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Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm tale of woe with a happy ending!
I learnt a life lesson yesterday following a visit to Sigma UK but the story starts back in 2006.
I bought a new Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm lens in September 2006 from a dealer in America which was the first Sigma lens I had ever owned. However when I tried it on my E-1 the auto focus performance was very poor, hunting and rarely locking on. So I ended up, for some reason doubting myself, that it was happening because of something I was doing or that my E-1 body was some how affecting it. Result, I only ever used it 3 or 4 times until I bought a E-510 last summer.
The lens still did not perform well on my sparkling new E-510, but again for some reason I did not believe that such an expensive high quality lens could be defective when new. Next thing I decide to do is put the lens back in its box and put it in the cuboard. Net result being that I never used the lens and every time I thought about it I simply got stressed and fed up! So I now let the lens go past its 1 year warranty and on a rainy Sunday afternoon I decide to clear my cuboard up and rediscover this monster that makes me frustrated and stressed.
By chance I sold some of my spare Olympus gear to a lovely guy in Scotland and while we were chatting on the phone he mentions that he has a "Bigma". He then tells me how happy he is with the lens and when I ask about the auto focus he tells me that it is great no problems at all. He also tells me that our great administrator Ian has some contacts at Sigma UK and I should talk to him. Then a miracle happens I decide to actually do something about it before Christmas !!
I sent Ian a PM who encourages me to return the lens to Sigma. So I rang them and spoke to one of their service engineers who tells me they would be happy to test the lens but they may have to charge me as the lens is out of warranty but please leave it till after Christmas to post it back. So yours truely then gets sick after Christmas just to delay things further until yesterday when I decide that as I do not live too far from Sigma UK I will drive up and deliver the lens rather than risk posting it.
I arrive at Sigma and ring the bell and a smiling friendly face welcomes me and listens to my tale inaction very sympathetically. He then he disappears with my lens saying "give me 5 minutes and I will be back". He returns and tells me that having done a quick "out of the window" check that there is definitely something wrong with the lens and that they will be very happy to repair it and make no charge for it as it must have been faulty since new.
So for any readers that have kept reading all this, I have learnt a very big life lesson. Simply, if something bothers you just get on and actually do something about it and do not let it wind you up by not doing anything!!
I have nothing but praise for the wonderful guys at Sigma UK who could not have been nicer. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have the pleasure of returning to Sigma to pick up my fully working "Bigma". So that will bring to a close this frankly pathetic 16 months of dithering by "Captain Inaction"
Cheers
Chris
P.S. A big thank-you to Ian for giving me a reason to do something!
P.P.S. Could this be the longest post on our great forum?
P.P.P.S. Thanks for staying to the end!
I bought a new Sigma "Bigma" 50-500mm lens in September 2006 from a dealer in America which was the first Sigma lens I had ever owned. However when I tried it on my E-1 the auto focus performance was very poor, hunting and rarely locking on. So I ended up, for some reason doubting myself, that it was happening because of something I was doing or that my E-1 body was some how affecting it. Result, I only ever used it 3 or 4 times until I bought a E-510 last summer.
The lens still did not perform well on my sparkling new E-510, but again for some reason I did not believe that such an expensive high quality lens could be defective when new. Next thing I decide to do is put the lens back in its box and put it in the cuboard. Net result being that I never used the lens and every time I thought about it I simply got stressed and fed up! So I now let the lens go past its 1 year warranty and on a rainy Sunday afternoon I decide to clear my cuboard up and rediscover this monster that makes me frustrated and stressed.
By chance I sold some of my spare Olympus gear to a lovely guy in Scotland and while we were chatting on the phone he mentions that he has a "Bigma". He then tells me how happy he is with the lens and when I ask about the auto focus he tells me that it is great no problems at all. He also tells me that our great administrator Ian has some contacts at Sigma UK and I should talk to him. Then a miracle happens I decide to actually do something about it before Christmas !!
I sent Ian a PM who encourages me to return the lens to Sigma. So I rang them and spoke to one of their service engineers who tells me they would be happy to test the lens but they may have to charge me as the lens is out of warranty but please leave it till after Christmas to post it back. So yours truely then gets sick after Christmas just to delay things further until yesterday when I decide that as I do not live too far from Sigma UK I will drive up and deliver the lens rather than risk posting it.
I arrive at Sigma and ring the bell and a smiling friendly face welcomes me and listens to my tale inaction very sympathetically. He then he disappears with my lens saying "give me 5 minutes and I will be back". He returns and tells me that having done a quick "out of the window" check that there is definitely something wrong with the lens and that they will be very happy to repair it and make no charge for it as it must have been faulty since new.
So for any readers that have kept reading all this, I have learnt a very big life lesson. Simply, if something bothers you just get on and actually do something about it and do not let it wind you up by not doing anything!!
I have nothing but praise for the wonderful guys at Sigma UK who could not have been nicer. Hopefully in a couple of weeks I will have the pleasure of returning to Sigma to pick up my fully working "Bigma". So that will bring to a close this frankly pathetic 16 months of dithering by "Captain Inaction"
Cheers
Chris
P.S. A big thank-you to Ian for giving me a reason to do something!
P.P.S. Could this be the longest post on our great forum?
P.P.P.S. Thanks for staying to the end!
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