the good and bad of my new fast lens

thebaz

Still getting used to my new sigma 30 , find it difficult to get exposure right, it has a tendency to over-expose . This was taken indoors , no flash , iso 200, F 1.4

I was giving the pupils a copy of my favorite photo



The lighting isn't great , probably should have used flash, any hints appreciated , as i had to trash a load, that were too bright or too blurry .

on the other hand , i took this in a coffee shop in Blackrock, of actor Alan Devlin, star of the Long Good Friday , which i like



a few more from my new 1.4 lens up on

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/

RoryW

i found a surprise on your flickr - a few photos in colour !!!

I was beginning to think that you only shot in B&W (and very well of course:D)

The first one is just a bit too bright for my liking.The whites are blending together especially in the frame.Making the shutter speed just a bit shorter should do it.The lighting in the second one though is perfect.Great clarity with the new lens too.

thebaz

Deleted User wrote: »

The first one is just a bit too bright for my liking.The whites are blending together especially in the frame.Making the shutter speed just a bit shorter should do it.The lighting in the second one though is perfect.Great clarity with the new lens too.

yeah , i took a load , that came out too bright , even though meter reading was correct , some such as the one of Alan Devlin, were spot on , maybe i'll have too shorten the shutter speed, a slight bit beyond what the meter states. I guess i'll just have to get used to the lens quirks :mad:

Paulw

You could always decrease the exposure in Photoshop, if you're shooting raw.

DonkeyStyle \o/

roryw wrote: »

I was beginning to think that you only shot in B&W (and very well of course:D)

Mmm, I thought he had one of those black & white only dSLRs.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/1556515076/
^ Rasta eye-patch man sure gets around, I used to see him some mornings on the way to primary school.
Though I can't be sure if it is indeed the same eye-patch rasta man.

Borderfox

The 30mm is a hard lens at the start but when you get the hand of it, it really shines. I had lots of blurry shots when I started but got over that and started making the most fo its qualities. Love the second shot, really nice and sharp.

Borderfox

In the first shot up the ISO and shoot at f2.0. The advantage of the f1.4 is when it get to f1.6 and f1.8 you start to get really sharp. If you focus and recompose at f1.4 because the depth of field is so small your small movement can throw it out of focus.

thebaz

Borderfox wrote: »

In the first shot up the ISO and shoot at f2.0. The advantage of the f1.4 is when it get to f1.6 and f1.8 you start to get really sharp. If you focus and recompose at f1.4 because the depth of field is so small your small movement can throw it out of focus.

was experimenting with it ouside today, and the meter reading on my d50 , seams a bit out of sync , if i speed up the shutter speed a nodge its fine !!

Keith , i'll bear in mind what you say , about practicing at F 2 , and gradually reduce as i become more comfortable with lens.

BTW folks, your right i'm gradually shying away from colour photography, and going b/w like my heroes.

Still shoot the odd bit in colour , particularly like the colourfull fruit stalls on Moore street :-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/1555690327/

Borderfox

I read a bit of advice which says even when you are doing colour shots to desaturate them when converting from raw and adjust the picutre in b&W before putting the colour back in. Have you spot metering on the D50? that produces excellent results when used properly with portraits.

thebaz

Borderfox wrote: »

I read a bit of advice which says even when you are doing colour shots to desaturate them when converting from raw and adjust the picutre in b&W before putting the colour back in. Have you spot metering on the D50? that produces excellent results when used properly with portraits.

nope , i had metering set to matrix, i have set now to spot , and see how it goes.
Thanks Keith.

RoryW

thebaz wrote: »

like the colourfull fruit stalls on Moore street :-

fruit is great as it doesnt move and go out of focus ......

thebaz

Borderfox wrote: »

Have you spot metering on the D50? that produces excellent results when used properly with portraits.

Thanks Keith , seam to be getting a better handle of the lens , and the spot metering probably helps !

http://www.flickr.com/photos/thebaz/

I'll be following in your footsteps, as i plan to trade in my panasonic p&s for the FZ8 , as a backup

Borderfox

Spot metering will give truer results in mixed lighting as it will still look like mixed lighting whereas matrix metering even the whole scene..