be able to get some dazzling shots with it.

Great stuff Eric!

Thanks guys. More to come in a couple of weeks. I am also working on some new free desktop wallpapers.

I'm still toying with getting that sigma for my D50 Eric But Ive also found a X2.2 matched multiplier for my Olympus 770 which would rate it at 650mm (35m equivalent) the reviews on it seem pretty good and the images they posted using it looked quite impressive. It could be a really could stop gap until I've saved enough wonger for the Sig and as its a compact very handy for holidays.

My only concern with multipliers is the loss of f-stops and some top end focus normally. But for saving weight and a few quid, its probably not bad. I was playing around with the Sigma all day yesterday, and it didn't take too long to get used to. I took this self portrait yesterday while playing around.

Thats got some punch Eric the monochrome image brings out the crispness really nicely specially the wall texture.
Be interesting to see your next series of aircraft shots sounds like you've got the beast tamed already I look forward to you running off a few megs of images although I'm running out of dribble. I should be able to make Duxford this year and I'm taking a young lad with me who's aircraft mad. It's a shame really as although his dad holds a PPL and also does a lot of gliding he just packs the boy off to boarding school each term and hardly has any quality time with him I've even managed to persuade my wife to act as chaperon and getting her to go to an airfield (unless its for a vacation is like pulling teeth)
Id have to use that multiplier on focus lock anyway for aircraft Eric as the Olympus has very slow AF even on continuous and Ive found the metering on it needs 1.5 - 2 stops over exposure for aircraft in flight as the spot meter is not that precise still for £90 its worth an experiment, I will still get the Sigma. If the multiplier comes through before I go to Italy in a fortnights time I'll take it with me and give it a test on some candid work on the Grand Canal, cafe life Etc. but hopfully Ill be able to get the Sig before FL at Duxford.

I'll be interested to see how that works for you. I have been noticing a little bit of softness with the lens at between the 300-500mm range. Then I realized what the problem was. I bought a UV filter with the lens and did a dust off and put it on. I should have thoroughly cleaned it first. The packing foam that cushioned the filter for shipping left some funky residue on the filter, slightly oily, which was softening the focus, especially at the far end of the zoom.

So lesson learned. When buying new glass, of any kind (lens, filters, etc), clean it well before use! I cleaned the front and rear elements of the lens as well as the filter. I would highly recommend a UV filter on the lens. If something gets kicked up by an airplane, which does happen, it can chip the lens. I have a 70-300 here to prove that. A $40 filter can save you a $900+ lens.

Here are some shots, the last ones being after the lens cleaning (roses).

Whether its a different point of focus or cleaning your UV I dont know Eric but the second flower image is notably crisper I suspect it is the latter
I know exactly what you mean about fitting a filter Its always my first purchase after the camera, a dam sight cheaper to replace than a new object glass .
I'll push the sup lens ( if it arrives in time) to the limits on a couple of subjects and post the results when I get back. One other question Eric how have you found the Sigma for panning shots etc on the high end, no problems? or is it getting near the max for hand held?
Cheers in advance

Panning with this lens takes a little getting used to because of the weight of the lens. When fully zoomed, at 500mm, you have to be pretty steady as the slightest movement gets quite pronounced in the viewfinder. I don't find any switches/buttons to turn off or on any vibration reduction, but I did take some shots of a taxiing airplane at 1/60 of a second and it was crystal clear with great prop blur. I suspect there is something in there for it as there is no way I am steady enough to get a crisp shot at that shutter speed.

Thats pretty slow even with a fairly standard lens Eric, I would imaging that although you may as you say not be totally stable when hand holding, as you have taken so many images of moving objects you must have naturaly improved your technique and abilites. Have you ever had a bash with a mono pod I used to use one with a ball mount on top for my Mamiya and just having the camera stable in the virtical plane helped me quite a bit although I was not taking aircraft pictures in those days.

Playing around with the 28-80 yesterday at Disneyland. We took my son for his birthday. I love the Condor Flats section of California Adventure. Here are some shots from that part.

Sweet Eric I really like your composition eye, I also had a look at the Chino shots on the other thread I was impressed but IMO I think yours stand up well against those, the ground to air shots you've been taking I personelly prefer thats not to decry the other guy of course I would love to have half the ability of either of you.

Thanks Lee. Britt's ground to air and air to air shots have a particular pop to them that I am working on. The part that kind of bugs me about Britt's shots is that he is only about 23 years old. He has a natural eye and ability that is phenomenal, whereas it has taken me years to develop. But, that being said, I occasionally get a shot that I am particularly proud of, like this one:

He's growing nicely man, mazl tov! Oh, and nice pictures, too!