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Product Description
Which Digital Camera - September 2006
'A superb lens that's excellent value for what you get. This lens will deliver to even the most critical users.'
Product Description
- Lens System: Macro lens
- Mounting Type: Canon EF
- Lens Aperture: F/2.8
- Focal Length: 105 mm
- Min Focus Range: 31.3 cm
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
15 of 15 people found the following review helpful
I bought this macro lens as I wanted to do some basic macro photography using a full-size sensor.. Firstly I can definitely recommend that 100mm focal length is ideal for starting at macro - 50mm is just too wide (probably more use for portraits) and 150mm is just too expensive.
This Sigma lens is solidly built and certainly doesn't feel plastic at all - it's part of the EX range which are the top tier of Sigma lenses (easy to spot by having a gold ring at the end of the lens). Focussing is sharp and as a keen amateur I certainly can't see any shortcomings in this lens in terms of quality (f2.8 is certainly wide enough for me as even at that aperture I can throw the sharpness on macro shots very easily - I actually found I was using f4 most the time as the sharpness was falling off too quickly so focus has to be spot on)
There are a few things I don't really like about this lens though. The auto-focus is quite slow (especially when compared to the USM Canon equivalent, albeit quite a bit more expensive), and the collar which is used to select auto or manual focus is quite clumsy and just doesn't feel right. That said for most pure macro work you're best off using the manual mode and once in that setting the control is pretty good.
My other complaint is that if you put a UV filter on you can't put the cap on - this is because the cap fits the inside of the front of the lens in a slightly different way to most lenses... easily rectified with either not using the UV filter (which is fine since the front of the glass is set a long way back from the front of the lens so is difficult to damage) or buying a suitable cap (prob £10).
This Sigma lens is solidly built and certainly doesn't feel plastic at all - it's part of the EX range which are the top tier of Sigma lenses (easy to spot by having a gold ring at the end of the lens). Focussing is sharp and as a keen amateur I certainly can't see any shortcomings in this lens in terms of quality (f2.8 is certainly wide enough for me as even at that aperture I can throw the sharpness on macro shots very easily - I actually found I was using f4 most the time as the sharpness was falling off too quickly so focus has to be spot on)
There are a few things I don't really like about this lens though. The auto-focus is quite slow (especially when compared to the USM Canon equivalent, albeit quite a bit more expensive), and the collar which is used to select auto or manual focus is quite clumsy and just doesn't feel right. That said for most pure macro work you're best off using the manual mode and once in that setting the control is pretty good.
My other complaint is that if you put a UV filter on you can't put the cap on - this is because the cap fits the inside of the front of the lens in a slightly different way to most lenses... easily rectified with either not using the UV filter (which is fine since the front of the glass is set a long way back from the front of the lens so is difficult to damage) or buying a suitable cap (prob £10).
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
I have had this lens for about a year now and must admit it has far outreached my expectations. I wanted a close up lens for nature photography and have found this little baby exceptional - so long as the camera is on a tripod the crispness of the photos is remarkable. For a macro close up lens this really does a great job and for that alone I would give 5 stars. However, as a portrait lens it is amazing. Colour balance and optical clarity is as good as a Canon lens, so considering that I only bought this lens for macro work, I feel I have really struck gold.
I am from the old school of film, manual settings and focussing, long evenings in my smelly dark room, long waits for colour prints and so much disappointment at wrong settings etc. This digital age is amazing and no way would I go back to 'good old film' and all that it entails. Having this lens on my Canon EOS30D is a marriage made in heaven. It also brings out the photographer in me once again, simply by being fixed, as opposed to zoom, it means I have to use my feet to find the right spot, causing me to take more care and time both framing and setting depth of field before I negin to press that shutter.
So there you have it. A brilliant macro lens and a superb portrait lens rolled into one.
I am from the old school of film, manual settings and focussing, long evenings in my smelly dark room, long waits for colour prints and so much disappointment at wrong settings etc. This digital age is amazing and no way would I go back to 'good old film' and all that it entails. Having this lens on my Canon EOS30D is a marriage made in heaven. It also brings out the photographer in me once again, simply by being fixed, as opposed to zoom, it means I have to use my feet to find the right spot, causing me to take more care and time both framing and setting depth of field before I negin to press that shutter.
So there you have it. A brilliant macro lens and a superb portrait lens rolled into one.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
This lens is just brilliant. The clarity of the produced images is superb.
It can sometimes be difficult when using it hand-held, but once you figure out the settings, you will be producing excellent results.
I found that setting my 450D to fully automatic often produced images with very shallow depth of field, so now I use Ap priorty and set the aperture to around F8 ro F10.
The macro capabilities are far better than I had hoped, and this lens should be a part of any photographers kit.
It can sometimes be difficult when using it hand-held, but once you figure out the settings, you will be producing excellent results.
I found that setting my 450D to fully automatic often produced images with very shallow depth of field, so now I use Ap priorty and set the aperture to around F8 ro F10.
The macro capabilities are far better than I had hoped, and this lens should be a part of any photographers kit.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Cracking macro, portrait and telephoto lens
Bought this to do some macro photos and have ended up using it also for some great portrait shots and general telephoto work. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Gary Congdon
Excellent portrait lens
Although this lens is marketed primarily as a Macro lens.I purchased this lens for my Canon EOS 450D for use as a portrait lens.The results are fantastic. Read more
Published on 13 Oct 2009 by T. Mckeon
Macro Lens
Great product, good price, good supplier. Have had some fantastic results from this excelllents Sigma lens.
Published on 20 April 2009 by Maurice Howse
Great mid-range Macro Lense
I purchased this lense after reading a review and taking a look at the Sigma site. I am relatively new to Macro photography and didn't want to spend silly amounts of money on an... Read more
Published on 19 Nov 2007 by S. Bashir
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