Nikon D70s & Sigma 70-300 APO DG Macro Lens

[El CID]

I have just bought these and still playing.

Set it up on a tripod and took some shots through a clean window of the bird feeder,the Sigma was on neary full zoom.
The results were slightly out of focus,tried with various apertures and manual focus but still the same.
Any suggestions please

[Keith Reeder]

Suggestion no 1:

post examples, please...

That way we can give some thought as to whether the "out of focus" is actually that, or maybe softness from the lens, camera shake (possible even on a tripod), too slow a shutter for the subject, or some other thing.

[BenBirding]

Keep the aperture on f/8 and try shooting the same picture with AF and MF, and post your results.

[El CID]

A little guidance on how to post examples please

[AlexWinser]

That lens can be a little soft at 300mm, I know cos mine is too. Try bringing it back a bit to say 250mm.

[Tyler Vargo]

Could you help us out by giving us the EXIF? I think it's probably camera shake causing the blur. The 70-300 isn't tack sharp either wide open, but nothing a little bit of skillful USM won't cure.

Since the 70-300 hasn't a tripod mount and using the on-camera mount makes the setup quite front heavy on it it isn't extremely good on a tripod at lower shutter speeds to boot, mirror slap can be a problem and I've seen it! Also, when using a low shutter speed with that D70s take advantage of that wired remote capability Nikon didn't give us D70 users! And/or use the self timer set to 2s delay like I do sometimes. And don't be afraid to crank up that ISO, I regularly get up to ISO 800 keeping the shutter speeds in a reasonable range, and the noise isn't bad! Heck, even 1600 gives me usable 8x10s.

Shooting through a window can also cause soft photos, especially thick or layered windows (certainly not optics-grade glass!).

[El CID]

Thanks for all your advice.
Unable to post as files are to large.The overall pictures are blurred,settings as below:
1. ISO 200 - shutter 1/10-aperture F9-focal length 170mm
2. " " 1/13 " " 240
3. " " 1/20 5.3 "

I think your right diagnosing camera shake also the window won't help,I am still awaiting delivery of the wired and infra red remote controls and will try those.Will the IR remote control work from the side and rear of the camera or only from the front?

[DOC]

The Sigma 70-300 APo DG is a great lense .
If from what i see the shutter speeds that you used were 1\10 etc - then you'll never manage sharp pictures .
Try using F\8 or F\7- but shutter speeds of around 1\500 sec. Crank up the Iso to 400 , 800 etc to help you . Give some negative EV compensation :
( -1\3 for example ).
You should get very good results .
Here's an example of a picture i took with the old version - Sigma 70-300DL- The camera is hand held:
http://www.birdforum.net/pp_gallery/showphoto.php/photo/52877/sort/1/size/medium/cat/500/page/4

[El CID]

Many thanks Doc I will try again later with your recommendations.
Superb picture

[BenBirding]

Yep. That was probably the problem. Thank goodness for ISO settings.

[jgrnot]

I just bought the 70-300 as well and I found that the blurriness is often my own hands trembling. I have been happy with mine so far, but I am interested to hear if your results improve.

[El CID]

Have experimented little further using F7 at 1/500 and ISO set at 800,the results are vastly improved but not perfect but I am still waiting for the remotes and feel that they will be spot on then.Hopefully this will eliminate the slight blurring due to camera shake.Tried using same setting but with ISO 400,picture came out to dark.

[BenBirding]

You will have to decrease your shutter-speed if you boost your iso.