# Sigma Releases Optimization Pro v1.2.0 and USB Dock Firmware Update



## Canon Rumors Guy (Apr 18, 2014)

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<p><b>Sigma Releases Optimization Pro v1.2.0 Update</b>

We are pleased to announce the availability of the new “SIGMA Optimization Pro Ver1.2.0 for Windows” and “SIGMA Optimization Pro Ver1.2.0 for Macintosh”, the dedicated software for the SIGMA USB DOCK which allows customers to update the lens firmware of new product lines, as well as to customize settings such as AF and focusing position.</p>
<p>This download service is for SIGMA USB DOCK Users who are using our interchangeable lenses from 3 product lines (Contemporary, Art, Sports). As a SIGMA USB DOCK user, please be sure to update to SIGMA Optimization Pro Ver1.2.0, before carrying out any lens firmware updates.</p>
<p><!--more-->

Benefits of the SIGMA Optimization Pro software update:</p>
<p><b>SIGMA Optimization Pro Ver1.2.0 for Windows & Macintosh</b></p>
<ul>
<li>New switch feature for Full-time MF setting.</li>
</ul>
<p>* This customization of Full-time MF function is only available for the SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM A014.

* The Full-time MF function will be available after the SIGMA USB DOCK firmware is updated to Ver1.01 or above.

* The function limits will vary from on the camera you use.</p>
<p><b>Download:</b> <a href="http://www.sigma-global.com/download/en/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow">SIGMA Optimization Pro Ver1.2.0</a></p>
<p><b>SIGMA USB DOCK Firmware Update</b></p>
<p>Thank you for purchasing and using our products.</p>
<p>We are pleased to inform you the SIGMA USB DOCK Firmware Update is now available.</p>
<p>This firmware update allows you to use the SIGMA USB DOCK with the SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM A014. If you have the products mentioned below, please start up SIGMA Optimization Pro and then operate lens firmware update.</p>
<p><b>Benefits of this firmware update</b></p>
<ul>
<li>It will be compatible with SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM A014.</li>
</ul>
<p><b>Applicable products</b></p>
<ul>
<li>SIGMA USB DOCK SIGMA</li>
<li>SIGMA USB DOCK CANON</li>
<li>SIGMA USB DOCK NIKON</li>
</ul>
<p>* Please update SIGMA Optimization Pro to Ver1.2.0 in addition to updating the SIGMA USB DOCK Firmware to Ver1.01 before using it with SIGMA 50mm F1.4 DG HSM.</p>
<p>In order to update the USB Dock firmware, please connect the device to your computer using the USB cable and then open Sigma Optimization Pro.</p>
<p>via [<a href="http://www.the-digital-picture.com/News/News-Post.aspx?News=9515" target="_blank">TDP</a>]</p>
<p><strong><span style="color: #ff0000;">c</span>r</strong></p>
```


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## Viggo (Apr 18, 2014)

I was JUST praising Sigma for the wonderful firmware update for lenses in another thread. Way to go Sigma.


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## e-d0uble (Apr 18, 2014)

I updated my USB dock firmware to "1.2.0" and still find it to be useless a product. Each time I connect my 35A to it, I'm told there is a firmware update for the lens (1.02 I believe) so, I update the firmware and disconnect the lens. If I reconnect the lens I'm told again about the same update. If I don't disconnect the lens I'm able to adjust the focus settings, but as soon as I disconnect the lens and reconnect I'm again told about the same firmware update. If, while the lens is still connected I hit "later" to the firmware update the "customize" button is greyed out and I can't make changes. I thought at first the issue lay with my laptop, so I used a different computer - same problem. Perhaps the issue is with the lens BUT - months ago, and after several cycles of this nonsense, I was actually able to set the focus adjustments and use the lens. If I reconnected it to the dock, I wasn't prompted to update the firmware and the focus settings I changed stayed. I figured I was out of the water. I was wrong. After a few weeks, I reconnected the lens and was again prompted to update the firmware. Rinse and repeat. I've had to write down the settings I made so I don't have to attain them every time this problem occurs.

Updating the dock firmware and connecting the lens just now, I'm once again prompted to upgrade its firmware. Perhaps the lens "forgets" its firmware after a few hours. Who knows. While I am looking forward to the 50A and I do love my 35A I'm very disappointed with this dock product, it's a stinker.


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## Viggo (Apr 19, 2014)

e-d0uble said:


> I updated my USB dock firmware to "1.2.0" and still find it to be useless a product. Each time I connect my 35A to it, I'm told there is a firmware update for the lens (1.02 I believe) so, I update the firmware and disconnect the lens. If I reconnect the lens I'm told again about the same update. If I don't disconnect the lens I'm able to adjust the focus settings, but as soon as I disconnect the lens and reconnect I'm again told about the same firmware update. If, while the lens is still connected I hit "later" to the firmware update the "customize" button is greyed out and I can't make changes. I thought at first the issue lay with my laptop, so I used a different computer - same problem. Perhaps the issue is with the lens BUT - months ago, and after several cycles of this nonsense, I was actually able to set the focus adjustments and use the lens. If I reconnected it to the dock, I wasn't prompted to update the firmware and the focus settings I changed stayed. I figured I was out of the water. I was wrong. After a few weeks, I reconnected the lens and was again prompted to update the firmware. Rinse and repeat. I've had to write down the settings I made so I don't have to attain them every time this problem occurs.
> 
> Updating the dock firmware and connecting the lens just now, I'm once again prompted to upgrade its firmware. Perhaps the lens "forgets" its firmware after a few hours. Who knows. While I am looking forward to the 50A and I do love my 35A I'm very disappointed with this dock product, it's a stinker.



I would take my laptop to the store you bought the docking and try another docking and another lens.


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## e-d0uble (Apr 19, 2014)

Dock was purchased via Amazon, so there's no taking it anywhere. Perhaps I'll have my friend bring his 35A over or wait and see if the same behavior occurs with the 50A.


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## drjlo (Apr 19, 2014)

e-d0uble said:


> Updating the dock firmware and connecting the lens just now, I'm once again prompted to upgrade its firmware. Perhaps the lens "forgets" its firmware after a few hours. Who knows. While I am looking forward to the 50A and I do love my 35A I'm very disappointed with this dock product, it's a stinker.



It's disappointing to hear this sort of thing, from perspective of possible future Sigma lens buyers.


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## enshong (Apr 22, 2014)

e-d0uble said:


> I updated my USB dock firmware to "1.2.0" and still find it to be useless a product. Each time I connect my 35A to it, I'm told there is a firmware update for the lens (1.02 I believe) so, I update the firmware and disconnect the lens. If I reconnect the lens I'm told again about the same update. If I don't disconnect the lens I'm able to adjust the focus settings, but as soon as I disconnect the lens and reconnect I'm again told about the same firmware update. If, while the lens is still connected I hit "later" to the firmware update the "customize" button is greyed out and I can't make changes. I thought at first the issue lay with my laptop, so I used a different computer - same problem. Perhaps the issue is with the lens BUT - months ago, and after several cycles of this nonsense, I was actually able to set the focus adjustments and use the lens. If I reconnected it to the dock, I wasn't prompted to update the firmware and the focus settings I changed stayed. I figured I was out of the water. I was wrong. After a few weeks, I reconnected the lens and was again prompted to update the firmware. Rinse and repeat. I've had to write down the settings I made so I don't have to attain them every time this problem occurs.
> 
> Updating the dock firmware and connecting the lens just now, I'm once again prompted to upgrade its firmware. Perhaps the lens "forgets" its firmware after a few hours. Who knows. While I am looking forward to the 50A and I do love my 35A I'm very disappointed with this dock product, it's a stinker.




Hi. Just signed up to share my experience with the dock.

I have the dock and the 35mm Art too. My lens firmware was 1.01, my Sigma Optimization Pro software was 1.2, and I was also getting the notification about a new firmware for the lens (1.02) when I already tried to update it. The problem was the lens wasn't really updated to 1.02 or the software doesn't know. Every time the lens gets reconnected, you might notice that in the lens info, it'll still be 1.01. 

This is what I did:
1. Open Sigma Optimization Pro
2. Attach the Sigma 35mm Art lens
3. Wait for the popup saying there's a new firmware (or check firmware)
4. Update and wait
5. Once the update is complete, a popup will show saying the lens is updated and you can remove the lens, *DO NOT CLICK "Close"*
6. Remove the lens itself from the dock (not the USB cable)
7. Re-attach the lens and it should be updated now

I hope this will work for you! 

The tweaks I can do through the dock really works and I'm glad Sigma provides us with this capability. Some will say that lenses should work out of the box without MFA or stuff but I beg to differ. I've been a Nikon user for a number of years and I only used high-end Nikkors. Even then, I had to do MFA in body and some lenses needed different values at different focus distances. In our country, Nikon's service is basically crap (it would take a month even just for sensor cleaning) so I lived with it. It was with the Nikon D800 that I first bought a Sigma lens (the 35mm Art) and I super loved it as it was super sharp and pretty accurate except at really far distances where it does front-focus. I converted to Canon and I knew which 35mm I wanted and also got the dock. It's kinda fun for a DIY guy like me to tinker around and experiment with the lens. One thing I wish though is for Sigma to make the 4 focus distance ranges to be user-specified or at least more varied.


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## Viggo (Apr 22, 2014)

enshong said:


> e-d0uble said:
> 
> 
> > I updated my USB dock firmware to "1.2.0" and still find it to be useless a product. Each time I connect my 35A to it, I'm told there is a firmware update for the lens (1.02 I believe) so, I update the firmware and disconnect the lens. If I reconnect the lens I'm told again about the same update. If I don't disconnect the lens I'm able to adjust the focus settings, but as soon as I disconnect the lens and reconnect I'm again told about the same firmware update. If, while the lens is still connected I hit "later" to the firmware update the "customize" button is greyed out and I can't make changes. I thought at first the issue lay with my laptop, so I used a different computer - same problem. Perhaps the issue is with the lens BUT - months ago, and after several cycles of this nonsense, I was actually able to set the focus adjustments and use the lens. If I reconnected it to the dock, I wasn't prompted to update the firmware and the focus settings I changed stayed. I figured I was out of the water. I was wrong. After a few weeks, I reconnected the lens and was again prompted to update the firmware. Rinse and repeat. I've had to write down the settings I made so I don't have to attain them every time this problem occurs.
> ...



Excellent, thanks for sharing, hopefully that does the trick for people struggling to update. And I have placed a preorder for the 50 and will buy the dock also.


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## e-d0uble (Apr 23, 2014)

Interesting. Thanks for the tip, which I'll certainly try.



enshong said:


> e-d0uble said:
> 
> 
> > I updated my USB dock firmware to "1.2.0" and still find it to be useless a product. Each time I connect my 35A to it, I'm told there is a firmware update for the lens (1.02 I believe) so, I update the firmware and disconnect the lens. If I reconnect the lens I'm told again about the same update. If I don't disconnect the lens I'm able to adjust the focus settings, but as soon as I disconnect the lens and reconnect I'm again told about the same firmware update. If, while the lens is still connected I hit "later" to the firmware update the "customize" button is greyed out and I can't make changes. I thought at first the issue lay with my laptop, so I used a different computer - same problem. Perhaps the issue is with the lens BUT - months ago, and after several cycles of this nonsense, I was actually able to set the focus adjustments and use the lens. If I reconnected it to the dock, I wasn't prompted to update the firmware and the focus settings I changed stayed. I figured I was out of the water. I was wrong. After a few weeks, I reconnected the lens and was again prompted to update the firmware. Rinse and repeat. I've had to write down the settings I made so I don't have to attain them every time this problem occurs.
> ...


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## Denverphotographer77 (May 26, 2014)

I have a question regarding using the Sigma Optimization Pro software while using a full-frame lens (Sigma 35mm f1.4 DG HSM A) and a crop sensor camera (Canon 70D).

It is clear that the focus distance markings on the lens will not be accurate, as I am using the lens on a crop-sensor camera.

With that being a known factor, how am I supposed to properly adjust for the focus distance settings within the Optimization Pro Software?

Which of the following procedures should I follow, if any?:

1) Ignore the true distance between the camera and my focus point, and use the distance markings on the lens to adjust for that distance range within the software? For example, let’s say that I want to adjust the “0.4” meters distance setting range within the software for the 35mm f1.4 lens. The others being 0.3m, 0.7m (approximately) and infinity. Should I shoot at a distance that corresponds to “0.4” meters showing on the lens because the distance on the lens is what is actually communicating with the software, despite the true distance between the camera and the target subject?

OR

2) Ignore the distance markings on the lens. Calculate the true distance between the lens and the target subject using a different method for distance calculation, i.e, tape measurer, and then use those true distances to make the corrections within the software based on the distance ranges referenced in the software (0.3m, 0.4m, 0.7m and infinity)?

Also, what distance from the target subject should I actually use to properly reflect infinity, since autofocus and manual focus adjustments will not be accurate as, again, i'm using a full-frame lens on a crop sensor camera?

I cannot find the answer to this scenario anywhere on their website, reviews, google searches, etc.

Thank you very much in advance for any info you are able to provide.


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## privatebydesign (May 26, 2014)

Denverphotographer77 said:


> It is clear that the focus distance markings on the lens will not be accurate, as I am using the lens on a crop-sensor camera.



Why do you say that? Distance is distance, crop or ff have no impact on that.


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## Denverphotographer77 (May 26, 2014)

For whatever reason, the distance markings don't seem to be that accurate. Maybe I need to do some detailed measurements. However, I initially took note of the following quote when I was reading reviews on the lens.

The below quote is from dpreview.com.

"The lens has a basic distance scale, with depth-of-field indicators for the minimum aperture of F16 only. Note that these are calibrated for use on full frame cameras; on APS-C the extremes of the indicated range won't appear as sharp"


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## Mt Spokane Photography (May 26, 2014)

Denverphotographer77 said:


> For whatever reason, the distance markings don't seem to be that accurate. Maybe I need to do some detailed measurements. However, I initially took note of the following quote when I was reading reviews on the lens.
> 
> The below quote is from dpreview.com.
> 
> "The lens has a basic distance scale, with depth-of-field indicators for the minimum aperture of F16 only. Note that these are calibrated for use on full frame cameras; on APS-C the extremes of the indicated range won't appear as sharp"


 
I assume that you want to manual focus the lens to a measured distance?

Unless you have a hard geared lens, the distance markings will be off, just a ballpark at best. A Cinema lens is typically right-on. Consider getting a cinema lens if its important to be able to set the lens to a specified distance. Autofocus lenses are not, be they Canon, Sigma, Tamron, or Nikon.


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## privatebydesign (May 26, 2014)

Denverphotographer77 said:


> For whatever reason, the distance markings don't seem to be that accurate. Maybe I need to do some detailed measurements. However, I initially took note of the following quote when I was reading reviews on the lens.
> 
> The below quote is from dpreview.com.
> 
> "The lens has a basic distance scale, with depth-of-field indicators for the minimum aperture of F16 only. Note that these are calibrated for use on full frame cameras; on APS-C the extremes of the indicated range won't appear as sharp"



Ah, that is referring to the dof scale, not the distance scale. The dof is different for the same aperture on ff and crop on the same lens and subject distance. 

The truth is that all lens dof scales are "mirky" at best, they actually use a different coc values to actual reproduction values so tend to be generous at the best of times, but a crop camera will be just over a stop less on the dof scale than a ff camera, so on a ff lens dof scale if the f16 is suggesting good dof, then for your crop camera where the f11 marks are will be as good. The actual focus distance is still the same though.


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## Viggo (May 26, 2014)

Fwiw, I measured with a tape measure when I calibrated the 50 Art, and as far as I could tell, the measured distance to the sensor matched the distance scale spot on.


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## wickidwombat (May 29, 2014)

Viggo said:


> Fwiw, I measured with a tape measure when I calibrated the 50 Art, and as far as I could tell, the measured distance to the sensor matched the distance scale spot on.



ditto


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## privatebydesign (May 29, 2014)

wickidwombat said:


> Viggo said:
> 
> 
> > Fwiw, I measured with a tape measure when I calibrated the 50 Art, and as far as I could tell, the measured distance to the sensor matched the distance scale spot on.
> ...



Lens focus distance scales are normally pretty accurate, their dof scales are normally next to useless, especially with modern short throw focus AF lenses. But the point about a lens being designed for ff and used on crop cameras making the aperture/dof numbers completely wrong is an interesting one and maybe a reason most lenses don't have them now.


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## Sean (Jul 22, 2017)

I tried the USB Dock on my 35mm 1.4 DG HSM and 50mm 1.4 DG HSM and 20mm 1.8 EXDG.
It says that these lenses are not compatible with the optimizer pro while these are the lenses enlisted by Sigma itself.
I use Mac Sierra 10.12.5 and the optimizer software and the USB Dock are all updated. 
 any solution/suggestion please?


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## SecureGSM (Jul 22, 2017)

welcome to the forum, 
Sigma USB Dock is compatible with Art, Contemporary or Sports lenses only.
You should be able locate "A", "C" or "S" logo on the side of the compatible Sigma lens. See the image attached.

It apperas that your lense


Sean said:


> I tried the USB Dock on my 35mm 1.4 DG HSM and 50mm 1.4 DG HSM and 20mm 1.8 EXDG.
> It says that these lenses are not compatible with the optimizer pro while these are the lenses enlisted by Sigma itself.
> I use Mac Sierra 10.12.5 and the optimizer software and the USB Dock are all updated.
> any solution/suggestion please?


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