Sigma 150-600 Garbage

[jcdeboever]

Late to the party and all....

I may have missed some posts in this thread but I wonder if the OP actually understands how Auto Focus works ? And/or the need for contrast. And how you can change the "size" of the AF box ?

Assuming center point was used, both of the last two images are lacking in high contrast for AF..

Cheers, Don

PS > there is no need to post a 5 MB image, a 500 K image will look the same on a computer screen

Just resize to 1000 wide and you're good !

Do explain, I have a Nikon D3300. How do I change the size of the focus box? I normally do not use live view mode, I know there is a setting in there for wide area AF.

Why won't it focus on a tripod and OS turned off?

Why can I take several test pics in OS1 and none of them come out sharp and with the same setting and moving the switch to OS2 they come much better?

Why does the image shift sometimes in the view finder?

So basically, your saying it's me and I can't take a picture of a bird on my bird feeder from my deck or that tree.? Where exactly can I use the lens, perfect conditions during golden hours in a field of black crows? Or do I just by a full frame DSLR?


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[480sparky]

..........Why does the image shift sometimes in the view finder?..........

That's a result of using the OS. It's caused by the internal elements being moved by the OS system. If it's turned off and you see these shifts, you've got something seriously wrong with the lens.

 

[jcdeboever]

..........Why does the image shift sometimes in the view finder?..........

That's a result of using the OS. It's caused by the internal elements being moved by the OS system. If it's turned off and you see these shifts, you've got something seriously wrong with the lens.

Yes sir Sparky. I am a little startled when it happens. It definitely did it when on the tripod with remote shutter looking through view finder. I did it hand held to. Is that normal when handheld?

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[480sparky]

Was the OS on or off?

 

[jcdeboever]

Was the OS on or off?

OS was off when on tripod. Is it normal for it to do it handheld? Cause it did it sometimes.

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[480sparky]

It should not move when off.

 

[Don Kondra]

Do explain, I have a Nikon D3300. How do I change the size of the focus box? I normally do not use live view mode, I know there is a setting in there for wide area AF.

RTFM

Why won't it focus on a tripod and OS turned off?

Probably not enough contrast. You know, light And dark areas.

Why can I take several test pics in OS1 and none of them come out sharp and with the same setting and moving the switch to OS2 they come much better?

OS 1 is the equivalent of Nikon's "active" VR mode, meaning that the lens compensates for horizontal and vertical motion while OS 2 is to be used for panning horizontally as it corrects only vertical motion.

Why does the image shift sometimes in the view finder?

Either focus breathing or the OS kicking in...

So basically, your saying it's me and I can't take a picture of a bird on my bird feeder from my deck or that tree.? Where exactly can I use the lens, perfect conditions during golden hours in a field of black crows? Or do I just by a full frame DSLR?

No, there is no need for a full frame

Confirm that it is the lens and not your technique. Check your focus settings and when focusing, make sure there is light and dark areas in the focus box.

You can check for front/back focusing by laying out a tape measure and focusing on one of the dark "foot" markings.

Or something like this...

Cheers, Don[/QUOTE]

 

[Derrel]

THIS AF fine tune target works GREAT for me...a bonus is that this duct tape has little patterned dots in it. I bought the roll of tape at Home Depot, like a year ago. Here are some of my test shot fine tune center crops from SOOC JPEGs made at 3,024x pixels.

105 AF-D DC Nikkor tested at f/2.8, focused right on the center "O" target.


Here is the center crop for the 300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor, wide-open at f/4. Focus is dead-in...but as you can see, the 4-inch mark behind the focused upon spot at "O" is "out"...

I am shooting at an angle of oh, 30 degrees maybe, to the wall.

Below,on the right, is the link to a 3,024x full-frame shot from the 300mm f/4 AF-S Nikkor lens, with the full run of my focus target shown, so you can see the DOF effect better (file is named D3X_7775-copy_300-f4_afs-nikkor-jpg):

 

[jcdeboever]

Getting my lens back tomorrow. They upgraded the OS, fixed the focus motor, calibrated, and updated firmware. So, I wasn't crazy after all.

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[astroNikon]

Getting my lens back tomorrow. They upgraded the OS, fixed the focus motor, calibrated, and updated firmware. So, I wasn't crazy after all.

well the lens was driving your crazier.
The part about being Crazy to begin with you may want to ask your wife about that

 

[DarkShadow]

Awesome! For what its worth,I didn't think you where crazy.Fact I got a flaky one on the first copy but it was only the OS.Can happen with the best of them,mass produced stuff you know.

 

[jcdeboever]

Awesome! For what its worth,I didn't think you where crazy.Fact I got a flaky one on the first copy but it was only the OS.Can happen with the best of them,mass produced stuff you know.

Thanks. Lord knows I exhausted most of human error. I really wanted to do Derrel's test but weather wasn't ideal at the time.

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[jcdeboever]

Just got home and a note from UPS on my door.... another day of throwing around.

 

[jcdeboever]

Got it back. This thing is a POS and I am not happy. My 10 year old DSLR takes better pics than this. I am so very much over it. I just about threw the lens up against the wall. Took my blood pressure... 170-112. Thanks Sigma for aiding in my crappy eating ritual and prematurely killing me via stroke / heart attack. Now I have to confess, I apologize for my keyboard swearwords... Lord help me in my time of complete insanity over a $1000 lens, please guide me into the least possible human injury you can muster, in order to destroy the evil wickedness of poor manufacturing. And Father God, help me to understand the vast recommendations that I will receive to deceive me from sending back to this conglomerate, that I take pleasure in their general concern for my bad luck. See Lord, I need all the help I can get.

 

[Overread]

I take it the repair didn't work?
I assume you sent it back without your camera body - remember recalibration is still only to within tolerances; people had the very same problems with the earlier 100-400mm L lenses and it took time to get the calibration tolerances for that nailed down to be more reliable en-mass. And Canon was only producing it for their own bodies not a range of options on the market.



Now pause and BREATH - and steady - in and out - and BREATH and relax.

*helps with the language issues too *