canon 40d/sigma400mm apo lens problem

[wildmanofthewoods]

good day to all, can anyone give me some advice please i recently bought a new canon 40d camera, but i'm having a problem using my sigma 400mm apo lens with it. the problem is, it will not let me use any aperture other than f5.6. is this a fault with the camera or the lens?

[willing to learn]

I don't know a deal, but if light is bad it restricts aperture I can use in the AV mode on my cannon 400D on a 100-300mm lens

[wildmanofthewoods]

no thats not it , its not working in any light it just refuses to take a photo even in full manual. its as if the camera doesn't know how to tell the lens to change aperture. but thanks anyway.

[GerryNick2]

Just a guess, I assume you have the Sigma 400mm F5.6 APO lens, if this is the case it sounds like the camera is selecting the maximum size aperature to suite lighting conditions. Try increasing the ISO up to say 1600 ISO and see what happens.


Gerry

[wildmanofthewoods]

cheers bud, had the lens a few years used it on my eos 5, never had a problem. it should allow me to change aperture regardless of light available in manual mode.

[zan]

Sigma and other 3rd party lenses are built to be compatible with the cameras out at the time they are made. Unlike Canon\Nikon, 3rd party lenses cannot be built to be 'future-proof' against new camera models.

Chances are, your lens isn't fully compatible with the new Canon. It should be possible to get it upgraded, but you'd need to get in contact with Sigma. From what I've heard, their customer service is excellent and they should be able to sort you out.

Hope this helps!

Zan

[wildmanofthewoods]

zan your a star thats just what i'll do.... it'll probably be cheaper than a new lens.

[zan]

no problem at all Glad I was some use!

Zan

[glsammy]

I'm afraid you may not be able to get it fixed. I've read on a few web sites that Sigma no longer do the chip upgrade for this lens. The fault is exactly as you said, it will only work wide open at F5.6.
I hope I'm wrong, there's certainly no harm in asking.

[GerryNick2]

Given it is an old lense then it certainly sounds like it needs to be re-chipped. Sigma will be able to do it provided they still have a stock of chips for this particular lens. Give their service centre a call on 01707 329999, they will need to know the lens model and the serial number.

Gerry

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

yep , it needs a re-chip, I had to have a 300mm f4 done because of the same problem with a eos 30 film body.Works fine on my 40d. I think all pre EX sigmas need doing.
I've also heard that sigma had ran out of chips but I don't know how true that is. Worth calling them.

neil

[TERNAROUND]

Hi there, I think you'll find that the lens in question will only work properly on a DSLR if you set the aperture ring to f22 (spotted an advert for one recently for sale and it stated in the advert that this is what needs to be done for it to work ) worth a try don't you think ?
All the best

[Jon]

Originally Posted by wildmanofthewoods

good day to all, can anyone give me some advice please i recently bought a new canon 40d camera, but i'm having a problem using my sigma 400mm apo lens with it. the problem is, it will not let me use any aperture other than f5.6. is this a fault with the camera or the lens?

I have got this lens and I had it rechipped for my son a year or so ago, it cost £100 and it is less than satisfactory with a 300D or a 20D. Sometimes it works sometimes it doesn't.
I will have a look at some of the suggestions i.e. setting to 5.6 and a higher ISO.
It is a pity really becasue when it does work it produces really good results.
Jon

[eeyore]

ive got one of these for use on my canon film cameras - on the rare occasions that i still use them - sigma said they would rechip it for 37 notes if i could prove i bought it new (only unfortunately i didnt and thus cant) the full price to have it rechipped is prohibitively high so I didnt bother

[wildmanofthewoods]

thanks to all! really glad i asked........ i shall call sigma, but at the end of the day i can still use it & still get good results....... although depth of field is limited at f5.6. happy snappin!!!!!!

[wildlifesnapper]

I got my 300mm seconhand and it cost me £30 to have it re-chipped. It was about 7 years ago though.Sigma used to say if you had bought it new and had the receipt they would do it for free. Sounds like that didn't last long

neil

[lost in the woods]

Hi
The problem is with the lens, sigma is not licensed by canon and this is a common problem with older sigma lenses with current models you can return the lens to sigma and they will rechip it.I used to own a sigma 400 apo and had a similar problem they only independant lenses maker who is licensed is tameron
regards
Lost in the Woods

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by lost in the woods

Hi
The problem is with the lens, sigma is not licensed by canon and this is a common problem with older sigma lenses with current models you can return the lens to sigma and they will rechip it.I used to own a sigma 400 apo and had a similar problem they only independant lenses maker who is licensed is tameron
regards
Lost in the Woods

I doubt that this is entirely correct - sigma (and tokina and others) must be licenced by canon or they couldnt legally make lenses with the EF mount , and i'm sure the ensuing law suit would have made the photographic press by now.

the problem is with the lens chip but its to do with a lack of compatiblity with the DSLR firmware - these lenses work fine on the canon film bodies - also new sigma lenses (and those made since arround 2002) will work fine on the dslrs without needing to be rechipped, the problem only exists in lenses that were made before the canon dslrs were launched

[wildlifesnapper]

Originally Posted by eeyore

the problem is with the lens chip but its to do with a lack of compatiblity with the DSLR firmware - these lenses work fine on the canon film bodies - also new sigma lenses (and those made since arround 2002) will work fine on the dslrs without needing to be rechipped, the problem only exists in lenses that were made before the canon dslrs were launched

not quite true, the problem started around the time of the canon eos 30 film cameras as all pre EX sigma lenses needed re-cipping for these too. I think the eos 1v film body was another one affected.

neil

[lost in the woods]

Hi again
I ACTUALLY GOT THIS INFORMATION A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN LOOKING AT PURCHASING A PAIR OF TAMRON LENSES A COLLEGUE OF MINE USED TO WORK FOR CANON BEFORE HE LEFT TO SET UP HIS OWN BUSSINESS AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS IN THE COMPATIBILLTY DEPARTMENT BOTH EARLY TAMRON LENSES STILL WORK ON MY WIFES 350D AND MY 40D,5D,AND 1DS MK11. THE SIGMA 400 APO I BOUGHT WAS A NEWER LENS WHILE WORKING ON MY CANON 600 IT REFUSED TO WORK ON THE 50E IT MAY BE TAMRON LICENSED THE CANON SOFTWARE FOR IT'S LENSES AS WELL AS LENS MOUNT.ANY LATER EX LENSES SEEM TO HAVE NO PROBLEMS EXCEPT EARLY 105mm MACRO LENSES I HAVE A 300mm 2.8 EX LENS THAT IS GREAT EVEN WHEN USED WITH 1.4 AND 2X TELE CONVERTORS
REGARDS
LOST IN THE WOODS

[wildlifesnapper]

Hi

shhh, don't shout your hurting my eyes
neil

[eeyore]

Originally Posted by lost in the woods

Hi again
I ACTUALLY GOT THIS INFORMATION A FEW YEARS AGO WHEN LOOKING AT PURCHASING A PAIR OF TAMRON LENSES A COLLEGUE OF MINE USED TO WORK FOR CANON BEFORE HE LEFT TO SET UP HIS OWN BUSSINESS AND HE INFORMED ME THAT THERE WERE NO PROBLEMS IN THE COMPATIBILLTY DEPARTMENT BOTH EARLY TAMRON LENSES STILL WORK ON MY WIFES 350D AND MY 40D,5D,AND 1DS MK11. THE SIGMA 400 APO I BOUGHT WAS A NEWER LENS WHILE WORKING ON MY CANON 600 IT REFUSED TO WORK ON THE 50E IT MAY BE TAMRON LICENSED THE CANON SOFTWARE FOR IT'S LENSES AS WELL AS LENS MOUNT.ANY LATER EX LENSES SEEM TO HAVE NO PROBLEMS EXCEPT EARLY 105mm MACRO LENSES I HAVE A 300mm 2.8 EX LENS THAT IS GREAT EVEN WHEN USED WITH 1.4 AND 2X TELE CONVERTORS
REGARDS
LOST IN THE WOODS

no need to shout

thats all true except that its not a licencing issue - tamron lenses work on all dslrs that they fit (except the nikon d40 which doesnt support all of them , but i digress), Tokina lenses in EF fit also all work on the canon dslrs , as do cosina and a variety of other makes it is only the pre EX sigmas which have a problem

and that problem is as i said a compatibility issue between the chips in the sigma lens and the newer canon bodies - this has nothing at all to do with licencing it is just a hardware incompatibility - which is evidenced by sigma being able to rechip most of the lenses to work

[lost in the woods]

Hi back again (if you'd been lost in the woods as long as me you'd shout to)

Sorry about capitals yesterday i did'nt realize i had left them on till halfway through reply and i was to lazy to start again.I have done some further reseach we all agree it is the chip in the lens so that's the main point.Over the question of licensing Canon state they have not licensed their Electronics to any independant lens makers. but further reseach seems to point to tamron having a close working relationship with canon the only independant lens maker who has'nt had problems with canon are tamron if you seach the net photo.net,yahoo answers and a few others all seem to confirm this. The question of when sigma problems started seem to be at the time the canon eos 50e was introduced this was the for runner of the eos30 and 30e which WILD LIFE SNAPPER said he thought the problem started. Probably around 1998 all independants have backward engineered to get round licensing problems. As i said i had a Sigma 400 apo and it would not work on the 50e's i had bought it worked fine on my 650,600 and RT the later HSM version worked up to the early digital SLR'S. I believe i saw a post some where
stating Sigma no longer had any chips for the 400,500 and 800mm apo lenses.
Most Indepant lens makers seem to have sorted the problems with their current line ups
regards
Lost in the woods (now that tree looks familliar)
P.S this topic has been covered in eos magazineand amateur photography

[lost in the woods]

Please excuse spelling mistakes being lost in the woods for long periods causes this