Thanks, I tried that but no joy. It sounds like you can hear the motor try and start, but stop almost immediately, before anything moves.
I’m wondering if I should ask for the guy to just refund me a portion of the sale price. With these kind of F stops, I notice I use manual focus more, to make sure it is focused on the right part of the shot. Maybe I can record a video on my phone to prove to the guy the autofocus is knackered.
The lack of autofocus is a BIG part of the value of the lens. I agree with you about manual focus and for shots like landscapes manual will be fine, but if you want to use the lens for some street work (candids) or something like that, the lack of autofocus will make you less likely to use the lens. Remember, wide open, focus is critical because the depth of field on that lens at f2.8 for instance will be tiny. For example, I’ve ruined headshots because I failed to focus on the eyes (perhaps caught the nose instead) and that was enough to throw the focus off…
Yeah, I can imagine that. That’s kinda what I’m saying though, what are the chances the auto focus will focus on the eyes?
I agree about the casual stuff. If I snap a passing motorbike for example (not the best lens for it, but if that’s what I have on) the chances are I wouldn’t focus it right myself.
Maybe I’m safest just sending it back.
Yeah, I would send it back.
About focusing on the eyes, if you ever watch a decent photographer taking shots of people you will notice that they will be moving the camera up and down while looking through the viewfindr. They set focus on the eyes and then move the camera to recompose the shot for full length or whatever is the shot they are going for. When doing that they might even be doing a little trigonometry but that is a little “advanced”.
send it back, no auto focus would be a apin in the arse.
re the eyes, Simon is bang on. single focus point, move to the eye, focus lock, then move and exposure lock, depending on your settings, then recompose. all whilst your subject is moving about. I wouldn’t recommend trying it on anything brighter than F6 on a prime lens. you can go a little wider on a zoon as the DOF isn’t as small.
I used to have a Pentax DSLR system and used their 10-17mm fisheye zoom for ultra wide angle which was a very fun lens. I tried a Tokina 11-16 when I switched to Nikon but was very disappointed with the poor corner sharpness on left side but if you get a good copy of the lens it is brilliant. I sent mine back though and got the Nikon VR 16-85mm as a walk around. The difference of having the extra 2mm at the wide end compared to a 18mm makes a difference for my style of photography so I opted for the 16-85 and a body only kit when I purchased the D7K. Makes a great walk around lens but I have also used my 50mm 1.8 and even my VR 70-300mm zoom as walk about lenses just for fun and variety.
In 25 years of photography I also use the focus lock and recompose method. The camera will rarely see the pic how you want to see it. I always sit down when I acquire a new lens and give it a quick run through to see the DOF available at different aperture settings for objects both near and far so you can get the shot how you want it first time, sometimes you only have one shot so best to be prepared. I also only shoot in RAW and prefer to underexpose to preserve highlights and not lose detail.
My new toy arrived while I was away on a residential -
I now have more lenses than I have space in my usual camera bag.
coughgitcough
Nice!
I’ll have my Canon 10-22mm with me tonight if you’re at BM
Time for a bigger camera bag then! 
Sorry Mian… you know you can play with my lens any time you want though…
:Whistling:
No, can’t make BM tonight Gav. 
Actually Dave, I have a bigger one tucked away somewhere. It feels huge though, so I don’t like using it, but I guess I might have to more now. I wonder if I have my 10-20 and my 50mm I can leave my 18-55 at home?
Andy - I did a week’s holiday once with a 24mm and a 50mm lens, it was a very lightweight setup and worked well. I zoomed with my feet when needed. You’ll be fine with just the 10-20 plus the 50 in a pocket just in case
Is that posh for being ‘inside’? 
To be honest, I have a massive bag which only gets used to keep it all together or carry my stuff to the car when I don’t know what I’m going to need, if I have to carry stuff about then I only use the smaller one and make sure I can cover most things. Mostly if I’m out and about for pleasure, I’ll take one lens and have some fun, where I’m going dictates which lens I take.
I have found that this type of bag Linky enables me to carry a body with zoom attached and a small spare lens.
There’s personally something I really like about going out with just one prime lens and see what happens, especially when it’s fast glass
I’d say my 50mm 1.4 is prob my favourite when I want some something discrete, and my 24-70 2.8 is an impressively good go-to lens for most other situations. Not as easy on the wallet however…
Have spent the last couple of days with the Sigma 10-20mm and Canon 50mm.
Sigma
Reflection was a bit of an issue up the Shard though…
So this morning I got a polarizing lens for it…
Much darker conditions, but you can barely tell the last two are behind glass. Would the filter have made a big difference in the strong light up the shard?
Some great compositions there.
From a technical point of view, I think you’re over-exposing slightly. I’ve not looked in depth at the pixels, but it looks like you’ve blown highlights here and there. One of the big advantages of modern digitals is that you can under-expose a little and then bring up the exposure to be just perfect in post-processing. Worth playing with.
Oh, and for the reflection issue - invest in a good circular polariser. It can’t work miracles, but it sometimes seems like it does
