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Is it a toy? Or is it a tool?

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Paulo Ferreira

Paulo Ferreira

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I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment with my Sigma choice. And I explain:

Before I bought my SD9 I read all the information availabale on this site and arrived to the conclusion that there were only 2 cameras that could suit my expectations in terms of image quality... the SD9 and the 1Ds. As I could afford the first one and had to dream a bit for the second I opted to purchase the SD9 and by doing that I chucked away my Minolta 9xi plus a decent set of primes.

The Minolta is (was) such a good camera with professional touch and so consistent at all times with good glass and good primes (I even used a Sigma 28/105 with it with no problems at all) that when I first picked up my plasticky SD9 I felt a bit... horrified! However after a couple of sessions I arrived to the conclusion that the change to digital was worthy and the choice of the SD9 was the right one. I never minded some of its ideosynchrasies like some power cuts or failed files because they were sparse but I would have had not such a forgiving touch if these "minor hicups" would have happened with a Minolta (a top of the range one like the 9xi was or the 9000 which I owned...) But has this is Sigma I am prepared to give them a bit of lee way.

After a while I begun to get softer pictures with dark histograms and when I put my doubts in this forum some "fundamentalists" said that this could only be operator error. It now appears that my lens has a damaged iris (never comes back to full aperture which also affects the focus system) and is now being replaced. I only noticed it when I bought the 70-300 which is not even an EX and I got sharp images immediately. As I do not have my 28/105 I decided to buy a 28mm 1.8 EX as it is much to my style of lens as I used 50mm with my Minolta quite often). Got it Tuesday, had a bit of loose sound inside and God it was difficult to get a focused image with it. Today I noticed that the iris is always at full aperture and I am now getting overex all over and will replace it in the next few days. I was going to post some images of it with the tiltle "guess where it made the focus point and where I focused it" but I think it is not worth it. And now I am stuck for Xmas with some weddings coming immediatley after New Year and where am I going to get a short lens to work with?

I would have considered these contretemps unforgivable if the material was branded Minolta! And begining to consider these also unforgivable too. I cannot conceive being in a football pitch or at the races and suddenly having a "power blackout" or a "soft focus problem" or a "misreading of the power level" or "TTL is weak" etc. I need to have reliable, and I mean 100% reliable, equipment because this is a tool and not a toy. This is not something I purchased to play around. I did so to have the extra peace of mind over film that I was getting the right picture immediately. Now I think I got it and when I get home I notice that it was focused at the to corner of the frame when the SD9 beeped to me friendly "I got it, mate, right in the middle, I think...". So I am loosing confidence in my camera which is not good as it is not good when a trapezist does not trust his partner to hold him because it reflects on his performance and understandably so! So my stance is... until when are we having 2 measures and 2 rules? Should all the "faults" reported be forgiven? Should Sigma say "sometimes this happens with our equipment, beware!"?

I was planning a trip to Argentina and Patagonia by the end of February and I am really not convinced that I will take an SD9 to such harsh environment. I now think I should have asked for funds and bought a 1Ds. Even if the pictures look worse most of the time...
--
Paulo Ferreira

Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 - AF 28mm f1.8 EX DG Macro - AF 70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
 
I think you are right, considering the other problems people had I begin to wonder where all those bad Lenses come from and if I am the next victim of that. Strange enough some people just seem to have lot of luck (by always getting Lenses that work) and others lots of bad luck (by mostly getting defective lenses).

I think Sigma really needs to check some of their internal routines concerning Quality control after reading more and more often about Lens issues like yours.

Concerning your question if it is toy or tool, here is something to put that into a better perspective.

That you never experienced that with another brand was maybe the same luck other people here have now.

Have a look around in the other Forums on how many people return pro level Lenses there because they are bad. There are postings about returning Lens ... x times.

You can find more on that here (although I am sure this rather negative reference to Nikon is not really fair, all seem to have this kind of problem)

http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1027&message=6629526

Paulo Ferreira said:
2) the fact that according to IR not all Sigma lenses are created
equal. I would not have the time or patience for that nonsense.
Nikon has never let me down (once they actually release a product
and I can get ahold of one).
Click to expand...
That's interesting. I've been dealing with Nikon lenses for decades, and have never experienced the consistency that you talk about. Look at all the complaints about skewed elements (onse side of the image out of focus) in the new 24-120 AF-S VR, or the complaints of focus problems on the 70-200mm f2.8 AF-S VR, an $1800 lens.

Also reports of sample variation in the 50mm f1.8, 85mm f1.8, and several other common lenses.
[ quote]

I am convinced by now that Sigma is a bit worser in that respect, but it seems that they are not that much worser than other Companies...

Finally, since I was one of the fundamentalists making it an operator error: you did not tell us about the dark pictures / histogram and you said that the very same Lens works fine when the Camera is on a tripod. The first one is an indication that the Lens is stopped down more than it should be, the second one suggests that the Lens is ok, because why should a Lens work ok when used on a tripod and not work when used handheld....

--
Dominic

'Old Europe', Word of the year 2003!

http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/dominic_gross_sd10
Click to expand...
 
If the answer is yes then it is a Tool

If the answer is no then it is a Toy!

No "enthusiast" has to have a camera, it doesn't help you put food on the
table nor does it keep a roof over your head. If however being a photographer
does the above and the equipment you use is not up to the challenge
then it's time to move on to another brand.

I feel that all companies make defective products. Sigma is not the exception
and they are not the rule either. If you extensively read the Canon forums
then you would think all Canon's focus poorly. If you read the Nikon forums
you would beleive that the D100's all have sharpness and color issues. If
you read the Sigma forums then you would think, ohh nevermind you DO
read the Sigma forums :)

But you get my point I am sure!
 
Paulo Ferreira said:
I was planning a trip to Argentina and Patagonia by the end of
February and I am really not convinced that I will take an SD9 to
such harsh environment. I now think I should have asked for funds
and bought a 1Ds. Even if the pictures look worse most of the
time...
Click to expand...
Since the previous was only about defective Lenses. I took the Camera and a whole bunch of Lenses with me backpacking in Australia. Also to some Rock Concerts and mountainbiking in rainy weather and nothing happened. Here is a picture of that day from top of the mountain ;)
http://mitglied.lycos.de/domstestnews/IMG04329.jpg

Used the Camera without much protection in that envirnoment (because I was completly unprepared for that much rain...)

Does that sound harsh enough?

The only problem I had with harsh souroundings was a stuck (frozen?) iris of a 24-70 f3.5-5.6 on a SA300 in Canada at about -20° C (or lower). After some minutes in a warm room it was back working...

Build quality of non-ex seems considerably lower than EX so as a pro who demands smooth operation you probably should not buy anything but EX...

--
Dominic

'Old Europe', Word of the year 2003!

http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/dominic_gross_sd10
 
Hi Paulo.....I had made up my mind to buy the SD10, until I read your post and which made me reflect on other posts I have read in the past...it's hard for me to believe that all the difficulties encountered are the fault of the operator and none are camera related..... .I do like the idea of having a DSLR with a Foveon sensor,however I have put my decision on hold until after The PMA show in February....hoping for something new to consider....maybe hoping for something new from Foveon is asking for too much.....Thank you for the post....Frank
Paulo Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Before I bought my SD9 I read all the information availabale on
this site and arrived to the conclusion that there were only 2
cameras that could suit my expectations in terms of image
quality... the SD9 and the 1Ds. As I could afford the first one and
had to dream a bit for the second I opted to purchase the SD9 and
by doing that I chucked away my Minolta 9xi plus a decent set of
primes.
The Minolta is (was) such a good camera with professional touch
and so consistent at all times with good glass and good primes (I
even used a Sigma 28/105 with it with no problems at all) that when
I first picked up my plasticky SD9 I felt a bit... horrified!
However after a couple of sessions I arrived to the conclusion that
the change to digital was worthy and the choice of the SD9 was the
right one. I never minded some of its ideosynchrasies like some
power cuts or failed files because they were sparse but I would
have had not such a forgiving touch if these "minor hicups" would
have happened with a Minolta (a top of the range one like the 9xi
was or the 9000 which I owned...) But has this is Sigma I am
prepared to give them a bit of lee way.
After a while I begun to get softer pictures with dark histograms
and when I put my doubts in this forum some "fundamentalists" said
that this could only be operator error. It now appears that my lens
has a damaged iris (never comes back to full aperture which also
affects the focus system) and is now being replaced. I only noticed
it when I bought the 70-300 which is not even an EX and I got sharp
images immediately. As I do not have my 28/105 I decided to buy a
28mm 1.8 EX as it is much to my style of lens as I used 50mm with
my Minolta quite often). Got it Tuesday, had a bit of loose sound
inside and God it was difficult to get a focused image with it.
Today I noticed that the iris is always at full aperture and I am
now getting overex all over and will replace it in the next few
days. I was going to post some images of it with the tiltle "guess
where it made the focus point and where I focused it" but I think
it is not worth it. And now I am stuck for Xmas with some weddings
coming immediatley after New Year and where am I going to get a
short lens to work with?
I would have considered these contretemps unforgivable if the
material was branded Minolta! And begining to consider these also
unforgivable too. I cannot conceive being in a football pitch or at
the races and suddenly having a "power blackout" or a "soft focus
problem" or a "misreading of the power level" or "TTL is weak" etc.
I need to have reliable, and I mean 100% reliable, equipment
because this is a tool and not a toy. This is not something I
purchased to play around. I did so to have the extra peace of mind
over film that I was getting the right picture immediately. Now I
think I got it and when I get home I notice that it was focused at
the to corner of the frame when the SD9 beeped to me friendly "I
got it, mate, right in the middle, I think...". So I am loosing
confidence in my camera which is not good as it is not good when a
trapezist does not trust his partner to hold him because it
reflects on his performance and understandably so! So my stance
is... until when are we having 2 measures and 2 rules? Should all
the "faults" reported be forgiven? Should Sigma say "sometimes this
happens with our equipment, beware!"?
I was planning a trip to Argentina and Patagonia by the end of
February and I am really not convinced that I will take an SD9 to
such harsh environment. I now think I should have asked for funds
and bought a 1Ds. Even if the pictures look worse most of the
time...
--
Paulo Ferreira
Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 - AF 28mm f1.8 EX DG Macro - AF
70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
Click to expand...
 
Frank,

If one post is enough to sway your decision then you must have not been
very confident in the purchase to begin with. I remember some years ago
I was a young lad of maybe 12 or so. I was out Christmas shopping with my
parents and my Mother had always wanted a Piano or Organ and she had
stopped on so many occasions to peruse the music store.

The salesman came out and talked with us for some time about the organ
technology and how you could get true baby grand sound from a much
more compact size and all of the sound features the Organ had over the
Piano. After all that time he spent showing us those Organs she opted to
not commit to anything at that time. To this day the salesman said a line
I will never forget, "If you don't buy one now you'll never own one!".

I thought it was fairly rude but he had a point and within a week she did
own one. I have been looking at D-SLR's for a couple years now and just
began seriously looking after my P&S got me back into the joys of photography.

So for the past couple of months I have been beating my head against the
wall looking for the "perfect" D-SLR and then I had a revelation of sorts.
I came to the conclusion that there is no perfect D-SLR and there never
will be. The longer I wait the more moments I will miss out on. So I used
my eye and I picked the camera that my eye said produced the most film
like images I have seen yet out of a digital camera. And here I sit with my
SD10 in front of me, knowing it has quirks but still very happy in my informed
choice that I made.

The End :)
 
Amen.
Brett DiMichele said:
Frank,

If one post is enough to sway your decision then you must have not
been
very confident in the purchase to begin with. I remember some years
ago
I was a young lad of maybe 12 or so. I was out Christmas shopping
with my
parents and my Mother had always wanted a Piano or Organ and she had
stopped on so many occasions to peruse the music store.

The salesman came out and talked with us for some time about the organ
technology and how you could get true baby grand sound from a much
more compact size and all of the sound features the Organ had over the
Piano. After all that time he spent showing us those Organs she
opted to
not commit to anything at that time. To this day the salesman said
a line
I will never forget, "If you don't buy one now you'll never own one!".

I thought it was fairly rude but he had a point and within a week
she did
own one. I have been looking at D-SLR's for a couple years now and
just
began seriously looking after my P&S got me back into the joys of
photography.

So for the past couple of months I have been beating my head
against the
wall looking for the "perfect" D-SLR and then I had a revelation of
sorts.
I came to the conclusion that there is no perfect D-SLR and there
never
will be. The longer I wait the more moments I will miss out on. So
I used
my eye and I picked the camera that my eye said produced the most film
like images I have seen yet out of a digital camera. And here I sit
with my
SD10 in front of me, knowing it has quirks but still very happy in
my informed
choice that I made.

The End :)
Click to expand...
--
Sigma SD10: the official camera of my baby boy.

http://www.pbase.com/chunsum
http://www.chunsum.com
 
Paulo,

Don't see this as a claim that your problem is not real, but something is still not right in your description, just realized that after thinking about it the second time.

First of all if there is a Lens problem, such as the iris problem you described the CR123a battery indicator starts to blink (I could reproduce this when preventing the iris from working).

Second if the Lens does not come back to full aperture and the camera does not realize that it meters through the stopped down Lens as being full aperture, stopping down further should therefore over and not underexpose. Lets assume you are at 105mm the Camera should meter with the lens wide open (f4) but lets assume yours is stuck at f8 and the Camera now meters not realizing (therefore no blinking) that what it reads is f4. Lets say it would meter 1/250 at f4 but now meters 1/60 (because of the f8) you set it to f5.6 now. That should be 1/125 (1/250 - 1 f-stop) in reality but here goes the Camera (1/60 - 1 f-stop) with 1/30 ... that should be over and not underexposed. Or is it just too late here and I am screwing things up?

Third, not going back to full aperture does not affect focus accuracy (maybe it hunts longer due to the lack of light) and certainly not in the way your sample showed. This sample btw. had a real lack of DOF and looked acutally like the f4.5 you mentioned in that posting and therefore close to full aperture of that lens at that length. Also how could that lack of DOF happen with the Lens stopped down so far that AF stops working?
Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Before I bought my SD9 I read all the information availabale on
this site and arrived to the conclusion that there were only 2
cameras that could suit my expectations in terms of image
quality... the SD9 and the 1Ds. As I could afford the first one and
had to dream a bit for the second I opted to purchase the SD9 and
by doing that I chucked away my Minolta 9xi plus a decent set of
primes.
The Minolta is (was) such a good camera with professional touch
and so consistent at all times with good glass and good primes (I
even used a Sigma 28/105 with it with no problems at all) that when
I first picked up my plasticky SD9 I felt a bit... horrified!
However after a couple of sessions I arrived to the conclusion that
the change to digital was worthy and the choice of the SD9 was the
right one. I never minded some of its ideosynchrasies like some
power cuts or failed files because they were sparse but I would
have had not such a forgiving touch if these "minor hicups" would
have happened with a Minolta (a top of the range one like the 9xi
was or the 9000 which I owned...) But has this is Sigma I am
prepared to give them a bit of lee way.
After a while I begun to get softer pictures with dark histograms
and when I put my doubts in this forum some "fundamentalists" said
that this could only be operator error. It now appears that my lens
has a damaged iris (never comes back to full aperture which also
affects the focus system) and is now being replaced. I only noticed
it when I bought the 70-300 which is not even an EX and I got sharp
images immediately. As I do not have my 28/105 I decided to buy a
28mm 1.8 EX as it is much to my style of lens as I used 50mm with
my Minolta quite often). Got it Tuesday, had a bit of loose sound
inside and God it was difficult to get a focused image with it.
Today I noticed that the iris is always at full aperture and I am
now getting overex all over and will replace it in the next few
days. I was going to post some images of it with the tiltle "guess
where it made the focus point and where I focused it" but I think
it is not worth it. And now I am stuck for Xmas with some weddings
coming immediatley after New Year and where am I going to get a
short lens to work with?
I would have considered these contretemps unforgivable if the
material was branded Minolta! And begining to consider these also
unforgivable too. I cannot conceive being in a football pitch or at
the races and suddenly having a "power blackout" or a "soft focus
problem" or a "misreading of the power level" or "TTL is weak" etc.
I need to have reliable, and I mean 100% reliable, equipment
because this is a tool and not a toy. This is not something I
purchased to play around. I did so to have the extra peace of mind
over film that I was getting the right picture immediately. Now I
think I got it and when I get home I notice that it was focused at
the to corner of the frame when the SD9 beeped to me friendly "I
got it, mate, right in the middle, I think...". So I am loosing
confidence in my camera which is not good as it is not good when a
trapezist does not trust his partner to hold him because it
reflects on his performance and understandably so! So my stance
is... until when are we having 2 measures and 2 rules? Should all
the "faults" reported be forgiven? Should Sigma say "sometimes this
happens with our equipment, beware!"?
I was planning a trip to Argentina and Patagonia by the end of
February and I am really not convinced that I will take an SD9 to
such harsh environment. I now think I should have asked for funds
and bought a 1Ds. Even if the pictures look worse most of the
time...
--
Paulo Ferreira
Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 - AF 28mm f1.8 EX DG Macro - AF
70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
Click to expand...
--
Dominic

'Old Europe', Word of the year 2003!

http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/dominic_gross_sd10
 
Brett....please read the entire first line of my post ...I did mention other posts I had read in the past...I guess Paulo's was the clincher...Frank
Brett DiMichele said:
Frank,

If one post is enough to sway your decision then you must have not
been
very confident in the purchase to begin with. I remember some years
ago
I was a young lad of maybe 12 or so. I was out Christmas shopping
with my
parents and my Mother had always wanted a Piano or Organ and she had
stopped on so many occasions to peruse the music store.

The salesman came out and talked with us for some time about the organ
technology and how you could get true baby grand sound from a much
more compact size and all of the sound features the Organ had over the
Piano. After all that time he spent showing us those Organs she
opted to
not commit to anything at that time. To this day the salesman said
a line
I will never forget, "If you don't buy one now you'll never own one!".

I thought it was fairly rude but he had a point and within a week
she did
own one. I have been looking at D-SLR's for a couple years now and
just
began seriously looking after my P&S got me back into the joys of
photography.

So for the past couple of months I have been beating my head
against the
wall looking for the "perfect" D-SLR and then I had a revelation of
sorts.
I came to the conclusion that there is no perfect D-SLR and there
never
will be. The longer I wait the more moments I will miss out on. So
I used
my eye and I picked the camera that my eye said produced the most film
like images I have seen yet out of a digital camera. And here I sit
with my
SD10 in front of me, knowing it has quirks but still very happy in
my informed
choice that I made.

The End :)
Click to expand...
 
Sorry about your lens, just a couple of thoughts...

I think happiness with the SD9/10 is directly proportional to the number of digital cameras one has owned and sold in their quest for quality digital. Personally, I've lost count.

Also, have you consdered buying 10 SD9's?
 
Paulo Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Click to expand...
My background is lots of tradational film (nikon glass fi body, pentax k100, cannon ae1) till i bought a kodak dc120, oly e100rs, nikon 4500 because they all fit my toy needs better than the film stuff. I also worked in computers for 20+years before i retired. Maybe the computers warped my idea of things but every 18 mo in computers everything becomes obsolete. To some extent the same is true for digital cameras. Note the drop in SD9 prices to a level that i can justify buying one, and all because sigma brought the SD10. I read the kodak, oly, and nikon forums and all those brands have gripes about how those brands have problems. There are also plenty of guys claiming brand x is the only camera u should buy.

The plain fact of the matter is they are all toys, even if u earn 100% of ur income from using one. By the same token they are all tools and have differnet uses. My e100 has advantages over any camera i have ever used for fast action shots. The 10x zoom, IS and 16 frames/sec allows me to take pix almost all other camera would miss. The nikon does super macro work. The kodak is OLD, but my Mom can use it for her needs which are different and less demanding than mine. And the ease of all three compared to film means I have not been in a dark room in years. Different tools have different uses and sometimes only a screwdriver, and not a hammer will do.

I still plan to buy an SD9 after Christmas when I expect the prices to drop even more because it can do different things better than any of the camers I now have, but I also expect in 18 mos or so I will want another brand x camera that will be able to do different thing better than any camera I own.

I hope this helps u realize that a Sigma is a good tool to have in your tool box, but it will not do everything.

The one who wins is the one who dies with the most toys.
 
Want perfect lenses every time? Buy Zeiss for Hassy, where every Zeiss lens is hand inspected and tested to spec before it leaves the factory. No statistical sampling need apply. Every single lens gets tested. The downside? Well, you pay 1100 retail for a Mamiya 35mm 645 lens. The 35mm Zeiss lens for Hassy runs 4000 dollars. For me, I prefer to bank the extra 3 grand and rely on a return policy. Some may feel differently.
 
Paulo Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Click to expand...
Paulo Ferreira said:
I was planning a trip to Argentina and Patagonia by the end of
February and I am really not convinced that I will take an SD9 to
such harsh environment. I now think I should have asked for funds
and bought a 1Ds. Even if the pictures look worse most of the
time...
Click to expand...
I'm sorry to hear you've had bad luck with lenses - I myself have had pretty good luck, both the 105mm and 15-30mm EX lenses seemed just fine when I got them. My 70-300 has a bit of a loose focus and I need to send that back at some point.

However, I wanted to note that there is a difference between durability (what you seem to be most worried about) vs. build quality. It might be that even though your lenses had problems to start with, that once they are fixed they will stay that way. My SD9 has held up very well against a number of different environments, such as deep cold (here in Colorado) and humidity/rain (in Hawaii - I actually was using the camera during some rain, covering it up again ASAP). So I would not despair so easily.

--
---> Kendall
http://www.pbase.com/kgelner
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/user_home
 
Thanks all for your comments because they are very very enlightening. Please don't take my thread as a "Don't buy it!" but just as a "Get it sorted!".

You have to understand that Sigma does lenses for Canon, Nikon Pentax and Minolta and is always to try to find a niche in the market either competing in price like the 2.8 long zooms and lenses or by using "expert" lenses like the short macro primes. But... they decided to build cameras too and with that comes a responsibility that they have forgotten. How difficult is it for them to build a 50mm 1.8? peanuts and they could sell it for peanuts too. If brands like Centon can do it why can't they? And in this I feel a bit of disloyalty towards the people that decided to take the plunge and buy one of their cameras. I can understand that they have to please Canon owners and Nikon and the rest but I wonder are the lenses they sell for them more reliable than the Sigmas AF mount? Are you getting the rejects/refurbishments from the other brands? I would love to get into some internal company statistics just for peace of mind.

You all have to undersatnd that this is photography. If you get it wrong on a wedding or sports or "decisive moment" you will never see it again! It is not the same when you decide to have a Black & Decker drill instead of a deWelte to make you weekend DIY job although the second would be more comfortable and cost 3 times more. If you do it wrong I can always try again even if you can blame it on the equipment. You can buy a hammer in Toys'r'Us and make a beautiful wooden cabinet with it if only if you are very lucky. In photography I would like to leave the luck factor on the image to be taken not on the equipment that is taking it. I love my SD9 and some of the images it took are the best I have ever made. It is a pity that it made some of the worst and I caanot claim it as my responsibility.

Anyway my dealer in the UK, UKDigital Cameras and Andrew (which are excellent by the way and very very helpful) are trying to sort me something in the next 2 days before Xmas. All is not lost but I will need a lot of work and faith to restore my trust on my Sigma equipment. Maybe some good photos tomorrow with my 70-300 will do the job.
Thanks for your patience.
Regards

Paulo Ferreira

Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 (to be switched) - AF 28mm f1.8 EX (to be switched) DG Macro - AF 70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
 
Paulo Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Before I bought my SD9 I read all the information availabale on
this site and arrived to the conclusion that there were only 2
cameras that could suit my expectations in terms of image
quality... the SD9 and the 1Ds.
Click to expand...
Aside from your absurd conclusion that the SD9 and the 1Ds are the only viable options, you apparently didn't read the mixed reports of SD-9 build quality and apparently haven't seen Sigma's spotty quality reputation for lenses.

--
BJN
 
As you highlighted it is all explained in the text below but I will develop. I have no problems at all with my SD9. Only!!! 2 out of my 3 lenses seem not to work very well lately. It does not mean that this will not be resolved. I did not buy any other digital camera because Frankenstein by Frankenstein I prefer the one that has a defined sensor technology like Foveon and presents wonderful results (lens permitting!). I could have bought a 10D which is a glorified P&S but I always disliked (read hated) Canon and their lenses. That is definetely a toy and an expensive one! I also looked at the S2 but it had nothing new to show of neither the D100. As a Minolta owner at the time I could not surpass the psychological barrier to get Canon. So in the end as a choice to replace my 10 year old 9xi for another DSLR of the same spec and degree of working confidence was leading to the 1Ds or getting the same for 5 times less the price ie the SD9. I had Sigma lenses before with my Minolta (I replaced one by the way) and had very good results with it.

So I gave it a try and enjoyed it very much until some teething problems arrived. To date there is no data available of how wrong things go with Sigma or other brands but apparently with this thread some people seem to be simpathetic with my predicament and have similar problems.

But I find it hard to swallow that a company like Sigma that sells maybe as many cameras as Leica does (so maybe each of their employees makes 10 cameras and 50 lenses per month!!) and they cannot have a sense of pride of putting sound material for sale even if made of plastic instead of gold platted. That's all.

Maybe when Minolta comes out with a DSLR I would consider going back to it but something spoiled the party... the Foveon sensor.

So for the time the only thing I can do is get my lenses sorted and pray they keep that way.
Regards
BJN said:
Paulo Ferreira said:
I am posting this because I feel a growing sense of disappointment
with my Sigma choice. And I explain:
Before I bought my SD9 I read all the information availabale on
this site and arrived to the conclusion that there were only 2
cameras that could suit my expectations in terms of image
quality... the SD9 and the 1Ds.
Click to expand...
Aside from your absurd conclusion that the SD9 and the 1Ds are the
only viable options, you apparently didn't read the mixed reports
of SD-9 build quality and apparently haven't seen Sigma's spotty
quality reputation for lenses.

--
BJN
Click to expand...
--
Paulo Ferreira

Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 - AF 28mm f1.8 EX DG Macro - AF 70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
 
Hi Dominic,
Sorry for my late reply.
Dominic Groß said:
First of all if there is a Lens problem, such as the iris problem
you described the CR123a battery indicator starts to blink (I could
reproduce this when preventing the iris from working).
Click to expand...
There is no blinking at all

I noticed I was getting something wrong with my 28/105 around 3 weeks ago (weather has been very grey up here) when looking at the viewfinder I could see changes of light intensity in it ie when focusing the iris was opening and closing. Let us assume that the metering was 1/125 f5.6 on the camera display... If I put the power off on starting it again the viewfinder would be slightly dark and then would lighten up ie going from 5.6 to 2.8. This problem got worse and there were times in the end when I took shots at f11 and the iris stayed that way even after powering off and restarting, not moving at all. Than at random I could start shooting again but if I had shot lately at f4 I could hardly tell if this was or not the full aperture as displayed by the meter. The DOF button was not having any effect whatsoever in the lens.

With my recently purchased 28mm EX it happens the opposite. It started when I noticed that one image was quite overex (red all over) and let us assume that I used something like 1/125 f5.6. I then swapped to 1/30 f11 and it was even more overex. This started happening gradually to a point that the only way I can get a well exposed picture now is by using the DOF button (to close the iris) and after releasing it take the picture immediatly which is far from ideal.

I think this is a genuine problem unless my SD9 is "burning" the irises of my lenses but I can only get into that conclusion if and when my 70/300 collapses. To that date I will have to assume that my lenses are underpeforming.
Dominic Groß said:
Second if the Lens does not come back to full aperture and the
camera does not realize that it meters through the stopped down
Lens as being full aperture, stopping down further should therefore
over and not underexpose. Lets assume you are at 105mm the Camera
should meter with the lens wide open (f4) but lets assume yours is
stuck at f8 and the Camera now meters not realizing (therefore no
blinking) that what it reads is f4. Lets say it would meter 1/250
at f4 but now meters 1/60 (because of the f8) you set it to f5.6
now. That should be 1/125 (1/250 - 1 f-stop) in reality but here
goes the Camera (1/60 - 1 f-stop) with 1/30 ... that should be over
and not underexposed. Or is it just too late here and I am screwing
things up?

Third, not going back to full aperture does not affect focus
accuracy (maybe it hunts longer due to the lack of light) and
certainly not in the way your sample showed. This sample btw. had a
real lack of DOF and looked acutally like the f4.5 you mentioned in
that posting and therefore close to full aperture of that lens at
that length. Also how could that lack of DOF happen with the Lens
stopped down so far that AF stops working?
Click to expand...
Paulo Ferreira

Sigma SD9 - AF 28/105mm f2.8-4.0 - AF 28mm f1.8 EX DG Macro - AF 70/300mm f4.0-5.6 APO Macro Super II
http://www.azuzarte.com
http://www.fotki.com/azuzarte
http://www.pbase.com/sigmasd9/paulo_ferreira
http://www.photosig.com/go/users/view ;%20id=102681
 
Hey look it's an Oly Troll!

BJ,

Why are you here?

It's a shame when some of us have respect for another company's product.
I don't come over to the Oly forums and spout about how the E1 is an
extremely overpriced D-SLR with absurdly overpriced accessories and how it
has horrible noise in high ISO images "for the price". In fact I defended the
E1 numerous times against Canon Trolls. And this is how the Sigma owners
get retribution by having you come to this forum and insult those who
choose Sigma..

Thanks a heap!
 
ChromeLight said:
Want perfect lenses every time? Buy Zeiss for Hassy, where every
Zeiss lens is hand inspected and tested to spec before it leaves
the factory. No statistical sampling need apply. Every single lens
gets tested. The downside? Well, you pay 1100 retail for a Mamiya
35mm 645 lens. The 35mm Zeiss lens for Hassy runs 4000 dollars. For
me, I prefer to bank the extra 3 grand and rely on a return policy.
Some may feel differently.
Click to expand...
Well, You can have M42 ( fitting SD9/10 through adapter) Zeiss Flektogon 35/2.4 NOS condition ( latest version, MC) for $35 - I love this lens.
 
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