Sigma Auto Focus Fail?

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mrmahoosive

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James
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Has anyone had an auto focus failure on their Sigma before?

I've got a 70-200 f2.8, and yesterday when in use, it stopped auto focusing. I was at a rally, and was not bothered about properly looking into it, but when I got it home noticed it was making a whirring sound when trying to auto focus. Manual focus is OK, and other lenses work OK on the body.

My D700 was picking it up as a DC rather than DX lens to start with... then it just failed.

Any suggestions? I've given the contacts a gentle clean, but don't really know what else I can do?

Cheers.
 
Bang your head against the wall several times then buy the nikkor?


Seriously, is it in warranty?
get it off to sigma for repair, they have an excellent reputation for fast repairs (they have a lot of practice ;))
 
squishy said:
Bang your head against the wall several times then buy the nikkor?


Seriously, is it in warranty?
get it off to sigma for repair, they have an excellent reputation for fast repairs (they have a lot of practice ;))
Click to expand...

Fast repair..... you must be kidding.. unfortunately I too own a Sigma. a 10mm fisheye... the noise could be the AF Motor, mines gone three times in 18 months.. partially my fault as the lens isn't built for what I use it for..

As for the service, I live 5 miles away, I was told I had to make an appointment to drop a lens off once!!!! nothing comes back before three weeks if lucky..... now Canon, drop off camera at Canon to stunning lady, next day or within 48 hours, I recieve a phone call, text, email letting me know my cameras ready, always returned to me spotless (i shot MX) with extras bits replaced and not charge, normally screens... outstanding service
 
sigma replaced pretty much most of my 120-300 as it was bent by the previous owner. all imported parts from HK at no extra charge. ive also had a 120-300 tripod mount supplied at no charge. im happy enough with that..

im led to believe sigmas service dept is MUCH smaller than canons which would imply slightly longer lead times.
 
Thanks for the advice guys, will get on the buzzer to Sigma tomorrow.

I will get this fixed, then think about chopping it in for the Nikkor version after making sure it works :)
 
I've got the same problem with my sigma - the whirring but no focus. I was in my local jessops for another reason, and mentioned it to the assistant who reckons its a fairly common problem with a pin within the focussing mechanism. What you're hearing is the pin spinning but not making contact with the rest of the mechanism.
I'm not bothering to replace it because I'm happy focussing manually.
However, if the wife asks, please tell her the lens is crap and I need more money for a new lens....
 
common problem with the 70-200? first ive heard of it to be honest and my 4 year old version is fine, and so is the other halfs similar aged one.. (the sceptic in me would suggest that the store would be saying that to persuade you to buy a new lens)
 
To be fair, we didn't discuss the matter further, and my lens is a 28-105mm, not thr 70-200. It's the first time i've ever had a non-marque lens and has put me off a little to be honest
 
 
I know they are lower in cost than Nikkors and that is tempting.
But I bought a 150-500mm OS earlier this year, It was great at first then it stopped tracking focus in one direction then I gave up after 3 months or so and sent it back for a refund.
Bought new Nikon lenses and used without any issues at all.
I wonder how many people try a Sigma, have an issue like I did and just wont risk it again.
 
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Chrisbie said:
I know they are lower in cost than Nikkors and that is tempting.
But I bought a 150-500mm OS earlier this year, It was great at first then it stopped tracking focus in one direction then I gave up after 3 months or so and sent it back for a refund.
Bought new Nikon lenses and used without any issues at all.
I wonder how many people try a Sigma, have an issue like I did and just wont risk it again.
Click to expand...
probably lots, but i bet sigma sell alot more lenses than nikon do.
 
It shouldn't cost that much to do some decent QC. Got to be cheaper than continually repairing or replacing lenses you have already made and have gone wonky. Plus you lose sales every time someone has a bad experience as they generally mention it to a few other people too.

If Sigma need beta testers for new products I'm sure there are many people on here that would volunteer!
 
Just today I read this on a mountain bike site about a Sigma 18-200mm, their QQ does sound rather poor or is it a bad design like the Canon plastic gears on their battery grip

as it happens, I just pulled it all apart myself. Turns out there's a little screw thing that holds in a little 'peg' that had come undone. Once I had the thing apart, managed to figure a way of re-assembling it and voila! it works. only tricky thing is getting one of the ribbon cables re-connected (I hate those things)
Click to expand...
 
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tijuana taxi said:
Just today I read this on a mountain bike site about a Sigma 18-200mm, their QQ does sound rather poor or is it a bad design like the Canon plastic gears on their battery grip
Click to expand...

Hmmm, sounds interesting.. Where did I put those little screw drivers?
 
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