Nikon D90 & Sigma 50-500 Communication Issue...

[aussiepomm]

Hi one and all,

A mate has the following gear - Nikon D90 and the Sigma 50-500 lens. The issue he is having is primarily with this lens combination, and it is also intermittent in its nature which is why he's more puzzled as well!

When he's using the gear, generally aviation so no chance of resetting composition and also fast moving subject, looking through the viewfinder the f-stop setting goes to f--! After 'taking' the shot, and looking at it through the screen, it is a black image. He shoots at f.9, camera is set to full manual and shooting RAW. He also mentioned that from memory, it also occurs when at a focal length above 300mm...

Camera is out of warranty, but when he called Lidcombe, they mentioned a lag time of 5-7 working days to look at it, let alone fix a problem that may be with the body. The lens is not even a year old, still under warranty, and when I went back to where we got them (I got same lens only Canon mount), I was given details of where it could be serviced under warranty over at Mascot (which suits him as he works at the airport).

Has anyone else had this sort of problem, and if so, was it a lens or body issue, and what were the corrective measures taken to fix it.

Thanks in advance for any assistance!

[arthurking83]

I'm pretty sure that these lenses don't have an aperture ring, so the possibility of accidentally bumping this and getting the F-- error is zero.

I've had issues with some lenses in the past, and where the lens got stuck completely, all I've had to do was to switch off the camera(both D70s and D300) remove lens, but only in that I've twisted it to the unlocked position within the mount.. not actually taken it completely off! .. and then immediately lock it back into place. Doing this has always worked for me in the past.

If there is going to be an issue, first thing to check is the contact pins on both the lens, and in the camera's mount.
Use a good quality pencil eraser and lightly rub the pins to clean them of any possible tarnish.
Don't rub too hard and don't allow any rubber to fall into the camera body.

If this doesn't help, there is the possibility that this intermittent issue is a developing problem for the inner electronics of the 50-500 lens, if there are no other issues with any other lenses.

[Whale Boy]

Bernie,

I have the same equipment and have experienced the same problems. Whilst in Africa this would happen every now and then. At first I thought it was because my camera with the lens on it had fallen from the seat of the tour vehicle - ouch! Later, I realised that it had happened prior to the fall. The fix was as Arthurking83 has described, turn off the camera undo the lens and then reattach the lens. It has not happened since I have come home and think that perhaps it was due to either dust or the harsh i.e. bumpy conditions and the contacts vibrating "loose".

I have just checked a couple of those "black" images - the properties show a f-stop of f/0 and a focal length of 0 as well. Checking images taken around the time of the problem I had f-stops of 5 & 6 and focal lengths of a wide range 60/70 to 300mm.

As I say it seems OK now so I have done no more about it - your post however makes me wonder. I'll be keen to know how your friend gets on at Mascot. Please post an update.

Regards,

Patrick

[ving]

my first thought would be to clean the contacts. it has contact, loses it and regains it... maybe dirty. other than that what arthur said.

hope it gets fixed.
I have the 150-500 on mine and have never had problems.

[aussiepomm]

arthurking83 - He has removed/replaced the lens as you mentioned, and the problem has returned, albeit several weeks later... BUT, I will mention to him about the cleaning of the sensor/contact pins on the mount area as you suggested...

Whale Boy - I think from memory, it may have either started in, or not long after a trip to Hong Kong... All three of us on that trip had issues one way or another... We went to the International hort Expo in Xian (I work in the hort field) and when I was uploading my images from camera to PC, the CF card became corupt and I lost the images... Another mate, who I gave my old 80-400mm lens had issues with the humidity, whilst J had this issue... So not sure id humidity played a part, but its long gone now yet the problem persists...

ving - I hope it gets fixed as well... Its a great lens, and the smaller focal longht to 50mm suits our interest in aviation photography and not having to change lenses for closer work!!!

I will let you know what happens!!!!