Cheap consumer zoom

[payn817]

I picked up the Sony 75-300 to try it out after getting frustrated with the Sigma 400 5.6. Some people have had good results, but tests made the lens seem horrid. Anyway, it blew the 400mm out of the water. Here's a few random shots from the feeder to test the lens, nothing meant to be serious. My favorite part is that bokeh... sweet.
All are straight from the camera with only resizing, no sharpening, levels, etc.

The mockingbird shots are at ISO 800, which have softened the image a little, but you will notice there is no excessive noise as rumored from the Sony Alpha.

Your thoughts greatly appreciated.

[OBie]

Wow. I'd take that lens over the Sigma any day. Great test shots!

[paulnj]

Nice !!!!!!!!!!!

[mjs1973]

Looks very nice Payn!

[Copy_Kot]

Nice bokeh! The color of the bird and b/g combined with the bokeh from that lens in the second image is awesome!

[payn817]

Thanks folks. I was fairly happy with these considering no time was put into them, can't wait to use it in the field. The quality of the images with this lens surprised me considering it cost less than $200, was shot through glass, and wasn't closed down very much.

It makes me wonder what the images with the new Sony G glass, or Zeiss lenses would be like.

[Loupey]

You've got some skinny birds down there.

Looks great. Can I ask what about the Sigma you don't like?

[payn817]

The sigma images looked good when displayed small. However, when enlarged (even 8x10) it was soft. At first, I thought it was technique, but after giving it a few months and eliminating technical issues one at a time, I found that this was not the case.

For example, the owl photos posted the other day. At 8x10 the fine details in the feathers are very soft. I thought I was being very picky, but another photographer agreed. A friend that attended the same event used the same model camera, the same ISO, etc. had better fine detail, and was using a KM 70-210 f/4. Although I filled the frame better, given the high resolution of the camera, hers could be cropped to fill the frame, and still look more detailed.

Here's a 100% crop from the two lenses. The owl is the 400mm, the bluebird is from the 75-300. Can you see a difference, or am I crazy?

Also, the owl is at f/7.1, and the bluebird is at 6.4, both lenses start at 5.6 both are iso 200

[Loupey]

That is puzzling. Odd for a prime to be beat out like that.

I get results like your owl if I try to shoot my 300mm with the 2x wide open. Results improve dramatically when stop down 1 stop (that's why just about everything I post using that combo is at f/11).

But you're already nearly 2 stops down from WO. Have you tried any side-by-sides using a range of apertures to find the optimal resolution setting for that particular model? Can't imagine it being more than 2 stops down but perhaps it is. Whatever it is, it would be a good idea to know so that you can always use that as your "default" aperture.