EOS R7 won't recognize Sigma 120-300mm F2.8

[JRichards2012]

I recently purchased a R7 with the purpose of pairing it with my Sigma 120-300mm F2.8 Sports.  However it will not recognize the lens. That lens works perfectly with my adapted R6. And the R7 works just fine with other adapted Sigma lenses. Yet refuses to recognize that Sigma lens that i purchased it for. I have cleaned the lens terminals, taken the battery out of the camera, and replaced.  It still will not work.  I updated the firmware to 1.6.0 as well. Nothing works. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated.  

[ctitanic]

I respect your opinion, my comments are based on the information and experience that I have at the moment. I do not have any affiliation with Canon and I do own 3rd party lenses, adapters, batteries, etc. 

I have not seen an Official statement of Canon saying that they are not supporting 3rd party lenses but I have seen at least one company retiring their RF lenses from the market and I have read other pages saying that this move was per Canon request. The RF mount was implemented years ago and we still do not have any 3rd party lens in the market. 

May be I’m jumping into conclusions here. I just don’t want to create false expectations to somebody that came here hoping that Canon will help with his issue with a Sigma EF lens. 

[March411]

Appreciated Frank. And it is kind of you to use the word retiring when you mention one company has been: retiring their RF lenses from the market and I have read other pages saying that this move was per Canon request.

Canon expects anyone producing and distributing their lenses/peripheral items to be in a licensing agreement. It is speculation on my part but it appears Canon is taking a more aggressive approach to businesses releasing "Canon" hardware outside of license. I think they are sending a clear message by ensuring that items such as batteries are protected and difficult to clone. 

My involvement on forums is to help whenever possible. I always attempt to do the research to convey accurate information and will call it out when I am confident information is not truly accurate.  

No hard feeling, just conversation.

[Tronhard]

Hi Marc:
Without wishing to get into a big debate over this, I will submit two things I discovered on this:
The first one is from the Sigma site and refers to the lenses they have officially listed for the Canon RF mount, and are covered by a license agreement. 
SIGMA Introduces Lenses for Canon RF Mount: What You Need to Know | SIGMA Blog 
I note that these offerings have no OS, nor are they designed for the full-frame sensors.
They do not support digital lens optimization (which corrects some information I got from elsewhere)

As regards Canon's approach to third-party lenses on Canon R-series bodies.   

I thought the best thing to do was to contact Canon directly, which I did here in NZ - I asked if their response was going to be different from any other region and they confirmed this is Canon world-wide policy.  I posed four questions to the tech support rep.  I would encourage you to contact a local Canon support provider if you think that is contrary to the policy in your region.

Q1: Does Canon have a policy with regards to supporting 3rd-party lenses on Canon R-series bodies:
A1: Officially, Canon does not commit to supporting lenses or other attachments from 3rd-party sources especially if they do not have an approved licensing agreement with Canon.   This is because Canon has no control over the parameters under which such equipment is designed and manufactured, and is in line with standard business practice with other camera makers.

Q2: What support is provided for Sigma specifically, considering it has signed a license agreement with Canon?
A2: The license agreement currently is confined to a series of lenses natively compatible with the RF-S mount, although they can be used in crop mode with RF cameras in a way similar to Canon RF-S lenses.  There is, at present, no other announced agreement. Sigma are responsible for support for their lenses.

Q3: Will Canon provide support under any conditions for other lenses attached to Canon R-series cameras
A3:  We will always seek to be supportive of our customers, and our staff may, on an ad-hoc, purely case-by-case basis, and at their discretion, offer advice.  It should be noted that Canon International does not officially endorse or provide warranty to such advice that may be offered, and any advice given does not reflect the official position of Canon as regards such advice.  Thus, Canon accepts no warranty, expressed or implied for such measures.

Q4: Sigma published a compatibility table of lenses it says work with the Canon RF mount, does Canon support that?
A4: Such a list is compiled by Sigma and they are responsible for that.  Canon makes no commitment or warranty as to the compatibility, reliability or performance of 3rd-party lenses being adapted from their EF mounts to the Canon RF mount.  That is the right and responsibility of that party.  Canon will be responsible and provided official support for Canon EF and EF-S lenses adapted, via Canon EF-RF adapters to R-series bodies.

Without prejudice this is what I understand is the status.

[March411]

Hey Trevor:

It is not a debate but a conversation which is to some regard necessary as mis-information regarding support is frequent. It would have been better if you would have read my response prior to posting so I did not have to retype but it is OK if the message is clear.

Talking directly to Sigma I was told that the EF compatibility information was removed when approval was given to Sigma to manufacture and distribute RF lenses. I attempted to use the compatibility chart for EF glass and found it was amended when I wanted to check on a lens, hence I spoke to Sigma marketing.

Q1: Does Canon have a policy with regards to supporting 3rd-party lenses on Canon R-series bodies:
A1: Officially, Canon does not commit to supporting lenses or other attachments from 3rd-party sources unless they have been approved via a licensing agreement with Canon. This is because Canon has no control over the parameters under which such equipment is designed and manufactured and is in line with standard business practice with other camera makers.

Canon has approved via a licensing agreement with Sigma the production and distribution of both the EF and current RF APS-C Sigma lenses.

Q2: What support is provided for Sigma specifically, considering it has signed a license agreement with Canon?
A2: The license agreement currently is confined to a series of lenses natively compatible with the RF-S mount, although they can be used in crop mode with RF cameras in a way similar to Canon RF-S lenses. There is, at present, no other announced agreement.

Did you specifically inquire about the Sigma EF line as that is/was under agreement. The OP was discussing an EF mount lens when he was told there was no support for that lens. How this devolved into a debate about RF glass is not at all in line with the initial conversation. Canon will give customers technical support for lenses under the license agreement within their knowledge base and skill set. So the information you have supplied while informative is not germane to the conversation with the exception of the newly released RF Sigma glass. 

Q3: Will Canon provide support under any conditions for other lenses attached to Canon R-series cameras
A3: We will always seek to be supportive of our customers, and our staff may, on an ad-hoc basis, and purely on a case-by-case bases, and at their discretion, offer advice. It should be noted that Canon does not officially endorse or provide warranty to such advice that may be offered and any advice given does not reflect the official position of Canon as regards such advice. Thus, Canon accepts no warranty, expressed or implied for such measures.

I know, that is exactly my point and my personal experience! Canon will always seek to be supportive of our customers, and our staff may, on an ad-hoc basis, and purely on a case-by-case bases, and at their discretion, offer advice. Hence stating they will not offer support is inaccurate and should stop.

Q4: Sigma published a compatibility table of lenses it say work with the Canon RF mount, does Canon support that?
A4: Such a list is compiled by Sigma and they are responsible for that. Canon makes no commitment or warranty as to the compatibility, reliability or performance of 3rd-party lenses being adapted from their EF mounts to the Canon RF mount. That is the right and responsibility of that party. Canon will be responsible and provided official support for Canon EF and EF-S lenses adapted, via Canon EF-RF adapters to R-series bodies.

I never stated that Canon guaranteed compatibility. I also conveyed that the EF compatibility list was removed when the RF agreement was established. 

We can talk about this all we want but this single statement from Canon says it all! Canon will always seek to be supportive of our customers, and our staff may, on an ad-hoc basis, and purely on a case-by-case bases, and at their discretion, offer advice.

So back to my first statement that changed the direction of this thread. Stating Canon will not offer support for a Sigma lens is mis-information.

[ctitanic · Accepted solution]

We can debate all we want here but the bottom line is that there is little to nothing that can be done to help with the original question. Canon will not release a firmware to address an issue found in a 3rd party lens that was not designed to be used with a R system. Sigma most likely will not release a firmware update for an EF lens to fix an issue with a R camera. On top of that, Canon is not making any more EF cameras so there is not any insensitive for Sigma to fix anything, in the way I see this whole matter. 
The only thing he can do is to use the lens in any other camera that works with that lens and forget about using it in the R7. Cruel but the reality. 

[JRichards2012]

My Sigma 85mm f1.4 Art lens works fine on the R7. it's not on the list. 

[March411]

I had two Sigma lenses that are/were not listed that performed real well on my R6 Mk II and R50. The only challenge I had was the 18-300mm F3.5-6.3 DC MACRO OS HSM | C would not bump the R6 Mk II into crop mode automatically, I had to do it manually. My 17-70mm F2.8-4 DC Macro (OS) HSM | C worked perfectly. Canon support worked with me for a little over an hour trying to figure out the issue with the 18-300mm but we could never get it to work automatically.

It does seem a little hit and miss but all my Sigma lenses did work well on R bodies after firmware updates.

[shadowsports]

Frank is correct.  From Sigma's site:

I'm sure its a nice lens, but not on the R7 according to Sigma.  A firmware update could help?

[March411]

Hey Rick, good suggestion on the firmware update. The 120-300mm was discontinued and dated, the ability to update the firmware is no longer possible. I have an 18-300mm macro that I love, it is in the same category  and firmware is not available for R bodies. It will for some odd reason work on my R50.

(edited to correct name)

[JRichards2012]

Both the R7 and Sigma lens have the most current firmware updates.