I've got a pre IS,OS,VR lens in the form of a sigma 28-200 5.6. I am using it in outdoor photography, in the main climbers / moving objects. Typically it's either brilliant sunshine or overcast / blowing a good wind. Of course in good sunny weather the problem is less.
Basically I find the lens seeking for focus or I get shake; wind buffeting or my own wrist/nervous system wobble
, or worse still plain out of focus images. Seeking is an issue as the moment often passes quickly.
I am using a 300d, I'll shoot using shady wb or sunny or custom using a whibal card. I'm trying to work in aperture priority to get a bit of blurring on the background. This I know costs me on a few shots as I drop below the 1/lgth rule, but even above that the focus issue tends to hit more often than not. An example of this is on shot one [1], which is taken at::ISO800, 1/250, f/5.6, 116mm. No background in this shot to blur, but it's not totally in focus either. Given the lump of rock occupies the vast majority of the shot and the climber is close to said lump of rock... I would of thought 5.6 should of got most of it fairly sharply. Any ideas it was windy, but the whole image appears uniformly out of focus, it's not the only one, but some are sharp(ish).
To complicate issues, I just acquired a 50mm 1.8 prime, which is great! It has also shown me the massive benefit in a fast lens, up till this week I've been using kit / low end glass. The prime is shooting a different climber, but if anything darker light now and more windy gives shot two [2]. I need to learn how to get the best from it, but not one is blurred or shaky, a clue I think. But it's fixed length is an issue as I cannot easily go up or down or move at all in some cases. As this case is, he came up quickly hence the loss of limbs
I have shot from a tripod on some occasions but it's a pain to move / set up on crag edges and often presents more of a hazard to me than is worth it for a photo.
The sigma lens has a jessops UV filter on it, cleaned that morning.
Not after the silver bullet, does it even exist? Does anyone have any tips how I might try to alleviate the focus/shake/blur without resorting to iso 1600?
Finally I've deleted so many shots from this lens combo, I was almost ready to order a IS version of some sort, but I'd like to use these failures to learn, rather than hit the flexible friend. Failing that, for outdoor sports from bright to dull, is F4 enough or should I just wait for 2.8 glass?
e.g. Tokina 50-135mm f2.8 AT-X DX Lens or Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 EX DC II HSM versus the Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM Lens (£
) versus the Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. I am an amature afterall.
Neither the Tok. or Sig. have IS, but is it needed I wonder on better lenses as much given its outside... Also by going for the Sigma/Tokina lens I have some cash left over for a upgrade to the kit 18-55 pre IS canon lens too should I feel the need to overdose on IS and OS
Cheers for reading,
Colin.
[1]http://www.flickr.com/photos/summit360/3966850328/
[2]http://www.flickr.com/photos/summit360/3966856694/
Basically I find the lens seeking for focus or I get shake; wind buffeting or my own wrist/nervous system wobble
, or worse still plain out of focus images. Seeking is an issue as the moment often passes quickly.I am using a 300d, I'll shoot using shady wb or sunny or custom using a whibal card. I'm trying to work in aperture priority to get a bit of blurring on the background. This I know costs me on a few shots as I drop below the 1/lgth rule, but even above that the focus issue tends to hit more often than not. An example of this is on shot one [1], which is taken at::ISO800, 1/250, f/5.6, 116mm. No background in this shot to blur, but it's not totally in focus either. Given the lump of rock occupies the vast majority of the shot and the climber is close to said lump of rock... I would of thought 5.6 should of got most of it fairly sharply. Any ideas it was windy, but the whole image appears uniformly out of focus, it's not the only one, but some are sharp(ish).
To complicate issues, I just acquired a 50mm 1.8 prime, which is great! It has also shown me the massive benefit in a fast lens, up till this week I've been using kit / low end glass. The prime is shooting a different climber, but if anything darker light now and more windy gives shot two [2]. I need to learn how to get the best from it, but not one is blurred or shaky, a clue I think. But it's fixed length is an issue as I cannot easily go up or down or move at all in some cases. As this case is, he came up quickly hence the loss of limbs
I have shot from a tripod on some occasions but it's a pain to move / set up on crag edges and often presents more of a hazard to me than is worth it for a photo.
The sigma lens has a jessops UV filter on it, cleaned that morning.
Not after the silver bullet, does it even exist? Does anyone have any tips how I might try to alleviate the focus/shake/blur without resorting to iso 1600?
Finally I've deleted so many shots from this lens combo, I was almost ready to order a IS version of some sort, but I'd like to use these failures to learn, rather than hit the flexible friend. Failing that, for outdoor sports from bright to dull, is F4 enough or should I just wait for 2.8 glass?
e.g. Tokina 50-135mm f2.8 AT-X DX Lens or Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 EX DC II HSM versus the Canon EF 70-200mm f4 L IS USM Lens (£
) versus the Canon EF 28-135mm f3.5-5.6 IS USM Lens. I am an amature afterall.Neither the Tok. or Sig. have IS, but is it needed I wonder on better lenses as much given its outside... Also by going for the Sigma/Tokina lens I have some cash left over for a upgrade to the kit 18-55 pre IS canon lens too should I feel the need to overdose on IS and OS
Cheers for reading,
Colin.
[1]http://www.flickr.com/photos/summit360/3966850328/
[2]http://www.flickr.com/photos/summit360/3966856694/