Buying new Sigma. Risky?

I have had a mixed experiance.

I used a sigma 24-70 that was really a fantastic lens, This is what made me go with one in the first place. I took the first copy back to the store for a replacement as lets just say it had focusing issues, The second copy I got I have just sent off to sigma yesterday morning for the same issues!!!

I have just purchased a Sigma 10-20mm as well, As far as I can tell so far this is a fantastic lens.

I think their main downfall is their QT. on a plus side, If you purchase and register one of their EX lenses at the moment they are offering 3 years warranty instead of the normal 12 months.

My advice would be only buy one if you can go into the store and give it a good test first, It is not worth the hassle of ordering one online only to find you have to send it back. I would not say that i will never buy one again but I will be more careful in future about where I get one from and also make sure that I get a chance to test it out first.
 
I have the 10-20 and the 150-500. Both have been faultless and are very good value for the money.
 
Arkady said:
If you can wait, my (old) workplace will be getting the new Sigma Pro lenses in to evaluate at the end of January...
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Hmmm, that could be interesting! I was going to buy next month though....

From the replies on here, still very much a mixed bag, even with the EX lenses... :|
 
neil_g said:
if anything their quality control may be questionable on occasion.
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Just to be a little pedantic........................

"Quality Control" has absolutely nothing to do with the "quality" of the goods that are produced.

Following documented QA procedures and being certificated to a certain "quality" standard means that your manufacturing systems follow accredited standards, no more.

I remember being told when doing a QA course (when it first became a "must have"):-
"A QA accreditation merely means that if you produce c**p, you will consistently produce c**p".

I still think Sigmas are excellent lenses for the money ! - definitely not c**p.
 
My first Sigma lens, a 10-20mm was very poor on the lefthand side so that went back. However, my 30mm 1.4mm is very, very good. The only thing i don't like about them is the matt coating that tends to show a bit of ageing after a while. All that said i will almost definately look at the 85mm when that gets a proper release and swap the 30mm for a 50mm when i finally go FF.
 
i,ve owned 3 sigmas and been very happy with them all. m y current 24-70 and 70-200 non macro versions are fast and sharp as a tack
 
I've usually been lucky with Sigma. However I had to have a canon 70-200 F2.8IS and 24-70 F2.8 go back repeatedly. The 24-70 was eventually replaced.

The point being that you hear more about it with the sigma, people don't really want to admit that there expensive L lenses also suffer from poor quality control occasionally.
 
dod said:
I've usually been lucky with Sigma. However I had to have a canon 70-200 F2.8IS and 24-70 F2.8 go back repeatedly. The 24-70 was eventually replaced.

The point being that you hear more about it with the sigma, people don't really want to admit that there expensive L lenses also suffer from poor quality control occasionally.
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very true,
 
Anything can either be faulty on arrival or go faulty in use but I've always thought that the test of a manufacturer is how they deal with reliability and customer service issues.
 
All valid points, especially the latter few!

I've had a look and a good think and I am going to go for the Sigma 70-200 II 2.8, most of the user reviews are very positive, and I'm putting aside my QC worries and am hopefully going to purchase one from a High St outlet (which through which, admittedly, I'm struggling to find!), failing that Amazon who seem pretty good customer service wise (and have it at £595!). There are far more good copies than poor ones out there.
 
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