Have you repaired your 50 Art?

[Viggo]

Hi guys!

Just wondering if anyone here have had AF issues with the Sigma 50 Art and had it successfully repaired, not swapped for a new?

Mine is getting worse and I'm at the very last of my patience with it, so last chance is to perhaps send it for repair.

Thanks!

 

[Dylan777]

I thought you got your ART fixed ???

 

[Eldar]

As you know Viggo, I returned no.1 for repair. Didn´t work. Returned it and got no.2, which was just as inconsistent. After countless attempts with the dock and in-camera AFMA I gave up and returned it. Apparently you just got one that lasted a bit longer. A pity, considering the optical quality of the lens, but out of focus is out of focus ...

Good luck!

 

[Viggo]

I thought you got your ART fixed ???

I had one of the first ever available and it was useless, so I traded it in for a another copy which has been nice, but now it too has begun to be unstable. TBH I delete 97% of the shots due to missed focus. I've redone calibration with my new Hard Targets bought from Reikan Focal, and the AF consistency and calibration went without issues. But in real life I simply doesn't hit, and it's front and back at random, at any distance. I calibrated the 4 distances with focal and used the docking to set the values in the lens. Nothing works.

And I calibrated my 200 and it has extremely shallow dof, but it just can't miss, same with the 2470.

 

[Viggo]

As you know Viggo, I returned no.1 for repair. Didn´t work. Returned it and got no.2, which was just as inconsistent. After countless attempts with the dock and in-camera AFMA I gave up and returned it. Apparently you just got one that lasted a bit longer. A pity, considering the optical quality of the lens, but out of focus is out of focus ...

Good luck!

Thanks, and yeah, agree 100%. Been there done that. It doesn't miss by quite as much as the others I've tried (35A and 50A) but it misses at least as often, pretty much always.

 

[Dylan777]

I thought you got your ART fixed ???

I had one of the first ever available and it was useless, so I traded it in for a another copy which has been nice, but now it too has begun to be unstable. TBH I delete 97% of the shots due to missed focus. I've redone calibration with my new Hard Targets bought from Reikan Focal, and the AF consistency and calibration went without issues. But in real life I simply doesn't hit, and it's front and back at random, at any distance. I calibrated the 4 distances with focal and used the docking to set the values in the lens. Nothing works.

And I calibrated my 200 and it has extremely shallow dof, but it just can't miss, same with the 2470.

Wow...thanks for sharing.

I'm in need for 35mm fast prime. I guess I can cross the ART off my list for now.

EDIT: forgot to ask. Did you update any firmware to the bodies or lenses at all? Couldn't figure out why it works this week, but not other weeks ??? ??? ???

 

[Eldar]

I'm in need for 35mm fast prime. I guess I can cross the ART off my list for now.

Dylan; Before you make your decision, try out the Zeiss 35mm f1.4, with an Ec-S focusing screen in your 1DX. Play with it for a while and I´m sure you will discover that manual focus is less of a problem than you would think!

 

[Viggo]

I thought you got your ART fixed ???

I had one of the first ever available and it was useless, so I traded it in for a another copy which has been nice, but now it too has begun to be unstable. TBH I delete 97% of the shots due to missed focus. I've redone calibration with my new Hard Targets bought from Reikan Focal, and the AF consistency and calibration went without issues. But in real life I simply doesn't hit, and it's front and back at random, at any distance. I calibrated the 4 distances with focal and used the docking to set the values in the lens. Nothing works.

And I calibrated my 200 and it has extremely shallow dof, but it just can't miss, same with the 2470.

Wow...thanks for sharing.

I'm in need for 35mm fast prime. I guess I can cross the ART off my list for now.

EDIT: forgot to ask. Did you update any firmware to the bodies or lenses at all? Couldn't figure out why it works this week, but not other weeks ??? ??? ???

Last update I did was the 2.0.3 for the 1dx and that was before the 50A came out. I have noticed it started to miss a bit more, but since it's my absolutely most used lens, I didn't really check to see just how great the two Canon lenses were in comparison. But I bought the Reikan Hard Targets a couple of weeks ago and decided to recalibrate everything, both Canon lenses I pulled back 2-3 points and they are epic sharp and hits everything. The strange thing is that the 50A need a PLUS adjustment by 4-7 steps (??) and even going back to my old settings a testing
Literally several thousand test shots tells nothing, because it is not consistent at all..

 

[wickidwombat]

viggo do you have access to a 5D3 you can test it on?

mine is still amazing easily the most consistant and accurate AF 50mm i've ever used
its blazingly good in servo too (but i only use the 5 center column points using servo)

 

[Dylan777]

I'm in need for 35mm fast prime. I guess I can cross the ART off my list for now.

Dylan; Before you make your decision, try out the Zeiss 35mm f1.4, with an Ec-S focusing screen in your 1DX. Play with it for a while and I´m sure you will discover that manual focus is less of a problem than you would think!

Eldar,
I have to think about this.

MF is something I always feel out of my comfort zone. Although I haven't try on 1DX with Ec-S, however, I did on A7 series with Canon and Zeiss A-mount lenses(focus peaking mode). The results were not on par. I'm sure is not the gear problem.

 

[Eldar]

Eldar,
I have to think about this.

MF is something I always feel out of my comfort zone. Although I haven't try on 1DX with Ec-S, however, I did on A7 series with Canon and Zeiss A-mount lenses(focus peaking mode). The results were not on par. I'm sure is not the gear problem.

Don´t be put off by having tried to manually focus AF lenses. A Zeiss is a totally different beast and a lot easier to focus.
Alternatively you only have one current option, the 35L. It is being bashed by the chart porn readers, but it is still producing beautiful images ... The Sigma Art could have been an alternative, if the AF was fixed.

 

[Viggo]

viggo do you have access to a 5D3 you can test it on?

mine is still amazing easily the most consistant and accurate AF 50mm i've ever used
its blazingly good in servo too (but i only use the 5 center column points using servo)

I have only the 1dx, but even with only center point with or without expansion points in any Servo or One shot mode it's the same results. I'm seriously considering a 35 L or 50 L AGAIN... At least the 50 L is pretty consistent and can be calibrated without wearing out the shutter with testing.

 

[filo64]

Have not had the chance to test the 50 Art, but my 35 Art is dead on every time - without calibration - on my 6d and 5d mkIII. Am I just lucky?

 

[filo64]

My Tammy 24-70 IS only focusses correctly with the center AF points on my 5d mkIII, but the 35 Art works very fine indeed with off-center AF points.

 

[YuengLinger]

Nice timing for this thread!

Viggo, sorry to hear you are going through the aggravation, as you were enjoying the lens and had high hopes for it.

I just this morning reached out to a local lens renter to ask about his copy of the ef 50mm 1.2, as I'm seeing the value of in-focus dreamy over OOF sharp. I'll rent first and see if I can handle the focus shift for closer subjects, which is a big part of my style.

I have sharp and fast: Sigma 35mm Art, fantastic. Canon 85mm 1.2, ultimate. (Note that I actually sold an ef 35mm 1.4 after owning it for four months because it was not sharp and had the worst CA I've seen since my old Sureshot A-80. 'Course having come from Amazon, it might have gotten banged around, repacked, etc.)

As y'all might remember, I was another who got a 50mm Art with dodgy AF and sent it back thinking by now we'd have a firmware update or SOME response from Sigma other than, "Well, it is a particularly complex lens, and you really should buy the dock." (That from their tech support.)

So, worn down from waiting for Canon or Sigma to put out something perfect...

 

[Viggo]

Nice timing for this thread!

Viggo, sorry to hear you are going through the aggravation, as you were enjoying the lens and had high hopes for it.

I just this morning reached out to a local lens renter to ask about his copy of the ef 50mm 1.2, as I'm seeing the value of in-focus dreamy over OOF sharp. I'll rent first and see if I can handle the focus shift for closer subjects, which is a big part of my style.

I have sharp and fast: Sigma 35mm Art, fantastic. Canon 85mm 1.2, ultimate. (Note that I actually sold an ef 35mm 1.4 after owning it for four months because it was not sharp and had the worst CA I've seen since my old Sureshot A-80. 'Course having come from Amazon, it might have gotten banged around, repacked, etc.)

As y'all might remember, I was another who got a 50mm Art with dodgy AF and sent it back thinking by now we'd have a firmware update or SOME response from Sigma other than, "Well, it is a particularly complex lens, and you really should buy the dock." (That from their tech support.)

So, worn down from waiting for Canon or Sigma to put out something perfect...

Thanks! Yeah, I have enjoyed it so far, but ...

I sold the 50 L exactly because closer than 1-1.5m it's veeeeeery soft, to the point that if I used off center points I couldn't tell the difference between where it hit and the blurry parts, lol.

Called a service shop today and he asked the usual stuff, if it was constantly back or front focused. But when I explained that I use both the docking and Reikan Focal, he just said "ah, then we have some parts to change" so CLEARLY they are aware of the issue, and I already knew, but perhaps they have parts now that can make this go away finally. I REALLY like the lens for everything else, so fix the AF and it's completely epic.

 

[NancyP]

I manually focus my Sigma 35 Art all the time, using the Eg-S screen or more often live view for critical focusing. MF is ok. I don't use AF a lot. I really like my 35 Art. I suspect I might like the 50 Art just as well, if I end up doing as much manual focusing with it. No, nothing can compete with a well-designed and perfectly lubricated manual focus only lens helicoid - the Oti must be heavenly if they are considerably smoother than the regular Distagons. Still, if I can manually focus the lowly 40 2.8 STM (a laughable procedure), I can make the Art 35 MF.

 

[NancyP]

BTW, I am considering getting the 7D2, and would like to be able to efficiently do microfocus adjustment for my lenses. Could you recommend a good product? Is the Reikan FoCal straightforward? Or is it a bunch of fancy programming that is more trouble than just manually AFMA-ing a few lenses on one camera?

Lenses used are the EF 400 f/5.6L (+/- 1.4 x TC), EF 70-200 f/4 IS, and EF 180 f/3.5 macro (+/- 1.4x TC; don't laugh, I use this combo for 1:2 to 1:5 magnification shots of snakes, including venomous snakes). Also I imagine that I would work up the 35 Art, which sometimes serves as the "longish normal" lens on my current 60D when it isn't being the "wide-ish normal" on my 6D, and the EF-S 15-85, which is the casual walk-about lens.

 

[Viggo]

BTW, I am considering getting the 7D2, and would like to be able to efficiently do microfocus adjustment for my lenses. Could you recommend a good product? Is the Reikan FoCal straightforward? Or is it a bunch of fancy programming that is more trouble than just manually AFMA-ing a few lenses on one camera?

Lenses used are the EF 400 f/5.6L (+/- 1.4 x TC), EF 70-200 f/4 IS, and EF 180 f/3.5 macro (+/- 1.4x TC; don't laugh, I use this combo for 1:2 to 1:5 magnification shots of snakes, including venomous snakes). Also I imagine that I would work up the 35 Art, which sometimes serves as the "longish normal" lens on my current 60D when it isn't being the "wide-ish normal" on my 6D, and the EF-S 15-85, which is the casual walk-about lens.

Unfortunately I can't use MF for my photography.

Reikan Focal is very very easy to use. The "tricky" part is setting up properly.

Use enough light, preferably a non-flickering light like the sun. Have absolutely even light and NO shine or reflection.

Buy the hard target from Reikan.

Have your camera bolted down as sturdy as humanly possible.

Use the right distance.

It takes a bit of effort, but then you will get a value that works straight away. Just not the Sigma's. They run through the test without issues at all, it all looks great, start ahooting and you will spend thousands of shots trying to figure out the value while the lens misses back and front at complete random.

 

[YuengLinger]

NancyP, glad you are adept at MF! May you be so for decades to come.

Viggo, my lens-rental friend won't have the ef 50mm 1.2 L available until next week, but I'm telling him that I won't bother renting it. I spent hours looking at higher-rez samples on flicker, and I reread many, many reviews. I KNOW that it will be frustratingly soft for me even without a focus-shift issue considered.

I want to magically believe that the right photographer can make consistent magic with the 50L, but starting out with a soft center and VERY soft outer-area, even at 2.0, will not work for me.

The only Canon lens that has seriously disappointed me is the 35L, which I've already said I replaced with the Sigma 35 Art, a very reliable performer for me with AF and IQ. One other lens that I slowly came to see was not great was the original 16-35 2.8, but I've kept it for occasional indoor and other medium low-light shots, as it works very well still for faces centered in the frame.

I just see too much visual evidence that the 50L isn't for me. So now I am back to waiting, either for Sigma to make AF work on the Canon mount, or for Canon to put out the 50L II.

Hope your repair makes it perfect. Maybe Sigma are close to a widely released fix.