Camera Labs

I know there are already threads on this, but I thought it worth a new one for the non-HSM version.

Got mine today for Sony. Unlike the HSM version, it is screw driven from the body. It does not have a distance window and relies on painted markings on the focus ring itself.

I first tried it quickly at work, and it seems to work fine. When I tried it at home, I was getting squeaks when I turned the camera on or off. Not always, but not rare either. It seems to happen only once the focus ring hits the end stop, which happens when powered on or off. I don't know yet if this is a fault I should return it for, or a quirk while annoying doesn't matter. It isn't showing anything else unusual apart from that.

It's still early to comment on the image quality, but my first impressions are that in normal use the AF is good enough although it fluctuates a bit in lower indoor lighting particularly at close focus. It doesn't shout "sharp" at me as reviews suggest, but it is not unacceptably soft either, and may benefit from better light than I've been giving it. Certainly it is within the realms of expectations for the price.

It is probably not correct or fair for me to call it "distortion" but the perspective effects when using it close up are going to be interesting to work around or even use.

The only question I have is why didn't I get an ultra-wide earlier?

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Day 2. After bouncing some e-mails with Sigma UK, the squeaking behaviour I am observing is not expected and they suggest I send it back for a check and repair with an estimated turnaround time of 2-3 weeks.

I got it from Jessops online and reading their returns procedure doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. Wonder if I can find a human there to talk to...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Congratulations on your new lens popo. Too bad it doesn't work for the full 100%. Hope you'll get all that sorted out soon!

- Bjorn -

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Street and documentary photographer | Google+ | Twitter | Blog | Tumblr

Leica M9-P (my article on Camera Labs) | Leica D-Lux 5 | 50mm Summilux

At the moment I'm leaning back towards sending it back to Sigma... while I should have a right to get a replacement, it will still take time sorting out and I wont know if what I'll get is better or worse. If Sigma look at it, at least it'll be factory fresh when it gets back.

Might do this after the weekend so I can have a bit of a play with it first

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

The lens returned today. I unpacked it, put it on the camera, turned it on and... squeaks Just like before I sent it away. Argh!

The work list says they replaced the gears on it and checked it. So the question then is why is it still happening? Is the focus motor in my A350 too strong for the lens?

Now what do I do...

Edit: just played with it some more, the squeak has gone now. But I still have a doubt if it might come back at any time... wibble.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

You should have sent the camera away with the lens. That's what Sigma recommend.

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PhilipGoh.com

Sending the body is for the case of mis-focusing. They never mentioned, suggested or requested that at all for me. In this case I think the gears in the lens responsible for transferring the screw drive power are either too weak or slightly loose so they can slip. I've heard of it happening on the A700 in high speed mode, but there is no similar option on the A350 that I'm aware of.

I think at this point I'll cut my losses on the time spent worrying about it. I'll report it again to Sigma, and just get confirmation I got the 3 year EX extended warranty still in place should it get worse again. I figure if I get 3 years good use out of it, that's good enough. Quite likely I would have upgraded by then regardless.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Sad to hear you don't like the sound of it, Popo! And as all good engineers know, sounds are indicative of what happens in the machine.
And without knowing how "squeaky" this lens is, I would never judge how good the lens (and its gears) is.
But from what I've already heard from my non AF-S (or HSM) lenses I wouldn't be astonished that some sound is to be expected from such a lens.
As/If you have the 3 year guaranty I wouldn't worry and be happily shooting ever after...

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Thomas (beware: Nikon-fanboy and moderator!) My Lens Reviews, My Pictures, My Photography Blog
D800+assorted lenses

Out of the 5 Sigma lenses I've owned, 1 has had to be sent back to the factory for recalibration. I don't know if that's any indication of Sigma's QC process since I've only ever had 2x Sony lenses and 1x Tamron and they were fine.

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PhilipGoh.com

I've gone through the list of dyxum user reviews for the lens. No other mentions of this so it's not like the CZ16-80 magnitude of issues...

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I am not new to Cameralabs but this is my first post. I have a Canon 450D with kit lens. Upgrade from a PowerShot. Do alot of outdoor photography. So I just received the Sigma 10-20 EX DC lens. So far I like the field of view that I can get.
My question is in manual focus. When I turn the focus ring all the way to either end where it should stop it seems to want to keep moving. Is this normal?
I'm planning to use it alot over the weekend and load images on the computer to check for any fuzzyness.
thanks

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Canon 450D, 18-55mm kit lens, Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens, Canon 430ex II flash, Canon 580ex II flash

The Canon version of the lens has HSM, which is similar to Canon's USM. It is normal for you to be able to rotate the focus ring even at the end.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

I'm not sure what HSM means. So I guess there is a point where the focus ring stops focusing on the subject even though you can still turn the ring? Make sense?

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Canon 450D, 18-55mm kit lens, Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens, Canon 430ex II flash, Canon 580ex II flash

I suck at describing it so I'll let Sigma do it themselves here.

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Canon DSLRs: 7D, 5D2, 1D, 600D, 450D full spectrum, 300D IR mod
Lenses: EF 35/2, 50/1.8, 85/1.8, 135/2+SF, 28-80 V, 70-300L, 100-400L, TS-E 24/3.5L, MP-E 65, EF-S 15-85 IS
3rd party: Zeiss 2/50 makro, Samyang 8mm fisheye, Sigma 150 macro, 120-300 f/2.8 OS, Celestron 1325/13
Tinies: Sony HX9V.

Thanks for the help.

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Canon 450D, 18-55mm kit lens, Canon EF-S 10-22mm lens, Canon 430ex II flash, Canon 580ex II flash