Rechip lens

<p>Hi,<br>

I recently inherited an old Sigma 21-35mm metal barrel zoom for eos. Does anyone know if there is a service that rechips these old lenses. I know, of course, that there are better lenses, in fact, I own and use a 17-40L, but this was my Mom's favorite and I'd like to be able to use it for purely sentimental reasons. Any advice would be appreciated.<br>

Best,<br>

Stew</p>

<p>Have you asked Sigma if they can do it? If they can't, you might ask around at experienced repair shops, maybe KEH. However, if Sigma can't provide the chips, I don't think it can be done.</p>

<p>I assume you've tried the lens and it didn't work?</p>

<p>Sigma in Britain, at least, did rechip some old lenses; but I'm not sure that they still do. I know that there were some, especially older ones, that they did <em>not</em> offer the service for.</p>

<p>Still, it never hurts to ask. Somewhere there might still be a bucket with a pile of chips in it :)</p>

<p>An alternative might be to buy an older EOS body on which the lens will still work. Most of the older EOS film cameras are fairly cheap if you stay away from the 3 or the 1 series. I haven't yet looked prices for early digital (afraid to, no room left in the cabinet....).</p>

<p>I seriously doubt it. That's a pretty old lens.</p>

<p>If the aperture stops down OK, just use manual focus.</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I recently inherited an old Sigma 21-35mm metal barrel zoom for eos. Does anyone know if there is a service that rechips these old lenses. I know, of course, that there are better lenses, in fact, I own and use a 17-40L, but this was my Mom's favorite and I'd like to be able to use it for purely sentimental reasons. </p>

</blockquote>

<p>It will never work on a modern EOS camera without updated ROM. And Sigma abandons old models very quickly. If you really only want to use it for sentimental reasons, buy a period correct camera like an EOS 5 or 1N and use it for a few nostalgic snaps.</p>

With a lot of old lenses "rechip" actually means "replace". Years ago when I contacted Quantaray to

rechip an old 70-300 I was passed on to Sigma who actually makes the lenses.

 

Sigma was unable/unwilling to rechip that particular lens but gave me a form to fill out to upgrade to and

cross-ship their latest 70-300 offering for a $70 USD fee. I forget what the new Sigma actually retailed for

but it was a really good deal at the time.

 

That lens was sold long ago but, for a $70 USD beater, it served its purpose well.

<p>I asked Sigma if they would re-chip three of my Sigma lenses and their response was the lenses were too old(4-5 years) - there was nothing they could do to update the lenses. I don't know if this is a typical response from camera/lens manufactures but I'm hesitant to buy another Sigma lens. (Although, I thinking about the 24-70 HSM)?</p>

<p>I think Sigma is the only lens maker whom reverse engineers the operating code (instead of licensing) and hence rechipping is need when a new EOS camera is released. I used to own 6 Sigmas from 24mm to 400, all bought new from the mid to late 90s. All were obsolete and unsupported by 2000. I haven't bought any Sigmas since...</p>

<p>Thanks for all of your responses. I called sigma USA and they won't/can't do it. It does'nt work at all with my 350d but seems to operate ok on my friend's Canon 5D, go figure...<br>

Ah well, I guess I'll have a lens for full frame should I win the lottery and be able to upgrade. :)</p>

<blockquote>

<p>I think Sigma is the only lens maker whom reverse engineers the operating code (instead of licensing) hence rechipping is need when a new EOS camera is released</p>

</blockquote>

<p>Tamron and Tikina also reverse engineer the operating code. Canon doesn't license it to anyone. Sigmas problems occured around the release of the 10D. Canon made a small change that cause problems with Sigma lenses. Sigma hasn't had any problems since the release of the 30D. </p>

<blockquote>

<p>It does'nt work at all with my 350d but seems to operate ok on my friend's Canon 5D, go figure...</p>

</blockquote>

<p>I tried an older lens on my 5D and it worked find with the aperture wide open. However as soon as I stopped down it wouldn't work. </p>

<p>I've found the old Sigma 70-200 f2.8 and 400mm f5.6 would work on an EOS 350D and a 40D but only at maximum aperture. If you take photos of gigs or in other low light situations then it means those lenses are still useful.<br>

Having read some of the other threads Sigma used to rechip their lenses for free. It seems they've run out of the chip required to rechip lenses for modern digital SLRs but surely they've sold enough lenses to make it worth buying more in or even get one manufactured.<br>

Its frustrating as heck though. I'm sure there are lots of photographers who'd want to use their old Sigma lenses. It makes me think twice about buying a recent Sigma lens - what happens if Canon decides to change the lens-camera communication protocol again?<br>

Its also really wasteful. Everyone's recycling now and going green. There's a missed opportunity here to recycle a lot of lenses.</p>