First try with digital SD14 - somethings wrong !

[Steaphany]

A simple method to improve focus is to use Aperture priority mode and select an aperture with a greater depth of field. When needing to focus quickly, this can help you get a focus which is "close enough", but you'll then risk your subject plus foreground and/or background being in focus resulting in a potentially cluttered image.

Another technique would be to calculate the hyperfocal distance of your lenses. If you then set the focus ring to correspond to the hyperfocal distance, the lens will now bring everything from one half of the hyperfocal distance through to infinity into sufficient focus. Again, you will need to use Aperture priority mode since the aperture setting varies the hyperfocal distance.

For example, the Sigma 28 mm f1.8 EX DG Aspherical Macro lens has a hyperfocal distance of 24m at f1.8 and of 2m at f22 (I have not calculated the values between these)

If I set the f to 22 and focus simply by the numbers on the focus ring to 2m, I'll be pretty close to having an ideal focus for 1m to infinity.

Knowing that the maximum hyperfocal distance is 24m, if I can find an easily focusable object greater than 24m away, regardless of aperture setting, I'll be very close to a perfect focus for a subject with a less than ideal focusability. I apply this to my astrophotography. I can't focus on the stars directly, but I have a couple antenna towers about 2 miles away with beacons that are easy to focus. Afterwards, everything in the sky is focused perfectly.

 

[OyvindS]

AF confirm beep

Hi

Check if the Beep is enabled. There should be a Sound symbol at the upper LCD, just left of Metering Mode indicator.

If there are no Sound symbol, here is how to activate it:

Press the Func button 5 times and hold.
Look at the top LCD:
On - means focus confirm audible beep On
-- means OFF
Use the Command Dial to change the setting.

kind regards
Øyvind

I don't get an audible beep but a dot appears in the viewfinder when the AF says it's in focus. Or at least I assume the dot means focusing in achieved. With a MF lens the dot will appear to indicate focus only when the mf lens is wide open - then it works. Close the MF lens down even one stop and AF doesn't seem to work. If that's not what the dot's for sorry - I'm still going thru the manual slowly pg by pg. I don't get a beep...

 

[DSG]

Hi

Check if the Beep is enabled. There should be a Sound symbol at the upper LCD, just left of Metering Mode indicator.

If there are no Sound symbol, here is how to activate it:

Press the Func button 5 times and hold.
Look at the top LCD:
On - means focus confirm audible beep On
-- means OFF
Use the Command Dial to change the setting.

kind regards
Øyvind

Hi Øyvind...I'm afraid that none of the Sigma kit lenses is going to give you really good image quality...You need prime lenses, not zoom lenses for the best possible quality and the faster the better too so you can blur out any distracting backgrounds.
The primes lenses I use that cover the range of your 28-300mm kit zoom are currently the Carl Zeiss 28mm f2.8 Distagon T*, Nikon 35mm f1.4 AIS, Canon FL 55mm f1.2, Carl Zeiss 85mm f1.4 Planar T* (just got a Canon FD 85mm f1.2 L too), The Nikon 105mm f2.5, the Sigmatel 135mm f1.8, the Carl Zeiss Jena 180mm f2.8 "Olympic" sonnar and the Tamron 300mm f2.8 LD IF. All of which are extremely sharp and most have very good bokeh quality too...Which can be just as important as sharpness.