50-500mm "bigma" focus

[adies_artwork ok!!]

Hi All the bigma users out there just got myself one of ebay for a bargain price of £520 brand new few ? does it manual focus or only auto focus, what is the second adjuster ring the one nearest to the handle its got AF next to it, and has anybody out there tried a tele converter on it other than sigmas own brand, and any tips on best appeture etc or is it just practice makes perfect. rgds adie

[glsammy]

It's either manual of Auto Focus. There's a switch on the side to select which you want. That's what the ring does, manual focus!
As for the best setting. there isn't one, conditions dictate what to try, and what you wish to achieve in the shot. If you want the background blurred, then you would select something near the F5.6 of F6.3 end, if you want as much background in focus as possible, and if there's enough light, you'd go to F16 or greater.
As for teleconverters, I wouldn't recommend them. I tried both 1.4X and 2X, and both were very disappointing. I ended up selling them both. It's a great lens, but it can take some time and practise to get the best out of it.

[adies_artwork ok!!]

Hi Graham glad its you as you seem to be well up on this subject by the discussions you have had in the past i have read, the only swtch on the side of the lense is the lock - unlock to stop the lense there is no other switch i can see and when i switch he camera from AF to MF the ring does not feel as if ( like all my other lenses do) it does any thing like get more stiffer to rotate. rgds adie.

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by adies_artwork ok!!

Hi Graham glad its you as you seem to be well up on this subject by the discussions you have had in the past i have read, the only swtch on the side of the lense is the lock - unlock to stop the lense there is no other switch i can see and when i switch he camera from AF to MF the ring does not feel as if ( like all my other lenses do) it does any thing like get more stiffer to rotate. rgds adie.

The AF/Manual switch is right at the end where the lens fits to the camera, on the same side as the lock/unlock switch.

[Miller]

As the other posters have said the lens is AF or MF, but to the best of my knowledge because it has quite a narrow aperture at it's widest setting anyway if you attach a teleconverter the lens is unable to AF at all.

So without a TC - AF/MF
With a TC - MF only

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by Miller

As the other posters have said the lens is AF or MF, but to the best of my knowledge because it has quite a narrow aperture at it's widest setting anyway if you attach a teleconverter the lens is unable to AF at all.

So without a TC - AF/MF
With a TC - MF only

Yes, it's manual focus only with a TC. With a 2X you've got virtually an F13.0 1000mm.. Sounds good, but it's not. With F13.0, you need a very fast shutter and a very bright day to stand a chance of a half decent image. Even in those conditions I still didn't get a good shot. Even with a 1.4x, the images were no better than a cropped one without.
I recommend the 50-500mm, but NOT with TC's.

[Miller]

Originally Posted by glsammy

Yes, it's manual focus only with a TC. With a 2X you've got virtually an F13.0 1000mm.. Sounds good, but it's not. With F13.0, you need a very fast shutter and a very bright day to stand a chance of a half decent image. Even in those conditions I still didn't get a good shot. Even with a 1.4x, the images were no better than a cropped one without.
I recommend the 50-500mm, but NOT with TC's.

Aye exactly - possibly useful if you're wanting to take a picture of the moon though

Out of interest (sorry to hijack the thread Adies) do you have any samples of wildlife pictures with the 1.4x attached? Realistically, 800mm EFL is plenty for the most part but I'm helping a friend with her bird-nesting related university project so getting a bit of extra reach of something stationary (and south facing, so plenty of light) could be useful...

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by Miller

Out of interest (sorry to hijack the thread Adies) do you have any samples of wildlife pictures with the 1.4x attached? ...

this was taken with the little bigma (170-500) at 500 with a 2xTC attached - manual focus and the lens supported on a bean bag resting on the car windowsill with the body ofthe camera on a monopod tucked between my legs

goes to show you can get good shots with that kind of set up but you need a lot of paitience , solid support , and good technique

[true nature]

adie ive had the bigma for nearly 2 years and ive found out that if you stick the camera in
av mode and then set the apature to f8 it will be ther all the time all you have to do is
change the shutter speed to what you require either a bird on the ground or in the sky . im only now getting to grips with changing the sh/speed with out looking and its a way that you dont miss a shot. any thing els you need to now let me now.
many thanks

[Roy C]

Originally Posted by true nature

adie ive had the bigma for nearly 2 years and ive found out that if you stick the camera in
av mode and then set the apature to f8 it will be ther all the time all you have to do is
change the shutter speed to what you require either a bird on the ground or in the sky . im only now getting to grips with changing the sh/speed with out looking and its a way that you dont miss a shot. any thing els you need to now let me now.
many thanks

Surely if you are in av mode, you dial in the required apature and the camera will automatically select the shutter speed I cannot see how you can change this Unless you dial in some ev compensation.