Soft Photo Question

.Ian.

.Ian.

Active member
Hi guys, I just had a quick question about the softness of a few of my photos.

I took this with a Sigma 70-200 2.8 APO EX DG MACRO that I've been having some problems with the bayonet mount on, and I just had a few questions.

I took this at f/2.8 so I know it WILL NOT be very sharp to begin with. Here's the photo:

Sharpnesstest-1.jpg


Click to view better quality

I've been having some trouble with the metal bayonet mount on this lens being all messed up. It mounts on a camera perfectly fine, but I'm just wondering why the image looks so soft.

Even though it's at 2.8, before I started having problems with the mount the images never seemed THIS SOFT.

I'm just wondering, could there be something wrong with the alignment of the lens to have it be creating this soft image?

If I stop the lens down to about... f/8 it's a lot sharper, (as it should be) but I still feel like it's not what it used to be.

Maybe I'm over-thinking it? I don't know haha, if you guys have any ideas or help, let me know. Thanks a ton guys. +K to anyone! Haha
 
Hmm,

looking at the clicked image in this thread, it doesn't look as soft as it does opened right here in Lightroom.

In the small view in this thread, it looks like my focus is off too, where as in lightroom it looks like my focus is spot-on and theres just this haze around the edge of the flower. I don't know it's weird.

 
Mine does the same thing, But I mostly do video work so it doesn't bother me to much. And, No I haven't found a way to solve this issue...
 
Yeah, it's pretty annoying/bad in photos. That sucks that yours does the same thing too though. I've had this lens for a couple years now and I never really even noticed it like this.

Maybe I'll start saving up for the Nikkor version.

Thanks +k
 
I think it might just be the quality of the lens. Nothin you can really do about that. If it's a new issue send it in. Maybe something's loose? Your focus could be calibrated wrong. There's a ton of stuff.
 
Thanks, yeah, sadly it might just be the quality of the lens. I never noticed it this badly before though.

Also now my lens is now doing this:

Jumpy1.jpg


At first, it just looks like something moved when I took the shot, such as the camera /lens or subject. Except that's impossible though, because the car was sitting on a big table, the camera was on a tripod and I used the cameras self timer. No movement happened at all. It's really weird...
 
It might have moved. Even tiny movements at that focal length will do that. Unless you were using a great tripod, remote release, and high shutter speed, it's a definite possibility. Especially if you're having troubles with the mount.
There's a chance that something inside the lens got messed up because you dropped it or some seals broke.
What troubles exactly are you having with the mount?
 
Yeah, I don't know.

On that shot I was using a Manfrotto 055 with a ball head, mounted on the tripod collar on the 70-200. I used the self timer on the camera so that I would not be anywhere near the camera when I took the shot or get any camera shake. It looks identical in the other test photos I took. I could go take one right now using the same set-up and the self timer and it would look the same.

I never dropped the lens either, I bought it on craigslist a few years ago and when I picked it up from the guy, I tested it out and it was great. Then later when I got it home I realized the mount was a tiny bit warped. I figured it was no big deal because it felt fine on my camera and kept using it. Over the years though the mount has slowly gotten worse and worse. It got to the point where mounting it on the camera was really hard. I was contemplating sending it to Sigma for a repair, so a few months ago I sent them an e-mail asking what I should do. They never got back to me, so I sent them another one and I never got anything from them.

I was kinda pissed at sigma, and I plan on never buying 3rd party lenses again. So I just said screw it and I took the mount off and tried to straighten it out a little bit. I straightened it out and it mounts on the camera a lot better, but now this weird stuff is happening.

Maybe the guy I bought it from dropped it at some point or something, but if he did, theres no exterior evidence of it. It's weird I don't know.

Thanks for the help man, I already have you at 10/10 or else i'd give you more Karma. Haha.
 
Ohhhhh that helps. I think I know what your problem is.
When you readjusted the mount to "straighten" it you altered the angle at which the lens sits in relation to the camera. As a result your focal plane is wayyyy off and you're getting weird artifacts. I feel like a new mount will solve your problem. There is a chance you may have damaged the mount on your body from attaching a lens with a messed up mount. Check that out too.
 
That's what I figured, thanks for helping me out because I really wasn't sure.

I sent Sigma another e-mail, if they don't get back to me I'll have to give them a call, but I hope I can just send it in to get it repaired. I paid around $500 for it, so if it costs close to that (it doesn't seem like it would but you never know) then I'll just save up awhile and buy a new Nikon 70-200. Hopefully it's not too expensive though.

Thanks again, +k to everyone.
 
So I keep sending sigma e-mails to see if they can even give me a rough estimate of what this is going to cost to fix, but they never e-mail me back. I'll try calling them later today but I might end up just buying a new lens. I'm trying to decide whether to wait and save up for about a year... or $2,400 and get the Nikon 70-200 VRII or whether I should just save up for a little and get the 80-200 for about $1,100.

Do you guys have any suggestions? The AF motor on my Sigma 70-200 was sounding kind of weird too, so I really think it's going to end up costing a ton to get it repaired.

Thanks
 
Literally, all of my gear just breaks at once. Haha, like first this lens, then I had to send my D7000 to Nikon to get the sensor cleaned (Not really broken, and not a big deal and it's under warranty) but I still haven't had it for 3 weeks. Then last night I was using my D5000 and 2 off camera flashes (a Vivitar 285 and a Sunpak 4000 fired by Yongnuo transceivers) and literally they both died. They both got stuck firing and somehow blew out or something, I don't even know whats wrong with them. (yes I tried replacing the batteries) they turn on, but don't even fire on the test fires.

I think I'm going to save up and buy 2 SB-700's. I really baby my gear too, so I don't get why all of a sudden everything starts breaking. Haha

Oh well even though it'll take me awhile to save up for all this stuff, I'll have much nicer gear in the end, and it will all be worth it!
 
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