Sigma 150-600 C image stabilisation

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I made the mistake of reading the manual today. I can understand having to turn-off the IS when using the tripod but why when you remove the lens from the camera?
 
Archie747 said:
I made the mistake of reading the manual today. I can understand having to turn-off the IS when using the tripod but why when you remove the lens from the camera?
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Have never done that. Or read the manual:D
 
Is a monopod the same as a tripod as far as the rules are concerned? Always unsure if it should be off or not on the monopod...
 
Never disengaged it when taking it off the camera!
 
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WWA said:
Is a monopod the same as a tripod as far as the rules are concerned? Always unsure if it should be off or not on the monopod...
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Yep.
 
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Archie747 said:
I made the mistake of reading the manual today. I can understand having to turn-off the IS when using the tripod but why when you remove the lens from the camera?
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It means, don't remove the lens while the stabilisation system is active, ie whirring quietly if you put your ear close to the lens. Let it switch itself off - which it does in about two seconds of taking your finger off the shutter release. It just means the stabilisation elements are resting in the neutral/off position.

WWA said:
Is a monopod the same as a tripod as far as the rules are concerned? Always unsure if it should be off or not on the monopod...
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A good rule of thumb is to have the stabilisation on whenever you have a hand on the camera, ie on a monopod or on a tripod with gimbal. If it's windy, it's often best to leave the stabilisation on with a tripod in any case, especially with a big lens that works like a wind-break (removing the hood can help). Check it by switching to live view at 600mm and max magnification, with stabilisation off, when you'll probably see the image jiggling around. If this reduces with stabilisation turned on, then use it. There are no hard and fast rules for image stabilisation with long lenses and tripods, only notes for guidance. Suck it and see - stabilisation systems, lenses and situations vary.

With a lens like that, in anything less than still conditions, there's no such thing as a totally stable tripod, regardless of size/weight/cost. Even for a static shot, you can sometimes get better results by holding the camera and resting your left hand gently on top of the lens, the idea being that the damping effect kills vibration for a net better result. Takes a bit of practise so as not to make things worse, though you'll often see pros doing this. Or a rest a heavy bean bag on top. For best results with static tripod shots, something like the Manfrotto 359 strut attaches the camera body to a tripod leg, adding a second support point that can work well http://www.wexphotographic.com/buy-manfrotto-359-long-lens-support/p11045
 
HoppyUK said:
It means, don't remove the lens while the stabilisation system is active, ie whirring quietly if you put your ear close to the lens. Let it switch itself off - which it does in about two seconds of taking your finger off the shutter release. It just means the stabilisation elements are resting in the neutral/off position
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That is what I do with other lenses, but the manual for the Sigma says:

Be sure to turn of OS switch to OFF position, before attaching or detaching the lens to the camera. (Their spelling)

Perhaps they are just covering themselves.

Good advice re tripods and monopods.
 
Archie747 said:
That is what I do with other lenses, but the manual for the Sigma says:

Be sure to turn of OS switch to OFF position, before attaching or detaching the lens to the camera. (Their spelling)

Perhaps they are just covering themselves.

Good advice re tripods and monopods.
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Maybe Sigma is being ultra-cautious, or maybe something got lost in translation, but if that's their instruction then Sigma needs to explain why. It's important for the lens to switch itself off, and that certainly reduces the stabilisation unit clunking around in transit, but that happens so quickly it's not easy to do by accident.

I've never switched off IS on my Canons and never had any issues. A quick google suggests that nobody else actually switches stabilisation off either, even Sigma owners. There are lots of threads on it around the web if you search.

And furthermore, I can also say that Sigma UK ignores that instruction with its own lenses they send out on loan for review. I have had dozens of lenses from Sigma UK for my work, and the settings appear to be how they were most likely left by the previous user. Sometimes stabilisation off, sometimes on, AF or M focus etc, or any other combination. I also recall a Sigma 105/2.8 OS macro I received that was distinctly clunky when I opened the box and it had obviously been like that in transit. I suspected OS so put it on a camera, switched the OS off and on, and it worked perfectly.

I am open to correction on this though, by Sigma, but I'm not going to start switching anything off until I hear their explanation :)
 
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never yet switched mine off either on/off the camera or indeed when in use on the tripod as stated here no matter how good the tripod if used outdoors there will be some element of movement ,and at 600.mm that will be magnified
 
DerekL said:
I suspect the reason Sigma say turn of OS before removing from camera is it may cause issues if the camera is still powered on.
I have never turned OS off but make sure the camera is powered down before removing lenses.
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Why? What issues? What's the technical reason?

I never turn my cameras off either, they do that themselves after a pre-detemined period. Not unless they're in a bag where the shutter release might get touched and accidentally turn the camera on.
 
Here is the response from Sigma:

Morning

Thank you for your email.

It is for safety reasons that you are advised to turn off the OS. When the OS is off the unit is locked into place to stop it from moving about in the lens and getting damaged.
 
Archie747 said:
Here is the response from Sigma:

Morning

Thank you for your email.

It is for safety reasons that you are advised to turn off the OS. When the OS is off the unit is locked into place to stop it from moving about in the lens and getting damaged.
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I've never heard the OS unit move inside the lens when I've taken it off, suggesting that it's quite safe. Also the switch is a simple electrical contact, it doesn't activate anything mechanical so I can't see how it "locks" it into place? Strange...
 
Archie747 said:
Here is the response from Sigma:

Morning

Thank you for your email.

It is for safety reasons that you are advised to turn off the OS. When the OS is off the unit is locked into place to stop it from moving about in the lens and getting damaged.
Click to expand...

I got basically the same reply from Sigma UK, but they were unable to tell me what actually happens when you physically switch off the OS, as opposed to just letting itself power down automatically, a couple of seconds after taking your finger off the shutter release, like other brands. Maybe Sigmas are different in this respect, in which case that would be a drawback in practise, at least in theory. Or maybe not - it could be something as simple as a historical translation issue that has never been corrected - currently awaiting a reply from Sigma Japan.
 
The amount of times I never turn my cameras off when changing lenses. Oh well must be lucky
 
Exactly!

But does that mean that if my 150-600 goes wrong within the 3 year guarantee and they ask I turned off the o/s everytime and if I say no, they will refuse my claim? Cynical I know.

I turn off my camera when changing lenses but I never turn off the IS/OS.

kingo15 said:
The amount of times I never turn my cameras off when changing lenses. Oh well must be lucky
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Archie747 said:
<snip>

I turn off my camera when changing lenses but I never turn off the IS/OS.
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Why? If cameras weren't proof against something that, they'd be breaking down every five minutes.
 
HoppyUK said:
Maybe Sigmas are different in this respect.....
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Not all lenses work the same way though.

The Canon 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM has a mechanism whereby the floating IS elements are "parked" and locked when the camera is switched off. If you remove the lens from the camera without switching the camera off, the elements are not parked and the lens makes a very worrying rattling noise when you handle it. We get a *lot* of customers ringing up to say they think there's something wrong with the lens, for this reason, and fortunately the remedy is very simple: attach to camera, switch camera off, detach.

(Just to be clear, I'm *not* talking about waiting for the camera to go to sleep and for the IS to spin down. You have to actively turn the camera off.)

Maybe this Sigma lens has a similar quirk.
 
HoppyUK said:
Why? If cameras weren't proof against something that, they'd be breaking down every five minutes.
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In the early years of DSLRs, I was told this was to reduce the static that was built up on the sensor. BUT, if that was the case, doesn't static hang around after the charge has built up so does turning the camera off actually stop the static? Is the voltage used across a sensor enough to build up such a charge anyway? I still try to remember to switch the things off before removing lenses but like most, I often forget!
 
I suppose realistically somehow there may be a chance of a small voltage spike hence why people believe that you should turn your camera off. In all honesty I'm just clutching at straws to find a valid answer
 
StewartR said:
Not all lenses work the same way though.

The Canon 100mm f/2.8 L Macro IS USM has a mechanism whereby the floating IS elements are "parked" and locked when the camera is switched off. If you remove the lens from the camera without switching the camera off, the elements are not parked and the lens makes a very worrying rattling noise when you handle it. We get a *lot* of customers ringing up to say they think there's something wrong with the lens, for this reason, and fortunately the remedy is very simple: attach to camera, switch camera off, detach.

(Just to be clear, I'm *not* talking about waiting for the camera to go to sleep and for the IS to spin down. You have to actively turn the camera off.)

Maybe this Sigma lens has a similar quirk.
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The Canon 100L Macro handbook makes no mention of this. It only says "The image stabilizer operates for about two seconds even when your finger is off the shutter button. Do not remove the lens when the stabilizer is in operation. This will cause a malfunction." Same as with other Canon IS lenses, and no reference to physically switching the IS off.

The distinctive thing about a lot of 100mm f/2.8 macros is they have some the largest IS components, with relatively heavy glass elements. If the lens is removed before the IS system switches itself off automatically after two seconds and puts the IS in the parked position, they can make quite an alarming clunking noise as the unit knocks against its buffers.
 
HoppyUK said:
I got basically the same reply from Sigma UK, but they were unable to tell me what actually happens when you physically switch off the OS, as opposed to just letting itself power down automatically, a couple of seconds after taking your finger off the shutter release, like other brands. Maybe Sigmas are different in this respect, in which case that would be a drawback in practise, at least in theory. Or maybe not - it could be something as simple as a historical translation issue that has never been corrected - currently awaiting a reply from Sigma Japan.
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Further info from Sigma Japan and Sigma UK, and the conclusion is that the instruction to physically switch off the OS with some Sigmas is 'precautionary'. Sigma UK is not aware of any actual problems with OS systems that they can put down to the system not having been physically switched off.

Reply from Sigma Japan though, suggests that there is at least a theoretical reason to switch off some lenses:
"As you may know, some of our OS has unique control system that it is always in communication with camera regardless of the OS is working or not when OS position is ON.
So there is a possibility to get damage when removing the lens from camera body while OS position is ON.
This is the reason."

But further questioning, on whether this is a known problem and a significant issue in Sigma UK's service department, the answer is no, leading them to conclude - unofficially - that the instruction is 'precautionary'.
 
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