Sigma 150-600 Sport

[Dave_S]

A mate of mine has just bought a new Sigma 150-600 Sport, and was very disappointed at the less than sharp results it returned.

He phoned Sigma, and spoke to a very fast talking guy, who tried to 'Blind him with science', which boiled down to the fact that he needed to buy the USB dock in order to correct the problem, and to download the latest firmware.

As you might imagine, having just spent significant sum of money on what he thought would be a ready to use lens, he was not impressed.

However, He 'swallowed the bitter pill', smacked out on the USB dock, and went through the adjustment process, which has resulted in a lens that now delivers the image quality he had expected from the lens when he bought it.

Poor v&v in development, and rushing it to market to compete with the Tamron 150-600, of lack of quality control?

Dave

[antoeknee]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

What camera was being used? My brother in law has 7D2 and results weren't great. Discovered didn't have latest FW on camera once that was installed results were as to be expected.

[Stan]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Cant see why he needed the latest firmware to make the lens perform. Had mine for over a year now and it has never let me down ,most of the time using it "out of the box" with the custom functions turned off

stan

[Dave_S]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

He uses a 5D3.

Stan, I guess it's 'pot luck' if you get a good one, and you did it would seem.

I know that Jeff had to adjust his, as he wasn't happy with the AF to start with.

I should add that this guy is a recently retired Pro tog.

Dave

[Dave_S]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

It seems that the problem was that the point of sharp focus was beyond the subject focused on.

Dave

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

My experience with the Contemporary Sigma was the same as Stan's, fine out of the box but better since the new firmware came out.

[antoeknee]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Stan, can't explain issue as I know plenty of people had no issues (though on web have been some users reporting problems). It was a bit strange as sometimes IQ was off. Worked fine on his 5D3.

I have Contemporary version and that has also worked out of box on both my 60D and 5D3. Only moded C1 and C2 options to have lens work way I want.

[the black fox]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Let's put this into context ,I was quite happy with mine straight out of the box ,the initial problems I had turned out to be a faulty 70d not the lens ,I have also now tried it on several other models of camera with no problems .
The use of the USB dock does however improve things a lot regarding getting the lens to perform how you want it ,and the latest firmware update has made a lot of improvements to it all round .
Look on it as a finely tuned machine that needs a little bit of tinkering to be a race winner ,I have used mine side by side with friends using newer and better cameras and also Nikon and canon L lenses and got the same or better results .
These long lenses by there very nature take a learning curve you have to accept that as part of the package.

I have also found that sigma have probably the most helpful team at there HQ and are far better at sorting out minor problems quickly than any other maker ,the early tamron 150-600 lens if I recall had to be sent back to Germany for firmware updates taking several weeks at a time

[jimsphotography]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Both camera and lenses ( whatever the make) are built to operate within a certain tolerance level. There is no system of mass manufacture that can produce perfect products again and again.
So let's say the manufacturer sets the tolerance for focus on their camera or lens to be somewhere between +3 and -3 if it's is to pass quality control. Anything outside that is of poor quality and is therefore retained to be corrected.
Now say you buy a camera within the tolerance and it is -2.
You then buy a lens and with your luck it's tolerance is +2. Fitted to you camera (-2 and +2 =zero) the resulting focus will be spot on.
I buy a camera also - it's tolerance is -3. This is just within the manufacturers tolerance levels. I also buy a lens and as my luck has it it's tolerance is also -3.
Used together it is way out of focus as the combined tolerance is -6 and therefore way beyond the accepted tolerance of -3 or +3.
Hope that explains the science behind variation customers are experiencing
James

[the black fox]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Good explanation Jim ,I have just posted a moonshot I did yesterday hand held ,the latest firmware update has improved what was already a super lens .a lot of companies just sit on there laurels and make you pay through the nose for each incremental update ,the management at sigma seems to have taken the choice to improve there products via free updates .i am getting the same feedback from lots of other users of both the S and C versions and it's all good

[jimsphotography]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

Good explanation Jim ,I have just posted a moonshot I did yesterday hand held ,the latest firmware update has improved what was already a super lens .a lot of companies just sit on there laurels and make you pay through the nose for each incremental update ,the management at sigma seems to have taken the choice to improve there products via free updates .i am getting the same feedback from lots of other users of both the S and C versions and it's all good

Excellent news - I don't own one but I'm getting tempted !
James

[Dave_S]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

I guess it's more likely that each manufacturer endeavours, within reasonable tolerances, to match their own lenses to their cameras, hence I never experienced focus problems with a 70-300 L, 400 L Prime, and now a 100-400 L Mkll, each used with a 5D3.

What I can't do, is to try these lenses on another brand of camera, and if I did, it is likely that they wouldn't perform as well as they do on the Canon.

Sigma of course make lenses to work with a variety of camera brands, and this is likely where the potential for variation occurs.

My mate whose Sigma 150-600, didn't 'cut the mustard' straight out of the box, had been using Canon 100-400 L, without any problems with soft focus.

Now that he has bought the USB dock, downloaded the latest software, and fine tuned the lens, he is completely happy with it.

His disappointment related to the fact that it quickly became obvious that there was a focus issue with it, and he then had to buy the USB dock to correct it.

It is clear that Sigma were aware of issues with the focus, hence making the USB dock available to the customer. Seems to me that the USB dock, should be provided with the lens, but then of course they can make more money by selling what is clearly a necessary accessory.

Dave

[AndyMulhearn]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

It is clear that Sigma were aware of issues with the focus, hence making the USB dock available to the customer. Seems to me that the USB dock, and should be provided with the lens, but then of course they can make more money by selling what is clearly a necessary accessory.

Actually, that's not clear to me at all. What Sigma have seen, IMHO, is that where there is an option to improved performance through firmware upgrades, it makes sense for the user to be able to do it themselves rather than have to send the lens to the manufacturer for adjustment. This was the case with the Tamron equivalent which had major issues shortly after it came out and got a bad reputation as a result, and a lot of people trading in when the Sigmas came out.

Yes the dock is an additional cost but for me being able to tune the lens myself and apply firmware upgrades is a far more compelling reason than Sigma being aware of any issues, particularly with the testament of Stan, Jeff and myself and other owners that have had no such problem with the lens.

[antoeknee]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

IIRC the USB dock was available before the 150-600 came out. It was available for ART lenses.

My version of the lens was certainly performing well out of the box sufficiently so that initially I didn't feel need to get a dock.

As far as updates go it's not only Sigma lenses that have received them. Most/all Canon cameras have received updated FW.

[the black fox]

Re: Sigma 150-600 Sport

totally agree with andy on this ,this forum by its friendly nature is just a very small slice of users ,i do use not only flickr but other photography forums as well as Facebook-ache and the same feedback re-these lenses is coming back from every single source .i might add dave that as i pointed out using a heavy 3kg or 6lb lens of 600mm focal reach is not a simple pick up and go exercise ,there is most definitely a learning curve where initial user error will creep in .and i feel that your friends experience backs this up .
you also say he is happy now which backs up the fact it wasn't a faulty lens .i factored in the cost of the dock when i bought mine and in fact purchased them together and got a nice discount on the dock to boot .
any one that buys a lens of around £1000 plus should do there research before buying to and theres more than enough info out there to tell you thats a usb dock is needed with these lenses.
the only problem i have with mine is the lens tripod foot is not really up to the job ,and sigma make an alternative but its £200 however i have just noticed that sunway are doing a copy of it for around £50 to £60 which i will get when funds allow