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Help with Sigma Dock for my 7200

sigma 18-35 nikon

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#1
CreativityNy

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Hi so I am new to these usb docks. I've only used a D90 my whole career and have recently upgraded to the 7200. I am looking to buy the Sigma 18-35 nikon this week but have read you need to fine tune the AF with a Sigma USB dock. I have no idea what the heck that means and cant find any info. Can anyone quick walk me through this process? Thanks!



#2
banffdude

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Hi and Welcome

 

I'll try not to turn this into a wall of text or an epic tale in line with The lord of the Rings, but I make no promises :)

 

My previous camera was a D90 (converted to IR) and I also upgraded to a D7200 a little over a year ago and it is a great camera, especially for the price.

 

At the start of the year I also purchased the Sigma 18-35 art Plus the USB dock.

 

Obviously, you have done some reading, as you are under the impression that you HAVE to fine tune the lens with the dock, let me put this right, if you have a good copy of the lens there is no need.

That lens when it is right is unbelievable sharp and I love it.

 

The Dock is there for when focus maybe is a little out, and the only way to test is to take test shots at different ranges and focal lengths all at f1.8 and view the sharpness.

If it is a little out for your taste or a lot out, and believe me , there is not a lot of DOF at 1.8 you can plug the lens into the dock open the software and adjust the calibration at set focal lengths and focal distance (this requires a lot a patience and test shots).

The idea is that not only will you adjust the focus for those lengths but the curve generated will fill in the gaps and it will generate sharp focus across the board.

 

Well to be honest, I believe the dock probably does a fantastic job on a prime lens, but on zooms, in my experience the results are unpredictable with razor sharpness at 20mm and out of focus at infinity (but please bear in mind, that I  am not an expert in this field and I may have been doing something unbelievable stupid).

 

As you can tell, I did have focus issues and spent a lot of hours taking test shots and using the dock and I could not get a consistent focus.

In the end I spoke to Sigma UK who were great , and sent the lens and camera back to them , which they then recalibrated lens to body, and after getting it back I can only say I love the sharpness they got out of it.

 

However, in fairness to Sigma, I must point out , that at the end of the day there may not have been an issue with the lens after all. I recently purchased the Nikon 200-500 5.6 (my most expensive lens purchase ever) and had focus issues. It resulted in my sending both the camera and lens back to Nikon under warranty for repair, where they found (yes you guessed it) the camera AF was not standard.

 

I now have the camera and lens back and the images are waaaay better and sharp, but as yet due to work constraints, I have not had a chance to test the 18-35 which I strongly suspect will now need to be recalibrated by Sigma with an apology from me for wasting their time and offering to pay for the work :(

 

I should now stop waffling and give it to you straight, the 18-35 is a superb lens and I truly love it, and it has opened my eyes to the quality of the Art lenses with my contemplating  getting both the new 14mm 1.8 when it is released for Astro and the 85 mm 1.4.

 

The only thing is , in my opininion, there is no need to get the USB dock unless you are going to go with primes in the future as, if there is a problem with the 18-35 from new, I would just send it into Sigma under warranty for calibration, just be sure that it is the lens and not your camera.

 

If you are going to be buying more SIgma Art lenses, then it may well be worth it, from my point of view, I have no regrets buying the USB dock as a) it is not expensive and B) there are at least two Art primes I am looking to purchase, the quality is that good.

 

And do I love my 18-35? YES, I just wish it could have been 14-50 but I'm not sure if that is possible or if I would be able to lift it :)

 

Hope this helped

 

'And he lived happily to the end of his days'