Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

General discussions, bugs, support, suggestions
Post Reply
dfikar
Posts: 12
Joined: 10.05.2013 21:09

Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by dfikar »

Hi,

For some reason the focus buttons don't work with this lens on a Nikon D610 camera. I tried both my laptop (Windows 10) and Nexus 7 with the same result. I do not have this problem with my only other Sigma lens, a 105mm f/2.8 macro, on either the Windows or Android platform.
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Make sure the lens is set to AF, full range (if it has a range switch). If that doesn't help, then this lens doesn't support remote control.
Hervey
Posts: 21
Joined: 19.08.2015 17:47

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Hervey »

well indeed it does not work... too bad.. :(

well in fact the Auto Focus from Helicon Remote works.. that's one thing at least, but stacking with entry point and farthest entry point does not work.
all the images are taken with the same focus point.. and the blue arrows to navigate between entry points does not work either.
Hervey
Posts: 21
Joined: 19.08.2015 17:47

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Hervey »

btw, that would be cool to have a listing somewhere for the working lenses.. like the one for the cameras. :)
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

That's not feasible given the sheer number of lenses out there.
Hervey
Posts: 21
Joined: 19.08.2015 17:47

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Hervey »

oki, thank you Stas
MykBja
Posts: 1
Joined: 05.05.2018 09:27

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by MykBja »

I'm not getting steady results using Nikon D750 and Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art either.
The lens is not consistantly moving when using the blue step buttons.
It is towards camera that is the most troublesome.

Can we expect Helicon remote to support this lens?
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

I don't think it's something we can fix, or at least we don't know how to.
dxjunky
Posts: 5
Joined: 25.05.2018 00:33

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by dxjunky »

I don't know if the situation can be compared, but i had several problems using the USB cable on Canon Cameras. Helicon remote (and some other too) are quite sensitiv if the usb cable quality is not as good as required. The focus of every lense i had tested would not be works properly. The situation was changed if the Wifi link is used instead the USB. A frend uses a Nikon D850 and also got several issues with the USB port and cable on different computers.
He also went back to Wifi and the Helicon remote works as expected with all tested lenses - the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 art too. The latest Firmware should be installed in the lense. I had actually not found a lense who general support the required feature like "motor focus".
A Nikkor lense was not available because we don''t use such one.

I had also found several reported issues related to some Nikon and Canon systems. Often, the newer models are more related as the older models.
I agree, that this is not an issue of Helicon Remote, as more camera, computer and USB-Cableing problem.

We had tested following Lenses actualy with Helicon Focus and wifi connection without issues.

Sigma
- 180mm f/2.8 macro DG IS OSM
- 105mm f/2.8 macro DG IS OSM
- 70mm f/2.8 macro DG
- 50mm f/1.4 Art
- 30mm f/1.4 Art DC (Crop)
- 18mm - 200mm f/3.5-6.3 DC Cont
- 10mm - 20mm f/3.5 DC
- 18mm - 50mm f/3.5 DC

Canon
- 50mm f/1.8 STM
- 16mm - 35mm L f/3.5 USM III and (II)
- 28mm - 300mm L f/3.5-5.6 IS USM

The list is not complete but the number of checked lenses with Canon and Nikon Bodies with several programs who supported WiFi connectivity is not short. Some of the lenses are not regulary useful for focus bracketing, but we want to check if the issues who are reported are lense related or not.
Beware about the settings of the "interframe time delay" that, if i remember it right, default at 300ms. I would recommend to raise them to 500ms in the case of the sigma 50mm lense because is a heavy one and moves a bunch of lenses, that let vibrate the entire camera and need some time to get still again.
Sigma's 180mm f/2.8 macro lense is recommend to use a delay of 800ms to 1000ms between the captures.That's a heavy weight lense.

The Stabilizer needs to be off - of course.

The most available USB Cable quality is quite bad and the computers internal cabling is often less better.

An apple hardware is much better designed and the entire system is more reliable as any other system i had checked before.
Cheaper Android devices have a bad hardware design around the USB recepticle. In combination with cheaper USB-OTG converter cables, problems will be possible.

Hope this report will help's you to find a solution, even i am not a Nikon user.
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Thank you for sharing your findings. Note that some issues look like connectivity problems, but are actually caused by software conflict with other software that attempts to access the camera (remote control tools, camera import tools etc.). This is true for all the operating systems, but Mac Os and Android are affected more severely than Windows.
And yes, it is important to have good connection in the cables or OTG adapter. Sometimes everything looks OK, but the connection is loose and breaks up once in a while for a very short time. That causes issues that are hard to understand and diagnose.
bokeh
Posts: 3
Joined: 14.03.2019 00:16

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by bokeh »

Is there any hope for this? I can't focus my Sigma 50mm Art lens on my Nikon D850. It works fine with my other lenses. I'm now looking at alternatives to Helicon Remote. I'll be sorry to switch - it served me well in the past.
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Did you confirm that said alternatives work with this lens flawlessly? I'm pretty sure the problem is the lens, not the software.
bokeh
Posts: 3
Joined: 14.03.2019 00:16

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by bokeh »

Stas - It looks like you're right about the lens. I'm seeing the same problem as I start to experiment with other software. Do you know if HR works with the Tokina 50mm Opera lens?
Thanks
bokeh
Posts: 3
Joined: 14.03.2019 00:16

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by bokeh »

Today I tested HR with the Tokina 50mm f/1.4 Opera lens on a Nikon D850. It worked perfectly, so I traded in my Sigma 50mm Art lens for the Tokina and I'm back at work. The Tokina is comparable to the Sigma.
User avatar
Stas Yatsenko
Posts: 3841
Joined: 06.05.2009 14:05
Contact:

Re: Can't focus with Sigma 50mm f/1.4 Art lens

Post by Stas Yatsenko »

Glad to know you were able to solve the problem this way, and thanks for letting us know.
Post Reply