Sigma 15mm Lock Ups

Folks,

Any Canon dSLR shooters out there using the very sharp Sigma 15mm EX fisheye lens?

I had two "lock-up" incidents on my recent Australia trip on one of my Canon Rebel XT bodies. Both times I had fired in single shot mode at f5.0-6.3 in fairly rapid succession. The second time I noticed an "Error 99" which in Canon speak means a miscommunication between the camera and lens.

Turned the camera and strobe off then back on and everything reset EXCEPT the aperture (!!!!!) Aperture then read OO. On the surface I popped my port off, unclicked the lens a whopping 1/8", clicked back into place and all was back to normal (Crap.....) Went diving and shot several hundred pics until it happened two days later.

I WAS switching lenses on the camera table on the back of an open live-aboard boat, Mike Ball's Spoilsport which has a huge back deck. But not in spray or any weather....

This lens is 3 weeks old, not the newest DG version (which is just a minor change in coatings) and I've literally shot with several Sigma 15mm lenses for 20,000+ clicks on both Nikon D100 and original Canon Digital Rebels with zero problems......Plus I have lots of fellow Ikelite shooters who have bought this lens with zero incidents like mine..

The lens serial number is high enough that when I called Sigma they say I have the latest firmware and should be A-OK on the Canon Rebel XT. The Sigma custoemr service person asked me if I had Canon USM lenses, too. I said yes, as I was also switching to my Canon 17-85mm IS lens. Plus for surface shooting a Canon 70-200mm F4L which is a USM lens. He indicated that USM lens contacts versus the Sigma might have transferred oil or grease and thus caused a momentary loss of aperture signal. He suggested cleaning the gold contacts frequently on the camera bodies (I have two Rebel Xts) and the lenses with a micro-fiber cloth.

I used this lens on a Canon 5D, not to the extent of my Rebel XT shooting with zero incidents like this.

I haven't been able to duplicate this problem since returning home, but am wondering if anyone else has had this "ghost problem" ever happen to them.....I'm 99% sure it's a contact problem or else I wouldn't have gotten ANY f-stop number when I did my re-start.

Any ideas or insights appreciated...

dhaas

I'm a Nikon shooter but I have experienced occasional lockup problems with a Sigma 135-400 in the past. This initially very mysterious problem turned out to be because the lens f-stop ring lock allowed the ring to turn just slightly even in the locked position, releasing the internal switch that tells the camera the ring is set to max. f-stop. Hence, the Nikon just shows EEEE and refuses to do enything. My local camera shop adjusted things and no problems since. My other three Sigmas have not experienced this problem.

Just a thought. Dunno if this is the same issue you have.

timo

I have had canon brand lenses temporarily loose communication with the body several times. Cleaning the contacts on the lens and body has allways fixed the problem though a few times it fixed itself before I got a chance to clean the contacts.

I've never had a problem with the Sigma 15mm FE on my 300D. I've only had the Error 99 once. I had the 100mm macro on at the time.

Hi Dhaas,

I've got the same problem you with my sigma 15FE two days after get out of the photo store. I sent my unit back and receive a new unit DG version. It's working well until now.

Regards

Fabio

Hi David,

I've used my non DG Sigma 15mm on several EOS bodies (10D/20D/5D/EOS3/EOS30) without any problem.

But I had aperture 00 with another lens one time. It was a Canon lens. As William and the Sigma guy said, it was a contact problem. After cleaning it was gone.

Julian

Thanks for all the feedback. Since cleaning the contacts on my lenses and two Rebel XT bodies I have yet to duplicate this problem. Plus I had good success with a Sigma 50mm macro in the past, too with nothing like this intermittent problem.

Using dSLR cameras since 2002 I understand things sometimes happen. On the surface it's no big deal as you just "re-boot". But once underwater I can tell you you feel like opening the housing and flooding everything just to "punish" the offending camera / lens

Thanks again......

dhaas

Never had a problem with my SIgma 15mmfe. Thankfully because some guy named Haas suggested it over the Canon version.

Nope all lenses have been good to date although my 2gb card had a CF error in the middle of a dive last trip. Had to use a recovery program to get the photos back and did.

Not sure if the fact I had just come up to 80 feet from 130 had something to do with it but it meant I could not take any more photos on the dive. Tried turning the camera off and on etc. Nothing. I actually shortened the dive because I was paranoid it could be a slight leak and wanted to get the unit out of the water.

Thankfully that has been the only issue to date.

Todd

All the positive comments regarding the Sigma 15mm FE have me feeling a bit more comfortable.....

Will keep the board informed of any further developments..

Muchas Gracias!

dhaas

Hi Dave,

You probably have a faulty contact, or the contacts need cleaning. Just my opinion.

James

Thanks for the ideas, James, but if it's a faulty contact, I haven't been able to reproduce the problem since with about 100+ clicks from the Sigma 15mm on both of my Rebel XT bodies.....

Will try switching lenses back and forth. I might send it to Sigma anyway with a bit of time between now and my next trip.

One other UW shooter friend mentioned the high humidity off Queensland this time of year and back deck air could've been just a moisture problem, too.

Thanks to all,

dhaas

Dhaas said

One other UW shooter friend mentioned the high humidity off Queensland this time of year and back deck air could've been just a moisture problem, too.

Thanks to all,

dhaas

Thats exactly it...i always have problems when putting my external flash onto the camera for topside stuff. Quick alcohol scrub on the contacts usually fixes it right up.

One thing i would suggest to you all for trips to the tropics.

Get several large dessicant packs and leave them in your camera bag. Good way to fight the humidity and AC or lack thereof