Show us some birds...51

Time for a new thread. Please continue posting in part 52.

Hols52 wrote: Phil Great collection - my favourites being the two tits. Be grateful if you could clear up a couple of points: Am I right in thinking that there is no HSM on the sigma 500 with the Sony and if so how is focusing without it? Would this be a lens you could think of walking with and using at the same time - or is it realistically more a lens to walk between points of interest? Thanks Graham

Thanks Graham. To answer your questions:

1) You're correct in that it isn't an HSM lens. It's difficult for me to say a lot about the AF because I've never actually used an HSM lens before, and only very briefly used a Sony SSM lens. It seems to focus as quickly as any other screw-drive lens I've used though, so I feel it's pretty good. It will hunt if you don't get the AF positioning spot-on because of the lack of the focus limiter. I'm hoping to finally receive my replacement A77 this weekend, so I might be able to work out if the newer camera body will affect AF performance positively or not.

2) Personally, I wouldn't ever take this lens out without bringing a tripod with me (or at least something else to stabilise it). Although it's fairly heavy, it's smaller than other 500/4 lenses I've seen, and I believe lighter too. Compared with the Sigma 300/2.8 it's a couple of inches longer, but the front element is the same size. I guess this is all to do with it being an f4.5 rather than the usual f4. It has a carry strap attached to the non-removable tripod bracket/mount and I find it fine to carry by my side with the strap over my shoulder (I"m only 5'5" tall, so really heavy lenses aren't easy for me). With favourable lighting conditions I find that I can use it hand-held, but it's not easy and I've only done so if I have no time to get it onto the tripod.

I'm expecting to sell my 300/2.8 sometime soon in order to recoup some of the money, and I'll use my old Sigma 70-200/2.8 as my lens for walking around with.

Phil

Great collection - my favourites being the two tits.

Be grateful if you could clear up a couple of points:

Am I right in thinking that there is no HSM on the sigma 500 with the Sony and if so how is focusing without it?

Would this be a lens you could think of walking with and using at the same time - or is it realistically more a lens to walk between points of interest?


Thanks

Graham

Edited by Hols52 - 22 February 2012 at 17:57

Biggator wrote: I can never catch these guys flying, but I thought this was pretty cool. They were literally working as a team to herd the fish into a small area then feed. Having lived most of my life near or on the water I had still never seen this behavior before. Shot at Lake Ella Tallahassee,Fl. Sony A500 w/ Tamron 70-300 Di ld @ 150mm f9 ISO 400 1/1000 sec

Believe me, it's not a pretty sight:


And gets worse when they are landing:

Another shot of a Willie Wagtail (400mm hand held).

Fence Sitter by benevolent_son71, on Flickr

A Welcome Swallow (500mm hand held) - I really like the bokeh in this shot.

Welcome Post by benevolent_son71, on Flickr

nice collection phil really like the first one quite sharp...how is the 5004.5 for birding?

Last week I went on a four-day birding trip to Sweden, armed with an A700 and new Sigma 500/4.5. Here are a few shots.



Eurasian Nutcracker



Willow Tit



Great Spotted Woodpecker



Crested Tit



Yellowhammer



Northern Goshawk