Waiting For My Lens

I ordered the Sigma 150-600mm F5-6.3 DG OS HSM ( S ) lens from Amazon on Feb. 24. Almost 4 weeks later and they don't even have an estimated arrival time for it. And I can't find anyone to ask at Amazon. Frustrating! We still have snow on the ground here and are supposed to get a few more inches today, so I really don't need it yet, but I'm getting spring fever and very antsy to get out to do some shooting with it.

Follow Up - Tamron 28-300 mm F/3.5-6.3 DI VC PZD

Following up on my previous post about the Tamron 28-300 mm F/3.5-6.3 DI VC PZD lens, I have some good news.  I finally had the chance put this lens through its paces on my Canon 6D full frame camera and the results were quite good. We took a trip through Florida with a stop in Charleston, South Carolina and I had plenty of opportunities to use the Tamron lens in different circumstances. My results were, in my opinion, more than satisfactory and I have gained faith in using the lens as a walk around, all-purpose lens that will give me good results. Here are some examples;

This picture of a white heron was taken at Sharkey's pier in Venice, Florida using the Tamron 28-300 mm lens. ISO 100 300 mm F/14 1/250.

Wood duck taken in Davie, Florida. Tamron 28-300 mm lens. ISO 320 300 mm F/6.3 1/320.

Double Crested Cormorant taken with Tamron 28-300 mm lens. ISO 400 300 mm F/6.3 1/500.

This is an HDR photo taken with the Tamron 28-300 mm lens on the Deerfield Beach Pier.This is a composite of three photos taken with the camera on a monopod.

The picture, below. was taken in Venice, Florida on a dreary, stormy afternoon. It is what I call a faux HDR. In fact, it was a pretty flat, uninteresting photo that was not taken with HDR in mind. However, when I got back to the computer and saw how disappointing the image was, I decided to try something. I brought up the original image in Photoshop and then made two copies of the original image.  I Photoshopped the first two stops below the original and the second, two stops above the original Photo and I saved them. Then I combined them in Photoshop HDR. With a little adjustment I came out with an interesting picture, saving the day.

Original photo, below, taken with the Tamron 28-300 mm lens, ISO 200, 28 mm, F/14, 1/160. This photo was cropped and adjusted minimally in Photoshop before being turned into the picture above.

In the end, I have to give this Tamron lens a thumbs-up. It may not be comparable to my Canon L glass lenses, but as a walk around, all-purpose lens I'm very pleased with my results and will have no qualms in the future about using it to travel light in various circumstances, knowing I will still be able to get quite good results from it.

One thing that became abundantly clear on my journeys is that I need another lens for birding, wildlife and sports. While the Tamron 28-300 mm is a great all-purpose lens, I found that I am not equipped properly for wildlife, so I have ordered the new Sigma 150-600 mm S lens. Sigma is way behind on shipping these lenses, and I don't know how long it's going to take for mine to come in, but right now I'm looking out my window at piles of snow still on the ground and I'm hoping that the lens will come in by the time it's all melted so I can go out and play with it. I'll let you know what I think when I get the chance to use it.