Sabrina Burns
New member
Ok, so if you’ve seen my welcome post, you’ll know what equipment I’m using. A quick refresher….
Nikon Z6
FTZii mount adapter
Sigma 150-600mm contemporary telephoto lens
XQD memory card
Official Nikon battery
All equipment is used but was like new when I got it. I’ve had the Z6 and mount since February and I’ve been using the Sigma lens since 2020
So about 2 weeks ago, after all working well since Feb, the lens stopped focussing. I could part depress the shutter button and nothing was happening. I tried zooming in and out but nothing. I turned the camera off, then back on again and it sorted it out. All fine for days. It did it again a few days later, turning it off worked again.
I’ve been away visiting relatives who live near some wonderful nature reserves this week just gone so of course took my camera gear with me. We drove so no damage occurred to the gear. First day was fine. It started doing the same thing but turning it off was working. But over the remaining 5 days, it got more and more frequent and turning it off stopped working, turning it off and removing the battery worked a couple of times and then stopped working. I was always able to get it to work eventually, but there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason as to why it started working again, or any set length of time it would work for before going.
Things I’ve tried….
Cleaning all the contacts on the mounts (camera, adapter and lens).
Checking if any of the screws on the mounts need tightening.
Resetting all the camera settings in case something had been turned on or off that shouldn’t.
Flicking all the lens switches back and forth and trying the lens on each switch setting before ensuring they were all back where they need to be (especially AF!)
Checking the camera menu to ensure the focus menus were correct.
Updating the firmware on the camera and mount adapter. Camera needed an update but there wasn’t one for the FTZii.
Since coming home, I’ve been able to check the lens firmware - I naturally didn’t take the sigma dock away with me. The lens is still as up to date as it can be! I reset all settings on the lens while it was on the dock too.
None of this has solved the issue, it’s still intermittent.
My first thought was the lens was on the way out. But it works fine on the D500, and on my old D3400 without issue! So next thought was maybe the mount adapter… but all three of my Nikkor lenses have zero issue on it…. No focus issues at all! I wondered if maybe sigma lenses just aren’t properly compatible with the Z6 and mount adapter, as neither of my partners two sigma lenses work full stop…. But we’ve since discovered that both his lenses are discontinued. So I reckon they perhaps were discontinued long enough ago that they really aren’t compatible!
Every search I do to check if my lens will work with my set up says it will, and tells me that plenty of others have zero issue at all with this camera, mount and lens combo…. I’m at a complete loss!
Sorry for the essay but I wanted to make sure I covered all that I’ve tried. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything, but I’m open to suggestions for things I might not have tried!
Nikon Z6
FTZii mount adapter
Sigma 150-600mm contemporary telephoto lens
XQD memory card
Official Nikon battery
All equipment is used but was like new when I got it. I’ve had the Z6 and mount since February and I’ve been using the Sigma lens since 2020
So about 2 weeks ago, after all working well since Feb, the lens stopped focussing. I could part depress the shutter button and nothing was happening. I tried zooming in and out but nothing. I turned the camera off, then back on again and it sorted it out. All fine for days. It did it again a few days later, turning it off worked again.
I’ve been away visiting relatives who live near some wonderful nature reserves this week just gone so of course took my camera gear with me. We drove so no damage occurred to the gear. First day was fine. It started doing the same thing but turning it off was working. But over the remaining 5 days, it got more and more frequent and turning it off stopped working, turning it off and removing the battery worked a couple of times and then stopped working. I was always able to get it to work eventually, but there doesn’t appear to be any rhyme or reason as to why it started working again, or any set length of time it would work for before going.
Things I’ve tried….
Cleaning all the contacts on the mounts (camera, adapter and lens).
Checking if any of the screws on the mounts need tightening.
Resetting all the camera settings in case something had been turned on or off that shouldn’t.
Flicking all the lens switches back and forth and trying the lens on each switch setting before ensuring they were all back where they need to be (especially AF!)
Checking the camera menu to ensure the focus menus were correct.
Updating the firmware on the camera and mount adapter. Camera needed an update but there wasn’t one for the FTZii.
Since coming home, I’ve been able to check the lens firmware - I naturally didn’t take the sigma dock away with me. The lens is still as up to date as it can be! I reset all settings on the lens while it was on the dock too.
None of this has solved the issue, it’s still intermittent.
My first thought was the lens was on the way out. But it works fine on the D500, and on my old D3400 without issue! So next thought was maybe the mount adapter… but all three of my Nikkor lenses have zero issue on it…. No focus issues at all! I wondered if maybe sigma lenses just aren’t properly compatible with the Z6 and mount adapter, as neither of my partners two sigma lenses work full stop…. But we’ve since discovered that both his lenses are discontinued. So I reckon they perhaps were discontinued long enough ago that they really aren’t compatible!
Every search I do to check if my lens will work with my set up says it will, and tells me that plenty of others have zero issue at all with this camera, mount and lens combo…. I’m at a complete loss!
Sorry for the essay but I wanted to make sure I covered all that I’ve tried. I don’t think I’ve forgotten anything, but I’m open to suggestions for things I might not have tried!
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