R7 Autofocus with Sigma/Tamron 150-600/60-600

Morning Everyone. I was just watching Duade's video on the R7 with Sigma 150-600 "C". He mentioned that Sigma have come out and said that this lens is not compatible with the R7 (and I assume other RF mount cameras) and it's animal eye AF. Duade seems to have some hunting/pulsing issues in this video. I was just wondering if anyone else who uses the Tamron/Sigma 150-600 (G2, C or Sport) or the 60-600 Sport could share their experiences of this lens and if you have these autofocus issues?

Cheers

I actually finally made an account just to answer this since I think I can be of help.

I'll start by saying that coming from a 7D2, I get far better results from my Sigma 150-600 C on my R7, than I ever did with the 7D2. The added stability from the IBIS and superior AF have transformed the lens from something I sorta regretted buying, to suddenly being my primary glass.

That being said, yes, I have the exact same issues Duade talked about. Just like he said, it feels completely random, and it's more common the closer the subject is. My solution is the same as his as well: take a long burst and a couple shots should hopefully be in focus.

My verdict is this: if you already own the 150-600, I don't think the problem is bad enough to be worth the hassle or expense of replacing the lens for the R7, but if you're thinking of buying a 150-600, it's probably better to just buy a Canon lens. For what it's worth, I also have the Sigma 100-400 C, and ive never seen it exhibit this problem on my R7.

Thebullfrog said:

I actually finally made an account just to answer this since I think I can be of help.

I'll start by saying that coming from a 7D2, I get far better results from my Sigma 150-600 C on my R7, than I ever did with the 7D2. The added stability from the IBIS and superior AF have transformed the lens from something I sorta regretted buying, to suddenly being my primary glass.

That being said, yes, I have the exact same issues Duade talked about. Just like he said, it feels completely random, and it's more common the closer the subject is. My solution is the same as his as well: take a long burst and a couple shots should hopefully be in focus.

My verdict is this: if you already own the 150-600, I don't think the problem is bad enough to be worth the hassle or expense of replacing the lens for the R7, but if you're thinking of buying a 150-600, it's probably better to just buy a Canon lens. For what it's worth, I also have the Sigma 100-400 C, and ive never seen it exhibit this problem on my R7.

Click to expand...

i have sigma 100-400 C as well. glad to hear its working well with R7

Thebullfrog said:

I actually finally made an account just to answer this since I think I can be of help.

I'll start by saying that coming from a 7D2, I get far better results from my Sigma 150-600 C on my R7, than I ever did with the 7D2. The added stability from the IBIS and superior AF have transformed the lens from something I sorta regretted buying, to suddenly being my primary glass.

That being said, yes, I have the exact same issues Duade talked about. Just like he said, it feels completely random, and it's more common the closer the subject is. My solution is the same as his as well: take a long burst and a couple shots should hopefully be in focus.

My verdict is this: if you already own the 150-600, I don't think the problem is bad enough to be worth the hassle or expense of replacing the lens for the R7, but if you're thinking of buying a 150-600, it's probably better to just buy a Canon lens. For what it's worth, I also have the Sigma 100-400 C, and ive never seen it exhibit this problem on my R7.

Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to make an account just for this !

Good to hear that over a burst you will get some pics and that it's mostly close up. Interesting to see it's not the case with other lenses from Sigma. I wonder if they will release a firmware update for this lens. Or some native RF mount lenses!

Fortunately I already own the 150-600 so not going out to buy it especially. Although I am probably about to get the 60-600mm as this will save me time switching lenses (but that's another story).

From my experience – it (150-600C) works like it did on 7DII. Or almost – there certainly are some missed focus shots, more than on the old camera, but nothing terrible.

Of course focus is not as fast as with Canon lenses, but it never was anyway.

As for 60-600 – I'll be able to tell once I have mine serviced…

Biertje said:

Thebullfrog said:

I actually finally made an account just to answer this since I think I can be of help.

I'll start by saying that coming from a 7D2, I get far better results from my Sigma 150-600 C on my R7, than I ever did with the 7D2. The added stability from the IBIS and superior AF have transformed the lens from something I sorta regretted buying, to suddenly being my primary glass.

That being said, yes, I have the exact same issues Duade talked about. Just like he said, it feels completely random, and it's more common the closer the subject is. My solution is the same as his as well: take a long burst and a couple shots should hopefully be in focus.

My verdict is this: if you already own the 150-600, I don't think the problem is bad enough to be worth the hassle or expense of replacing the lens for the R7, but if you're thinking of buying a 150-600, it's probably better to just buy a Canon lens. For what it's worth, I also have the Sigma 100-400 C, and ive never seen it exhibit this problem on my R7.

Click to expand...

Thanks for taking the time to make an account just for this !

Good to hear that over a burst you will get some pics and that it's mostly close up. Interesting to see it's not the case with other lenses from Sigma. I wonder if they will release a firmware update for this lens. Or some native RF mount lenses!

Fortunately I already own the 150-600 so not going out to buy it especially. Although I am probably about to get the 60-600mm as this will save me time switching lenses (but that's another story).

Click to expand...

I hung onto my Sigma 150-600 in hopes of a camera like the R7 coming along. The pulsing is disappointing but I had the same issue with my R6 and still managed lots of good photos. It would be cool if someday Sigma did come up with a firmware update to fix it but I’m guessing that would be a long way off.

Biertje said:

Morning Everyone. I was just watching Duade's video on the R7 with Sigma 150-600 "C". He mentioned that Sigma have come out and said that this lens is not compatible with the R7 (and I assume other RF mount cameras) and it's animal eye AF. Duade seems to have some hunting/pulsing issues in this video. I was just wondering if anyone else who uses the Tamron/Sigma 150-600 (G2, C or Sport) or the 60-600 Sport could share their experiences of this lens and if you have these autofocus issues?

Cheers

Click to expand...

I can't speak for the Tamron 150-600 G2, but can tell you that the Tamron 150-600mm G1 crashes the R7. I tried several ways but wound up having to take the battery out to end the "Black screen of death" in the R7. A red light also comes on but no screen whatsoever.

I have the 60-600. I didn’t try it on the R7 in my brief trial of it but I’ve used it extensively with the R5 and its performance is vastly superior to that of the Contemporary or the Tamron G2. Until they make a native RF 150-600, I think it’s the best option. I haven’t tried the 150-600 Sports, but it’s even heavier than the 60-600, and you have a shorter focal length range. I’ve heard it works well with the RF bodies.

60-600 on r5..no issues

I watched the Duade Paton video and, although technically not supported, it seems like the focus points were sticky to the eyes. Seems like it may be a little cautious on the part of Sigma, if I understand correctly. Thoughts?

In my experience, if it did find the eyes, it was a bit stickier than just general servo. But there was still plenty of pulsing and hunting.

I don't have the Sigma but I had the Tamron G2 on the R6 and the pulsing drives me nuts that I bought the 800mm f11 and never looked back. When photographing larger animals at some distance the issue is far less of a problem but for smaller birds I can actually hear my motor rapidly pulse back and forth (granted, my unit is older and has been through some water damage which makes it more audible).

whazzup said:

I watched the Duade Paton video and, although technically not supported, it seems like the focus points were sticky to the eyes. Seems like it may be a little cautious on the part of Sigma, if I understand correctly. Thoughts?

Click to expand...

The lens pulses between the instances the boxes are drawn around the eyes so the AF points are not accurate at all.

Duade didn't even notice the pulsing on the Tamron G2 because he was photographing waterbirds at a further distance, but I would suspect it is worse than on the Sigma. His main gripe at the time was that the AF points would occasionally abruptly drop out and lose focus. I believe he was on firmware 1.4 or earlier on the R6, as I downgraded from 1.5 and noticed the same problem. On 1.4 the AF was drawing larger boxes around the subject and this seems to be when pulsing is almost non-existent. It is when the AF draws boxes around the eye that it becomes a bigger issue. On 1.5 the AF tends to show small squares along a subject which some users of various lenses felt was less reliable for tracking birds in flight.

I do want to note that AF pulsing on all these lenses seems far reduced when filming video mode, but it seems like the R5/R6 uses a different AF algorithm which is slower than photo mode.