I have said a few times on this site that I was not impressed with the sigma bigma I have based this on one owned by a mate ,I desided to have a closer look at it ,when ever it was handed to me it always had the hood on it so I took it off , "and there it was" a cheep $5 UV filter (cheep B------- ) I took it off and what a difference ,Its now one of the sharpest zooms I have used much sharper than my Nikon 80-400 vr and on par with the Nikon 70-300 vr (not as sharp as that freaky sony lens owned by Araminta hi ML) but sharp enough for me to ring him and strike a deal two old lenses I never use and it was mine ,It could easly become my favorite lens.
(not as sharp as that freaky sony lens owned by Araminta hi ML)
You made be laugh so much, thanks
At least you didn't call me freaky
Some people do.
Looking forward to even greater photography posted by you.
M-L
I wish I had seen this info 6 months ago! I sold my Sigma 150-500 because I was not impressed with it's sharpness. Maybe if I had tried it without the UV filter it would have been better, although it wasn't a cheap one. I never thought of that - too many "senior's moments"
Des
A good reason not to use filters at all. I don't use any, just very careful and aware that the lens is exposed.
Cheers
Haha, I never fiddle - fart around with my freaky Sony lens, just keep on taking photos
No filters , no flash, no Photo Shop, just getting on.....
M-L
Sparrow, you should never put a crappy UV filter on any lens. Most camera shops try to sell you one as they make a few bucks, but in fact, as you had experienced, they are totally useless and are a waste of money.
The argument I often hear is that "Yes, but I want to protect my lens' front element!"
All well and good, but in that case buy a lens hood (your bigma should have been supplied with one I think) and don't drop the lens on the ground. :)
I agree Sparrow and Canonguy ..... I love my big Sigma 150-500 ..... and have no filter on it....yes it scares me at times but as you say, with the hood on and avoiding dropping it on the ground..... it works. ALthough I was a little concerned the other day when I was on the rocks and the salt spray was pretty fierce... wouldnt have minded a protective filter then . Sometimes, even when you think you have made something safe..... things can happen. i recently dropped my camera body ( attached to the sigma) straight on the concrete drive, as the strap on my back pack failed and the whole lot slid down. The camera cracked a prism and was cactus but luckily the lens was all good. However I learned that it is not good practise to leave the camera attached to the lens in it's backpack
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Birdie Birdie Birdie Birdie Birdie Birdie
So good to see you back.
Thank you ....Canonguy ..... just passing through I think
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I personally would never use a crappy filter the one from the sigma went straight in the bin ,the bigma has a long enough hood to protect it from most nasties ,all of my work lenses some costing many thousands of dollars and can take a bit of a beating at times have fillters on them "company policy" but only the best Hoya have to offer and 2 older lenses haveTiffen filters that have been on them for many years.
I'm from the old days of film when we needed filters especially with black and white film for different light conditions digital has done away with all but the nutural density (grey) graduated N/D and polarising filters but I slill have a draw full for those days when I just want to take a step back and use one of my old faveorites
Holy cow "Birdie" another blast from the past !
Yes Sparrow I remember the good old film days I used to spend all my wages back then on developing and printing as I didn't have a darkroom which I am sure you did !! ... I am really wanting an ND filter lately ... not so much for birds but for other stuff. I have a PL but only for my old 75 -300 and sadly it doesn't stretch to fit my two Sigmas . What kind of shots do you do in your work?
Sunshine Coast Queensland
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I'm back working for Fairfax mainly doing sport and event photos in Western Victoria but I do a bit of other stuff for the local papers, and yes the main thing I miss up here is not having my own dark room . what have you been up to ?
Good to hear that you are back in the business ...... the news people I used to know didn't look after their gear well at all though !!!!
That was mainly the WA news guys ...... everything was just thrown around back in those days :)
I haven't been up to much, fairly boring life really I guess . Have managed a few exxtra lenses since my last time on here and that is a good thing
Sunshine Coast Queensland
It makes me cringe when I do the footy and i see the guys from a rival media group 1D mark4 600f4 just laying on the ground on a mono pod, while they use their other 1D mark4 70-200f 2.8 then they just through them in the boot of the car ! ,my editor would tear me a new one !
I was covering the local races when a drunk woman fell on me pushed down on the lens and snapped off the mount 24-70 2.8 2k and she just walked away and I couldn't find her ,the boss nearly had a heart attack !
I use the sigma 150 - 500, and do so purely as a matter of economics. I was very lucky that my camera body was upgraded from canon 60D to 1D by virtue of a gift from the widow of a photographer. However I still cannot afford that 500 or 600 prime, so until I can the 150-500 is my weapon of choice. Reviews suggest that optically it is better than the 50 - 500, and that should be no surprise. I bought a good quality UV filter and have not regretted it. Only thing is, the 1D and 150 - 500 make a heavy rig for carrying!
Yep...that mode of behaviour sounds the same as I remember from the WA newspaper guys . There is not really any need to abuse good gear like that is there? Just watch out for rampaging drunk women in future Sparrow he he
Sunshine Coast Queensland
My ND and grad filters are the old square ones that slide into a holder that screws onto th front of the lens then I have a set of step up rings that way all my filters fit all my lenses, mine are tifin and I've had them since the film days , you can get them on eBay but I don't know what there like
So good to hear from you there's not a lot of us left from when I started on this site.
Yes timrob ,My wife said now that you have the sigma that means you don't want the Nikon 500f4 vr you've been saving for !!!!!!
she can be so funny sometimes.
Timrob the Sigma was a choice determined by economics for me too. and I am very happy with it..... I use the 600D and even then it is still a heavy kit for me. Sparrow..... thank you, it is nice to catch up with you too. I have had a long break and been using social media groups instead which are more informal and I guess a lot more open ( with the use of real names etc) and fast moving.
It is nice to see the shots without the awful compression that facebook does
Sunshine Coast Queensland
I H A T E facebook my wife spends around 14 -16 hours a day on it you can't even talk to her most of the time ,I end up yelling " OI " just to ask what she wents for tea ,I will never have a facebook page , but then again I said I would never own an iphone either , they tell me that when I opened last years birthday present and saw the iphone the look on my face was a definate kodak moment
No argument from me re facebook sparrow - I have a FB page that I look at a few times a year whether I need to or not, but frankly I'm not interested in how many times someone got drunk/f*rted/ate macas/ etc etc in a day/week/month. Gimme good resolution pix and a description of where they were taken and what else was there at the time, any day - including non-bird pix by the way.
Tim
My husband feels the same way don't worry Sparrow
Facebook and social media have their place, and I confess to being a big user.... these days mostly to share my photography hobby and keep in touch with friends. But it is refreshing to see photos back in decent resolution again elsewhere, I think birds in particular with their fine details look better when not on there. But it has tremendous advantages ... there are groups to share everything, hence if you have a preference for a particular species ... you can belong to a group which deals just with them. It is a lot faster moving than forums such as this and I confess to prefer using people's real names .
Sunshine Coast Queensland
My name is Mark use it if you prefer a few on the site already do ,I know your name if you want me to use it
Thanks Mark, I didn't know that or had forgotten over the years. I may drop by again from time to time, but I can see that it is still not for me on a regular basis.
Sunshine Coast Queensland