Sigma 150-600 Contemporary Lens with Canon 7D Mark II

[LarryG]

Hello all,

I purchased this lens, Sigma 150-600, and hooked it up on my Canon 7D Mark II. But I find the image a little softer but I have heard that this lens is sharp. What I need though is what kind micro adjustment settings do I have to use to make it more sharper. Any ideas??? I am just new to photography.

[Shadowman]

Hi Larry,

Under what shooting conditions did you try the lens and did you try it at different apertures? Are you using the lens handheld or on a tripod?

[BJ Denning]

It would probably be good to post the photo with all the details -- aperture, shutter, ISO, focal length.

I have the 150-600 and I know that I have to remind myself to watch the shutter speed, try to keep it 1/focal length.

[Manfred M]

I am just new to photography.

Welcome to CiC Larry.

Among photographers, it seems that experienced photographers blame themselves for things that haven't quite worked out, but beginners tend to blame their equipment. While it might be your equipment, I would look at your technique before looking at other causes.

As others have stated, it's difficult for us to help you without an example of one of the images that shows the issues to help us analyse the problem. If possible, important data like focal length used, aperture, shutter speed, ISO and camera type are useful information as well.

As for adjustments / micro settings - these are used to change where the lens focuses ONLY IF an issue of front focus or back focus is causing the issue. This adjustment does not solve any other issue and before attempting this type of adjustment, I would want to rule out all other possibilities.

Camera shake (too slow shutter speed for the focal length being used) and focus errors (cameras, especially in certain shooting situations with long lenses can pick the wrong place to focus) tend to be the two most common problems. Under certain conditions, atmospherics (local heating near ground level) can result in blurred images, but this tends to occur in very specific conditions.

I don't have the 150-600mm Sigma, but do have the 150 - 500mm Sigma, which I think is rated as being slightly higher that the 150 - 600mm. It is okay but not brilliant when it comes sharpness.

[DanK]

I just want to second what Manfred said. Since I switched to digital, I have owned 4 Canon bodies and roughly 10 lenses. I have only found a reason to use micro adjustment once, and that adjustment was small enough that it probably rarely if ever made much of a difference. In other words, the many unsharp images I have taken have not been a result of needing microadjustment. That's not to say that your combination of body and lens wouldn't benefit; you may have one of the cases where it would be worth it. However, the probability that this is your problem is low, and the probability that it is something else is high.

If you want help, post an example, along with the critical technical information: aperture, shutter speed, focal length, and focusing mode.

[rpcrowe]

I realized that the selection of the wrong focus point was the reason for much incorrect focus many-many years ago when I purchased my first really long telephoto lens (Tokina 400mm f/5.6 ATX). I also tested both this lens and my shorter Canon 70-200mm f/4L lens in hand holding and realized that I needed either bright conditions or a high ISO in order to attain the shutter speed I needed to get sharp images.

I found that without IS I needed a bit higher shutter speed than 1/focal length when shooting physically larger lenses, especially on a crop format camera; I needed at least 1/focal length x 1.6

I switched to Canon telephoto lenses with image stabilization (IS) and was able to hand hold my lenses at much slower shutter speeds. However, although I made it a practice to shoot with my 70-200mm f/4L IS (replacing the non-IS model). I would still try to use a tripod or monopod (whenever possible) in shooting with my 400mm f/5.6L (replacing the 400mm Tokina) and when shooting with my 300mm f/4L IS lens (despite the IS).

I have switched from the 400mm f/5.6L and 300mm f/4L IS combination to a 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II lens and have found that the IS on this lens enables me to shoot at far slower shutter speeds that I have ever been able. I am no longer restricted in having to use a high ISO or needing bright sun.

As far as focusing error, I tend to shoot with my long lenses in either center point focus on my 5D2 or zone focus on my Canon 7D. When shooting people or animals (BIF the exception) in zone focus, I tend to use the top cluster of focus points. I have this cluster set up so that it automatically shifts to the top of the frame when I switch from landscape to portrait configuration.

The 7D has wonderful focus abilities and I have heard that the 7DII and the 5DIII exceed the 7D in AF capability...



The top cluster usually places the focus on the head/eyes/face of the subject. If I am shooting other than people, I tend to use the center cluster....

Whichever focus selection I have chosen. I ensure that I an cognizant of where my focus point is... If I am shooting a small subject, or desire to ensure that a small area of my subject is in focus, I will use a center point focus.


I don't know if the equipment limitation as reported in:
http://www.wildbirdgallery.com/optics/dslr.htm
"The Canon EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS II USM produce excellent, contrasty and sharp images even wide open! Maybe a smidge sharper stopped down one stop. In comparison, the Tamron needs to be stopped down to f9 in the 150-500mm range and f11 at 600mm for the ultimate sharpness."
This might not have any relevance to real-world photography. But. you might also try (after trying a more solid shooting platform, faster shutter speeds and careful focusing) stopping down your Tamron a stop or two from wide open as recommended above...
Of course, this could lead to problems hand-holding because it would reduce the maximum shutter speed unless you increased the ISO...

[Geoff F]

I have the Sigma 150-600m Sport with a 7D Mk II and that is sharp, when used correctly; noticeably better than the 150-500 which tended to fall off towards the edges.

But focus depth can be quite shallow, rather like a macro lens effect. It can easily be reduced to just a couple of feet with closer shooting distances. So for subjects like birds, the centre focus area is good but the foreground/background will be considerably out of focus.

[Didereaux]

I use the Canon 7Dmkii w/ Sigma 150-600C lens for most of my bird shooting now. I do most of my birds handheld, For examples of what this combination can do look at the tanager, and indigo bunting threads I recently posted. I have found that for this style of shooting that Auto ISO (range 100-1600) shutter 1/1250+ aperture wide open, spot focus, evaluative metering and EC set to +1.5-2.0 gets the most usable shots. I also use back button focusing and AI-servo continuous. These settings are registered to the custom C3 position.

Summer Tanagers
Indigo Buntings