New Sigma 60-600mm L Mount - First Effort

[drjonb]

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2 hours ago, jaapv said:

I do take occasional moon shots and I tend to use manual focus, to avoid an adjustment error of the infinity stop. I also tend to use a tripod as the moon is so bright that we can use shutter times that are short enough that we don’t have to take the movement of the moon into account. 

For the moon, given its usual brightness, shutter times are never an issue related to the earth’s rotation, even with a lens stopped down, the issue is always overexposure with a bright moon.  And for the moon, a low ISO is much better.  My lowest shutter speed the other day when making the image I posted was 1/160th sec, and I did not use any frames shot at that speed - the image contained only frames shot at 1/250.  As I mentioned before, it is the movement of the moon between first and last frame in a sequence of shots to be stacked which is critical.  And because, I use several batches for eventual stacking - keeping everything in a compressed timeframe is desirable to avoid position/alignment problems when stacking.

Manual focus can always be used but is more a preference issue than a technical requirement for the moon.  A tripod is a must for deep sky or Milky Way, but the moon is about the only space object where a tripod is not mandatory.  

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[jaapv]

Spot metering  

[drjonb]

24 minutes ago, jaapv said:

Spot metering  

I always use manual metering for the moon! And underexpose and recover after.

[Pierre68]

The moon is a landscape in full sunlight -> Sunny 16 rule apply

[drjonb]

22 minutes ago, Pierre68 said:

The moon is a landscape in full sunlight -> Sunny 16 rule apply

I don’t think I know that rule.  But will look it up.

[drjonb]

24 minutes ago, Pierre68 said:

The moon is a landscape in full sunlight -> Sunny 16 rule apply

OK got it, thanks.  I think I’ll stick to live view and trial and error.  The moon would need a very long telephoto to fill a frame like a landscape!

[jaapv]

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5 hours ago, Pierre68 said:

The moon is a landscape in full sunlight -> Sunny 16 rule apply

Not really. The atmosphere spreads and diffuses the light in your landscape on earth   The moon is airless and thus stark bright and black. Incomparable for exposure:completely different tonal values. 

[Pierre68]

4 hours ago, jaapv said:

Not really. The atmosphere spreads and diffuses the light in your landscape on earth   The moon is airless and thus stark bright and black. Incomparable for exposure:completely different tonal values. 

Well the light from the mood still has to travel through the earth's atmosphere (and a lot more of it compared to a regular terrestrial landscape shot)
I have found the the sunny 16's rule works quite well for moon shots with a tele. Some adjustments might be necessary to account for personal taste.

 

9 hours ago, drjonb said:

OK got it, thanks.  I think I’ll stick to live view and trial and error.  The moon would need a very long telephoto to fill a frame like a landscape!

The moon does not have to fill the frame or appear as a conventional landscape for the sunny 16's rule to work... This rules juste takes into account the amount of light reflected by a "standard grey 18%" surface under full sunlight

[jaapv]

1 hour ago, Pierre68 said:

Well the light from the mood still has to travel through the earth's atmosphere (and a lot more of it compared to a regular terrestrial landscape shot)
I have found the the sunny 16's rule works quite well for moon shots with a tele. Some adjustments might be necessary to account for personal taste.

 

The moon does not have to fill the frame or appear as a conventional landscape for the sunny 16's rule to work... This rules juste takes into account the amount of light reflected by a "standard grey 18%" surface under full sunlight

That the light travels through the earth atmosphere will not affect rhe conditions on the moon. 

[kobra]

On 5/11/2023 at 11:15 PM, Pierre68 said:

Well the light from the mood still has to travel through the earth's atmosphere (and a lot more of it compared to a regular terrestrial landscape shot)
I have found the the sunny 16's rule works quite well for moon shots with a tele. Some adjustments might be necessary to account for personal taste.

 

The moon does not have to fill the frame or appear as a conventional landscape for the sunny 16's rule to work... This rules juste takes into account the amount of light reflected by a "standard grey 18%" surface under full sunlight

Alternatively...  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Looney_11_rule 

Brad

[Manicouagan1]

The albedo of the darker areas of the moon (Apollo 11 and 17 landing sites) is about 6% and the lighter areas (for example Apollo 16) are about 19%.   Lunar soil has an interesting property that if you look at it with sun directly behind your it is significantly higher than if you are looking at the lunar surface at an angle to the sun.  In practice the sunny 16 rule works pretty well for estimating exposure of the lighter areas of full moon because lunar soil acts like a standard grey card.    Colors of lunar soil were compared to Munsel color charts and as I recall were pretty close to neutral grey with a slight tint of green.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by Manicouagan1

[GFW2-SCUSA]

Other than moon shots, how is this lens working for more earthly subjects?  

[Pierre68]

7 hours ago, Manicouagan1 said:

The albedo of the darker areas of the moon (Apollo 11 and 17 landing sites) is about 6% and the lighter areas (for example Apollo 16) are about 19%.   Lunar soil has an interesting property that if you look at it with sun directly behind your it is significantly higher than if you are looking at the lunar surface at an angle to the sun.  In practice the sunny 16 rule works pretty well for estimating exposure of the lighter areas of full moon because lunar soil acts like a standard grey card.    Colors of lunar soil were compared to Munsel color charts and as I recall were pretty close to neutral grey with a slight tint of green.  

That's precisely what I was trying to explain. But it is hard sometimes to get your point on this forum...Thank you!!!

Edited May 20, 2023 by Pierre68
Add some precision

[michali]

getting back to images...

My first opportunity to try this lens on safari  SL2-S & Sigma 60-600mm.

In summary - it's very versatile, super-quick focus & sharp.

Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa -a tricky shot to focus due to the grass in the way, SPOT focus nailed it.

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[michali]

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) catching the last rays of sunlight, Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa

 SL2-S & Sigma 60-600mm & 1.4X TC @ 840mm  -there's a slight loss of sharpness

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Edited May 21, 2023 by michali

[drjonb]

46 minutes ago, michali said:

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) catching the last rays of sunlight, Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa

 SL2-S & Sigma 60-600mm & 1.4X TC @ 840mm  -there's a slight loss of sharpness

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Lovely! Glad you’re enjoying the lens.

[drjonb]

51 minutes ago, michali said:

Lilac-breasted Roller (Coracias caudatus) catching the last rays of sunlight, Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa

 SL2-S & Sigma 60-600mm & 1.4X TC @ 840mm  -there's a slight loss of sharpness

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This was also taken at 840mm…but my subject a lot easier to pose! But it does demonstrate the versatility and sharpness of the lens.

[kobra]

On 5/21/2023 at 3:08 AM, michali said:

getting back to images...

My first opportunity to try this lens on safari  SL2-S & Sigma 60-600mm.

In summary - it's very versatile, super-quick focus & sharp.

Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa -a tricky shot to focus due to the grass in the way, SPOT focus nailed it.

(please click on image for better res.)

Welcome, dear visitor! As registered member you'd see an image here…

Simply register for free here – We are always happy to welcome new members!

 

 

A stunning set Mike, thanks for sharing! This one in particular is amazing and really shows off what this lens can do. 

And, I would imagine this is an extremely versatile "one lens" for a safari trip (on my bucket list). 

Thanks again, 

Brad

 

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[michali]

3 hours ago, kobra said:

A stunning set Mike, thanks for sharing! This one in particular is amazing and really shows off what this lens can do. 

And, I would imagine this is an extremely versatile "one lens" for a safari trip (on my bucket list). 

Thanks again, 

Brad

 

Thank you Brad.

I agree, this certainly is a "one lens" option for a safari, what more do you need than 60-600mm? Possibly a wide angle for some landscapes. There are some safaris that I do where I'm seriously limited for weight. This lens definitely solves that issue.

Best 

Mike

[michali]

♀Leopard resting high up in a tree, early morning   -Zuka Game Reserve S. Africa 

SL2 & Sigma 60-600mm

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