Buying new Sigma. Risky?

odd jim

odd jim

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I've decided that my new sports lens is going to be the Sigma 70-200mm F2.8 II EX APO HSM. I've heard fantastic things about this lens and I would personally find it more useful than the Canon 70-200 f4L as I shoot a lot of indoor sport. I cant stretch to the Canon 2.8!

Now, although people rave about this lens, I've heard stories of people having to send them back and trying as many as 3 or 4 copies before they got one which wasn't soft along one edge or misaligned, so my question is, although they are great lenses when they work, is buying an expensive Sigma still risky?!
 
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I have heard that as well, never going to buy another sigma again there hard to sell on when you want a change and loose money like a drunk in a **** house, what about a F/4 IS L get a second hand bargain for around £600-680ish, and can always be moved on quickly if needed.


Merc
 
I have a Sigma 12-24mm f4-5.6, 24-60mm f2.8, 70-200mm f2.8, 100-300mm f4 and 50-500mm Bigma. Not had one problem with any of them, all sharp and work very well. As usual I think you only hear about peoples bad experiences and never the good ones as they are out using the things.

Most of these rumours also come from people that have heard about a problem and never actually experienced it themselves anyway.

Maybe buy locally if possible and then you can check it out before parting with your money .. New Sigma lenses now come with a 3 year warranty as well I believe.
 
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^ indeed, you do only hear the bad stories but we seem to hear more from Sigma still, which is my concern, but granted, the stores you hear are slight compared to the thousands that are sold!

mercmanuk - I dont think the f4L IS would be fast enough as I stil need the 2.8 to up the shutter speed for freezing the action indoors, though a fine lens it is!
 
I got 3 bad Sigma lenses in a row this year, inc a 70-200 f/2.8 HSM II, a Sigma 100-300 f/4 and a Sigma 24-70 f/2.8 - all totally stunk, and all were sent back for refunds the same day.

This is how the Sigma looked compared to a Tamron 70-200 f/2.8

Test shot:

sigma-tamronfull.jpg


100%:

http://www.andydrakeimages.co.uk/LensTests/sigma-tamron100crop.jpg
 
^ thats my concern! How do you find the Tamron? I considered this but heard the AF is a little slow and a bit hit and miss with accuracy?
 
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odd jim said:
^ thats my concern! How do you find the Tamron?
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Optically the Tamron is much sharper than the Sigma at the long end wide open, but focusing on Canon and Nikon bodes will be slower (especially Nikon which is really crippled by a dire micro-motor in the lens).

For Sony owners, as the Tamron is driven by the body, then focus speed is much closer.

On optics, the Tamron is a much better lens that the Sigma, no question.
 
Thanks for that. I'll be using it for indoor sports to AF is pretty time critical to me... Hmmm, decisions....
 
odd jim said:
Thanks for that. I'll be using it for indoor sports to AF is pretty time critical to me... Hmmm, decisions....
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I don't think the Tamron is really up to that.. there is no focus limiter so if the lens goes on a hunt for some reason (on Nikon fit at least), the lens will rack hunt from close up to infinity which takes over 2 seconds.

I've not used the Canon version mind you - only Nikon and Sony fit.
 
it is a shame some people do have problems with sigma stuff because they do make some great lenses. i'm really looking forward to seeing some in-depth reviews of the new 85 1.4 myself

i think if you did have a dud lens you could always send it back to get it sorted, the only thing which would concern me for a lens used for sport is just how responsive the autofocus would likely be and whether it is ever going to be as nippy as a 1st party lens.

as far as 70-200 options go, i have a non is 70-200 f2.8 which cost me a little under a grand and the autofocus is almost instant. if you don't need IS, it may be a good option.
 
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cuthbert said:
it is a shame some people do have problems with sigma stuff because they do make some great lenses. i'm really looking forward to seeing some in-depth reviews of the new 85 1.4 myself

i think if you did have a dud lens you could always send it back to get it sorted, the only thing which would concern me for a lens used for sport is just how responsive the autofocus would likely be and whether it is ever going to be as nippy as a 1st party lens.

as far as 70-200 options go, i have a non is 70-200 f2.8 which cost me a little under a grand and the autofocus is almost instant. if you don't need IS, it may be a good option.
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Thats the lens ideally I'd go for, at the moment though I simply cant justify the cost which is why I am looking at the Sigma / 3rd party alternatives which are a little over half the price of the Canon. I've looked 2nd hand but the Canon 70-200 2.8 is a rare as rocking horse poo and when you do find one they are still very pricey!
 
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i have had a few sigmas, had a problem with a 150-500mm which was cack, just sent my 50-500mm os back for the af problem(sigma recall) got it back in a week, my fav lens i love it. but in all i have had more decent sigmas then duffs, the best thing is to try them and buy close to you then you can make sure you get a good copy.
 
I've got several Sigma lenses, some bought new (12-24,24-70 f/2.8, 150-500) and some 2nd hand (8mm, 70-200) and also had a 170-500. None of them had any problems at all.

I have a slight suspicion that there may be a few rogue lenses that have been passed around the branches of a chain and keep turning up, possibly skewing the fault reporting. Has the problem with Sigmas reduced since a well known national chain stopped stocking them???
 
If you can wait, my (old) workplace will be getting the new Sigma Pro lenses in to evaluate at the end of January...
 
just to chime in on this.. in our household we have:

1x sigma 50mm f1.4 - purchased from ebay 2nd hand - perfect
2x sigma 70-200 f2.8 "macro" - one purchased from new and other 2nd hand from here - both perfect
1x sigma 120-300 f2.8 - purchased from ebay 2nd hand - perfect

if buying 2nd hand ask for example shots from the lens. if buying new you can always exchange if youre not happy or send it to sigma under warranty.
 
I've not owned a Siggy. I do have a Tammy 24-75 which I love.

After seeing the comments on here, think I'll avoid the siggy like the plague now!!

Rosie
 
I have 3 Sigmas, 10-20, 24-70 f2.8 and 150 f2.8 macro and it sounds like I must be the luckiest man alive as all of them are bob on. :shrug:
 
I have a friend that has a 10-20 on a 400D and loves it.

Rosie
 
daugirdas said:
I've tested friend's new Sigma 70-200mm. It was very sharp at 70mm, but it severely degraded to 200mm (oh, and that one was in good focus).
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When testing, what is the best regime to use?

Thanks

Rosie
 
I've had 3 sigma lenses so far, and my experience has varied! The 70-200 I had was pretty much spot on (there was a slight front focus, but microadjust sorted that out, but I sent it for re-calibration prior to selling it just to be absolutely sure). The 24-70 needed the zoom and focussing mechanisms replacing (although I expect that was wear and tear rather than any fault of sigma's!), and the 120-300 which is a tricky beast to use, but when used properly can give astonishingly sharp shots.

If you're buying new, there's no risk at all. If it's a duff copy, it goes back, end of story! Repeat, until you have a good copy :).

It's all well and good other posters saying the canon f/4 is better, I'm sure it's sharper, but if you can't get the shutter speed high enough, then it won't matter anyway! I used mine for sports, and only sold it due to the 120-300, otherwise it would have stayed firmly in my arsenal :thumbs:


bullybaby2011 said:
When testing, what is the best regime to use?
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Go out, take lots of photos, see if you're happy :)

It's what I do anyway, I'm not entirely convinced by the focus test charts etc, but I know many who swear by them!

Chris
 
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12-24mm, 20mm f1.8, 30mm f1.4, 50mm f1.4, 150mm f2.8 and the only IQ probs were deffo user error :) also had a 28-300mm, sold it and always wish I hadn't.

Tamron 17-50mm f2.8, no probs, Canon 50mm...occasional error 99 message but otherwise ok, 20-35mm and 70-300mm both ok. Had a 10-22mm and 17-85mm and both worked as they were supposed to.

Maybe I'm just lucky.
 
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Mike.P said:
Most of these rumours also come from people that have heard about a problem and never actually experienced it themselves anyway.
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Really must agree with this statement completely !

Got a Sigma to replace my two Nikkors, did some fairly methodical and structured test shots with both - the Sigmas certainly do all I want. :thumbs:

I have warm air central heating - which is great ! If I read all the "reviews" in web forums and take them at face value I should rip it out - now ! However having done a lot of investigative work (and having had two of these systems) it is obvious that the vast majority of the negative comments are from people who have "heard" that warm air is no good and that is the sum total of their "knowledge".

I think Sigmas suffer from the same problem.
 
I have a Sigma 150-500mm zoom, which I've used with a Canon 450D and my current 550D. I've never had any problems with it other than the fact that it weighs a ton.
 
I bought a Sigma 18-50mm f2.8 macro and it is pin sharp! Excellent lens for the money
 
I've been using my Siggy 150mm f2.8 today and every time that I do I think it's a good lens.
 
I think Sigma's suffer from the same sort of image problem (pardon the pun) as Skoda's. I had a Skoda for fiive years and it was a darn good car. My Siggy falls into the same category lenswise. Fine if you wan to pay extra for the 'badge' the same as a car, but a Sigma can do just as good a job.
 
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I have the sigma 70-22mm F2.8 11 APO EX DG MACRO & i love it.:):thumbs:
 
artyman said:
I think Sigma's suffer from the same sort of image problem (pardon the pun) as Skoda's. I had a Skoda for fiive years and it was a darn good car. My Siggy falls into the same category lenswise. Fine if you wan to pay extra for the 'badge' the same as a car, but a Sigma can do just as good a job.
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Not really, even back in the day Skoda produced good, if rather basic, cars. The image problem really only existed in the UK thanks to Jasper Carrott's (unfounded) jokes about their reliability, whereas Sigma's reputation for poor quality products is backed up by well-documented evidence.

There's also no correlation between Skoda and Sigma when it comes to the "badge". Modern Skodas are all based on the same platforms as other VAG products from Audi, VW and SEAT, Sigma lenses on the other hand are just that, lenses produced by Sigma, they aren't sold as, or based on Nikon or Canon designs.
 
neil_g said:
i wouldnt say that. if anything their quality control may be questionable on occasion.

sigma can and do (see responses in this thread) make good reliable lenses.
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Poor QC = poor products, unless you're buying the lenses to use as paperweights
 
Just sold my Sigma 70-200 f2.8 which was a nice crisp copy and now have a bigma which also seems to be pretty sharp. Always worth getting samples shots if buying 2nd hand as previously mentioned though.
 
Flash In The Pan said:
Sigma's reputation for poor quality products is backed up by well-documented evidence..
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Would you be able to let me see this "well documented evidence".

Have you been unfortunate enough to have had a duff Sigma?
 
ive just been offered a sigma 70-300mm apo dg macro, is it worth a punt for not alot of money or should i save my dosh?
 
I have a 2 out of 3 success rate with Sigma

Had a 70-200mm and 10-20mm that were fine and very pleased with them

The 18-50 in today's parlance "blew goats" and went straight back for a refund

Luck of the draw although one would hope for the price you pay for lenses they would be spot on 99.9% of the time
 
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