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got me a Sigma 17-70 macro!
Posted By: foxglove, 05-29-2007, 10:52 AM

I suppose this is more of an LBA post and should be in the lens section, but I haven't anything technical to say about the lens, so I'm putting it here.

Thanks to all who contributed opinions and suggestions when I first started considering this lens. I decided that I'd worked hard enough to justify a really nice reward, so I went for the Sigma rather than any of the cheaper (and heavier) alternatives. Late last week my new toy arrived, just in time for the annual hike in the Cobequid Mountains (well, what passes for a mountain here) to look for spring wildflowers and stuff.

I really like this lens! It's much more satisfying than the kit lens, particularly in the macro range. I might actually start using AF once in a while, it's very fast. And I'll admit it's nice to get the exposure data right there in the viewfinder, without having to press the AE-L button as with all my manual lenses. I've not been shooting a lot lately, and wasn't feeling super inspired, but I did get a few that I rather liked.

The main object of the trip: trout lily. This is a crop, I was shooting up from a ditch and the horizon ended up wildly crooked! The plant is rather rare in the area, but can be locally very common, as it is in this spot. Stupid me, I didn't get any pictures of the big masses of them.


Spring beauty - you'd be hard-pressed to find these except when they're blooming.


Just a nice fern frond.


Freshly opened beech leaves. I love the way beech leaves hang down in the spring, and the delicate shade of green.


The trail we were hiking is an ATV trail, apparently not much used. The wildlife obviously appreciates it - lots of deer and moose tracks. Then we saw this:


It could have been someone's dog, but we suspected not - too purposeful (no romping through mud puddles!) and its tracks seemed much fresher than the ATV tracks. It's a big animal, whatever it is - that's a Canadian dime for scale. Any guesses?

This lens is exactly what I was looking for - reasonable range of focal lengths, not too heavy, reasonable macro capabilities. I can bung it on the camera, stuff it in the top of my pack, and know that most things I encounter on a hike that I want to photograph, it can handle. I'm a happy camper!

Julie
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05-29-2007, 11:16 AM   #2
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Hi Julie! Congrats on the new lens. Love the Trout Lily. The small white and purple flowers are exqusite! Is Spring beauty their name? In any event nice capture. I think the paw print is either a bobcat or a lynx. BTW you have it upside down. The absence of claw marks points towards one of the cats, from the size I'd say lynx, do you have any up in your way? Otherwise a large bobcat or a VERY large house cat.

NaCl(a good hiking lens you are pleased with is a Good Thing)H2O
05-30-2007, 02:47 AM   #3
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That Sigma is money very well spent, Julie. Sparkling photos with startling sharpness and bokeh. The lily shot is like a fine painting, just perfect.
Guaranteed you'll fall deeply in love with that lens! Thanks for the treat, Freddy
05-30-2007, 07:53 AM   #4
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Original Poster
QuoteOriginally posted by NaClH2O Quote
The small white and purple flowers are exqusite! Is Spring beauty their name?
Yup, one of the best-named flowers, I think. Like many woodland flowers, they bloom in early spring before the tree leaves have opened and there's still sunlight on the forest floor. They have tiny leaves, all the greenery in the photo is wild strawberry and stuff, you'd have to be SuperBotanist to find them one they're done blooming!

QuoteOriginally posted by NaClH2O Quote
In any event nice capture. I think the paw print is either a bobcat or a lynx. BTW you have it upside down. The absence of claw marks points towards one of the cats, from the size I'd say lynx, do you have any up in your way? Otherwise a large bobcat or a VERY large house cat.
Our first thought was cat, but I'm pretty sure it isn't. It's not upside down - there are two prints superimposed, but the animal was travelling from lower right to upper left. There's a large, irregularly shaped pad impression at the lower right, with four surrounding smaller toe-marks. The claw thing is baffling - if you look closely at the two toes prints below and to the left of the coin, there are marks that look like claws, but they don't seem right for a dog - they usually leave really clear claw marks, particularly in soft, deep soil like this. The entire print doesn't seem round enough for a cat. It's also waaaay larger than any bobcat/lynx track I've ever seen! There are rumours of cougars in Nova Scotia, but it didn't seem cat-like. Or entirely dog-like. Definitely wasn't a bear. Whatever it was, I was just as happy not to meet it!

@Freddy - Thanks for the compliments, and you're right, I'm falling in love with the lens. It'll never surpass the Tokina 90mm macro (love that lens!!), but it's definitely a big step up as a general duty lens.

Julie

05-30-2007, 08:20 AM   #5
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I really like the Spring beauty's as well Julie. That lens sure does a wonderful job. I'll look into them when I'm shoping for a macro
05-30-2007, 12:59 PM   #6
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Nice shots Julie - very 3-dimensional quality to them.

-Dan
05-30-2007, 01:41 PM   #7
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Very nice photos Julie, seems that the new lens will be your steady companion. Make sure that you solve that track mystery before we get there this fall, I don't like big surprises. lol,

Take care, Heinrich

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