I got back today the lens I sent to Sigma a week ago. They replied that they couldn't reproduce any of the problems I reported (which doesn't surprise me, because it was so intermittent and unpredictable) but sent me a new one as a replacement.

We'll see how it goes... hopefully this one won't freak out like the first.

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So, I've written a lot lately about my new lens, a Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm OS, including:

Sigma's new "Bigma" 50-500mm Super-tele Zoom (now with OS) Sigma's new "Bigma" 50-500mm Super-tele Zoom, Part II So, Just How Bigma is the Sigma? My New Sigma "Bigma", Day 2 I Laugh at Your Puny 500mm Lens: Sigma Bigma at 1,000mm Walkabout with the Sigma Bigma: Versatility Galore Sigma Bigma's New Optical Stabilization

Reading theses, I hope it's obvious that I think it's a great lens that I love using, but there are, unfortunately, a few issues that I've been chronicling on the "Just [...]
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Sneak-preview video of a lens-correction feature that will be part of Lightroom 3:

Photoshop and Lightroom Lens Correction Feature Preview

The video shows ACR (Adobe Camera Raw), but the presenter (Tom Hogarty, Lightroom's product manager) makes it clear that the same functionality will be part of Lr3 as well.

The ability to correct for lens distortion will be so welcome, especially for lenses that have lots of compromises. For example, the Nikkor 18-200VR I used on a camping trip a few years ago left all the ocean horizons -- which should be flat -- with a strong bow.

[...]
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During the return home after yesterday's Daimonji hike, Anthony and I stopped for a cake at a cafe we found along the way, Cafe Gremer. The cake was great, and the home-made lemonade (with lemons from the backyard!) was superb, but the interior of the shop was very dark and gloomy, right out of a fairytale nightmare, immediately bringing to mind the worry that we might be devoured by a hermit witch.

But a tiny frosted window immediately behind our seats was getting hit by direct sunlight, splashing a luxuriously delicious glow onto the tasteful flower arrangement on the table, [...]

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I posted the picture above, of a spotlight on a rock garden in Kyoto, in my "Amorphous Wavy Lines Quiz" post last week, asking whether anyone knew the reason for the wavy lines one sees at full resolution:

The answer differs depending on how honest you are with yourself. In my case, the true answer is

"I don't know."

Being a bit less honest with myself, I'll say

"Likely some kind of diffraction, possibly related to the "discrete points" nature of the image sensor, but I'm not sure"

But if I want to completely fool myself into thinking [...]

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