Nikon D200 & Sigma 30/1.4

This morning I received my Nikon D200, most probably one of the first

here in Germany. After only a few hours of shooting I'm really

thrilled by the camera; Nikon really got it right this time (of course

I can't tell much about image quality so far).

 

I just put my Sigma 30/1.4 HSM on the camera - and it won't autofocus

(which it does just fine on my D70). My Nikkor (including AF-S type)

all work fine on the D200. Does anyone else have that lens (or some

other Sigma HSM) and a D200 and can do the same test ?

 

Many thanks in advance

 

Carsten

 

http://www.cabophoto.com/

That's a pain in the a#@ !

i saw this article in B&H site.. find the sigma 30mm 1.4 lens then you will see following article...

 

NOTE: HSM lenses, while able to manually focus with all Nikon F-mount cameras, will autofocus ONLY with the following cameras- F6, F5, F4s, F100, N90s, N90, N80, N75, N70, N65, D1 & D2-series, D50, D70, D100, Pronea 6i, and Pronea S (or newer camera models). With other models, HSM or AF-S lenses must be focused manually. This is the same limitation as Nikon's own AF-S lenses.

Some of the early AF bodies such as the N8008/F801 cannot drive AF-S lenses so that those lenses are manual focus only on those bodies.

 

That is not the case here, as Carsten's AF-S lenses work fine on the D200.

 

Since the body/lens protocols are proprietary, 3rd-party lens manufacturers such as Sigma need to reverse engineer those protocols. What Canon does once in a while is that they would make some changes so that the reverse engineering fails and some 3rd party lenses are not usable on new bodies. As far as I know, Nikon has not done that before. This could merely be an isolated case or Nikon is starting the same practice now.

 

In case this is a dilibate change, Sigma might need to further their reverse engineering to correct the problem and provide either a CPU or firmware upgrade. That is how Sigma deals with Canon compatibility problems.

I just did another test with 30/1.4: when I configure the D200 so that it focuses only when I press the AF-ON button (my standard way of shooting, I also have my D70 bodies configured this way), the 30/1.4 won't focus. When I configure the AF so that it activates when I press the shutter release, it works just fine. Very odd, I think....

 

Carsten

"Very odd, I think...."

 

Maybe not. The D200 is brand new. No one at Sigma has seen one (until now) to "reverse engineer" the electronics. Perhaps Nikon has changed something in the body/lens CPU communication protocol with this body. I'll surely be labeled a Nikkor snob, but Sigma lenses are infamous for incompatibility problems when new bodies are introduced. Less so with Nikon maybe, but well known with in the Canon camp. Maybe that's not the problem in your case, but ...

Apparently Carsten started a similar thread in DPRview's Nikon Forum, and Thom Hogan replied. Hogan has no problem with his Sigma 30mm/f1.4 on his D200: http://forums.dpreview.com/forums/read.asp?forum=1021&message=16310709

Michael,

 

>>No one at Sigma has seen one (until now) to "reverse engineer" the electronics

 

yes, that's certainly true. Still, I wonder why it doesn't work as the AF system should be independent of how it got activated.

 

You're right about the incompatibility issues with Sigma. However, the 30/1.4 is a great lens and I'd love to use it on the D200. BTW my dealer told me that most probably Sigma would fix it or even exchange the lens once they have reverse-engineered the D200.

 

Carsten

I don't know that Canon does it deliberately. It's been more of a problem for them because their all-electronic mount has been much more complicated to reverse-engineer. But with AF-S, VR and G type lenses, Nikon has caught up.

Note to self: Stick with Nikkors, save a while if necessary.

> Note to self: Stick with Nikkors, save a while if necessary.

 

You can't. They do not make a 30mm AF-S DX f1.4, or anything directly comparable. If you wan't a fast auto-focus prime with a normal view on a DX camera, the Sigma is really your only choice. And not a bad one at all!

 

Darren

It's not very good if it won't work on the camera.

 

The 35/2 is a great little lens though I must say it's soft until you stop down to f/2.5 or so. The 28/1.4 is an even greater lens but a bit on the expensive side (but it's very good to have for film and future FF DSLR shooting.)

 

Third party lenses with all the compatibility problems are just a nuisance IMO.

I wouldn't dismiss all third party lenses, even tho' I tried a Tamron and a Sigma that weren't fully functional on my D2H. One would meter but not autofocus; the other was unresponsive, altho' it worked on an earlier model Nikon.

 

However I would want to try a third party lens first or, if mail ordering, be certain I had the right to return it or exchange it for a fully compatible lens if there were any problems.

"You can't. They do not make a 30mm AF-S DX f1.4, or anything directly comparable. If you wan't a fast auto-focus prime with a normal view on a DX camera, the Sigma is really your only choice. And not a bad one at all!

 

Darren"

 

So what about the 35/2 and 28/1.4 Nikkors then? Both good choices in my opinion, and I'd pick either over the Sigma (certainly the 35, the 28 only if I were rich - which I am not) (then again, I prefer 35mm as my standard lens, so I'd pick a 24mm anyway).

Jonas,

 

I have both the AF Nikkor 35/2 and the Sigma 30/1.4. The Nikkor is an excellent lens, but most of the time I use the Sigma because it's one stop faster and has very smooth bokeh.

 

Carsten

Add the Nikkor 35/1.4 AIS to the field, it won't AF on a D200 either.

Shun, Canon (and I'll assume, Nikon) don't do these things deliberatly. I've seen the Canon protocol (leaked Japanese document, really bad copy of a copy, translated into English) and there are some wild things in there. Canon threw in the whole kitchen sink when they designed that protocol years ago (power zoom? electronic defocus control?) there are things in it that no camera (even today) asks the lenses to do. But the lenses that Canon builds understand these things. Sigma lenses can only understand the commands that have been actually used by a camera to date.

Jonas, when you get used to the Sigma 30mm, you really come to appreciate it, a lot. Aside from it's image quality, it's a HSM (like Nikon's AF-S) lens with full time manual focus override. That's incredibly convenient.

I hope Nikon didn't figure out a way to render unusable the lens that obsoleted, for all intents and purposes, their 28 f/1.4 AFS on digital.

 

But nothing from the salesmen who turned the manual focus lens availability of matrix metering in models after the F4 (until the F6 and D200) would surprise me.

the 28 1.4 ain't AFS

Lots of other users elsewhere are reporting the same problem with Sigma HSM lenses (not just the 30/1.4) and the D200 AF-ON button. Looks like another case of <b>SIG</b>nificant <b>MA</b>lfunction.<P>

<a href="http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/325857">http://www.fredmiranda.com/forum/topic/325857</a>

Thank you Andy

Don't hold your breath waiting for a future FF digital from Nikon- especially one that

will allow you to use your 28 f1.9 Nikon as a 28. Switch to Canon. But kudos to

Nikon for putting AI rings on the new digi bodies- this will keep me in the camp. And

the incompatability issues mentioned here will keep me with Nikon lenses. So if we

all close our eyes and wish real hard, maybe Nikon will give us a 30 f1.4. Poof! All

our prayers will be answered! Or maybe

Zeiss will give us one, and even if we have to focus it ourselves, at least we'll have

bragging rights, and maybe those damned Hasselblad nightmares might diminish.

Notice to end-users using Sigma's HSM equipped lens with Nikon D200 camera http://www.sigma-photo.co.jp/english/news/051221_hsm.htm

I received my 30/1.4 back from Sigma today. They did a firmware update and it works just fine now.

 

Carsten