Sigma AF 24-70mm f/2.8 EX DG macro reviews

[clemmb]

Mark did you go to the Little Creatures Brewery at Fremantle? Best Sunday session in the country as far as I'm concerned. Perth's a nice place - much more appealing than this dust bowl.... Big Smile

No, had not heard of it. I did visit the prison at Fremantle. Our favorite place we visited was Cape Naturaliste. That is where I saw my first kangaroo in the wild and we also saw migrating whales.

My wife got to hold a koala @ Marapona if I am remembering how it was spelled.


Cheers


Mark

[btaylor]

Ah very nice. The West Coast is a very nice part of the country.

That is where I saw my first kangaroo in the wild

You probably don't want to know what I do with roos on my days off... when I'm not shooting the camera, I'm shooting something else [A]

[clemmb]

. when I'm not shooting the camera, I'm shooting something else [img]/emoticons/emotion-13.gif[/img]
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Me [] [B]


My wife []

[Muz]

Hey folks.


Yeah Mandurah is pretty fancy these days. I remember when it was a sleepy fishing village (when I was like 9, which wasn

[clemmb]

Good to hear we're well regarded elsewhere. It's not a bad place, all told (even though its a bit too hot for me at the moment. Seems to happen every year around this time. You'd think I'd learn)


Anyway, the Tamron is on order
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Yes, it was pretty worm when I was there. Loved everything but the bloody flies. When I was there you had more flies than a barn[:|]. Heres a couple of shots of the beach at Mandurah.


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Let us know how you like the Tamron


Cheers


Mark

[clemmb]

btaylor


Hope you are far enough in the outback to miss the flooding[]. They said the flooding cover an area the size of Texas. Thats hard to believe.


Mark

[btaylor]

Yeah Mark we're too far West at the moment for the flooding, It's mostly toward the coast around 1000km East of here. It's been really tough for a lot of people. The 2008-2009 wet season (Dec - Feb) was nearly as bad. A lot of homes were lost and a number of the big mining operations were inundated with flood water. The company I work for has just given $1 million to the flood appeal and I'm sure others will follow suit - it's going to cost a lot more than that though to get people back on track.


The pic below is of a dragline that was flooded in during this time as they were trying to walk it out of the pit. To put things in perspective, the boom at the front of the machine is around 80-100m long, the cab (which is under water) sits around 20m off the ground, and they cost $150 million.


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We should be ok where we are but it hasn't hit us yet. The Gulf of Carpentaria to the North of us generally gets a huge wet season every year. It's really tough for the graziers up there because they lose a lot of cattle and infrastructure if the floodwaters get too high.


My girlfriend works as a teacher for School of the Air. It's a distant education school for the kids on the cattle stations that are too far from a town to attend a normal school. She's a field officer, which means she is constantly travelling to the various stations to spend time with the kids. She was at a station last year in the Northern Territory around 800 kms North - West of here and they had to a keep the gate into the back yard (which was pretty much under water) closed because they woke up one morning, looked out the kitchen window and there was a 4.5m saltwater crocodile sitting at the back door [:O] Crazy stuff!!!


I think I'll be ok anyway, right now I'm 1500m underground. If the water starts coming I'll just get in a big tyre inner tube or something and float to the surface. Surely that'll work []


Cheers, Ben.

[Sheiky]

I think I'll be ok anyway, right now I'm 1500m underground. If the water starts coming I'll just get in a big tyre inner tube or something and float to the surface. Surely that'll work [img]/emoticons/emotion-2.gif[/img]

Hehe make sure you make nice footage. A time-lapse would be nice []


Thanks for the picture Ben, It's hard to imagine that amount of water and that amount of flooded area. That machine is huge! And so are the crocs [:|]


Mark, if you think it's hard to imagine Texas being entirely under water....My entire country would probable beX many times flooded bythen [A]





Muz, I happen to be a very satisfied former-owner of the Tamron 17-50 and it's a great performer. And when you look at the price it turns a smile on your face for sure. Enjoy it []

[clemmb]

if you think it's hard to imagine Texas being entirely under water....My entire country would probable beX many times flooded bythen [img]/emoticons/emotion-13.gif[/img]



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We still think of Texas as a country in itself.[]


I have never been to the Netherlands. Sure hope to someday.[]. I am sure it is a beutiful country.


Mark

[Muz]

Hey folks


Still here, just off playing with my toys most of the time.


Apologies for the flies, btw. They do get pretty bad in certain spots in the summer (mostly inland, fortunately). I think on the beach they really enjoy the washed up kelp and so on that accumulates.


Anyway, I haven't really put it through its paces but the new Tamron is mighty fine. Mostly I've just been around the garden or videoing musos in unremarkable ways, but the first few snaps I looked at I blinked thinking there was an outline drawn around certain features. So new was this level of sharpness to me, compared to the kit jobbie at least (which is a little sad when you think about it, both regarding me and what stuff Canon will ship with their otherwise fine equipment).


Anyhow, a quick garden grab for laughs








It's not a macro exactly, but focuses at a reported 27cm (as I'm sure you know) which works out to about 19cm from the front of the lens. Great for this sort of thing.


Thanks for the advice all.