Guess Who Bought A New Toy?

[Iguanasan]

70mm
8182

300mm
8181

And of course Macro mode
8183

And here it is....
http://www.sigmaphoto.com/client/images/products/508_70-300mm_f4-56_APO_DG_Macro.png (http://www.sigmaphoto.com/shop/70-300mm-f4-56-apo-dg-macro-sigma)

[Mad Aussie]

Excellent range! Look out birdies!!

[Bambi]

woohoo! :clap: it's beautiful!!!

[JAS_Photo]

Cool Stuff! Congrats!

[Matt K.]

Yummy ... Have you looked at the 50-500 at all? Taht one is on my wishlist ...

[Gem]

Nice, Iggy! :highfive: Have fun with it :D

[Iguanasan]

Yummy ... Have you looked at the 50-500 at all? Taht one is on my wishlist ...

It'll have to be on my wishlist for a while too. :eek: At $2000 it's a little out of my price range right now

[AcadieLibre]

Nothing is as fun as getting a new lens.

[Marko]

Nice purchase iggy! :highfive:You will love the convenience of having this range in one lens.

Despite the very high quality lenses i own, I too will be looking for a lens that covers a huge range in the near future.

[Matt K.]

It'll have to be on my wishlist for a while too. :eek: At $2000 it's a little out of my price range right now

Actually ..... I saw it on eBay, including a 1.4 TC for 1700 or so ...

[Lovin]

Congrats ! You gonna enjoy that one :)

[Iguanasan]

Thanks all. As a bit of a challenge I've been shooting exclusively with that lens for the last couple of days. I'm definitely loving the lens and what it can do but I'm also learning about it's limitations.

I've really been enjoying the possibilities. There are just certain angles and compositions you can't get unless you have a long lens and it's opening up a lot of opportunities.

[ruleofthirds]

Awesome, 70-300.... You're on a crop sensor right so.... 112-480mm! WOW, crazy close! Better get our your tripod!

[Mad Aussie]

Try not to rule anything out with that lens IG. Just think to yourself that it can take a good shot of anything at all and then find that photo. You might be surprized :)

[JAS_Photo]

He is a Nikon guy but famous photographer Jay Maisel uses the 70-300 mm Nikor lens almost exclusively. He also uses a D3. :rolleyes: The 70-300 is a light lens most likely similar to yours Iggy and quite inexpensive at a little more than $500.

The more I listen to this guy, the more I like his philosophy.
YouTube - Conversations at the Summit with Jay Maisel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWaWiRuXw2g)

[Iguanasan]

Try not to rule anything out with that lens IG. Just think to yourself that it can take a good shot of anything at all and then find that photo. You might be surprized :)

Oh, don't worry, I'm not. I've discovered it's a very versatile beast. However, at 70mm on the low end you need a little bit of distance between you and your subject. Also, I NEED a tripod when I hit 300mm. It's really hard to hold that puppy steady at that focal length.

[Iguanasan]

He is a Nikon guy but famous photographer Jay Maisel uses the 70-300 mm Nikor lens almost exclusively. He also uses a D3. :rolleyes: The 70-300 is a light lens most likely similar to yours Iggy and quite inexpensive at a little more than $500.

The more I listen to this guy, the more I like his philosophy.
YouTube - Conversations at the Summit with Jay Maisel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZWaWiRuXw2g)

Thanks, JAS. I'll have to go check him out! Cheers :)

It was a short video. Interesting. That's my current habit too. I take it with me to work every day and just about whenever I get into the car it's in my hand. My problem is that I'm usually with my wife so I don't always get the opportunity to stop and take a few shots because she's not really keen on that ;)

[casil403]

Nice one Iggy....Way to go! :highfive:

[Mad Aussie]

Oh, don't worry, I'm not. I've discovered it's a very versatile beast. However, at 70mm on the low end you need a little bit of distance between you and your subject. Also, I NEED a tripod when I hit 300mm. It's really hard to hold that puppy steady at that focal length.
No image stabilization of some sort on it Ig??

At 70mm ... if you find you can't get far enough away from something then it forces to look at your subject differently. This is what I meant when I said don't rule anything out. Simply look at your subject with a 70mm eye and you'll see things you didn't with a 24mm etc. Textures, shadows are other detail become the true subject.

[Iguanasan]

No image stabilization of some sort on it Ig??

If there is, I'm missing it. As far as I understand it, image stabilization is in the lens on Canon gear. At least there is an IS switch on my 18-55mm. This lens has no corresponding switch and I don't see it in the specs. I also notice that I get some blur even when I'm holding it pretty still when at 300mm.


At 70mm ... if you find you can't get far enough away from something then it forces to look at your subject differently. This is what I meant when I said don't rule anything out. Simply look at your subject with a 70mm eye and you'll see things you didn't with a 24mm etc. Textures, shadows are other detail become the true subject.

Oh, absolutely, which is why I'm leaving it on the camera for a while. :) Thanks for the reminder to keep my eyes open though. :thankyou:

[Mad Aussie]

Ok, doesn't sound like it has any image stabilization then which is a bit of a disadvantage with a focal length of above 200mm for most.
It means you have to remember to shoot with higher shutter speeds up in that range. It doesn't mean you won't get very good at it handheld if you keep practicing.
You are definitely doing the right thing though by just keeping it on the camera I reckon ... you'll not 'forget' how to use the shorter focal lenses but this one you'll need to get familiar with.
Shoot like a sniper IG ... make sure you are steady, lean against something if possible ... big breath ... let it all out slowly and as it ends ... gently press the button for the kill.
I also suggest looking at a monopod. I have one with a small ball head attached. Very light, telescopes up, doubles as a hiking stick, and makes a huge difference when you need it.

[Iguanasan]

Ok, doesn't sound like it has any image stabilization then which is a bit of a disadvantage with a focal length of above 200mm for most.
It means you have to remember to shoot with higher shutter speeds up in that range. It doesn't mean you won't get very good at it handheld if you keep practicing.
You are definitely doing the right thing though by just keeping it on the camera I reckon ... you'll not 'forget' how to use the shorter focal lenses but this one you'll need to get familiar with.
Shoot like a sniper IG ... make sure you are steady, lean against something if possible ... big breath ... let it all out slowly and as it ends ... gently press the button for the kill.
I also suggest looking at a monopod. I have one with a small ball head attached. Very light, telescopes up, doubles as a hiking stick, and makes a huge difference when you need it.

You've perfectly described my shooting method whenever I have to shoot slower shutter speed. I've gotten reasonably sharp images at 1/8 or 1/4 of a second with that method and a shorter lens.

[Mad Aussie]

Yeh it easier with shorter lenses for sure. Just keep doing what you are doing then ... it'll happen :)

[zrock]

glad i stumbled across this fourm. Just got my first slr and was looking at this lens or similar looking at your photo's gave me a real good idea of the zoom

[Iguanasan]

glad i stumbled across this fourm. Just got my first slr and was looking at this lens or similar looking at your photo's gave me a real good idea of the zoom

Glad I could help. I would recommend this lens to anyone. It's an inexpensive and wonderful bit of glass! :)

[zrock]

ya definately looks like a good inexpencive investment. Wish i would have bought this camera 3 months ago when my daughter was born...

I wouldent mind seeing a few more pic's from this lens.

[Iguanasan]

ya definately looks like a good inexpencive investment. Wish i would have bought this camera 3 months ago when my daughter was born...

I wouldent mind seeing a few more pic's from this lens.

You are in luck...here's 30 of them... http://www.photography.ca/Forums/f3/single-september-11639.html I believe every shot from me in this thread was with this lens though there might be one exception. This thread was all about a shot a day with a single lens. I left my Sigma 70-300 on all month.

[zrock]

nice im sold