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noelpolar · 05-02-2014, 10:30 PM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by pentaxk10duser

Thanks noelpolar . My photos suck compared to every one I have seen but I will try to find one I like and post it . what do you mean when you said normal refraction issues from f11 etc. Is there a place I can read about this . Thanks

see. Understanding Lens Diffraction

As a very very broad general rule... most lenses give their best from maybe 2 or so steps down from their maximum apperature to around the middle of their range. Getting to know each of your lens sweet spots is part of the enjoyment of getting the most out of your gear in a given scenario. So for a F 2.8 - F22 lens you might find the Image quality best at say F4 or 5.6 to F11. As far as my copy of the Sigma 70-210 goes I find it quite good from F2.8 to F11....... but I wouldn't hesitate to use it past F11 if the situation warranted it.

With better quality lenses even using a lens outside of it's sweet spot is quite secondary to the other key elements of a good photograph such as subject matter, light, composition, exposure etc etc.

Your posted photo's look great!

pentaxk10duser · 05-04-2014, 01:17 AM

Thanks for your help noelpolar . I use a tripod on just about every thing and most of the time the 2 second timer when I have it at 200mm .It seems like with the k10d that the iso at 400 and higher shows a lot of noise so I keep it at 100 or 200 and I can never get the shutter speed I need . Maybe with my k3 thats on its way , I will be able to use the TAv mode with a higher range setting in the iso . Lately I have been trying to get some photos of birds around the house and I'm finding it hard to get a good sharp photo after I crop it in a lot . Maybe I'm just to far away. That's why I was wondering if anyone has the new pentax teleconverter 1.4 . with the 70-200 and has taken some photos of birds and does it help . I have a old 2x converter and I took a few photos with it and compared it with just the lens and cropping and it seemed to be sharper with out the converter even when I cropped it a lot . but I was thinking thats maybe because I couldn't get the same shutter speed with the converter on and keep it at the same iso and aperture. And again maybe with the k3 I will be able to set a higher iso to help get the shutter speed up and be able to try different aperture setting .

gryhnd · 05-21-2014, 09:18 AM - **3 Likes**

Took the dogs for an early walk this morning. Ran into an alert swallow, and an osprey parent unhappy with our presence.

**crewl1** · 05-21-2014, 09:26 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by gryhnd

Took the dogs for an early walk this morning. Ran into an alert swallow, and an osprey parent unhappy with our presence.

Never seen those craters on my moon shots.
Nice bird captures

gryhnd · 05-21-2014, 09:42 AM - **1 Like**

Originally posted by crewl1

Never seen those craters on my moon shots.

The ones in thetwilight zone? That'd be my name, lol. NASA owed me a favor.

zman · 06-04-2014, 07:05 PM - **3 Likes**

Living in Buffalo, NY, I'm fortunate to have several nature preserves within the city limits to hike around and enjoy nature and its many residents.

My Sigma 70-200 EX APO and matching Sigma 1.4 EX teleconverter are still new to me and a work in progress. It's a bit heavy to carry around but the results are worth it. Seemed like every feathered & furry creature was out today and both the lens and myself got a good workout.

All the shots were handheld. Today was a great day off from work

HAHA · 07-23-2014, 05:24 PM - **3 Likes**

I bought the 70-200 for sports and action and had it out for the first workout a week ago. Works very well with K-50 and machine gun shooting.

Attached Images

View Picture EXIF

View Picture EXIF

pentaxk10duser · 09-12-2014, 11:08 AM

Zman that was a great walk all that in one trip . I'm getting use to the weight . I don't care either your right its worth it . The Sigma 1.4 EX teleconverter looks like its working great . gryhnd and HAHA Great photos I have a 18 ft bass Ranger with a 150hp on back so I like the boat photos. How do you know how to set your shutter speed. Is there a rule to go by like for birds flying you have to have it set to a certain speed to keep it from blurring. and for moving cars, boats ect. Does the distance between the subject and the camera and the amount of zoom have any thing to do with it .

jawsy · 10-06-2014, 01:11 AM - **2 Likes**

A good example of the AF speed of the Macro II version. Even when coupled with an old K20D this lens has no trouble at all tracking a dragonfly zipping backwards and forwards around my backyard. The operator is the limiting factor in this case.

1/4000, f4.0 at 200mm focal length. ISO1600, cropped to about 100%.

howieb101 · 10-07-2014, 11:10 PM - **1 Like**

Well I have version II which isn't known to be the best version but my copy is sharp. As for best Fstop a universal rule for all lenses is to stop down by a full stop. For a F2.8 zoom this means going down to F4. This is only a general rule of thumb so don't take it as gospel.

If you use the 70-200 at F2.8 you will get the shallowest depth of field if that's what you are going for (shot dependent).

HAHA · 12-08-2014, 04:16 AM - **1 Like**

Some pics I found on the computer from my first test of the Sigma 70-200 F2.8HSM.
I was just walking around taking pictures and trying to figure things out. I had to do some focus calibration in my K50 but generally, this lens is very easy to use.

jawsy · 12-12-2014, 04:48 AM - **1 Like**

RAAF C-130J.

F7.1, 1/1250sec @ISO400 with K20D. Minor noise reduction in LR5, 50% crop and that's about it.

I still can't work out the PF upload process. The attachment went in as a 1.26MB file and came out as 53KB; the original is much sharper.

(Now 191KB, so a bit better thanks)

**crewl1** · 12-13-2014, 10:40 AM - **2 Likes**

Originally posted by jawsy

RAAF C-130J.

F7.1, 1/1250sec @ISO400 with K20D. Minor noise reduction in LR5, 50% crop and that's about it.

I still can't work out the PF upload process. The attachment went in as a 1.26MB file and came out as 53KB; the original is much sharper.

In LR5 resize your exported file to 1024 on the longedge, this way the file you export will be the same file that is displayed.
If it is too big going in the forum software will reduce it for you and you will get a resulting loss in sharpness.

Here is the screen from my LR4 export options, I am sure LR5 has something similar.

AndyM · 01-03-2015, 09:53 AM - **1 Like**

Hi folks,

Hoping someone on here might be able to help. I have the current Sigma 70 - 200 1:2.8 DG EX HSM 'OS'. I bought Sigma's 2x APO DG EX teleconverter thinking it was compatible only to discover it doesn't function with the new 'OS' version. Very frustrated!

If you are using Sigma's compatibility charts on their .com site be very careful - I thought I had been. DOH.

Does any one know if there is a TC which does function with this lens?

Thanks

Andy

jawsy · 01-03-2015, 03:58 PM - **1 Like**

Options are available but limited unfortunately.

Check out the thread I started 18 months ago titled 'Converters on Sigma 70-200 HSM II?' for some options.

06-04-2014, 07:05 PM - 3 Likes	#36
zman Pentaxian Join Date: Sep 2009 Location: Western NY Photos: Albums Posts: 515	heavy, but worth the carry ... Living in Buffalo, NY, I'm fortunate to have several nature preserves within the city limits to hike around and enjoy nature and its many residents. My Sigma 70-200 EX APO and matching Sigma 1.4 EX teleconverter are still new to me and a work in progress. It's a bit heavy to carry around but the results are worth it. Seemed like every feathered & furry creature was out today and both the lens and myself got a good workout. All the shots were handheld. Today was a great day off from work Last edited by zman; 01-21-2017 at 06:46 AM.

12-13-2014, 10:40 AM - 2 Likes	#43
crewl1 Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,807	Originally posted by jawsy RAAF C-130J. F7.1, 1/1250sec @ISO400 with K20D. Minor noise reduction in LR5, 50% crop and that's about it. I still can't work out the PF upload process. The attachment went in as a 1.26MB file and came out as 53KB; the original is much sharper. In LR5 resize your exported file to 1024 on the longedge, this way the file you export will be the same file that is displayed. If it is too big going in the forum software will reduce it for you and you will get a resulting loss in sharpness. Here is the screen from my LR4 export options, I am sure LR5 has something similar. Attached Images

01-03-2015, 09:53 AM - 1 Like	#44
AndyM New Member Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: Banff, Aberdeenshire, Scotland Photos: Gallery Posts: 10	Teleconverters for current 'OS ' version of Sigma 70 - 200 Hi folks, Hoping someone on here might be able to help. I have the current Sigma 70 - 200 1:2.8 DG EX HSM 'OS'. I bought Sigma's 2x APO DG EX teleconverter thinking it was compatible only to discover it doesn't function with the new 'OS' version. Very frustrated! If you are using Sigma's compatibility charts on their .com site be very careful - I thought I had been. DOH. Does any one know if there is a TC which does function with this lens? Thanks Andy

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05-02-2014, 10:30 PM - 2 Likes	#31
noelpolar Veteran Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Location: Goolwa, SA Photos: Gallery Posts: 4,310	Originally posted by pentaxk10duser Thanks noelpolar . My photos suck compared to every one I have seen but I will try to find one I like and post it . what do you mean when you said normal refraction issues from f11 etc. Is there a place I can read about this . Thanks see. Understanding Lens Diffraction As a very very broad general rule... most lenses give their best from maybe 2 or so steps down from their maximum apperature to around the middle of their range. Getting to know each of your lens sweet spots is part of the enjoyment of getting the most out of your gear in a given scenario. So for a F 2.8 - F22 lens you might find the Image quality best at say F4 or 5.6 to F11. As far as my copy of the Sigma 70-210 goes I find it quite good from F2.8 to F11....... but I wouldn't hesitate to use it past F11 if the situation warranted it. With better quality lenses even using a lens outside of it's sweet spot is quite secondary to the other key elements of a good photograph such as subject matter, light, composition, exposure etc etc. Your posted photo's look great!

05-04-2014, 01:17 AM	#32
pentaxk10duser Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kentucky Photos: Albums Posts: 165 Original Poster	Thanks for your help noelpolar . I use a tripod on just about every thing and most of the time the 2 second timer when I have it at 200mm .It seems like with the k10d that the iso at 400 and higher shows a lot of noise so I keep it at 100 or 200 and I can never get the shutter speed I need . Maybe with my k3 thats on its way , I will be able to use the TAv mode with a higher range setting in the iso . Lately I have been trying to get some photos of birds around the house and I'm finding it hard to get a good sharp photo after I crop it in a lot . Maybe I'm just to far away. That's why I was wondering if anyone has the new pentax teleconverter 1.4 . with the 70-200 and has taken some photos of birds and does it help . I have a old 2x converter and I took a few photos with it and compared it with just the lens and cropping and it seemed to be sharper with out the converter even when I cropped it a lot . but I was thinking thats maybe because I couldn't get the same shutter speed with the converter on and keep it at the same iso and aperture. And again maybe with the k3 I will be able to set a higher iso to help get the shutter speed up and be able to try different aperture setting .

05-21-2014, 09:26 AM - 1 Like	#34
crewl1 Site Supporter Join Date: Jul 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 9,807	Originally posted by gryhnd Took the dogs for an early walk this morning. Ran into an alert swallow, and an osprey parent unhappy with our presence. Never seen those craters on my moon shots. Nice bird captures

05-21-2014, 09:42 AM - 1 Like	#35
gryhnd Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2013 Location: Southeastern MA Posts: 240	Originally posted by crewl1 Never seen those craters on my moon shots. The ones in thetwilight zone? That'd be my name, lol. NASA owed me a favor.

09-12-2014, 11:08 AM	#38
pentaxk10duser Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Kentucky Photos: Albums Posts: 165 Original Poster	Zman that was a great walk all that in one trip . I'm getting use to the weight . I don't care either your right its worth it . The Sigma 1.4 EX teleconverter looks like its working great . gryhnd and HAHA Great photos I have a 18 ft bass Ranger with a 150hp on back so I like the boat photos. How do you know how to set your shutter speed. Is there a rule to go by like for birds flying you have to have it set to a certain speed to keep it from blurring. and for moving cars, boats ect. Does the distance between the subject and the camera and the amount of zoom have any thing to do with it .

10-07-2014, 11:10 PM - 1 Like	#40
howieb101 Veteran Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Melbourne, Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 594	Well I have version II which isn't known to be the best version but my copy is sharp. As for best Fstop a universal rule for all lenses is to stop down by a full stop. For a F2.8 zoom this means going down to F4. This is only a general rule of thumb so don't take it as gospel. If you use the 70-200 at F2.8 you will get the shallowest depth of field if that's what you are going for (shot dependent).

01-03-2015, 03:58 PM - 1 Like	#45
jawsy Veteran Member Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Australia Photos: Gallery \| Albums Posts: 422	Options are available but limited unfortunately. Check out the thread I started 18 months ago titled 'Converters on Sigma 70-200 HSM II?' for some options.

Sigma 70-200/2.8 lens club

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