Sigma Epsilon Zoom Compatability Issue With N75

[wesrichmond]

Last year I picked up an N4004 with a Sigma Epsilon 28-70mm F3.5-4.5. With the body in A mode and the lens aperture ring on the orange F22 everything seems fine. If I move the aperture ring off of F22 I get the +/- blinking in the viewfinder, as it's supposed to be.

 

A couple months later I picked up an N75 body. I can use both of my AF-S DX G kit lenses from my D60 with no problem on the N75. However, when I mount the Sigma on it sometimes I get an F-- in the viewfinder and sometimes the viewfinder info goes crazy, no matter what mode the body is set at. The manual says that F-- will occur IF the lens is a non-CPU lens.

 

I have searched many, many pages online concerning this lens and all I can find is other people trying to find info themselves. If this IS a non-CPU lens how can I tell? The lens mount looks like an AI-S AF mount with ****_* pins and the dip cut out near the lock pin hole. Both N4004 and N75 body mount look identical.

 

I have also heard that certain type lenses with some bodies can damage the meter so I haven't tried to mount my DX lenses on the N4004.

[Andrew Garrard]

If there are electrical contact pins, it's surely a CPU lens? I don't know why anyone would add them and not connect them to anything. Sigma's UK website says, bizarrely, that it's a manual-focus lens but that the number of aperture blades "TBA, but they were "programmable", so I presume compatible with automatic cameras". There's an image here that looks like F mount, with no obvious electrical connections - but you have contact pins on yours?

 

Other than VR support, I didn't know there was a difference between the N4004 and N75 when it came to compatibility. I believe neither have an aperture ring, so would need electronics to meter properly. The 4004 doesn't send the right signals for AF-S lenses, but works with screwdriver lenses (reverse of the D3x00 and D5x00 series) - but that won't affect a manual lens. If the viewfinder "goes crazy", it could be a case of Sigma not reverse-engineering Nikon's protocol properly at that time, but it could just be a poor electrical connection. Perhaps clean some contacts?

 

I didn't know about the meter damage thing. I'll be interested to know more. Normally the big issue is that some cameras without an aperture ring can get their EE post detector squashed by pre-AI lenses, but that's not the issue here.

 

Sorry not to be more helpful - just expressing interest in knowing the answers!

[wesrichmond]

Thanks for your thoughts, Andrew. I cleaned the contacts and that didn't change anything.

 

I just got back from my usual camera shop. My friend there tried several lenses with the N4004 and got problems. Also, he tried the Sigma on several bodies and got problems. However, maybe all is not lost. The Sigma has a smooth manual focus and the aperture ring works, so it looks like it will be OK to use as a manual lens. So I am going to put the N4004 way back in the closet and pick up an FG, FM or maybe FE body in the near future.

[bgelfand]

Thanks for your thoughts, Andrew. I cleaned the contacts and that didn't change anything.

 

I just got back from my usual camera shop. My friend there tried several lenses with the N4004 and got problems. Also, he tried the Sigma on several bodies and got problems. However, maybe all is not lost. The Sigma has a smooth manual focus and the aperture ring works, so it looks like it will be OK to use as a manual lens. So I am going to put the N4004 way back in the closet and pick up an FG, FM or maybe FE body in the near future.

 

You might call or e-mail Sigma Customer Support and see if there is a lens firmware update to make it compatible with you camera body. If there is. you would have to send the lens to Sigma and there would probably be a charge.

[JDMvW]

I have no certain knowledge of this combination of lens and body; but on the other side of the marque war, the earlier AF Sigmas were/are incompatible with the later varieties of the EF mount. Would Canon change their engineering to disadvantage companies that had reverse engineered to fit? Surely not! How cynical that would be.:oops:

[rodeo_joe1]

There were a lot of compatibility issues in the early days of AF. The reverse-engineering of OEM protocols was poor, and Sigma didn't always get it right. There may even be a mechanical misalignment between the contact pads/pins on the lens and camera body combination.

 

And is it really worth worrying about a cheap zoom lens with negligible monetary or optical worth?

[wesrichmond]

Mmmm....I wouldn't say worrying about it, just being curious. When it comes to AF film cameras I'm pretty much a Minolta shooter. From my Maxxum 7000 to my Maxxum 50 and many A-Mount lenses from Minolta and others I have yet to experience an issue.

 

That's why I'm saying it's probably a defect with the N4004 and/or the Sigma. I'm guessing if I got another N4004 and an AF Nikkor things would be fine. But honestly, I rather like the N75 and will keep my focus (pun intended) there with Nikon.

[ben_hutcherson]

I'd more suspect that Sigma missed something when they reverse engineered the electrical contacts on the mount.

 

More recent 3rd party lenses tend to work well with recent DSLRs and even late film cameras(F6 and F100 in particular) but can be hit or miss on older electronic bodies. I have a Tamron 35mm f/1.8 VC that, for example, works great on my F6 and F100, but the body acts crazy if I go much older(F4, N90, N8008, etc). I've seen similar reports of the Sigma ART lenses.

 

For using film along side DSLRs, I still think it's hard to be an F100 in terms of lens compatibility and overall value.

[wesrichmond]

The manual for the N4004 shows a Nikkor 35-70/3.3-4.5 as a kit lens. I guess to stay on the safe side I should pick up a Nikkor lens. If the N4004 is bad I can use the lens on the N75. I guess it will also work on both of my Proneas.

 

Oddly, when I look at used N4004 with lenses it is usually a Quantaray that is attached. Maybe they got it right back then. ;)

[John Seaman]

Be careful if buying the AF Nikkor F/3.3-4.5. Practically every copy I've seen had a sluggish aperture causing overexposure. No apparent oil on the blades, I think it's a generic fault with them.

[wesrichmond]

Thanks for the warning, John.