little bigma

[geordie1970]

Hi I've just recieved my little bigma from ebay and was wondering is this lens supposed to have a detachable lens hood

[fishingdobbie]

All lenses come with a hood when new, if the seller described the lens as having one included, or if it was in the photo, you should have recieved it. I got my biggma off ebay and it included the hood. Check out the price to replace it here
Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd Bert

[geordie1970]

Thanks for the reply Bert (I was beginning to feel like a leper) contacted the seller and asked for £30 back and lo and behold the hoods been shipped ndd. Having said that I feel a bit of a twit for posting this in the first place bit of a green mist this morning

[eeyore]

technically that ought to have been £20 back as you have a little bigma rather than a bigma - but that is still well expensive.

my lens hood has been broken twice once by a cricket ball and once by an over freindly leopard and both times i have purchased a replacement lens hood for 7.99 from jessops

still you are right to insist that itcomes withone - i just wanted to point that out in case you break yours at a later date

[geordie1970]

Thanks Eeyore the only one I could find was 19.99 plus p&p from sigma but it's handy to know I can get one cheaper if the need arises.

[geordie1970]

Returned the little bigma yesterday a lot of hassle with the hood they sent one out which fit my 70-300 it also appeared to be the older d model and looked a bit rough. So Iam now without a long lense and Iam so tempted to order the bigma from ur galaxy but worried about the possible and knowing my luck inevitable tax bill any one had any experiences with them .
P.s found an active Badgers sett this morning

[glsammy]

Originally Posted by geordie1970

Returned the little bigma yesterday a lot of hassle with the hood they sent one out which fit my 70-300 it also appeared to be the older d model and looked a bit rough. So Iam now without a long lense and Iam so tempted to order the bigma from ur galaxy but worried about the possible and knowing my luck inevitable tax bill any one had any experiences with them .
P.s found an active Badgers sett this morning

The only problem with the likes of UrGalaxy is as you say they will avoid the tax, which is fine for you, until something goes wrong. Sigma insist on seeing proof of import duties paid, before they'll repair an imported lens.
I bought my Bigma from Digital Rev, through Ebay. I saved a lot of money, plus THEY paid the import duties, with full invoiced documentation, that was happily accepted by Sigma when my lens had to go back for repair.
You have to make sure you buy one of their guaranteed no further charges sales, they're not all done in that way. You still have to pay the import duty, but all you do is email then a copy of the bill and they refund immediately. I've used them twice now and it worked perfectly on both occasions.

[matt_xyz]

I echo Graham's comments. URGalaxy are great unless you want a warranty. Most of their lenses do not come with international warranties, not least because (a) they won't give you an invoice and (b) you will not have paid appropriate import duties.

So, it's a gamble. You might save £100+ on the lens but you'll get stung if you need it repairing during the first year.

Matt

[eeyore]

ebay is worth a look too

[geordie1970]

Thanks for the replys I have looked at ebay. I would prefer to pay the import duty and claim it back to keep the warranty valid.Failing that I may have to go to the states for a holiday and get one

[eeyore]

if you can afford it my advice would be to go with the bigma 50-500 rather than the little bigma 170-500 , i actually have a little bigma but i have now come round to thinking that the bigma is the better lens (principally because LBs focussing is noisy and not that accurate where as bigma has the HSM focussing module)

[geordie1970]

Thanks Eeyore I have decided to go for the Bigma

[geordie1970]

Finally got the Bigma ex rf apo but ever since the weathers been terrible looks like brightening up for the weekend but Iam not too sure about using the lense on a Benbo trekker. Iam not con vinced it's up to the job has anyone used this combination with good results.The only other option I have is the ergo rest with a 460 head which seems pretty stable. I saved a few quid by using ebay

[richardkm]

I have the Uniloc version and use my Canon 100-400 IS USM regularly on it with good results.