Hey Russ,
My suggestion to everyone who asks about Sigma is to run, not walk the other way. I have over 30 years experience in photography, both as a shooter and as a retail sales person. Sigma does not now, nor have they ever made a lens that I think is worth a plugged nickel. My apologies to those that love and adore your Sigma but if you have seen what I have, I would see you agree, in seconds. They use poor grade construction materials in all of their product line. Cheap plastics, glues that run and don't stick and tape to hold elements in place. Not to mention they use cheesey tapes to attach circuit boards in the lens.
When was the last time you heard of a Canon lens needed to be rechipped / updated because it was not compatible with current bodies (the exception are the EF-S lenses).
There is a real reason the lenses are so much cheaper than factory stuff. The lenses are the most important investment in your kit - NOT THE BODY-. Bodies will come and go but the lens' life is considerably longer.
I have a 70-200 2.8 L with over 100k shots through and it is just now starting to show it's age. I bought it from a rental department where I used to work, in 1997. If you love creating images, step up to the plate and get the tools needed to do the job correctly. To me any thing else for a pro, is half way.
BTW did you update your firmware for your 10D? If so that could be one of the issues. But most likely it is the electronics board in the lens is shot. Try cleaning the contacts on both the camera and the lens just in case it is a simple fix
I guess the question is, is it worth the hassle of repairing a cheap lens that lasted 1.5 years or is it better to get something else. Hey, it's tax deductable.
Here is a better lens for you at B&H.
Canon USA Price : $ 419.95
Zoom Wide Angle-Telephoto EF 28-135mm f/3.5-5.6 IS Image Stabilizer USM Autofocus Lens
Take care, and I hope you solve your issue.
Les Baldwin
-----Original Message-----
>From: rebphoto <rebphoto@xxxxxxxxxxx>
>Sent: Jul 14, 2006 11:37 PM
>To: List for Photo/Imaging Educators - Professionals - Students <photoforum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
>Subject: A lens in need is a lens indeed.........
>
>Hi Gang..............
>
>Now here is an interesting one.............
>
>I bought a Canon 10D and a Sigma 28-105 lens about a year and a half ago.
>Up until the other night this combo has worked fine.
>
>Tuesday night I was doing some photos at a dress rehearsal
>for a local theatre company and a few times the camera locked up
>and the display flashed the err 99 code.
>
>If I turned the camera off and then turned
>it back on it would work fine for a while.
>
>Wednesday night I went back and was doing photos of the final
>dress rehearsal and about every 10 shots or so the camera would
>lock up and I had to keep turning the camera off and it was taking
>longer to keep it turned off before it would resume working.
>
>Amazingly I managed to get about 300 shots of the show!
>
>However at the end of the evening nothing I did would
>unlock the camera from flashing the err 99 code.
>
>I did a Google search on this and found about 9 bizillion
>hits on the err 99 code. And a great deal of them concerned
>using a Sigma lens in combo with a Canon 10D.
>
>No other brand of lens was mentioned in this problem.
>
>Now what is interesting is that if I take the lens off the camera
>and turn it on, the display comes on as it should, but if I put
>the lens back on it locks up and shows the err 99!
>
>It was mentioned that one may need to clean the contact between
>the lens and the camera body. Needless to say I had tried this.
>
>It was mentioned that people had sent their lens back
>to Sigma and had it "re chipped" to correct this problem.
>Apparently a chip in the lens was not talking well with the camera.
>
>A buddy of mine who owns a number of Canon lenses came over
>and we tried a few of his lenses on my camera and the display
>came on as normal and the camera was ready to go.
>
>
>Looks like I need to buy a new lens.
>
>
>What I find odd is that this combo worked fine for over a year.
>And since I only own one lens it wasn't like I had worn any thing out
>changing lenses a lot.
>
>???????????????????????????????
>
>Oh well......
>
>I would rather replace a lens that the camera body!
>
>
>Russ
>R.E. Baker
>Photography
>rebphoto@xxxxxxxxxxx
>
>Feed a Cat...
>Starve a Fever........
>
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