258306 105mm F2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro Lens for Nikon DSLR Camera

What a performer! I've been leery of buying "off-brand" equipment ever since I got into the photography game. I've always leaned toward matching brand to brand, because they know their business and nothing else can compare, right? Finally, though, I branched out a bit and trusted the recommendation of friends whose photography I respect, and I bought this bad boy to pair up with my Nikon D7100. One word - WIN! I've shot with Nikon's 105mm macro before, and it's no slouch, to be sure, but this lens isn't either, and it comes in at a lower price point (especially if you catch it on a sale for $569 like I did). I bought it without testing first, based on the aforementioned friends' recommendations, and right out of the box, I knew I had a winner. Compared to the Nikon, it just feels more solid. It seems like it weighs about a pound more than the comparable Nikon, in fact, which may be off-putting to some, but tends to give me more confidence in the build.... Where it differs from the higher priced Nikon is in the max aperture (f22 vs f32 on the Nikon), the focus speed when not limited to specific ranges (the Nikon locks a bit faster when hunting through the entire range), and the noise level from the stabilization (this one is much more noticeable. Not overbearing, but definitely louder). I can say this, though. I know when I'm going to be shooting macro vs. standard, so limiting the focal range with an easy to reach switch takes away the disadvantage in focus speed, and the noise from the OS practically disappears into nothingness once you're acclimated to it, so that's 2 of the 3 comparisons that, to me, don't make a difference in the world. As far as the aperture, will I miss the 1 stop difference between f22 and f32? To be honest, I'll never know, but I doubt the difference will be worth $230 to me at this point, so I'm going to risk saying "nope" to that. Picture quality is spot on, and comparing shots in my catalogue from both lenses doesn't show any difference to my eye, even when zooming in to full screen. Pixel peepers might be able to find something, but digging through all the detail that I can handle nets stunning results from both lenses, both in macro and standard ranges. The sharpness is spot on, distortion is minimal, and the bokeh is dreamy! Macro shots, product shots, portraits... for the price of this lens, even at $669, it's hard to justify another 100-200 bucks to brand match in this instance. I'm "all-in" for this lens!

I purchased this lens used from Japan and have found it to be excellent. It's as solid as a rock and the 105mm focal length means that your shadow does not spoil the image when taking macro shots. Attached is a photograph of a pitcher plant taken at the Arboretum in Wilmington, NC with a Nikon D5600. The crop, illustrating the hairs preventing the insects from exiting, shows the level of detail that can be obtained.

I'm writing this after only two days with this lens, but so far I love it. One of my favorite things to photograph is nature up close: flowers, butterflies, bugs, etc. I'm finding this to be the perfect focal length for that sort of work, making it easy to fill the frame with a small subject and throw the background completely out of focus. The macro capability is excellent and I'm amazed at how close I can get to a subject. There are a few specific observations that I can pass along so far. (1) One of the reviews that I found for this lens went into some detail regarding measurements they had made showing how the focal length and aperture change with focal distance (a real-world characteristic of macro lenses). They measured a true focal length of about 101 mm at infinity and about 75 mm at closest focus. The also measured the effective maximum aperture to be f/5.6 at closest focus (1:1 magnification). My experience tracks with that latter number, showing a need to dial in an exposure compensation of +2 EV when shooting around 1:1. (2) I process all my RAW files in Lightroom. Even with my good Zeiss 16-80 lens my normal practice is to add in a bit of vibrance to almost every image to get the look that I want on my calibrated monitor. (I prefer rich, vibrant colors for most images.) So far with this lens I haven't found this to be necessary. Colors seem to be exceptionally rich and true. (Purely subjective I know, but that's how it looks to me.) (3) Lightroom does have a profile for this lens, but so far I'm finding that turning on the profile correction makes essentially no difference -- the lens appears to be very distortion and vignette free, at least on my APS-C sensor. (4) This thing is BUILT. It has a sturdy, rugged feel to it. (5) The optical stabilizer seems to work very well. I'm shooting Sony with in-body stabilization so this is a new experience for me and so far I'm liking it. (Sony shooters -- don't try to use both in-body and lens stabilization at the same time. They will fight each other and can result in blurry images.) (6) The lens and hood together are quite long. If you add the hood extender (APS-C only) it is longer still. Just something to consider when you are figuring how to fit it in your camera bag. (7) Typical of Sigma, everything is included: front and rear caps, hood, hood extender, and a nice lens case and carrying strap.

A lente chegou antes do prazo previsto

Ich suchte nach einem sehr guten Makro das auch für Porträts nutzbar ist, da meine bisherigen Objektive diesen Spagat nicht optimal abdecken. Auch die Lichtstärke von 2.8 war neben der Brennweite entscheidend. Zur Auswahl stand das Tamron 90/2.8 und das Sigma 105/2.8. Aufgrund meiner positiven Erfahrungen mit Sigma wurde es dieses letztendlich und weil mir 90mm beim Tamron doch etwas zu wenig Brennweite war. Natürlich habe ich sehr viele positive und negative Bewertungen gelesen und war daher sehr gespannt wie es mir ergeht. Was soll ich sagen. Bin eigentlich sprachlos, so wie viele meiner Bekannten die auch schon sehr lange mit hochwertigen Geräten fotografieren und dies teilweise sogar semiprofessionell. Ich habe noch nie so scharfe und tolle Bilder gesehen. Selbst bei extremer Vergrößerung! Der oft bemängelte langsame Autofokus, ist mit der Alpha 77 II kein Thema. Insekten, Katzen, Hunde in Action fängt der AF zuverlässig und rasch ein. Natürlich ist es nicht so schnell wie ein auf Sportfotografie ausgelegtes Tele wie das Sony 70-200/2.8 oder mein Sony 16-50/2.8 , aber das ist durch den weiten , und im extremen Makrobereich notwendigen , Fokusweg erklärbar. Zudem kann man sowohl über meine Kamera als auch das Objektiv( Dreistufenschiebeschalter ) den Fokus für den jeweiligen so einstellen, dass nicht der gesamte Bereich abgefahren wird, was auch zur Beschleunigung beitragen kann. (nutze ich natürlich gelegentlich besonders bei weniger Licht bzw geringem Kontrast, wo sich der Autofokus mit mehrmaligen hin und her laufen naturgemäß etwas länger Zeit nimmt) Im maximalen Nahbereich wechsle ich dann auch sehr gerne mal auf manuelles Fokussieren um den exakten Schärfepunkt mit Hilfe der Kamerafunktion (Fokuspeaking) genau dorthin zu platzieren wo ich diesen haben möchte. Man kann schon beim Blick durch den Sucher erkennen wie schmal der Schärfentiefe Bereich bei der kleinsten Blende ist. Dies muss man speziell bei Porträts beachten um nicht ungewünschte Effekte zu erzielen. Zwischen der kamerainternen und dem optischen Bildstabilisator kann ich keinen Unterscheid erkennen, zumal die A 77 II bereits das Sucherbild stabilisiert (war bei der alten A77 nicht der Fall – nur bei Auslösung wurde das Bild stabilisiert), aber für diejenigen deren Kameras dies leider nicht eingebaut haben, sicher ein Vorteil das das Sigma diesen Stabi besitzt.. Zusammenfassend : + hochwertige Verarbeitung + umfangreiche Ausstattung (großer geposteter quadratischer Köcher mit Umhängegurt) ++++ Abbildungsleistung ++ Bokeh + leiser Motor +Preis/Leistung Wenn ich nachdenke was ich negativ bewerten würde, dann - für meinen Geschmack und Bedürfnisse einen leichten Backfokus (habe 2-3 Stufen über die Micro Einstellung im Kamera Menü korrigiert habe) -2 teilige Sonnenblende die man nicht komplett verstauen kann (nur der Frontteil lässt sich verkehrt über das Objektiv stülpen und im Köcher verstauen) Conclusio: Ich würde es jederzeit wieder kaufen und kann es nur empfehlen. Natürlich hängt es auch von der eingesetzten Kamera ab ob man einen schnelleren Autofokus, Bildstabilisierung, etc. besitzt oder eben nicht. Dies darf man aber meiner Meinung nach nicht negativ auf das Makro Objektiv schieben. Auch sind die Geschmäcker sehr individuell und es wird nie eine 100% Lösung für jedermann geben.

Very nice and it arrived on time

Siempre se han valorado de forma muy positiva los objetivos macro de Sigma. El 105mm. antiguo sigue manteniendo su fama por su contrastable calidad, que, como no podía ser de otro modo, continúa con esta nueva hornada. Entre las manos el objetivo da buenas sensaciones. Es de plástico, pero no es endeble, todo lo contrario. La bayoneta es de metal y encaja con suavidad y con firmeza en la cámara. Junto con el objetivo, viene una funda (bueno, más que una funda, se trata de una bolsa), que lo protege muy bien: tiene forma de prisma, es acolchada y lleva un cierre superior con cremallera. En la caja también vienen el parasol cilíndrico y una pieza alargador que, de acuerdo con las instrucciones, sirve para cuando acoplamos el objetivo a una cámara con sensor APS-C (recordemos que el objetivo está diseñado para cámaras de fotograma completo), aunque, la verdad sea dicha, aún no le he encontrado mucha utilidad, fuera de que, con él puesto, el objetivo resulta imponente. En cuanto a características de uso, digamos que no gira exteriormente y que hace algo de ruido (nada de importancia), tanto por el enfoque en sí como, me imagino, por el estabilizador. Tiene tres posiciones de trabajo: macro completo, posición para trabajo “normal” y otra posición intermedia, para distancias cortas sin llegar al macro total. En todas ellas funciona correctamente. El enfoque automático, sin ser ultrarrápido, no está mal, aunque para trabajar en macro lo mejor será utilizar el enfoque manual (con este objetivo y con cualquier otro, evidentemente). El rendimiento es muy bueno. Gran nitidez, buenos colores y muy pocas, por no decir nulas, aberraciones o distorsiones. Le he encontrado un poco de “back focus”, que se puede corregir con el regulador de la cámara, aunque, por esta misma razón, no lo recomiendo para cámaras que no tengan esta utilidad (por ejemplo, las series Nikon D5000 y D3000 con todas sus variaciones), salvo que utilicemos siempre el enfoque manual, o que nos toque una unidad que no manifieste el problema, que seguramente las habrá. Por mi parte, lo utilizo con una Nikon D7100 con la que se acopla de maravilla. Tal vez pueda resultar algo pesado, depende para quién, pero se maneja estupendamente, y montado en esta cámara resulta bastante equilibrado. El buen rendimiento que da no solo es aplicable a la función específica para la que fue diseñado, la macrofotografía, sino también para otro tipo de fotos, especialmente retratos. En mi caso (confieso tener mucha afición a los teleobjetivos), incluso lo utilizo para fotografía de paisaje, de calle, etc., con resultados óptimos. Una nota final: tuve hace un tiempo el objetivo Nikon 105mm. micro VR y si lo comparamos con el Sigma solamente le gana en la construcción, mucho más robusta en el Nikon. Desde el punto de vista de los resultados fotográficos, las diferencias aunque las hay, son muy pocas. Así que no dudaría en recomendar este objetivo que, si no se le va a dar un uso profesional (en este caso seguramente el Nikon sería más adecuado), nos dará muchas alegrías. Además, el Sigma cuesta casi la mitad, lo que se convierte en un argumento de peso para decidirse por uno de los dos. Ah, y por si a alguien le interesa, es “made in Japan”, frente al Nikon que es “made in China”, aunque esto, en los tiempos que corren, no creo que tenga ya demasiada importancia.

What a beast of a lens this is. I use the lens for everything, not just macro, as it's the sharpest lens I've ever used. Even at 100% on a 24MP sensor, the images are usually close to perfect. The times they are not are unlikely to be the fault of the lens, as it proves itself much of the time. The optical stabilisation (vibration reduction) works very well for stationary items. I haven't had results quite as good as some reviews have suggested, but on a good day I can take the shutter speed down to around 1/30th and get a lovely sharp image, but often I need a higher shutter speed than that. The OS definitely does improve things though and is very worth having. I've read many comments about the OS being noisy - But I don't understand why that's a problem. It's a low noise that you can barely hear and nobody further than a few feet away would even notice. Like any mechanical thing, you're going to hear it when it's sitting right by your face. So don't be put off this lens from comments about that. Auto-focus is accurate and consistent after calibrating to your camera (it's imperative to set the fine tune correctly for the sharpest images, if you have that option on your camera). Focusing is quiet and fast, and the lens does not rotate as focus adjusts. Manual override works well too, with a nice feel that isn't too loose or too tight. Resolution is excellent. I haven't done scientific tests but in the real world, I'm very impressed with the clarity and resolution of even distant objects. I have found one of the best tests of this is to look at distance buildings in your photos at 100%, and see how clear the bricks are. Although I'm not sure of exact numbers, the sweet spot for this lens seems to be around f9, and the images are faultless at this aperture. Even shots taken down to f4 are excellent, but you will notice a lack of clarity if you're pixel-peeping distant objects. I haven't used it much at wider than f4 so cannot give any accurate info about the quality wide open. For macro, the lens's intended use, the images are fantastic. Even down to f22, when you need more depth of field with macro work, the quality is very good. It's a heavy lens and you really notice this when using it on a tripod, as if you don't have the tripod head screwed tightly in place it's easy for the weight of the lens to pull the camera down and you risk damaging it. This isn't a fault of this lens of course, but is something to be careful of when in use. One thing to note with this and any other lens that has some sort of vibration reduction, is that it's only helping keep the camera effectively steady. If you're shooting anything that's moving, even just a little, you need to take that into account when calculating what shutter speed to use in the same way you would when using a non-OS lens. I highly recommend this lens, even for pro use.