[metalfab]

I love afternoon shift, I get an hour or so to take day time shots

Here are 2 more from today. Cropped and resized.

Very windy day, this guy was fast, I can't remember if I had AF or MF on.



I took note and headed home for lunch too



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[Miserere]

Very nice, metalfab. I especially like how the sun shines through the tips of the wings of that hawk (is it a hawk?).

[metalfab]

Very nice, metalfab. I especially like how the sun shines through the tips of the wings of that hawk (is it a hawk?).

Thanks Miserere, it is a hawk, just not sure what type though.

[cupic]

$Aus 349 from camerawarehouse.com.au

The Tammy 70-300 is $Aus 279

So - 70 bucks difference.

Thanks for the info prices sound reasonable

Have you made up on your glass selection


cheers

[reeftool]

Were you shooting wide open? This won't affect AF, but it does affect IQ. Unless it makes or breaks a shot, I always shoot at f/8 at the long end; this a $200 zoom, after all. Take some comparison shots at 300mm: f/5.6 @ ISO100, and then the same shot at f/8 @ ISO200. I did this and the latter beat the former for IQ hands down; much sharper.

I was shooting at ISO200 and mostly at f8 and f11. As I mentioned, this is my first real outing with this lens and I did get some very good shots also. I got this lens free with the K10D so I can't complain. This shot was a photo finish of the St. Lawrence men vs. Union College. St. Lawrence won it and the refs used the video my daughter shot who was standing next to me to determine the winner.

[Derridale]

Well - it's been a difficult choice process, and I've been following threads on the Sigma, the Tamron, and long macros.

To cover what I need now, I've finally gone for the Tamron 70-300 and a Sigma 180 Macro prime. The Tammy will do me until the next DA* lens arrives (with either 250 or 300 at the long end) after which I'll sell the Tammy. The Sigma 180 Macro will be for shooting very skittish water bugs.

Thanks to all who have posted on the various lenses, especially Metalfab who has gone to a lot of trouble - very much appreciated. In the end, the Sigma 70-300 lost out by half a fartskin, mainly on price and sharpness at the longest end, particularly after reading the reviews. But it was a close thing. I can live with some purple fringing if my copy of the Tammy proves to have it, as it is easy to remove in PP. But there seems to be quite a bit of sample variation - those pictures put up by Jay Sherman are very impressive, and PF seems not to be a problem with his Tammy 70-300. I wonder if they've modified the coatings on the newest copies perhaps, as Jay just got his very recently?

So, thanks again troops. What a great resource of information and informed opinions you lot are This forum has been a great find

Orders for the Tamron 70-300 and the Sigma 180mm Macro are in, and I should receive both in the next week or so.

[metalfab]

Congrats Derridale, I'm sure they will serve you well. As for helping it was no problem, helped me through a decision as well.