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Sigma 500 4.5 EX / Canon EF body compatibility? (2 Viewers)

Fowl Mouth

Just a guy with dogs
This is kind of a two part question, predicated on the desire to upgrade my old 20D. I'm curious to hear from Canon users (the few of you out there) what body you use for this lens. In my case it's an older non-DG lens.

My concern is that newest bodies may pose some compatibility issues. I had a chance to try a 7D Mk2 briefly in the field with a fellow birder, and after a few shots with my 500 EX his body froze up with some error code that required removing the battery to reset. I don't know if this was a fluke or what. It did work for a handful of shots before throwing the error. I plan on buying used anyway, so if I have to settle on an older gen body I'll be okay, since just about anything is going to be an improvement over the dinosaur I'm using now.

So yeah, A) what body do you use currently, and B) has anyone else experienced compatibility issues between this lens and newer Canon bodies?
 
I'm guessing you have the later non digital version of this lens? It looks identical to the new one but has the APO, EX & HSM markings? (The much older version looks completely different and my have compatibility issues). If it's the newer non digital, it's the one I have and have been using it for the last 6 years on 5 different Canon bodies from the 30D to the 6D and have had no issues with any of them.

I've had an occasional error code on my various lenses before and in those cases it just seemed to be random or the connections needed cleaned - can't remember if one of those was on this lens. The only difference between the digital and non digital, as far as I know, is the lens coating which is optimised for digital cameras. Can't say the quality has suffered as a result of not having this on my lens.
 
Frank, thank you for your response. Yes, it is the EX HSM, same as the current just without the newer DG coatings. And I believe you are correct that they are identical except for those coatings, the paint, and the grip pattern on the focusing ring.

I also wondered if it might have been a dirty contact issue. I'm glad to hear you use a 6D with yours, as that's a very recent body.
 
I used the same lens on a 7D2 with no problems at all.
I have had this lens for 3yrs from new. It works well with my 7d and 7d2 also my 650d. It also works with my Olympus em1 and em5mk2 using a metabones adapter which gives 1000mm without converters.
The only drawback is they ( Olympus)are not especially good with BIF. I have had the odd black frame but nothing worth worrying about, defo not had to remove battery. The siggy is particular about converters and I have found the kenko dgx pro 300 good.
Kind regards Mike
 
Thanks for the response, Mike.

Just as a follow up to close the open question of this thread, the lens works flawlessly with the 70D. Just in case anyone stables here looking for a resolution.
 
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