With a little practice and some practical guidance, it is easy to make amazing food photographs of your own culinary creations. Whether you are a beginning food blogger, or an experienced chef who’s ready to move beyond the smartphone snap, making Insta—worthy shots has never been easier with a beginner’s DSLR and a sharp zoom lens. The ability to zoom in close for details and that amazing background blur will really set your photos apart in a sea of snack and cake shots.
The World of Outlaw Late Model Series came to Weedsport Speedway in Upstate New York on June 23rd. A few weeks earlier I photographed the wedding of one of the series’ top drivers, Tim McCreadie, so this was a perfect opportunity to spend an evening with him at the track to get some behind the scenes footage with some new Sigma lenses.
The Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4.0 DC OS HSM | C is the first lens in the Contemporary line originally announced last September. This fast aperture standard zoom is a serious step up from the bundled kit zoom that covers a similar focal length.
Here’s why:
For starters, it has a faster aperture at all focal lengths than your typical kit lens–F2.8 at 17mm, for shallower depth of field and faster shutter speeds.
In fact, fully zoomed at 70mm it is still at F/4–just around a third- to a half-stop slower than the widest/fastest aperture on your typical kit lens, which is usually around F3.5-3.8 and slows to F5.6 or slower when zoomed!
It offers 1:2.8 macro at 70mm for great close-up and detail work.
In-the-lens Optical Stabilizer helps make sharp shots at slower shutter speeds without a tripod (Learn more about OS here.)
The lightweight, compact 17-70mm F2.8-4.0 DC OS HSM | Contemporary lens came with me on a hike on the beach at Cape May Point. As we wandered the beach, I noticed this perfect alighment of a lifeguard rowboat, St. Mary’s of the Sea and the Cape May Lighthouse. I zoomed in to 30mm to emphasize the foreground while also stopping down to F/10 for great deep depth of field to keep the structures in the background sharp and recognizalbe. 1/320 F10 ISO 200 on the Canon Rebel T3i. The wide to short tele range of this lens is great for most everyday compositions.
This is a great grab-and-go lens, it truly is. Mounted on the APS-C cameras for which it is designed, it covers a range from about 27-110mm, wide angle to short tele, a very usable range for most everyday situations. A quick twist recomposes the scene to take in more of the surroundings, or to zoom in close on selected details. And between the faster apertures than the bundle kit competitors and the Optical Stabilizer switch, it’s a winner in lower-light situations. Continue reading Seeing the Light with the Sigma 17-70 F2.8-4.0 DC OS HSM | C
Many times I’ve been asked on Facebook and elsewhere if it is possible for a photographer to keep their favorite Sigma lens and get a lens mount swap after making the decision to switch from one camera to the next, and now, finally, I can answer them with the answer they (and I) want to hear!
Owners of lenses in Sigma’s line of the Sigma Global Vision lenses: Art, Sports, and Contemporary, can now send their lenses in for a mount swap. This is a paid service, and lenses will be shipped to our Aizu, Japan factory for the mount conversion service. You can read the full details and process here in the press release. For photographers, this is great news.
Previously, there has been a great amount of what you could call “existing lens investment inertia” that made the concept of switching from brand X to brand Y or Z a pretty terrifying financial decision. Deciding to swap camera brands to take advantage of improved autofocus for sports action tracking, or a better HDSLR feature set–or any other personal and performance reasons–meant that you’d also be forced to replace all your lenses to match the new lens mount. But now, with the Mount Conversion Service from Sigma, you can keep your Art, Sports, and Contemporary lenses, and have them switched to the new camera system. (Current SLR lenses that can be converted include the 120-300mm F2.8 DG OS HSM | Sports, 35mm F1.4 DG HSM | Art, 18-35mm F1.8 DC HSM | Art, 30mm F1.4 DC HSM | Art, 17-70mm F2.8-4.0 DC OS HSM | C, and DN lenses for swapping between Micro Four Thirds and Sony E-Mount include the 19mm F2.8 DN | A, 30mm F2.8 DN | A, and 60mm F2.8 DN | A lens.)
This fast, compact, variable aperture standard zoom for APS-C DSLRs is going to make a lot of photographers very happy. Even though it covers a very similar focal range as the often-bundled starter lens with many DSLRs, It is a serious step up from the typical kit offering, including true macro capture.
First off, it is faster at all apertures, F2.8 at the widest settings, before stopping down to a maximum of f3.2, then 3.5, then 4.0 as it is zoomed all the way to 70mm. Pair this with Sigma’s Optical Stabilizer for steady shots at slower shutter speeds without a tripod, and it’s a champ for indoor and low light imaging. Continue reading First Look: The Sigma 17-70mm F2.8-4.0 DC Macro Contemporary Lens
