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Mudnut, coming in late here, so you guys might have already covered this, but have you tried opening your aperture right up to as large as it will go for those sorts of subjects? Or is 6.3 as large as it gets on that Sigma? I routinely shoot on Aperture mode using autofocus but manually place my focus point. With things like birds (and even goats), you don't necessarily need more depth of field than what you would get at your largest aperture and the blurred background keeps your bird as the main subject without any distractions.
Also there is a general rule to always focus on the eye if you can. The human eye is always drawn to the eye of any subject, so images with the eye in crisp focus tend to be viewed as better images. I don't know how your model Cannon works but are you able to select a single focus point and then move that focus point around within your composition to where you need it to be?
Another feature that might be worth considering is to set your exposure to a pinpoint setting, or the smallest circle/area that the camera has. I'm guessing that the goanna shot would have looked quite a lot different if you were able to do this.
Some good advice from Cuppa there on refining your focus manually as well. Your instruction book should tell you if you can do this when your lens is on AF or not. My lenses do and I love the feature, particularly if shooting through a fence or some foliage or some distraction in between you and your subject as well.
Hope this helps a little. Best thing is to get your camera off the Auto setting and into the zones where the creativity starts...and you can get what you are looking for. :-)
Between Patrols ATM. Had a beaut GU with 6.5 Chev TD. Next is a GU ute with a 4.5 litre Cummins conversion and a camper on the back.
Was talking to a photographer when up at Portland Roads & he asked me how I was storing my camera & lenses. "In a soft carry bag" I said. This brought on a drawing of breath in through his teeth. Next time he visited he brought one of his camera cases, a Pelican case, airtight, waterproof with silica gel to keep things dry & a small battery powered hygrometer to keep a check on humidity levels in the case. He opened the case & the hygrometer said 20% , but reached 50% & still rising within within just a few minutes. Ambient humidity was over 90%. He then explained how one wet season was sufficient to get mould/fungus growing between the coatings of lenses, ruining them, & corrosion inside cameras. Well I don't mind admitting that it was an issue I had never considered, & that he put the wind up me. Seeings we are likely to see a lot more high humidity I thought it prudent to take some preventive action. The Pelican case & Silica gel arrived from ebay this morning. The mini Hygrometer (2 for $8!) should get her next week. Wife agreed to it being an early birthday pressie.
What model and how heavy is the case when fully loaded, Cuppa. I suppose it would be useful as a 'base' storage unit for me to transfer the gear to a travel case on outings.
Last edited by mudnut; 13th March 2020 at 11:22 PM.
It's a Pelican 1520, I think the case(with foam) weighs around 4.5kg.Not sure of fully loaded weight . I'd guess around 10 kg. They do a large range of sizes.
Since posting earlier, I decided to clean my lenses & to my horror discovered I already have a small amount of fungus inside my Sigma lens. At the moment it doesn't show up in photos, but it could get worse. Tomorrow I'm going to put it out in direct sunlight if I can in the hope that the sunlight will kill it. It's 12 months old.
2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare) A Nomadic Life (Blog)
I've watched a few videos on youtube about cleaning fungus off lenses, but a professional clean for your Sigma is on the cards.
I think it would cost more than half the cost of the lens given that it's inside, & I'd question whether it was worth it to be honest. If it was an easier lens to use I might feel differently. It's out in the sunlight now, hoping it might kill off the fungus to stop it getting worse.
2006 4.2TDi ex-Telstra Remote area Camper. 425w roof mounted solar, 360Ah Aux batts, BCDC1240, Onboard hot & cold pressurised & filtered water, (25 litre hot water calorifier), ARB fridge, ARB freezer, Built in kitchen, heaps of easy access storage, 240v, 3” Genie exhaust + dynotune, 2” lift, 3900kg GVM upgrade, second glovebox, ROH Blaktrak steel wheels, Bridgestone D697's (now Toyo RT's), Redarc gauges/pillarpod, Hema HX-1, Icom 450 CB, dual rear view cameras, Onboard 30amp Victron mains charger, second glovebox, dual seat conversion, TPMS, Boss PX7 onboard air with 9 litre tank, 350w inverter, Steel bullbar, Harrop Eaton diff lock (front), Warn winch, Snorkel, Dual spares , 160 litre water tank, 180 litre fuel in two tanks (approx 1200km range) 2010 Tvan Tanami. (incl another 70 litre water tank) with matching wheels/tyres (& 3rd spare) A Nomadic Life (Blog)