Arghhhh about sums it up.

Been lugging my camera around fields the last 2 days, and that sigma lens is no lightweight. Went to the great Dorset steam fair Friday and the Dorset county fair today, took over 1000 photos.

Iv only had a quick look through them and Im already unhappy.

Due to a combination of my gear, poor technique, environmental conditions and lack of skill most of my photos look soft, or the AF has locked onto something other than what i was shooting. Where are the awesome pin sharp images i am looking for?

Doesnt help that at both shows there have been photographers showing their awesome work.

I reckon average joe with his £100 compact could have done better.

*sigh*

Stick with it. I suck worse than anyone and I keep trying.

Dude, didnt you see the photos at the County Show? Some of them were truly family snapshots, and bad ones at that. Other ones were taken from cars and still had the wing mirrors in. Some of the insect ones that were runners up were worse than the ones both of us took on the dragonfly trip!

I should also add that the two times I got my camera out at the show, the first time was for the diggers and none of them came out well due to holding the camera above my head and hoping, and the second time I both didnt notice it was in manual focus mode as well as managing to take all the photos on an angle >< It was just a bad photo day methinks.

were they the ones in the homecraft tent? I did see a few gems in there despite the other naff ones.

I keep changing stuff on my camera and not changing it back, i need some custom modes i can set on the dial (something my cam doesnt support)

Yeah, there were some good ones. I was going to start a thread about photography competitions like that. I found it kinda cool that there were some technically poor photos that were winners or runners up in the competition, and that though there were a fair few exotic shots, not many, if any that I saw, won or came close. I thought it was good that the judges werent biased towards the shots from people who were lucky enough to go to africa and the likes, and could work on the artistic merit, though I guess at shows like this also some of the winners may have known the judges.

At the very least it made me wonder about entering next year or something, as I felt my photos wouldnt be the worst up there. Id have liked a bit more information on the boards though, like photo titles etc.

My camera has 3 custom modes, I set one up to be for HDR and have yet to touch it. The main feature I am using (which I think the 400D had too) is the custom menu, Ive whacked a few things on there like "delete photos" so when im done uploading its quick and easy to empty the card.

why not look for a local course at college?
I start one in 2 weeks £49 for 30 weeks

If youre taking 1000 photographs in two days it sounds like you are probably in "snap" mode which will mean you do forget to set the camera up right, dont think properly about technique etc. Its quality not quantity that counts - there are no prizes for filling up your memory card as quick as you can...

Piece of advice I was given was to think like youre shooting film - so you have one shot to capture any given scene and you really focus on getting it right. I havent got down to that level of concentration yet but it certainly makes me think more actively about the shots I take and my photos have improved as a result.

http://www.talkphotography.co.uk/forums/index.php is a pretty good resource for more specific advice/thoughts on photography etc.

Iv been playing around today to try and work out what my problem is.

Using the 1.4x extender, will that drop IQ?

I think a lot of my issues are with the 70-200 F2.8, its frikkin heavy and has no IS, i try to keep the shutter speed high to compensate but im moving about a hell of a lot and not taking any time to steady and frame the shots, i never have enough zoom either and im not convinced the 1.4x converter is that great, even with it theres still not enough zoom.

My monopod isnt high enough to support the weight while i shoot and it flexes as its cheap and nasty, my tripod is similar.

Took the lightweight EF-S lenses out today and although one or 2 shots arent that good they seem generally better and i find it easier to use.

I think my solution is going to be a Sigma 150-500mm f5-6.3 DG OS HSM and a decent monopod as i rarely use a tripod anyway.

EDIT: would love the Sigma 50-500mm f4-6.3 OS DG APO HSM but thats over £1k easy!

The 1.4x will no doubt cause some issues, youll lose light getting in to the sensor, Ive got the 2x canon official, and on my 200mm it loses auto focus, and my f4 lens becomes and f8 because of it!

Id only use a multiplier if you absolutely have to! I only got mine recently so havent had a real play yet, but apparently they can make things a little softer as well

yeah im using it full time as its the longest lens i have with it. it drops F2.8 to F4 and i suspect causes other issues tbh

I should post one of the shots I took with the Sigma earlier tbh. Even the very best one looks terrible, but thats what you get for a £150 70-300mm lens!

What sort of things are you trying to shoot at the long end of the zoom?

everything

birds in flight, working dogs, horses jumping fences

Quote from: Binary Shadoweverything

birds in flight, working dogs, horses jumping fences

Ok, so shooting well-exposed, sharp imagines of birds in flight as probably about as hard as it gets and will take a lot of practice - from what I remember youve actually posted some pretty good versions of this type of image so wouldnt worry too much.

The other things, if it was me, I probably upgrade the monopod if yours is genuinely not up to the job but focus on technique more before upgrading the lens. From what youve said it seems like theres a big risk that you splash out more £££ on a more expensive lens, dont address some more fundamental issues and therefore dont see the sort of improvement you might expect going to the bigger lens. Then I can imagine youll be really pissed off... Oh and for the dogs and horses, get closer

Only my two-penth though.

Yeah getting closer is always the best thing to do, just never seems possible hehe.

I have had some fairly good shots in the past i think. Probably with the EF-S 55-250 which is light but also darkens the corners when at the long end, which sucks.

If i had the money id upgrade to an XXD body get that sigma lens and a decent monopod