Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-19 Thread Christine Nielsen
I guess ugly is in the eye of the beholder!  Congrats on the deal,
and fine images -- 2 thumbs up on the reflection shot, especially.

:)
-c

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-19 Thread knarf
Beautiful photo. The moon seems to jump off the screen. It's almost a 3D 
effect. 

Amazing!

Cheers, 
frank

Christine Nielsen ch...@inielsen.net wrote:
I guess ugly is in the eye of the beholder!  Congrats on the deal,
and fine images -- 2 thumbs up on the reflection shot, especially.

:)
-c

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give
it a try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish
color, and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was
without front or rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing
obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the
moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the
exposure, very minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here: 
http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the
riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Darren Addy
Those are both cool shots, Stan.

KEH's bargain condition has almost always been considered an
overstatement (people very happy with what they get), but their
description of ugly (which includes fungus and other OPTICAL
problems) is REALLY off-putting. To find out that something can be
rated ugly and still only have cosmetic issues makes me think that
maybe it isn't as much a roll-of-the-dice as I had thought. At least
if it is one of those Sigmas that often look ugly because the finish
chips and scratches off BIG TIME. That would not be a big deal to me,
either.

Glad you found a bargain!

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 11:27 PM, Daniel J. Matyola
danmaty...@gmail.com wrote:
 Both shots are excellent, but the reflection sho!t is really
 something special!

 Dan Matyola
 http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola


 On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
 s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, 
 very minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the 
 riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread CollinB
Those are both cool shots, Stan.

KEH's bargain condition has almost always been considered an
overstatement (people very happy with what they get), but their
description of ugly (which includes fungus and other OPTICAL
problems) is REALLY off-putting. To find out that something can be
rated ugly and still only have cosmetic issues makes me think that
maybe it isn't as much a roll-of-the-dice as I had thought. At least
if it is one of those Sigmas that often look ugly because the finish
chips and scratches off BIG TIME. That would not be a big deal to me,
either.

Glad you found a bargain!

KEH ugly is odd.  I once got a Tokina 80-400 AF zoom for $25.
Description said it wouldn't mount properly on a body.
So I took a chance.
The only problem was that the mount was bent in slightly.
Just took a table knife to lift it back out flush and all was well.


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Moon Shots With UGLY Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Bipin Gupta
KEH do sell bargains most of the time like my Sigma 70-300 billed as
BARGAIN for $ 45. I got Free shipping as I added another lens for $
60. What a SURPRISE! The lens came: a) very well packed in a huge
5-ply carton with air pillows inside, b) It was in LN (Like New)
Condition, except perhaps for some mark on the zoom rubber (which went
away with lens cleaner), c) It had the original Sigma HOOD, Front and
Rear Caps, d) at 70 mm the lens was brutally sharp, 200 mm very sharp,
 at 300 mm sharp, e) no dust or dirt inside or out - not even a small
speck inside the glass.
But hey, some has to suffer no? You or me as the STUPID SELLER. Ha ha!??
I can employ the KEH Buyer for my Materials Dept. - very productive employee.
Thanks for reading.

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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Paul Sorenson

The moon shot is nice, but the reflection is big print/wall-worthy.

-p

On 9/17/2013 9:12 PM, Stan Halpin wrote:

This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a try.

The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, and 
there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or rear 
lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

The next one in the gallery
(direct link here:  http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

stan



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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Stan Halpin
Thanks Paul, Dan and others who commented. 
This weekend is a biggie for us - a 50-year high school reunion that Meg has 
been helping to organize. Somewhere along the way she had a great (?) idea: 
I'll host a coffee/tea for the ladies Saturday morning! About 60 signed up; 
who knows how many drop-ins there will be. And we have house guests coming in 
for the weekend events. Next week the level of chaos should diminish and high 
on my list is to print this image. The moon shot is ok, more interesting than a 
brick wall as a test target IMHO, but I too like the reflection shot.

stan

On Sep 18, 2013, at 12:56 PM, Paul Sorenson wrote:

 The moon shot is nice, but the reflection is big print/wall-worthy.
 
 -p
 
 On 9/17/2013 9:12 PM, Stan Halpin wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.
 
 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.
 
  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, 
 very minimal sharpening and noise reduction.
 
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f
 
 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the 
 riverbank.
 
 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.
 
 stan
 
 
 -- 
 Being old doesn't seem so old now that I'm old.
 
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Zos Xavius
So the lens marked ugly only had a scuff on the barrel? Really?!
Nothing wrong with the glass? Ugh. I almost considered going for it
considering Keh's generous return policy but then I had to go and
break my A35-105/3.5. I did get a very nice replacement a few days
later from a kind member of pentax forums that focuses properly and
had very pristine looking glass. You should test it some more and tell
us how it holds up. I've been eyeing up the sigma 400mm lenses because
I think it would be a good FL for a lot of things and PF seems to give
them good reviews for the most part. You know...if you ever feel like
parting with that ugly lens ;)

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
 --
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 PDML@pdml.net
 http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread David J Brooks
Reflection shot is lovely

Dave

On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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York Region, Ontario, Canada

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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Larry Colen
On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12:27PM -0400, Stan Halpin wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.
 
 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.
 
  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.
 
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f
 
 The next one in the gallery 
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.
 
 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens. 

Upon reflection, I'd say that you got a good deal.

And a very nice photo too.


-- 
Larry Colen  l...@red4est.com http://red4est.com/lrc


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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-18 Thread Chris Mitchell
The reflection's an excellent shot Stan. Not bad for an ugly lens.

Chris

On 18 September 2013 03:12, Stan Halpin s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-17 Thread Stan Halpin
This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a try.

The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, and 
there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or rear 
lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

 A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

The next one in the gallery 
(direct link here:  http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens. 

stan
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-17 Thread John

Good if you got your money's worth or better out of it.

On 9/17/2013 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin wrote:

This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a try.

The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, and 
there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or rear 
lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

The next one in the gallery
(direct link here:  http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

stan



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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-17 Thread Godfrey DiGiorgi
Nice moon shot!
Hope it proves satisfying and worth the money. 

Godfrey


On Sep 17, 2013, at 7:12 PM, Stan Halpin s...@stans-photography.info wrote:

 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.
 
 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.
 
 A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.
 
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f
 
 The next one in the gallery 
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.
 
 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens. 
 
 stan
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Re: Moon shots with Ugly Sigma 400/5.6 APO

2013-09-17 Thread Daniel J. Matyola
Both shots are excellent, but the reflection sho!t is really
something special!

Dan Matyola
http://www.pentaxphotogallery.com/danieljmatyola


On Tue, Sep 17, 2013 at 10:12 PM, Stan Halpin
s...@stans-photography.info wrote:
 This lens was pointed out as available at KEH, I figured I would give it a 
 try.

 The lens is ugly. The barrel is an off-putting dirty creamy whitish color, 
 and there is a small scuff mark on the barrel. And it was without front or 
 rear lens cap. Otherwise I have found nothing obviously wrong.

  A reasonably clear night tonight so I tried the lens out on the moon.
 This is a full frame image - no cropping. Some tweeking of the exposure, very 
 minimal sharpening and noise reduction.

 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h7bb2025f

 The next one in the gallery
 (direct link here:  
 http://photos.stanhalpin.com/p155717848/h7bb2025f#h74fea36f)
 is the reflection of the moon through some floating weeds along the riverbank.

 My initial impression is that this is not bad for a $100 lens.

 stan
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