Help needed with Sigma 14mm F1.8

[Bundu]

Was very excited to get the Sigma 14mm F1.8 Art for Astro landscapes. I am positive that I will get this aspect going and with the right post processing might even get proficient at it. BUT. daytime landscapes etc. I found this lens very difficult to use. I went to the Richtersveld national park here in South Africa and tried my hand at it. Unfortunately the light was very harsh this time of year but I tried anyway. Please comment and critique to your hearts content as I am an absolute amateur and need to learn how to use this lens. All help will be appreciated.

Flare is a huge problem for me. The lens is so wide and bulbous that if you try and shield it the shield almost always ends up in the shot.

 

[Bundu]

It seems to me that you need something in the foreground to make the picture work to some extend. What I thought would be great pictures came out very mediocre indeed.

 

[Bundu]

100% crop on flower and zoom in on tree to see excellent sharpness

 

[Bundu]

Astro is great. No problem from the lens, only the operator. Some coma but for me more than acceptable.

Please give some tips on how to use this lens properly. Really need all the help I can get.

 

[YuengLinger]

I think these are very good; you seem to be getting the hang of it quickly! The only one that I'd look harder at is Sg14-3, the portrait oriented shot of the rock structure. I find the out of focus area at the bottom to be a bit unpleasant, distracting from an otherwise nice shot. I might crop that part out.

Could you please comment on the AF in situations a little more challenging than landscapes? Say some quick still-lifes or more photojournalistic with people involved? Is it consistent? Accurate? Thanks!

 

[Bundu]

I really do not think these are good at all. What I had in mind is in no way reflected in these photos. Thank you for being kind but I really need some more critique to understand what I can improve on. In Sig14-3 there is a lot of flare/glare that I am trying to show. And yes, the out of focus area is really distracting.

I have not used the 14 in any challenging af situations yet. I will try and shoot some people this weekend but if I struggle so much with landscapes I think it is going to be a disaster
edit: Sig14-3 maybe not such a good example of flare as the sun is virtually in frame. But the sun shining on the lens from almost any angle but from behind is troublesome.

 

[NancyP]

Composition of UWA photos is always a challenge, but your problem seems to be harsh uninteresting light. Try a BW conversion, which can do wonders with some mid-day shots. Also, focus stack can be required even for extreme wide angle lenses. I have done the "camera on ground" and "camera on tree-trunk pointing upwards" with the APS-C equivalent FL (8 mm) on the Sigma 8-16mm lens. Extreme foreground sharpness may require focus stacking, with maybe 5 shots ranging from "minimum focus" and "infinity focus", then a little work in photoshop or other editor. And look for a little unpredictable element - my favorite from the "camera on tree-trunk pointing upwards" series that I shot years ago was the one where a bald eagle flew 30 to 50 feet above the treetop into the frame.

 

[Bundu]

Thank you, will definately try that. The light was really flat and harsh. The area we went to was supposed to be covered in a blanket of flowers spanning as far as the eye can see in spring but only had 3mm of rain 11 months ago! Was a bit of a let down after driving 1600 km to get there.

 

[Larsskv]

I don't think your pictures are bad at all, but I agree they are not great.

It seems that you are aware of the importance of foreground interesting foreground elements. In addition, I find that leading lines very often is what makes a wide angle picture great. Keep up the good work!

 

[Hector1970]

I have found it prone to flare but it's very bulbous and wide angle so on a sunny day what can it do. I've found no problem focusing but again the depth of field at 14mm is deep. I haven't got an opportunity to fully test it for Astro yet but it's looks promising. It's not a lightweight lens. For landscapes the 16-35 or 11-24 are more flexible. For me it's an Astro lens.

 

[Bundu]

@Hector . I agree, mostly an astro lens. Will keep it for that. But it might serve as a landscape lens on the 80D. 22mm or so equivalence?
@ Larsskv . I knew none were going to be great when I set of on this trip. And when I took them some looked to be great. Only to get back home and see it on the computer screen (27"). What a let down
I took a few fotos with leading lines (tracks etc.) but they led to nowhere with the objective they were leading to dissapearing in the distance.....14mm is really wide when not used to it.

 

[ND]

It's a tough focal length to work with- but it's likely just time of day you are shooting and composition that got in the way for you. Wide angles always have issues with flare (since they take in so much view), but I have not found this one to be any worse than others for flare. You really have to think completely different when trying to compose that wide.

I bought the lens and am quite happy with it, but I have no intention of using it in daylight.
This is an exclusively astro lens for me. It might be sharper than my 16-35, but the daylight scenes I shoot would only be diminished at 14mm, outside of some rare exceptions.

16-35 on full frame is wide enough for me in the daylight hours.
Canon L zooms dawn till dusk, and Sigma Art primes at night works for me.

 

[Ozarker]

I don't have your particular lens. I have the Tamron 15-30. That South African desert could be twins with the entire state of Nevada where I live in the USA.

I completely understand what you are dealing with. A lens that wide really does flatten a landscape when the terrain is so wide open and it will make mountains look many miles away and make them look small. Since I live in the small desert town of Mesquite (yup, that town), I've put my Tamron away for now until I move to the Dallas / Fort Worth area of Texas in the spring. There just isn't a whole lot that I can do around here with that lens that I couldn't do better with a narrower field of view. I've tried and tried.

Here are some links for you, and there are many more places on the net with tips. Hope you have some luck!

https://www.digitalrev.com/article/8-tips-for-shooting-ultra-wide-angle-lenses

https://www.digitalphotomentor.com/5-mistakes-beginners-make-using-a-wide-angle-lens-and-how-to-avoid-them/