Sorry Guys,

Couldn't open the images on my Ipad and thanks for the info

Regards

daronl

Please clarify it is a Pentax mount as Sigma don't list a Pentax version of the 180 Macro at present, unless I am mistaken.
Regards

Daronl

Made for the job,

Best of luck

Is it sold ? If not please let me know

Kind Regards

Great stuff David, very professional gallery, technically wonderful and also conveys the sense and ambience of the day.

Regards

Daronl

So reflecting on Smeggies quote; why not push up the ISO, ?
Modern cameras like the K-5 and K-3 can handle much higher than 800 and still produce great results, even up to ISO 6400
I was brought up photographically on basic principles where quality in action photography was driven by two principle things, good resolution and good sharpness.
For me resolution is about ISO, the lower the better ( less noise/grain)
*Sharpness is about shutter speed, the higher the better ( maybe one stop above the reciprocal of the focal length as a minimum
I certainly agree with Smeggy's; Of course modern cameras offer a lot more latitude with image stabilisation and cleaner images at higher ISOs when compared to film or earlier sensors ; if the sporting photos are just routine for the record, then grain is not too much of a problem and the corresponding higher shutters speed promotes sharpness.
But I still follow the fundamentals
Action photography is best covered with shutter priority
Non- action photography with aperture priorit
Lower ISOs result in cleaner images and better resolution
The low noise levels with modern sensors is a bonus for me as is shake reduction, nothing more.
My number one consideration is a sharp clean image

Action Photography
In action photography, once the shutter speed can be achieved at an acceptable aperture / depth of field! I would not increase ISO .That does mean on occasions I will work with elevated ISOs so I can acheive a decent shutter speed at an acceptance aperture ; usually with sports photography under flood lights thoughIn normal daylight I will rarely get above 800 and then it is focal length dependent.
The 50 to 135 is great at large apertures and a, 160th shutter speed keeps everything sharp.

Light and Exposure Values (EVs)
For those not familiar with the EV range, the light level on a typical sunny afternoon will correspond to EV16 which in turn corresponds to to a camera setting of
f16 at 100th at ISO 100;
Shifting the ISO to 400 yields two stops of sensitivity more, thus;
F16 at a 400th as a basic set
Shifting the ISO to 800 yields a further stop
F16 at 800th as a base set up
Now we all know that shutter speeds don't go up in 100ths of a second so the deployment of shutter priority at the nearest shutter speed above the the theoretical value is a good base to start, with the variation of aperture taking care of the fine tuning to obtain the correct equivalent exposure for EV 16

At the Match
So let's consider the practical possibilities at EV 16 ( sunny afternoon outdoors)
ISO 400
Standing on the touch line
Using a 50 to 135 DA*

For EV16 light conditions the guide exposure at 100 ISO would be f16 @ 100th, but we will set up at ISO 400 which is two stops more theoretical f16 @ 400th
( equivalent to f22 @ 200th - approximately f18 @ 250th)
Remember sharpness depends on shutter speed;
In 35mm days, Shutter speed would ideally be set at a minimum of the reciprocal of the maximum focal length of the lens, but using a typical DSLR with a CMOS sensor the maximum focal length will be actually 1.6 times the stated focal length on the lens.
. Ie A100 mm lens would be approximately equivalent to a160mm in 35mm
So the 50 -135 approximates to an 80 to 216 mm focal length

This would dictate a minimum shutter speed of 216th in theory so I would set my shutter speed to the nearest above which is a 250th: this will ensure sharp images and stop the action appropriately when the lens is fully extended (zoomed)
In shutter priority the auto adjustment of aperture would take care of the changing ambient and reflected light/tones, in practical terms at such an event varying between f8 and f22.
At EV16, even with a the shutter set at a 500th there would still be sufficient light to maintain decent apertures and get the shots.
At ISO 800 the scope would be much more, with a further full stop of exposure available making it easy to shoot at 1000th whilst maintaining a good aperture range

So why not push up the ISO, reflecting on Smeggies quote ?
Modern cameras like the K-5 and K-3 can handle much higher than 800 and still produce great results, even up to ISO 6400
In sports photography the ability to crop images is fundamental because the action is so fast and the interaction and activity is frantic: being able to fine tune the composition by isolating the specific part of an image yields many more great photos. In my experience,most if not all, of the great sports photographs are cropped, whether it be horse racing, soccer rugby, even indoor sport
I have sold many stock photos in the days of 35 mm and the number one enemy was noise; grainy noisy images were not accepted in all but the most special cases.
Stock photos needed to be "clean" and cropping results in noisier images even with today's sensors.
In my portfolio there is a picture of a Scarlet winged Woodpecker taken at ISO 800, it is perfectly acceptable for prints and VGA or Internet viewing but increasingly cropping one part will show increasing levels of grain.

So going back to the comment on High ISOs at EV 16 ( sunny afternoon conditions);
Why would anyone need more than ISO 800 ?For sure grain / noise still remains the enemy when cropping, so getting the shot isn't the "b' all and end all"unless of course you are a war photographer or simply photographing for the record or something similar.Standing on the touch line on a sunny spring afternoon ( EV15/16) with the DA* 50 - 135 set up at ISO 400, the resolution and cleanliness is stunning and offers considerable latitude for cropping those shots, isolating facial expressions, impact situations and the "grunt and groan" of rugby.

Indoor events are different - there we have significant colour temperature issues influencing the images as well as low light values in the order of EV 9 (or less) which as a guide corresponds to;
f9 at 100th at ISO 100
Additionally, given the overall loss of reflected light which is not proportional to the drop in ambient light such a situation is quite a challenge for any photographer. Nevertheless , supporting Smeggy's point ; modern cameras come into their own here albeit noise remains the enemy, so in those circumstance you have more chance of clean images if you can get close with a shorter focal length lens;
lower shutter speed
wider apertures
uHelps to minimise the ISO accepting it will be elevated anyway
Indoor / night time sports events; a subject for another day; I have written too much

Hope this helps

Hi,

Great shots with a super lens for what I call touch-line photography; I regularly shoot rugby and hockey and post match cropping definitely is part of producing great subject shots and isolating specific action

With the 50 - 135 the quality is good enough to make large crops and with the K3 , ramping up your auto Iso setting to a max of 800 to maintain a decent shutter speed min always ensures acceptable images if the the weather / light is changeling, and the action doesn't permit too much time for considering the composition and set up (125th but 250th +is better).

if in a big ground where I can get in the front seats,I revert to the 60 -250 DA* which can really isolate subjects too,but overall I love the 50-135

Best regards