Sigma Lens noise

[MeadsMan]

Hi,I am in the market for a new Macro lens,I was holding out for the new Sigma 150 mm,that has a version of I.S,I use a Canon SLR,all my lenses so far are almost silent when focusing due I believe to the usm motors in the lens,however I had a play with my friends Sigma 105 Macro on a Nikon body,and found it to be rather noisy.Are all sigma lenses noisy in auto focus ? Even up to there 500mm f4.5 ?

[Wizmatt]

I have the sigma 150mm non-stabilised macro and can say that the focusing on this lens is silent when focusing.

[eenymac]

If I remember correctly, the 150mm and 180mm Sigma macro lenses use HSM focusing, but the 105mm uses screw drive, hence the noisier focusing.

I have the 105mm and it's a great lens. To be honest though, for most of the time I am using it in manual focus mode anyway due to lighting and other constraints. I guess a lot depends on the subject material though and the 150mm will give a better working distance so autofocus would probably be ok.

Edit to add.... I am still hoping the updated 150mm with built in OS will be made available in Pentax fit at some point. I spent ages trying to find the 180mm but it was already dicontinued and nobody seemed to have any stock left.

[slimrbp]

Sigma has their own equivalent to Canon's USM they call it HSM.

The 105 macro doesn't have it but the 150mm OS does which would explain the noise difference.

[rogpow]

Originally Posted by MeadsMan

Are all sigma lenses noisy in auto focus ? Even up to there 500mm f4.5 ?

No, the Sigma lenses with built in HSM, including the 150mm macro and 500mm f4.5, are silent when focussing. As others have said, it's the lenses with screw drive, like the old 50mm macro which I still have, that are noisy.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by eenymac

Edit to add.... I am still hoping the updated 150mm with built in OS will be made available in Pentax fit at some point.

I thought the Pentax DSLRs had 'in body image stabilisation'. 'In lens image stabilisation' is 'legacy technology' from film days when it was the only way to do it. To ensure optimum optical performance, lens designers and manufacturers have always taken great pains in the past to securely fix lens element on a common optical axis. To 'jiggle' one or more elements out of line with servos to achieve image stabilisation flies in the face of this, and if the designers of Zeiss and Leica 'classic' lenses were alive today, they would cringe at lens based image stabilisation!

Jim

[Ukwildlifeo]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

I thought the Pentax DSLRs had 'in body image stabilisation'.

They do. But the 150mm has never been available in pentax fit with OS or not! Sigma now seem to putting os on the pentax fit lens so you have the option of in lens or in body.

[Jim Ford]

Originally Posted by Ukwildlifeo

They do. But the 150mm has never been available in pentax fit with OS or not! Sigma now seem to putting os on the pentax fit lens so you have the option of in lens or in body.

That's a pain - you pay for it, but don't need it!

Jim

[squishy]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

I thought the Pentax DSLRs had 'in body image stabilisation'. 'In lens image stabilisation' is 'legacy technology' from film days when it was the only way to do it. To ensure optimum optical performance, lens designers and manufacturers have always taken great pains in the past to securely fix lens element on a common optical axis. To 'jiggle' one or more elements out of line with servos to achieve image stabilisation flies in the face of this, and if the designers of Zeiss and Leica 'classic' lenses were alive today, they would cringe at lens based image stabilisation!

Jim

Yet it does seem to work superbly well. Latest canon/nikon IS/VR works to the advertised 4 stop capability, and I have yet to read anyone complaining about it affecting image quality. (Though some older implementations seem to have some adverse affect on sharpness (yes I did read the thread Dave )