Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Medium Telephoto Macro Lens for Olympus and Panasonic SLR Cameras
by SIGMA
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Digital Photo Product Details
Manufacturer: SIGMARelease Date: 2006-05-04
Model: B000FBFXXS
Product features:
- Focuses down to 1:1 magnification ratio
- Extremely compact weighing only 16 ounces
- Lens hood, front & rear lens caps & case included
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Digital Cameras Photo Reviews of Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Medium Telephoto Macro Lens for Olympus and Panasonic SLR Cameras
Customer Review: A good, but imperfect lens
Summary: 3 Stars
The Sigma 105mm has received praises for many systems, and in some instances these rave remarks are rightly due. The lens is an excellent value with a good build and super sharp optics. However there are many quirks with the lens that often get overlooked. The auto-focus performance is worse than lackluster and switching from auto to manual focus is a bit tiresome. The build is good, but the design provisions for the lens hood and cap are disappointing coming from a manufacturer with so many years of experience.
The Sigma EX series of lenses are the top grade lenses within their lineup. Being such, the lens comes nicely finished in its matte black and gold decor with a very well made, padded, zip-up lens pouch. The lens itself has a nice heft, but is not overburdening and should fit quite comfortably on most cameras. One of the best, and most often used with macro, features is the mechanical manual focusing. This is much nicer to use than the focus-by-wire on other Four-Thirds lens brands and provides a solid and tactile feel when focussing. The glass is exceptionally sharp, bringing detail to a photo you would not have thought possible. And of course being a Four-Thirds mount, that 105mm focal length acts like a 210mm making for a very nice telephoto prime and gives excellent magnification for use as a macro lens.
But all of these bonuses come at a cost. To be such a nicely finished lens, I found the build could have been better in two areas; the lens hood design, and the auto-focus switching procedure. It is nice that the hood has a provision to use 77mm filters, especially polarizers. But the hood, being a screew-in type, does not reverse for storage on the lens. To make it worse, there is not even a provision that allows the provided lens cap to snap in place while the lens hood is in use. This could have been easily allowed by protruding the threads used to mount the hood to the lens on the inside of the hood to give the cap something to attach to. A pretty big oversight in my book.
To switch between auto and manual focus on other lenses is straight forward. You flip a switch on the camera body or lens or shift the focussing collar. On the Sigma, you have to do ALL three. To gain proper manual focus, you have to change the setting on the camera body, flip the switch on the side of the lens, and shift the focussing collar if you don't want it turning under your hand. Now why couldn't Sigma do like Tamron and Tokina and make it so you only have to shift the focusing collar? It would make switching a lot easier and quicker.
The biggest performance disappointment is with the auto-focus itself. Especially with a 2.8 aperture, you would think this would make a nice telephoto for use in low light. But the auto-focus is not very sensitive, which I know is in part due to my camera. But my LEICA zoom can focus faster than this lens in low light. And even in bright light, the lens tends to jerk back and forth multiple times before the focus is confirmed. This is also much worse than any Zuiko lenses I've tried. Again, I know some of this is due in part to the camera body in use, but you should try this lens first if you are considering using it for telephoto and portrait work and expecting to use autofocus.
Overall this lens is a bit of a mixed bag. On the one hand it is a light telephoto that possesses sharp optics and superb macro performance for an excellent price. On the other, the lens's AF performance is disappointing, especially in low light considering the bright aperture, the design of the accessories is a let down with this grade of lens, and the switching from AF to MF is burdensome if done frequently. I highly recommend trying this lens before buying. For me, it is the user experience that fell below expectations for this lens, but if any of these issues mentioned are not a concern for you, then you will be quite happy with this lens.
Description of Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Medium Telephoto Macro Lens for Olympus and Panasonic SLR Cameras
This Sigma Macro 105mm F2.8 EX DG is a large aperture medium macro lens ideal shooting the smaller things in our world that exist virtually unseen. A macro lens is one which will focus on a subject close enough to render it "life-size" on the image plane in your camera. It also has a "flat" field" front lens element so that it can shoot images of flat objects such as artwork or postage stamps and be tack sharp all the way across the image. This Sigma Macro 105mm F2.8 is ideally suited for taking pictures insects or other small creatures, but it is also the perfect focal length for facial portraits rendering the best perspective of the human face. This greater distance also allows the photographer more flexibility in lighting the subject with natural light reflectors. Three SLD (Special Low Dispersion) glass elements provide optimum color correction and sharpness throughout the entire range and a Super Multi-layer coating reduces flare and ghosting. A floating internal focus system enables a minimum shooting distance of 12.3 inches enabling ability to shoot with critical sharpness regardless of distance. So don't miss the tiny insects, flowers of the world or the details in a stamp or coin collection or a piece of embroidery all of which are seldom noticed but offer a fascinating world if you look closely enough. Capture them with the Sigma Macro 105mm F2.8 EX DG.Digital Camera Accessories
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