This shot has nothing to do with being soft at 300mm. The wings are clearly not soft. Just the head and its out of focus. And no. I don't shoot dragonflies with a tripod.I'm assuming you used a tripod? If you did you can try fine tuning, but that lens is known to be a bit soft at 300mm.
I don't know. These guys are pretty fast but it was about as close I could get. I know what you're getting at, and this is why I noted in my original post, that the top of the wings which are a lot further away from the focus point, are clearly in focus, while the head which is much closer to the focus point is out of focus.What was your distance from the target. At close range with that lens set to 300mm, the depth of focus will be mighty slim. Being a zoom lens, you will have to choose where you would like to fine tune at.
Yes I know. The worst part is, that I had a shot with the focus point right on the head, and that one looked even more out of focus then this one. I guess I answered my own question. This lens needs an AF tune which I'm dreading. I don't like PIA things!I have never had to much luck shooting bugs with my 300. Just never was satisfied with the final results. Mine like yours look good but generally good for us in not good enough.
It's not because we focus at some area, we really focus at that area. It could easily have picked the wing in the back.
Especially when you use VR, there can be differences.
I guess I am just to old school when it comes to VR. I rarely ever use it. I just go old school with the reciprocity rule of lens length to shutter speed. Since I shoot DX I generally shoot at 1.5 times the aperture just to be safe. I an handhold slower but When I do I try to be extra careful and if possible I use my tripod
It's not because we focus at some area, we really focus at that area. It could easily have picked the wing in the back.
Especially when you use VR, there can be differences.
Who said I used VR?
It's not because we focus at some area, we really focus at that area. It could easily have picked the wing in the back.
Especially when you use VR, there can be differences.
I don't understand what you're saying. If I'm in single focus mode it should focus where I put the focus point. At f/11 it should be able to cover the head unless it's back focusing which I do suspect. Where is this VR thing coming from anyway?. Why are you assuming that I used VR at 1/1600th shutter speed. Does anyone actually read the original posts around here? I notice this in other threads as well. People assuming all kinds of things because they're not reading the thing through.
Forget it!! I'll just go figure it out myself...
One thing you must take into consideration. These wings are long and, when shooting from above like in your shot, the top of the wings are way closer to the lens than the head of the bug. I've been shooting with the sigma 105 macro and when shooting bees of insects with wings, I often got the result you got. Remember that when you get close, even at F11, the dof is very shallow.I don't know. These guys are pretty fast but it was about as close I could get. I know what you're getting at, and this is why I noted in my original post, that the top of the wings which are a lot further away from the focus point, are clearly in focus, while the head which is much closer to the focus point is out of focus.
I'm going to DOT tune at 300mm which is what I use this lens the most at.