Incompatible Lenses Index

pdeley wrote: Joe, I tested a Sigma 70-300 DL macro super for a few weeks, it worked fine on my a100 and a700 and was (to my eye) optically a little better than Sony's 75-300: at least as sharp at 300 and less prone to CA. Not very practical for macro though (heavy and with an odd mechanism for enabling/disabling the macro switch). A great bargain price-wise but definitely not as sharp as the Min 300 f4 I got later on, so I didn't hang on to the Sigma DL in the end.

Well I went for it. I got one (Quantaray APO? version) off of Tech For Less via ebay for $42 shipped and I love it on my A350 so far. Auto focus hunts a little from time to time but the image quality is pretty darned good for a lens that cost me next to nothing. Sadly the weather here has been utter crap for the last four weeks so I haven't been able to get out and really give it a testing. Hopefully in the next week or so I will get a chance to use it out in bright day light and really push it as hard as I can. I do have to say I like the macro feature (auto focus works there too) as I do a lot of wild life shots and nature shots where it isn't always easy to get that close to the subject. If all goes well I will be hitting up a butterfly farm in St. Thomas in a few weeks where I can have some real fun with it. I do love to shoot photos of the butterflies down there but now I can get a lot closer without having to be close to them.
As others have mentioned the fact that the end of the barrel turns during focusing is a bit of a pain when it comes to playing with CP filter but it was easy to find a round hood for it instead of flower peddle design. That should be showing up in the mail box Monday so I can't wait to try it out.
Gotta love ebay!

Joe

Edited by joecichlid - 08 February 2010 at 03:07

I have Sigma 60-200 zoom AF-Beta lens which works good with my sony A100 camera. The lens works in AF mode and it auto focus. Serial no. is 2030354

Hello everyone,

I recently bought a sigma lens from ebay which is showing some odd behavior. I'm not sure if this related to the general sigma incompability issue, maybe someone has a clue or further knowledge which could be helpful.
That said the lens in question is a 60-200mm f4-5.6 and I am using it on SLT-a58. The lens uses a push-and-pull mechanism, filter size is 52mm and the serial numer starts with a 2. I couldn't find anything about it online.
First I thought everything was okay. The mount fitted perfectly, the zoom mechanism worked flawlessly beside the inevitable cteep. It focused fast and precisely. Then I wanted to take a picture and the finder went blank, then showed an error message, telling me to turn the camera off and then on again. So I did that with no result. Switched off, the error message remained until I took the battery out.
Now after a lot of experimentation I can now take some pictures, as long as I leave the autofocus off and the aperture above f8 or so. But obviously I can't use it for good in this limbus-like state, so any hint would be appreciated.
When I arrive at taking pictures, the results are good, but not overwhelming. Precisely sharp like seldom seen, but unbelievably pale and sort of washed out.
Thanks in advance

If you depress the aperure lever on the lens does it spring back quickly?

There may be mechanical fitment issues with the aperture lever and/or screw drive slot on old Sigmas.

Thanks to all of you for the info and advice, I really appreciate it. Even more so, as you really helped me fix it. After reading QuietOC's post I checked the lever and there was something weird about it that I had not noticed before. The lever was stuck and there seemed to be something missing or at least it looked as if something had been cut off. So I took a tiny screwdriver and softly tried to push the lever. Then I realized, there wasn't anything missing, the opposite was the case. A little piece of plastic was stuck inside right in the path of the lever. It was hardly noticeable and looked as if it had been tailor made to fit in there. I have no idea who the he'll did that and I wonder for how long it had been there, but after I removed I tested the lens and everything works just fine. Amazing :-} so thank you so much, what a nice welcome!

It seems an odd lens to choose but I have used a similar technique to close down the aperture on a lens I was using reversed. Perhaps it was to shut it down for use via an adapter without aperture control.

Whatever, I am pleased to hear all is now well - enjoy your lens and, perhaps, post a few of the results to Dyxum.

Edited by Phil Wood - 10 September 2019 at 09:49