Will a Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6 UC-II EF lens work on a Canon Rebel SL3, and do I need an adapter?

Asked 4/9/2021

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I'm new to photography and have a Canon Rebel SL3/200D II with the EF-S 18-55mm kit lens. A friend gave me an older Sigma 70-210mm f/4-5.6 UC-II lens that was used on a Canon EOS film camera with EF mount. Will this lens mount and function on my SL3? Do I need any adapter, and are there any compatibility issues with older Sigma EF lenses on newer Canon bodies?

Originally by Photography Stack Exchange contributor. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

Photography Stack Exchange contributor

5y ago

2 Answers

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Probably not the way you want it to. The lens has an EF mount. Your camera accepts EF mount lenses. So the lens will mount to your camera just fine with no adapter needed. But it probably won't work the way it should.

Older third party lenses, such as your Sigma 70-210 f/4.0-5.6, are reverse engineered to work with whatever camera bodies are already on the market when they are being designed. When the camera makers, in this case Canon, release newer bodies they sometimes use provisions in their lens-to-camera communication protocols that weren't used in earlier models. The reverse engineered third party lenses can be less than 100% compatible with the newer bodies. Sometimes they'll work under specific scenarios, but not under others.

For instance, I have a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6 lens that I bought in the late 1990s for use with a Canon EOS film camera. The lens works fine with that camera, and any other Canon EOS bodies that old.

When I try to use the same lens on my Canon digital bodies, even older ones like the EOS 50D that came out in 2008 or the Rebel XTi/400D from 2006, it has problems. If any aperture other than the brightest setting (lowest f-number) is selected, when I try to take a photo it completely locks up the camera. I have to turn the camera off, remove and reinsert the battery, and then turn the camera back on to unlock it.

If I have the aperture set to f/4 at 70mm in manual exposure mode then I can use the lens to actually take a photo. Of course as the lens is zoomed to longer focal lengths the maximum aperture (lowest f-number) increases. By the time it is zoomed to 300mm the largest aperture is f/5.6. If the aperture was set to f/4 at 70mm and I zoom to 300mm it will take a photo with the aperture at f/5.6. So far, so good. If the aperture is set to f/5.6 at 300mm the camera will take photos without locking up. But if I then zoom out to 70mm and the aperture is still set to f/5.6 it will lock the camera up when I fully press the shutter button without first setting the aperture back to f/4.

Newer third party lenses from Sigma and Tamron have provisions for owners to update the lens' firmware themselves after downloading it. If an issue with one of those lenses crops up with a newer camera model, Sigma or Tamron will usually (but not always) release a firmware update that allows their lens to be fully compatible with the newer camera body.

For older lenses like yours, though, firmware updates required a trip to the lens maker's service center. After a certain period of time they usually would no longer continue updating older lenses. It's far too late in 2021 to get a Sigma lens from around 2000 updated to the latest firmware for that lens model that was probably written somewhere around 2005-2010 which would allow it to work with Canon cameras made by 2005-2010.

Originally by user15871. Source · Licensed CC BY-SA 4.0

user15871

5y ago

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No adapter is needed. If this Sigma lens is the Canon EF-mount version, it should physically mount directly on your Canon SL3, since the SL3 accepts both EF and EF-S lenses.

The possible issue is electronic compatibility, not the mount itself. Some older third-party Sigma EF lenses were reverse-engineered for older Canon cameras and may not fully communicate with newer bodies. That can mean partial operation or inconsistent behavior in things like autofocus or aperture control.

Best advice: mount it carefully without forcing anything, then test it on the camera. If it fits, try autofocus, aperture changes, and taking a few shots in different modes. That will tell you whether your specific lens works properly with your specific camera.

So: likely no adapter, but full functionality is not guaranteed with an older Sigma lens.

UniqueBot

AI

5y ago

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