Hello dear list members, Last weekend I was shooting the iceclimbing worldcup in Pitztal / Austria. It was very, very cold - about minus 23 degrees celsius - and after shooting the whole day, I experienced something very strange: my Sigma 2.8/70-200 HSM stopped auto-focusing. I already knew that my Sigma�s zoom ring is really cannot be twisted easily. I think this is caused by the lubricant, which gets "thicker" by the cold. But the stopping of the autofocus was new to me.
Fortunately, one colleague lent me his Canon 2.8/70-200 USM. And what can I say? Now as I have the direct comparison, I have to admit that IMO the Canon is much better. Everything worked absolutely smooth, and the autofocus is more precise and much faster. USM is superior to HSM from Sigma. I then packed my Sigma zoom in my down jacket to warm it up. When my colleague needed his zoom a while later, I tried out my Sigma and it worked as usual. So the autofocus failure must have been caused by the low temperatures. BTW: as body, I use a EOS 3, and I had no problems with any other lenses I had with me, though they have been in the cold also (including a Sigma 17-35 HSM). If I had the money, I would immediately switch to the Canon lens... Maybe this report is a help for anybody who has to decide between the two lenses mentioned above. Best regards from snowy Germany, Marco ------------------------------------------------- Marco Kost Journalist - Bild und Text Otto-Mair-Ring 5 83607 Holzkirchen Tel.: 08024 / 47 41 55 Mobil: 0179 / 118 9113 Website: www.mountains-and-more.de Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------------------------------------------- * **** ******* *********************************************************** * For list instructions, including unsubscribe, see: * http://www.a1.nl/phomepag/markerink/eos_list.htm ***********************************************************
