Sigma 50mm f/1.4

[tlbradford]

Here are some test shots with this lens.  No retouch on the dog and family, and a little sharpening on the baby.  I really like the lens.  The 70-200 arrived today, but no shots with that as of yet.

[tlbradford]

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[tlbradford]

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[huntnphool]

Very cool TL, it looks as thought the white balance is off. Did you shoot those in RAW? If so try adjusting it, you can get that pink hue fixed.

[tlbradford]

I am shooting in RAW.  Of course I am going to do what I'm told by you veterans.   

I'll play around with the white balance.  Thanks for the help.  I don't trust my eyes when it comes to colors.

[huntnphool]

What program are you running?

[huntnphool]

PM sent

[tlbradford]

I'm using DPP that came with the camera.  Does that second one look better?  I think it is the proper color, or at least closer now.   

[huntnphool]

Something is still not right, we will work on it

[tlbradford]

Maybe my kid is discolored.  She gets that from her mom.   

[huntnphool]

No, its the white ballance

[popeshawnpaul]

Don't worry so much about the color.  You can change that later.

Some of you guys with these new ultra low depth of field lenses like the f1.2 and f1.4 are going to be frustrated with results at first.  The depth of field is shallow and not forgiving.  Take the dog shot, for example.  The focus has to be on the eyes.  If it isn't on the eye, the shot is going to look off.  The focus on the dog photo is about 1" in front of the eye, at about the upper snout.  That left the eye out of focus.  There are other slight focus issues many people won't notice much but the shot will just feel "off". 

With a lens like this you need to figure out how to lock the focus on your camera.  Then you can pick just the center focus point, put that on the eye, focus, then hold down the focus lock button located by your right thumb.  Once focus is locked, recompose the photo and click.

I love how you are using the lens.  It's a people lens, pure and simple.  That shallow depth of field leaves a softness that just works really well with people and portraits.  One more tip with this lens...it's also frustrating to use when you are shooting more than one person like you did with the baby and mom.  It's difficult because it's nearly impossible to get them in the same focus plane.  Sometimes that works to keep one subject out of focus.  Many times it doesn't.  If you find you are in that situation, sometimes it might be better to just concede the situation and stop it down to f4 or so to get the proper depth of field.

That Sigma lens gets some really good reviews.  It's fast.  The best benefit I can see from the various tests on it is the bokeh is creamy smooth.  I love the bokeh on that lens.  It's actually better than the Canon 50mm f1.4 bokeh.  It is also autofocus and smooth.  It's one of the few times I recommend a 3rd party lens.  I think the bokeh on that Sigma 50mm f1.4 is about equal to the bokeh on the Canon f1.2 FL that I use.

You have the start of a good lens collection.  Eventually you will add a super wide or walkaround lens but for now try and keep the 50mm on the camera.  I think a lens like that makes you a better photographer because you are forced to learn the limitation of the lens and compose a shot like you would not had you been able to be lazy and just zoom in or out to your standard composition.  Great job and good lens purchases. 

We need to get a few of us new guys with cameras together and go shooting one day.  We have all these open weekends now with it being the off season.  We should do it now while we can.  When i get a free day I'll make a post inviting people to a photo location.  Hopefully I can help a few out so it doesn't take so long to learn the equipment like it did for me when I got the 40D.

[tlbradford]

With a lens like this you need to figure out how to lock the focus on your camera.  Then you can pick just the center focus point, put that on the eye, focus, then hold down the focus lock button located by your right thumb.  Once focus is locked, recompose the photo and click.

That is my homework for tonight.  How to figure out to lock it in to center focus only.  With everything on auto, I couldn't figure out how to select center focus only, everything was on automatic for all 9 of the focus points.  With everyone moving at the same time it was near impossible.

If I get through that, then I will work on manually locking in the f-stop.  I am hoping I can keep everything as automatic as possible, but just tweak a couple of things when it is needed.

I know how to set all this up on manual mode, but I want the camera to do most of the work.

I will try to make anything you guys get set up if at all possible.

Thanks again for all the help.

 

[huntnphool]

I set mine up for center focus and then use the jog button to move it to where I want the focus to be. I can do this with my thumb while looking through the camera, not sure about the 50D.

[popeshawnpaul]

I use the multi controller thumb joystick on the back and just point it to the focus point I want...