skid00skid00 wrote:
The 200-600 was definitely sharper at f/7.1. Sigh... So, did I get a dud?
No, that is completely normal. I have checked multiple copies and they are all like that. Mine is sharpest at f8, almost as good at f7.1, but a bit soft at 6.3. But then, if you look close enough, even the mighty 600GM is very slightly sharper when stopped down a bit.
LiveShots wrote:
When I’ve used my 200-600 to take shots of the moon it never seems to focus right, even if I put the focus area on the edge it always appears soft. If I manually focus the lens it looks much sharper at this distance.
Unless you went to a mountain on a very clear night (or you lens is basically broken), your issue is not with the lens but with "seeing". Air moves and bubbles, particularly where heated houses, cars and other types of heat are around. You are looking through about 100km of that. Only on the very best of nights would the sharpness of the moon seen through the atmosphere be as good as what your lens is (or should be) capable of resolving.
The AF is also affected by this: the camera AF probably focuses by going near and then giving up as the moon never gets fully sharp during the attempt. Manually focusing allows you to estimate the focus over a much longer time, somewhat evening out the air wobbles. So MF beating AF when focusing at the moon is to be expected for long focal lengths.
d4mike wrote:
I'm not overly impressed with my 200-600 either, especially at infinity.
How do you test that? I mean, how do you make sure that an image of a far distant target is soft due to the lens and not due to the air in between? I'm asking since I found that to be surprisingly difficult. And quite often the air is much worse than the lens.
I am new to 200-600 and trying to take pictures is hard with this lens for me. My shutter speed is always too slow, ISO is always too high and my hands get tired quickly lifting this bazooka (I need to start using my monopod), but it is a sharp lens to my eyes.
Here are two boring shots. The first one is focused on the guy in the center, and I can even see that he is wearing a Lee jeans. The second is of a bird that likes to WALK regularly in my backyard.
After my second round of shooting I am find the lens is great at F8, on my A1. Shot a series of dull Gull on rocks at 200, 300, 400, 600. All look great at 100% zoom. But only after DXO PureRAW 2 gets is hands on it. Then they pop. Was surprised it looks to me that 600 was the sharpest. But it was windy and I was on a tripod set at 1 on OSS. Starting to like this lens the more I use it. Mono pod or tripod is needed for me above 300.
For the shot is was between rain showers, blowing 15 kts from the right side. Cropped at 100%, F8, only PureRaw 2 and a little dehaze.
