Sigma 28-80MM F3.5/5.6 Macro

Sleepy

Found this for peanuts on eBay (won it for £22 and postage)and picked it up on a whim. So, good buy or waste of the price of a few pints?

I'll be using it on a crop sensor (450D) if that makes any difference beyond the obvious multiplier of effective focal range.

Ricky91t

Pointless imo is you've got the kit lens,and as it looks quiet old you may get the odd "error-99" unless the seller stated it would work with digital

Ot the other hand 22 is a great price for glass and normally sigma glass can focus quite close..

Sleepy

Why would it error given that the 450D is EF compatible?

Ricky91t

The older sigma lenses circuit boards(i think it was the circuit boards)has issues with the new digital bodies when canon released them,they could be repaired by chipping them.This lens could be from before of after that point..I don't know

Sleepy

Would that just affect the autofocus or aperture/shutter speed adjustment?

Sleepy

Anyone got any experience of the lens?

AnCatDubh

Yup - I have one in a Pentax K-mount so I can't comment on any of the potential canon issues

It isn't my favourite lens or anything like it but still ok to use and its a lens that i'd use on occasion. It's a little "contrast-less" / its images can be a bit "grey" but nothing that a bit of contrast added in post production wouldn't sort.

Its a low cost / budget lens and the results are probably appropriate to that category of lens. Thus if you have really decent glass to your name then you may be disappointed with its results. However if you are at a stage of just having the kit lens and the like then its reasonable enough and will expand your available focal lengths.

It likes light. At an aperture range from 3.5 to 5.6 you won't be shooting too much in low light. It is reasonably light weight which makes it good as a carry around or as a second option to bring with you.

While its probably not a treasure find, for the amount of money it has cost you I doubt if you'd be overly disappointed and you'd sell it again if you don't like it for the same or more so you won't lose much on it.

Sleepy

Thanks AnCatDubh.

I'm still using the kit lens and the 50-250 IS telephoto, though I ordered the 50mm 1.8 (which was what had me on ebay to find this). What attracted me to this aside from the price was the focal range which is nicely positioned between the two lens I already have and could be useful when in situations where I'd be switching a lot between the two.

I rarely shoot at 18 (landscapes aren't hugely my thing - aside from sunsets) and an aperture of 3.5 at 28mm sounded useful as the kit lens can only open to 4.5 at that range. If it's as sharp as the kit lens (or in the same ballpark) I'll be happy.

Will post some shots from it once I get over the initial burst of 50mm shots of my daughter!

Sleepy

Well, it arrived before the 50mm and there appear to be some issues with it. Autofocus doesn't work, the motor makes a noise but it really doesn't seem to change focus much at all. Dodgy motor or likely down to the chip issue?

I'm also getting an "Err 01 Communication between the camera and lens is faulty. Clean the lens contacts." message every now and then even in manual focus. It's quite possible that it is just a matter of dirty contacts because there was no rear lens cap on it.

Going to Google now to see what I can find out about it but if anyone has any input it'd be greatly appreciated. The focal range of the lens is great and the shots I've taken playing with it since I got home seem perfectly fine to me so if I'm going to try and get it working.

Sleepy

Just in case anyone's interested (or for the benefit of anyone searching this forum about this lens again). It's a known issue with some of the older Sigma lens. Some of them can be re-chipped or re-programmed so I've contacted Sigma support to see if my one can be chipped or not. If anyone else gets the same problem, the contact address is service@sigma-imaging-uk.com.

Sleepy

And the disappointing response from support:

Thank you for your email and sorry to hear you are experiencing problems.

This is due to your lens not being compatible with the new circuits in Canon bodies, unfortunately we are unable to rechip/ upgrade this model due to spares no longer being available.