Killed my Sigma 150mm

[Ollie]

Hi all

Just to let you know that due to an unfortunate accident at the weekend with my Sigma 150mm lens there will be no more macro shots from me with this lens for a while.

I put the tripod down with the lens attached on what I thought was a level surface (gravel car park) turned to open the car boot and heard a sickening thud. The tripod had gone over and the lens took the full brunt of it splitting the lens body where the AF/manual switch on the body is. Although the lens still worked it's all wobbly where it attaches to the camera.

It's now on it's way to Sigma UK. Spoke to them on the phone and apparently there are three internal lugs that hold the lens together and they guess one or two of them have broken. Repair will be £93:00 approx but it could have been worse as the camera came out unscathed and the damage to the lens is covered by my camera insurance.

[Jason Green]

Morning Roger,

Ouch, I felt that description! Sorry to hear that, but £93 doesn't sound too bad. Sounds as though if it had to happen, this was the least-damaging option all-round.

Have they said how long the repair will take? I hope to see your photos again soon...

Take care,

Jason

[Ollie]

Thanks Jason. Around three to four weeks which means the macro season will just about be at an end for me. I have got the Sigma 50-500mm though which is quite capable of taking excellent dragonfly images although it does struggle with anything smaller. I will soon be using the Canon 400mm f5.6L lens for the birds anyway.

Things could have been much worse. Could have damaged the camera, could have been midway through the macro season, so all in all I got away fairly lightly.

[Lancashire Lad]

Sorry to hear that Roger. Very bad luck that it had to happen on a hard surface.

I think this type of accident is probably quite common - I've also had my tripod go over, with my D80/Sigma 180 on board. Luckily, both occasions involved soft ground. The second time it happened the lens nose-dived into muddy humus, filling the hood completely. That was one occasion where I was very happy to have a UV protective filter covering the front element.

Hope Sigma manage to get it sorted out for you faster than estimated.

Regards,
Mike.

[matt_xyz]

Commiserations Roger, I think we all winced as we read your post. As you say, it could have been worse both in terms of timing and the actual damage. My experience of Sigma is that they are pretty good when it comes to repairs.

I also had a tripod topple once, when I had my 30D, 400 5.6 lens and Speedlite attached. It fell backwards, straight into one of the muddiest puddles you could ever imagine. The lens escaped entirely, but the camera and flashgun took quite a bit of cleaning Amazingly no long term damage was done.

Matt

[jerryh]

Sorry to hear that, Roger.
I've had the exact same break on a Sigma 150mm TWICE - in neither case was there was an obvious cause as you had.
I finally decided that the lens is rather weak in that area, and maybe I use it in some way that I stress it, so I've changed to a Canon macro...

Good luck with it,
Jerry

[FungiJohn]

Sorry to hear that Roger

It has certainly reminded me to look at my camera insurance again!

Hope you are soon re-united with your Sigma!

John

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by matt_xyz

Commiserations Roger, I think we all winced as we read your post. As you say, it could have been worse both in terms of timing and the actual damage. My experience of Sigma is that they are pretty good when it comes to repairs.

I also had a tripod topple once, when I had my 30D, 400 5.6 lens and Speedlite attached. It fell backwards, straight into one of the muddiest puddles you could ever imagine. The lens escaped entirely, but the camera and flashgun took quite a bit of cleaning Amazingly no long term damage was done.

Matt

I remember that Matt. I think it was the last time we met at Priory.

Sorry to hear of your accident Roger. I hope you get it back soon.

[pressld2]

Like everyone else I winced when I read your post Roger. I hope it's back with you, good as new, very quickly.

I've had a tripod topple a couple of times. The first was in snowdonia back in the days of film and my Nikon FM took a bash which left it difficult to open but no other damage. The last time was with my D70 with 80-400 zoom attached. fortunately that time it fell into long grass which cushioned it and no damage was done.

Dave P.

[DavyG]

Sorry to hear about your lens Roger, I hope you get it fixed soon.

It has made me realise that I should look into camera insurance, who do you currently use?

Dave