Home

Please support mflenses.com if you need any graphic related work order it from us, click on above banner to order!

SearchSearch MemberlistMemberlist RegisterRegister ProfileProfile Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages Log inLog in

AF Sigma EOS lens hack
View previous topic :: View next topic  


PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 12:17 pm    Post subject: AF Sigma EOS lens hack Reply with quote

http://butterflybikers.cz/index.php/cz/elektronika/item/1-canon-eos-protocol-convertor-for-old-sigma-lens
http://www.martinmelchior.be/2013/04/conversion-of-old-sigma-lens-to-work.html

Also discusions here:
https://www.flickr.com/groups/eos-manual-lenses/discuss/72157629683387582/72157629785041050/
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=1749.0


Last edited by stingOM on Mon Oct 26, 2015 9:34 am; edited 4 times in total


PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 4:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well done electronics engineering!

Remember some older Sigma lenses give newer Canon camera ERR 99? This chip fixes those lenses, i.e.:

Quote:
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4
Sigma 70-210mm f2.8
Sigma HSM APO Macro 400mm f5.6
Sigma APO AF Macro 400mm f5.6
Sigma APO AF 500mm f4.5
Quantaray macro 50mm f2.8
Sigma APO AF 500mm f7.2
Sigma AF 18mm f3.5
Sigma APO AF Macro 300mm f4
Sigma APO HSM AF Macro 300mm f4
Sigma 100-300mm f/4.5 –f/6.7 UC Zoom
Sigma 28-105mm f/4-f/5.6 UCII


PostPosted: Sun Aug 23, 2015 10:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

incredible job!
Sigma rechip my 135-400 for free some years ago but I guess that lot of lenses are not yet chipped


PostPosted: Sun Aug 30, 2015 8:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I had thought of putting one of these chips in an EOS-EOS M adapter so I could use my old Sigmas on an EOS M.


PostPosted: Sat Sep 12, 2015 10:46 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Very nice, but it's a ton of work! Surprised


PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 10:09 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

My Sigma HSM 400mm f5.6 APO Macro (Spec: http://stanfordphoto.blogspot.ie/2009/01/sigma-400mm-f56-apo-telemacro-hsm.html http://www.sigma-imaging-uk.com/sigmalounge/images/stories/museum/199640056HSM.htm) was giving trouble with the 1Ds MkII body if I change the aperture and then fire the camera. "Err 01" ("ERR 01" = unable to communicate with the lens and set its aperture.) appears and the camera locks up and can only be release if I reset it with using a genuine EOS lens (in my case I used a 50mm f1.8 MkII).

So tried this trick and it works. I quote:
"...electronic connection between the camera and the lens is by way of a 7 "chip" set in two groups one a group of five and another group of 2. We are interested in the smaller of the 2 chips in the second group. Through trial and error I found that if you block this chip so that it does not come in contact with the camera body electronics than manual aperture control is returned. There is still no auto-focus however the lens is fully usable in manual mode with both aperture and shutter speed control.

Initially I only used sticky tape to block the chip but now I have painted over it with nail polish and have a fully functional lens (manual)"

Source:
http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/archive/2001496



However, I noted two additional issues. If you tape over all the contacts in Group 2, the lens will function in manual mode only and the AF and aperture control is lost. AF confirm and shutter release work fine. If you cover over just the larger contact on the left in Group 2 (i.e., the 6th pin from left to right), AF function is restored with no Err on the body even if you change the aperture using the camera dial. However, the"true" aperture control is lost.

The technical reason behind this is discussed here:
http://www.magiclantern.fm/forum/index.php?topic=1749.0

"the camera sends 3 bytes via the Dout pin (the 5th from left on the body). This is how they look like on new bodies:
Code: [Select]
0x07
0x13
<aperture>

Old bodies however send:
Code: [Select]
0x07
0x12
<aperture>

Yes, you heard it right - it's just one byte. One byte that makes hundreds of dollars difference."


PostPosted: Mon Oct 26, 2015 12:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Yup, Canon made that tiny one byte change in order to render all those third party Tokinas, Sigmas and Tamrons useless.

I hate Canon.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 7:12 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

visualopsins wrote:
Well done electronics engineering!

Remember some older Sigma lenses give newer Canon camera ERR 99? This chip fixes those lenses, i.e.:

Quote:
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8
Sigma 28-70mm f2.8-4
Sigma 70-210mm f2.8
Sigma HSM APO Macro 400mm f5.6
Sigma APO AF Macro 400mm f5.6
Sigma APO AF 500mm f4.5
Quantaray macro 50mm f2.8
Sigma APO AF 500mm f7.2
Sigma AF 18mm f3.5
Sigma APO AF Macro 300mm f4
Sigma APO HSM AF Macro 300mm f4
Sigma 100-300mm f/4.5 �f/6.7 UC Zoom
Sigma 28-105mm f/4-f/5.6 UCII


Also the Sigma Apo Macro 180mm f/2.8. I have had Jiři from the first link add the chip to my affected Sigma lenses (the 180, an Apo macro 400 and an Apo AF 500 4.5) and now they work on my Canons without the previous aperture problems.


PostPosted: Wed Oct 28, 2015 9:29 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

iangreenhalgh1 wrote:
Yup, Canon made that tiny one byte change in order to render all those third party Tokinas, Sigmas and Tamrons useless.

I hate Canon.


Didn't that also break Canon lenses? Did EVERYBODY have to buy new lenses? This may have backfired some, with many buying 3rd party because all new Canon could not be afforded?


PostPosted: Thu Oct 29, 2015 12:23 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

afaik only Sigma lenses are affected since they did reverse engineering the mount/EF protocol instead of paying a license. I haven't heard about any problems like this with Tamron or Tokina.


PostPosted: Sat Oct 31, 2015 10:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

If you really need to stop down the lens, an alternative solution would be to buy a super cheap camera body with stop down preview and then follow this instruction:
http://www.school-of-digital-photography.com/2013/11/how-to-lock-a-lens-at-a-certain-aperture.html


PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 10:37 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

This is an interesting observation in relation to the aperture control on the Sony A7.
http://www.ebay.ie/itm/131647086907

"Sigma makes three variants of the 400 F5.6 lens, the non-APO version and APO version (both 72mm filter size), and this is the latest APO HSM macro version (with 77mm filter size).

Let's start with the downside of this lens. Basically, this lens was designed prior to the digital era (around 2000), and there are three major drawbacks when using this lens:
1. Metering is inaccurate -- when mounted on my Canon 5D mark III (also up for auction), this lens ALWAYS over-expose by about 2 2/3 steps. But the fix is easy -- just set exposure compensation to - 2 2/3 steps and we are DONE!
2. Aperture is locked at maximum value (F/5.6). I heard you can re-chip it to make it fully work, but I never bother doing so, as for a telephoto lens I only wish I can get faster (not slower) aperture:). Ironically, when I put this lens to my Sony A7 (with an EOS-NEX adapter), suddenly all aperture values are unlocked! So if you plan to use it on Sony's mirrorless cameras, then don't worry about the locked aperture.
3. It only support single-point AF. Fortunately, it can utilize all 61 AF point on my 5D mar kIII (but just one of them).

But if you (as I do) can live with them, then the most critical bright side of this lens is -- the image quality (IQ). I have seen review saying that Sigma's IQ is on par, or even better than the Canon counterpart (Canon 400mm F/5.6)! I don't have the Canon lens so I cannot do a direct comparison, but I know from my photos, they are tack sharp (even at maximum aperture) and beautiful! Besides IQ, AF is relatively fast, accurate, and silent, thanks to the HSM mechanism. I have been using it to shoot birds and other wildlife in pretty dark situations, and the results are very satisfactory. Another advantage: the minimum focusing distance of this lens is only 1.6 meter (~ 5ft), which means you can get much closer to your objective (the Canon 400mm lens' closest focus distance is 3m, or 10ft), and this lens claims approximately 1:3 magnification ratio, a very nice bonus for such telephoto lens because of the separation of objective and background."

I am asking the seller now to confirm whether electronic apertures control is possible with the Sony A7.


PostPosted: Tue Nov 10, 2015 10:45 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Here's the reply:

The Sigma 400/5.6 lens does have full electronic aperture control from the Sony A7 body and I can get aperture from F/5.6 all the way down to F/22. My adapter is a Metabone EF-NEX III and the AF speed is pretty slow. However I have read from a Chinese photography site saying that there is another adapter (Techart/DEO EF-NEX III dual mode adapter) can fully supports this lens, and AF speed is fast.

Another thing: do you wish to use it exclusively on Sony A7, or do you plan to use it on Canon body sometimes? One weird thing, if you use this lens on A7 (via adapter) then the aperture automatically sets to minimum (F/22 I think) once the A7 camera is turned off. And if you take the lens off and re-mount it on a Canon body then the Canon body cannot recognize it -- because you have to set the aperture to maximum (F/5.6) when using with Canon, not any aperture smaller. If that happens, simply put the lens back to A7, set aperture to F/5.6, take a photo, then directly take the lens from the adapter, and this ensures the aperture locks at F/5.6.


PostPosted: Wed Nov 11, 2015 12:52 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

stingOM wrote:
This is an interesting observation in relation to the aperture control on the Sony A7.

"Sigma makes three variants of the 400 F5.6 lens, the non-APO version and APO version (both 72mm filter size), and this is the latest APO HSM macro version (with 77mm filter size).

2. Aperture is locked at maximum value (F/5.6). I heard you can re-chip it to make it fully work, but I never bother doing so, as for a telephoto lens I only wish I can get faster (not slower) aperture:). Ironically, when I put this lens to my Sony A7 (with an EOS-NEX adapter), suddenly all aperture values are unlocked! So if you plan to use it on Sony's mirrorless cameras, then don't worry about the locked aperture.

I am asking the seller now to confirm whether electronic apertures control is possible with the Sony A7.


My Sigma Apo HSM 77mm filter 400mm, before rechipping, seemed to work well with my Sony A7 and my EF-NEX adapter. I could select all the apertures and take pictures. Unfortunately, all the photos taken with stopped down apertures were overexposed, the most when I selected a small aperture. So to me it seemed the lens plus adapter would tell the camera it closed the aperture without actually doing so. Now, after rechipping, it works as planned. Maybe there are differences between EF-NEX adapters, mine is a cheaper version, no name written on the adapter itself.