What to do, what to do?

[mjs1973]

My main wildife lens has a problem that I need to get fixed, but I hate to part with if for a couple weeks. The aperture on my 170-500mm lens sticks wide open from 400-500mm. From 170-400mm it works fine. If I set it between 170 & 400, and press the DOF preview button, then zoom out to 500mm, I can take one shot before the aperture sticks wide open. It's kind of like having to pump a shotgun between shots. If the lens wasn't so soft wide open, it wouldn't be a huge problem, but I hate using it wide open.
If it wasn't the fox and badger dens being so easy to see and take photos of, and the deer starting to have their fawns, I would send it in without question. I just hate the idea of being without a long lens right now...

So what would you do? Send it in now, or limp it along for a while and send it in later?

[Loupey]

Ouch! I've worried about the same thing: to be without your main lens at any time would be a concern.

My vote would be to send it in. To be somewhere and miss a golden opportunity because of equipment failure would be terrible.

Better to pick up a new hobby in the meantime and believe that there were no golden moments out there while the lens was gone

[payn817]

Yep, bite the bullet. Hopefully it won't take too long, and there's always next year for the babies. You could always rent a long lens from a local shop for a week...

[mjs1973]

Thanks for the advice guys. After I posted this, I thought about the situation for a few more minutes, and called the shop back. I told them to send it in. I originally took it to a local repair shop (an hour away) to see if they could handle it. They looked at it and said that they couldn't do it, and it would have to be sent in. They had never seen that lens before, and they don't have a parts list from Sigma, and they also said that it's hard for them to get parts from Sigma. Unfortunately Sigma has no rush services, and it will take them 1-2 weeks to even give me an estimate. I'm a little bummed, but I will live.

I took my nephews out to see the fox kits tonight, but there was no sign of them. I'm a little dissapointed that they didn't get to see them, but it made me feel a little better about not having my lens.

[paulnj]

Send it to Sigma ! I got the same 1-2 week estimate on my broken focus ring about 6 years ago and 5 days later is was done

[mjs1973]

Send it to Sigma ! I got the same 1-2 week estimate on my broken focus ring about 6 years ago and 5 days later is was done

That's good to hear. I hope they can turn mine around that fast.

[paulnj]

Well my luck isn't so good, but my karma is I too hope you get it back quickly.

[Lava Lamp]

If you can spare the cash, what I would do is buy a used one from www.keh.com to use while your old one is being repaired and then sell it on Ebay when you get the repaired lens back. If you get lucky, you might even make money on the deal. If you are less lucky, you will lose a little, but I wouldn't think you would lose more than $50-$1000, which might be worth it to you to "rent" a lens. The going Ebay rate is about $450 to $550 on that lens. Your mileage may vary, of course.

[mjs1973]

I still don't have my lens back!!!! I approved the repair on June 25th. I called Sigma yesterday to check on my lens since I'm leaving in less than 2 weeks for a trip to Glacier NP and the Grand Tetons. I don't want to go on this trip without a long lens. The lady I talked to at Sigma found my lens in their system, but said it had to be sent to a shop to be repaired, and they didn't have it back yet. Then she told me to call back the next day and they would know more. I'm guessing she had the next day off. :mad2:
I really hate the idea of buying a replacement lens, and then reselling it later, but if I don't hear anything soon, I don't have many other options left. There aren't any rental places close buy, and I would image the cost to rent for 2 weeks would be just as much, if not more than the cost of a new lens....

I'm starting to get worried.

[Loupey]

That sucks.

I have a sneaking suspicion that your lens sat on some shelf at their S&R department untouched this entire time. Now that they know your looking for it, they probably dug your paperwork out and decided it's time to send it off for repairs.

I hope you get it back in time. In the meantime, I would have another lens ready to buy (not Sigma this time unless their customer service to you improves dramatically).

[mjs1973]

Yeah, I have been looking for a replacement lens, but I'm not sure what to go with. I'm thinking of taking LL's suggestion and buying a used Sigma from KEH (same as I have now) and then reselling it after the trip. Or keep it and sell mine once I get it back. I will have to do some testing and keep the better of the two. I hate to buy the same lens, but $ is an issue, and I can't justify the cost of anything else in the 500mm range.

I do have a friend who has a Canon 100-300mm lens that she said I could borrow, to that would help. She said it doens't work on her digital body, but does on her film. At this point, I'm willing to try anything.

I did contact both Sigma, and the repair shop that I took the lens to, to see if they could speed up the process somehow. The lady at Sigma said it would be back next week, but she couldn't be more specific than that. Apperntly the lens was shipped to a facility in Arizona to be fixed. It sounded like they use this place for overflow when they are busy.

I asked the guy at the local shop if they could have Sigma send the lens to my home, instead of the shop so I could get it faster, but Sigma wont do that. He's going to call them back on Tuesday, and if see if he can upgrade the return shipping on it if he can get it back by Thursday or Friday. If not, there is no point in upgrading the shipping.

So, I have checked out KEH's shipping options, and it looks like I could get the replacement lens in a couple of days if need be.

[mjs1973]

Just in the nick of time!

I got a call today. My lens has been repared and shipped back to the company that I took it to originally. Unfortunately, the guy at BDC wasn't able to get a hold of the Sigma folks in time to upgrade the shipping. If there are no delays in the shipping process, the lens should arive at BDC on Thursday!! If all goes well, I will pick up the lens Thursday after work, and go home and finish packing!!! It doesn't leave me any time to test the lens before the trip tho, but I'm hoping there are no more problems.

[Loupey]

Thanks for the update. Hope all goes well with the lens. If you don't check back with us before your trip - let me say now, HAVE A SAFE ONE

[mjs1973]

Thanks Loupey. I'm sure I will be in and out all this week, but I won't be doing any shooting. Too many other things to take care of before we go. I shouldn't even be posting here now.

[paulnj]

Here's hoping the lens get back intime!

[mn shutterbug]

Here's hoping the lens works like new and you get some super photos to share with us.

[mjs1973]

Thanks for the good thoughts Paul and Mike. Hopefully I will be back with good news tomorrow night!

[mjs1973]

I got my lens back!!!!

I was pretty nervous today. They guy at the shop told me on Tuesday that they get their UPS deliveries by noon. I called at 12:30 and no UPS. I called again around 2:45 and still no UPS. They guy told me that the delivery guys like to be out of there by 3:00 as parking gets really bad, and that he would call me back as soon as they came. About 3:10, he called back and the lens was back!! He tested it on one of their bodies and it was working fine.

When I got home I put it on my digital body and took a few test shots in the back yard. Everything seemed to be working as normal. Inside the lens appeared to be very clean as well.

One thing that didn't get fixed, is that at 500mm, the aperture still reads f/5.6. It should be f/6.3. I'm not too concerned about this tho because it has been that way for a couple of years now and I always stop down to at least f/8 if I can.

I'm back in business, and ready to hit the road!

[Lava Lamp]

One thing that didn't get fixed, is that at 500mm, the aperture still reads f/5.6. It should be f/6.3. I'm not too concerned about this tho because it has been that way for a couple of years now and I always stop down to at least f/8 if I can.

I'm back in business, and ready to hit the road!

I read that Sigma does that on purpose. Some AF systems will not work if the max aperture is less than f/5.6. In practice, they generally seem to, but there is an electronic "preventer," for lack of a better term. The false f/5.6 "fools" the camera.

[mjs1973]

I read that Sigma does that on purpose. Some AF systems will not work if the max aperture is less than f/5.6. In practice, they generally seem to, but there is an electronic "preventer," for lack of a better term. The false f/5.6 "fools" the camera.

That's interesting. The strange thing about this issue tho, is that it read correctly when i first got the lens. It only started showing f/5.6 @ 500mm about a year ago. I haven't tested this on my film body since I got it back, but if I remember correctly, it read differently on my film body than it does on my digital body.

[WsW-WYATT-EARP]

glad ya got your lens back in the nick of time - nothing like cutting it to the wire !!!

Have a great trip ! hope you get a chance to see what you want and get the photos you are hoping for ! Look forward to see what you bring back.