Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG Medium Telephoto Macro

Fun
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This is a very fun lens with great color and clarity. This stays on my camera 90% of the time and with f/2.8 it’s still useful indoors. Although I think the lens I received may have been faulty the only problem is the auto focus. I’ve had this lens for only about 6 months and the AF is pretty much shot. It constantly searches no matter what light condition I’m in and it never comes out clear (when using AF). The auto focus also sticks halfway so I’ve got to give it the extra push, but to save the hassle it’s just better to use manual focus from now on. Like I said, I think I’ve received a faulty lens, but I have read on quite a few Sigma reviews that their auto focus is not very dependable. I love this lens I just wish I could have the luxury of good auto focus like Canon’s USM.

If you are thinking about getting it; GET IT!
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I have had this lens for more than a year so I know all the Pros and Cons; I did not just buy it and I am not writing a spur of the moment review. If you are debating between this lens and the Nikon one, I would go with this one. I am not saying this one in better than the Nikon because I haven’t used the Nikon, but I don’t imagine it is $350 better.

Now there are reviews that complain about the auto-focusing on this lens. It is a Macro lens meaning its field of focus is very small at 2.8 so it will tend to go back and forth at times, especially if there is a lot of things in the viewfinder. If you know how to use a DSLR then should be able to Manual Focus it. When shooting portrait style photos I have no problem with the autofocus, now with nature it doesn’t always want to focus perfectly no, but like I said above it is a Macro lens and focuses very tight. Also a one person said to go to Manual Focus you have to flip the switch on the camera, one the lens, and move the focusing ring. Which is not true. The switch on the lens is a focus limiting switch. Which locks the camera in full minimum focus ratio, meaning it will focus closer up, or you can limit it.

I personally don’t like the lens hood because it screws on, instead of twist and lock, which also means you can’t put a filter on the lens directly while using the lens hood. Instead you have to put the filter on the hood itself.

Also it fits the Nikon but doesn’t lock in the camera body as easy or smoothly, again it still fits and works fine.

I personally love my sigma lens and will definitely buy my next lens through Sigma. Most likely will be the 50mm Macro.

A++++
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Shipped on time.

Great Product.

Excellent price.

Will buy from them again and again.

Great lens for the money.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens for macro work after I saw the photos of a member of my camera club made with the same lens. I wasn’t disappointed. Photos are sharp & clear.

Good lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Salvo por que el autofoco no funciona con la Nikon D60, es una maravilla, muy luminoso y liviano.

La limitación del autofoco no es problema para macro, ya que usualmente se debe utilizar foco selectivo.

Muy buen lente para retrato por su caracter de 105mm

Great lens, but may need repairs after 1 year…common problem
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I am a professional photographer and was very happy with this lens when I for the first year of it’s short life. I started using it with normal usage with a Sony A700 and after 1 year the lens is now being shipped off for repairs. After doing research and contacting Sigma’s customer care I have learned that the plastic gears inside the lens have been stripped and must be replaced. This problem literally happened within minutes, one shot it was fine, the next one it starting acting a bit funny and slow, the next it stopped working completely. Sigma will replace the parts at no charge, but it can take up to 3 months: the parts (if not in stock) will be shipped by boat from Japan. Sigma’s customer service is very easy to work with and seemed to act like to problem is pretty common when used with the Sony Alfa Series. Shortly after, I had another Sigma zoom lens do the exact same thing and is in the process of being shipped for repairs as well. When the lenses do work they produces beautiful, tack sharp images. When the repaired lenses are returned I hope to become happy once again, but I will not be purchasing another sigma lens.

To see some work made with these lenses please visit [...]. Most of the images on the site have been made with the sigma lenses.

Manual Macro
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The Sigma 105mm macro lens is an exceptional performer both in the non macro auto focus area, and the manual macro position. Excellent glass and ease of operation has contributed to some amazing detailed photos of insects with my Nikon D80. Locked in at F32, the DOF is tremendous, extending the entire length of the “bugs”. With its iTTL in the camera’s flash mode, portraits are correctly exposed at various distances. Married to extension rings, or magnifying filter attachments, allows clean images. With the 1:1 aspect ratio, small subjects are captured life size with a working distances of 5 inches. Significantly cheaper than the Nikon version, it provides outstanding performance with no spherical aberrations….

Great Macro Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens was exactly what I was looking for. It is fast and sharp.

Sometimes, however, it has troubles finding the object during focus and travels the full length. I just switch to manual focus to get around that issue.

Highly recommended!

Great image quality and solidly built
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
If you wanted to try out some true macro photography this is good lens to start with. It provides a decent working distance to the subjects and also doubles as a very nice portrait lens. It’s quite sharp even wide open and it renders colors and blur very well.

Like I’ve wanted!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens was everything what I waited ! Excellent sharpness and contrast, good finishing and a good price

Excellent performance lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
From life-size close-up to infinity, from 35mm to digital, this lens provides superb, sharp and distortion free images. I would highly recommend this lens to be added to your camera bag. It delivers clear crisp images at normal focusing ranges while providing high image quality. And at life sized magnifications, you receive a realistic impression of your subjects.

Great macro lens
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
This lens is AWESOME. I had the opportunity to try it last month and I’m really satisfied with the results.

**I’m using D40X, so AUTO FUCUS WON’T WORK !! Moreover, I found some dust particles inside the lens when I received it, but it didn’t effect the quality of my picz.

Other than that, I’m happy to have this lens in my collection.

Will satisfy your most basic needs for macrotography
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Overall , the image quality is very good — the sharpness is undeniably good. I’m no sucker for the techy terms but my most qualified review of the photos is — I am very satisfied with the quality.

Downside – the AF motor is very slow. And MF is a bit mystery to me. I could not control the focusing during MF. Normally, I just move the switch to MF to lock on the subject and that’s after focusing with the AF. I could not move the zoom range using MF (i must be doing something wrong … or the instruction in the manual is not clear to me). The focusing motor moves back and forth most of the time before locking on to the subject — that’s what’s making it slow — so I always end up loosing the opportunity shot and have to wait for the subject to return for the shot.

sigma macro lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
excellent product with excellent service from the supplier. My son loves his new lens. Far exceeds expectation.

One of my favorite lenses…
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
There are several macro lenses in the 100mm focal length variety for the Minolta/KM/Sony line. They are all good lenses and offer pretty much the same problems as well. I am particularly fond of the Sigma offering. The build quality is fabulous, this is a very very solid lens. The photos are tack sharp and colors are well-saturated and lovely. In the US, the Sigma EX line offers a four year warranty and it is the least costly of the high quality 100mm trio of lenses. Highly reccomended. Here is a link to one of my favorite flower shots form this summer (2006).

[...]

Great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was looking for a macro lens to shoot detail shots of my knitting for my blog and a friend recommended this lens to me. I’m not a great photographer, but I’ve been able to get some really spectacular shots with this lens on my Canon Rebel.

great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is wonderful! It is easy to use and focuses beautifully. I would recommend it to anyone who is interested in good macro and portrait photography.

Sharp + Solid Body
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Good value for its performance. After using a 70-300 DG Apo Macro, I understood that 1:1 macro is a real must. Recommend everybody with a tripod!

Sharp lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Sigma did a fine job of building this lens. I get really detailed shots in both telephoto and macro. This is one of their best.

Wonderful addition to SLR photography!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
The sigma 105 macro lens is a great way to explore new worlds with macro photography. I am using this lens with my 300D Digital Rebel and the results are fantastic. Now, small areas in my backyard and local parks offer unlimited photo opportunities. I would, however, offer several tips for beginners with macro photography. First, and foremost buy and use a tripod. With many subjects, depth of field is critical and any movement whatsoever will be evident in your images. Second, if your camera can allow it, use mirror lock-up and a remote release to prevent movement. Third, have plenty of patience! Expect to take a lot of images to come up with keepers. No big deal for digital cameras, and don’t be afraid to experiment.

Here is a fun project that I have been using with this lens courtesy of my high school photography teacher:

Take a nail and tie a 10 ft. piece of string to it. Then, as you are walking along a trail or path, randomly stick the nail in the ground. You now have a circle with a 10 ft. radius. Challenge yourself to shoot 10, 20, 50 or even 100 images within that radius. It will certainly cause you to look, and more importantly see differently.

This purchase is perhaps the best piece of equipment that has helped my photography.

Buy this. Do it nao.
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I won’t lie. I know nothing about macro photography other than I want to learn how to do it and do it well. So I read around and a lot of people said this was a very solid lens to go with. More importantly, though, I spent hours looking at photos taken with this lens on the exact body that I use. I liked what I saw, the price was reasonable, so I went with it. When it came I didn’t even read any of the fine literature that comes with it, I just put it on and started shooting pepsi cans, keyboards, and creepy collections of Hummels my mom has. They immediately looked awesome, thats without modifying any settings. I’m sure I have no idea what I’m doing and yet I took some photos that look sweet. I suppose the one thing I will say is that when you auto focus it is a bit noisy, but I was alone in my room with no noise at midnight. Under any other circumstances I am confident it will not be noticable. and honestly even if it is, is that really a reason to not by an otherwise quality lens? (the answer is no.)

get this nao.

Fantastic lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is just awesome. I use it all the time and the results are outstanding!

Great lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have been using this lens in my studio for close to a year now. I’m very happy with the results I’ve been able to achieve and would recommend it to others.

Images I’ve shot with this lens have appeared on clients websites, advertising in magazines, and used in various printed materials.

At this time I use it exclusively in my work in the studio along with my Nikon D80.

View images taken with this lens here: http://flickr.com/photos/zeitlosimagery/

Good picture quality, but very slow focus
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
Pros:

Very good image quality

Very solid build

Very sharp when used with tripod

Good price

Cons:

Extremely slow autofocus, AI servo mode is useless

Extends front element during focusing

Slight CA detected in some images

Not very useful in handheld mode unless lighting is very good (full sunlight)

Love Love Love IT!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Picked this Lens up after spending an after noon in a camera shop playing and shooting around. when it came down to it. Money and Quality, Pound for Pound the Sigma does the Trick!Its Well Worth the Money!

super sharp, a great value compared to other brands
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I previously owned the sigma 150 macro. It was super sharp and awesome in any way, just kind of big and heavy. So I decided to get the 105mm because it’s cheaper and lighter, more likely to stay in my bag. The 105 lacks HSM but that’s not really a problem for macro where you use manual focus, or for portraits where you don’t need fast focusing. The min focus distance is about the same.

I didn’t get the 60-70mm macros because I also want to use the lens for portraits and 105 is better.

I researched the tokina & tamron equivalents but I choose sigma cause it was cheaper. The reviews say they’re all about the same. I agree the Tamron 90 macro is better but it’s a lot more expensive. Plus I think 105 is better for portraits.

Overall I highly recommend this lens for nikons. For canon bodies, the sigmas typically front focus and I would only buy canon lenses (canon has a good 100mm macro).

Picture quality are good but make sure to have warranty
Rating:2 out of 5 stars
I bought this lens in December 2007 and just start to use it from this March. The picture quality is good but needs a lot of light and contrast for the AF to work.

In June, during an outing, one of the element (glass) fell out of it’s holding socket and the lens would not retract to below 1:3.

Since I bought this lens in gray market, so that there’s no warranty. I just open the lens and fix it myself, works fine.

However, the story did not end there. Just yesterday, during some test shots at home, the lens would not focus and the motor is trying but could not move. I switch to Manual but the focusing ring would not stay at M mode and I can turn the ring freely and it won’t adjust the focus (in AF mode, the ring supposed to have resistence from the motor gear and you should not try to adjust manually).

If you are thinking of buying this lens, make sure to buy it with warranty or better yet extended warranty.

Great macro/portrait lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I was looking for a prime lens with macro capability and since I already had the Pentax 50mm f/1.4, I needed something in the 100mm range. There were two options: this Sigma and the Pentax equivalent that was slightly more expensive. I’ve seen some great recommendations for the Sigma on photo.net, so I decided to go with it and I don’t regret that choice. If you’ve been using cheaper lenses, this lens will show you why it’s worth investing more into a good prime lens. I’ve been using it for macro photography (flowers) and for portraits with great results. I also recommend the Sigma DG 58mm Multi-Coated UV Filter to go with it.

great lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Product is everthing good that I heard it was. It is priced reasonably well. Build quality is very good as with all sigma lenses. IQ is excellent. Have not seen any negitive lens quality. Am completely pleased with this product.

Be aware… I wasn’t…
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
I am sure this is an excellent lense – jus be aware that if you use it in AP mode on your nice new D300 etc you will need to set the aperture manually on the lens… It is not full auto like a Nikon AF lens…

I was disapointed when I learnt this…

Oh well…

I am absolutely loving this lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Originally I didn’t want to stray from Nikon products, but Sigma definitely has my attention. This is an excellent lens in both build quality and function. It works flawlessly on my Nikon D40, metering perfectly and in addition, even though it’s manual focus on my camera, it is spot on with the auto-focus indicator light (lower left corner of view finder). I highly recommend this lens to anyone who is looking to get into macro! Don’t be scared if you’re a Nikon D40 user, I was at first, and now I’m hooked on this lens! Do yourself a favor and buy one!

Excellent
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I just love working with this macro lens and my Canon digital SLR XTi. Perfect for my dental, intraoral photography needs.

Worth every penny
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using this lens for about 3 months now on a Canon EOS-350D and the Canon 5D. It has supurb optics. At f2.8, it is sharp. From f3.0 it takes off and stays sharp up to about f14. The focus mechanism is a little different from most other lenses, but actually I’ve grown to like it. With a push-pull lock at the end of the lens for manual-auto focus, you can put this thing in manual mode two different ways. If you’re focusing in, pull the mechanism and you don’t have to worry about the camera trying to change focus and you don’t have to take your hand off the lens to find the manual button. Really cool actually, just a little different at first. It is light enough that weight has never been an issue, though it does extend out pretty far when focusing. Focus speed is not as fast and there is a little more motor noise, but this too is never an issue as all my close work is manual focus. As a telephoto, it works very well, but the autofocus speed comes into play here. It will hunt in some conditions as a telephoto, but it is pretty accurate.

Save some money and take great SHARP shots with this lens. Highly recommended!

Good but not excellent…
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
The lens is good, however the zoom can’t move (it’s fixed) so the zoom are your (my)legs… You have to get a distance of your object to take the shot, cause you can’t manage the zoom. The image is good, but in indoor sports with my Sony A200 i just can shot in S Mode, 1/250 (no flash)to get good photos.

Makes me look good!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Once again, I labored over the decision to purchase a Nikon lens or a Sigma (I have the Sigma 10-20mm and the new 120-400mm lens). I couldn’t justify the extra cost of the Nikon ($300 plus) and chose to order the Sigma. From the very first shots I was extremely pleased. I took a few pictures of a simple flower by my mailbox. The results were amazing. The images were very sharp,the background was pleasantly out of focus, and the colors were absolutely beautiful. I was impressed enough to decide that several of these were good enough to frame and display in my home. I would recommend this lens to anyone who wants to do close-up photography.

Very good lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been using this lens for the past 6 months with my Nikon D50. I had previous experiences with another macro lens, the Nikon Micro 60mm borrowed from a friend. I’m not a professional photographer, but I can tell that the Sigma 105 lens is very good: solid build, sharp image, fast and silent autofocus. In my experience the Nikon Micro 60mm is slightly sharper, has a slightly more vibrant rendition of colours (red in particular), and has an heftier built. Anyway I preferred the Sigma 105 for its focal length that suits better my needs and for its very competitive price.

sigma macro
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Love the lens – terrific service from Amazon. Arrived speedy quick and was exactly what I wanted/needed.

After using this lens I’d rate it so,so
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I was very pleased at first with this lens,however after about a month I have found myself becoming Very frustrated with the slow,noisy, and sometime non-existent auto-focus ability and the extremely “touchy” manual focus mode means that you better not be in a hurry to get your shot because you’re gonna be fidgeting for awhile trying to get the focus indicator to light up….. on a Sony A300 anyway. I have 2 other Sigma lenes, a 28mm and a 70-300mm, and couldn’t be happier with their performance,I suppose this is why I feel somewhat disappointed with this one.

Super-sharp optics for DSLR
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I purchased the 105mm F2.8 EX DG Macro to compliment my “standard” 18-50mm F2.8 zoom for my Sigma SD14. The lens is tack-sharp from f5.6-7.1 up to f11 plus… Produces bright, clean images and the large aperture gives superbright finder views (great for my elder eyes). Compact size, love the focus limit feature; like all EX Sigmas, the lens is well constructed and beautifully finished. Focuses quickly, even on the marginally slow SD14 body. Super deal here on Amazon. With crop factor, focal length == 179mm on SD14. Would recommend to all, regardless of camera body decision. 5 stars!

Sharp and well-built
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I debated between this and the 105 Nikkor but at $ 350 versus $750, I decided to try the Sigma and return it if it was not satisfactory. The build seems good with a very solid feel and, while the autofucus is a bit slower than the AF-s Nikkors, it is fine for all but the macro shots which need manual focus anyway. Comparing sharpness at f8, it is about as sharp as my 18-135 at the center and much, much sharper as you move from the center. Overall, I’m very happy I saved the $450.

Sigma 105 macr ver Nikon micro lenses
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
I need a Macro lens for my Nikon D-60 So I looked at the Nikon AF-S VR 60mm, the Nikon 105 AF-S VR lenses and the Sigma 105 macro lense.

The sigma is missing some fetures of the Nikkor lenses, however in macro work you are normal using AP mode and manual focus. I feel the 105 lenses work at more flexable distance from the subject, the quality of the immage between a the nikon 105 and the Sigma is nearly identical. But difference in price is inportant to me. Summar, the sigma has a signifant price/performance edge of the Nikon competers.

Quirky, but worth it
Rating:4 out of 5 stars
When I first started looking for a mid-level macro lens, a few weeks ago, I was naturally drawn first to the Canon 60mm, as I have already have 2 Canon bodies.

But then I started looking around, reading reviews (mostly on Fred Miranda’s site), and comparing prices. The more research I did, the more appealing this lens became. And finally, I decided to go with it.

Here’s why:

- The price is similar to the Canon 60mm.

- I already own a Sigma EX-series lens (17-35mm), and really like it. I like the matte finish, and the glass is excellent.

- For some reason I cannot fathom, Canon doesn’t include lens hoods with any of the mid-range lenses I looked at. Sigma does.

- The greater focal length means I can stay farther from the subject – minimum focus distance is about 30cm (12in). This is almost always a benefit.

This lens isn’t perfect, however, and here’s a few caveats you may want to consider before making a purchase:

- In low light (ie, most macro photography), this lens likes to hunt. Which can be a slow process considering its length when fully extended. Personally, I don’t mind manual focus all that much, so this doesn’t bother me.

- This is a not an HSM (Sigma’s version of USM) lens. It is motor-driven. This might bother you, but I barely even notice it.

- Switching to/from manual/autofocus mode is a 2 step process. Beside the switch on the side of the barrel, the focus ring requires a push-pull motion which is sometimes a bit tricky. With a little practice, this becomes less and less of an issue – and if you leave it on manual most of the time (as I do), you seldom have to worry about it.

- The lens hood is a screw-in, not a twist- or clip-on model. This is, however, offset by the rather deep recession of the glass in the lens tube. (If you want to use the lens hood and leave it on, a 77mm lens cap will fit it.)

Despite these (in my opinion, very minor) problems, I’m very happy with this lens, and would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a mid-level macro lens

Excellent macro lens for dentistry
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I have employed my Rebel XT digital SLR into my dental office. I upgraded to the Rebel XTi (10 mpixels) for home. I purchased the Sigma ring flash with a Sigma macro lens for the Canon SLR family. If you look at the Lester Dine website this is basically what they sell for a few hundreds dollars more.

I compared the ring flash and lens with the ones offered by Canon and felt that it was worth saving $300 by purchasing the Sigma combo.

The macro lens/ring flash work well for dental purposes. After a little experimentation I discovered that I get the best images by using the aperature priority setting. All settings are used with ISO 400 speed. I set the aperature at 14-16 for intraoral shots. This gives the best depth of field. I also use the operatory light for intraoral shots. I set the aperature to 6 for full face shots.

I use autofocus but set the ratio to 1:2 to 1:3 for intraoral shots. This keeps the autofocus from “hunting”. I frame the shot by moving towards the subject. Once I get close to the image that I like I use the autofocus to get the final focus for the picture.

Works fine
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I use this lens daily in my dental office with a ring flash. It is big and heavy but takes great pictures. It is not a versatile photo item and has specific uses. I would not take it on vacation but it is excellent for telephoto, portrait or close-up, macro photos. It works well with the auto focus system on my Pentax 200D. Because of it’s size, I suspect it will use up battery power very quickly if you use it with auto focus and it is forced to move alot. I use it in manual focus and just move forward or backward to get a sharp image.

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 Macro Lens for my Nikon D80
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I bought this Sigma Macro lens along with the Sigma ring flash as a matched set. I am glad I did. Sigma has a good reputation and this lens proofs it. Great price and great quality. This macro lens works perfect, the zoom and focus work great on any close subject, I am truly impressed with the photos it produces. It works perfectly with my Nikon D80 camera.

Sigma Macro Lens
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
This lens is very sharp! I like the manual focus it is easy to move the focus ring. Tho auto focus work fine but I prefer the manual when photographing flowers.

What a great little lens!
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve owned this for over a month and have shot close to a thousand pics with it. It is fast – f2.8 – accurate and produces closeup shots with great detail.

It’s also a great ”walk-about” lens since it focuses from 12 inches to infinity. And the 105mm length (200 mm equivalent on a 35mm slr) is a great medium-telephoto length.

The unit is well built, solid and light enough to handhold. I own it in a 4/3 configuration (Olympus E-500 camera) and love the ability to switch from auto to manual in about 2 seconds, and to limit the auto focus to a limited range at the touch of a switch. I found that I can switch from auto to manual without looking, and love the large focus ring.

I use this coupled with the Olympus 25mm macro extension ring, and it produces amazing close shots. The lens itself is 1:1 and the extender boosts that considerably while retaining all my auto lens settings and capability.

I don’t mind the matte finish, and love the fact that it doesn’t generally need a lens shade because the front element is recessed quite a ways into the front of the housing.

I’ve been using some old Nikor and Sigma manual lenses from the 1970s, 80s and 90s, but they can be frustrating to open the aperture and focus and then stop down to shoot – especially with insects. By the time I open the aperture, focus and stop down they have often moved. And when a manual lens is stopped down to f/8 or f/11 it’s too dark to see what’s going on. The Sigma being coupled with my camera’s electronics solves the dilemma and delivers bright views to the viewfinder.

You cannot preview the DOF, but a quick shot and chipmunking the viewfinder will show you what’s going on.

I’d recommend this lens to anyone who is serious about macro work, and doesn’t want to pack a ton-o-gear around with them. Being able to carry just the body, lens, and extender plus a tripod is enough gear to do some serious shooting.

Multi-purpose portrait, sports, macro at reasonable price
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I’ve been holding out for the long-awaited Olympus 100mm prime, which is on the lens “Road Map”, projected for 2008, then 2009. But when it was not officially announced at PMA this year, I decided it was high time to try this Sigma.

I recently bought the Sigma 30, and have been thrilled (I gave that 4 stars but I would give it 5 in retrospect). Fast lenses provide such great artistic control over backgrounds, once you get used to them the slow (but otherwise good) kit lenses do not go on the camera very much.

It is well built, a pleasure to use. It focuses fairly fast on my E-510, although if it “misses”, and if you don’t have the Limit switch turned on, it will focus all the way in to macro and back out, which takes an age. Focusing speed seems to be affected by battery state – especially in poor light – and a battery in its last 1/3 will focus noticeably slower.

The front element is buried down almost in a tunnel – the included hood is quite unnecessary. This piece of glass is also surprisingly small. Photo geeks like to show off big lenses with big glass – it looks expensive because it IS expensive – and it is a little surprising that the advertized length and speed could be accommodated with a physically small piece of glass.

I haven often read on photo forums where photo beginners want pictures of their kids playing little league indoors, like basketball. This would be a great lens for this – and quite affordable, too.

Speed is everything for indoors action shots. The Sigma is pretty fast at f/2.8. The roughly equivalent Olympus kit lens is the 40-150 f/4-5.6, which you will note gets slower as the zoom goes out. At 105mm, it will be about 1.5 stops (=2^1.5 = approx 3x) slower than the Sigma. For indoor shooting, all else being equal, if you have 1/30th on the kit lens, you will see 1/60th or even 1/100th on the Sigma. The Sigma will shoot much superior pictures for this subject.

On a four-thirds camera, 105mm is a bit longer than a classic portrait length. You will be standing about 10 feet away from the subject for head shots, and 20ft or even 40ft for body shots depending on whether it is a child or adult. However, it shoots crisp portraits in the modern style – if you want any of the old-fashioned but often flattering blooms or other distortions of old lenses, check out M42 screw-type lenses and adapters on ebay, or use Photoshop.

The bonus is the macro feature. This was not a selling point for me at the time, but having used it, there is a lot of nature’s art that reveals its beauty up close. Small buds breaking into flower, blades of grass, small insects, interesting surface textures, these are easy subjects to enhance your enjoyment of the hobby.

duct tape to attach ring flash
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
I attach the olympus ring flash using the sigma hood (which comes with the camera) and a little duct tape. it works great.

Sharp and clear
Rating:5 out of 5 stars
Of all my Four-Thirds compatible lenses this has become a favorite. The Sigma is sharp, reasonably compact and features an actual manual focus mode. Yes, the 50-200mm Zuiko covers this range and is just as sharp, but this lens is much smaller and lighter than the Olympus lens and is, of course, a macro lens that focuses much closer than the Zuiko 50-200mm.

Despite being optimized for macro photography, this lens works quite well for general photography and has a bokeh that is a bit more pleasing than many of the admirably sharp Zuiko lenses. In macro operation the lens often gives a greater distance from the subject than the Zuiko 50mm macro lens does, but this lens is not (as far as I can tell) able to mount the Olympus ring flash for macro work so I use it strictly for outdoors and ambient light macro work (Edit: I have since purchased the Olympus twin flash and it works very well with this lens via an easily obtained step ring adapter.)

The build quality of the lens is not up to the level of the better Zuiko lenses and it is not a weather sealed lens but it is certainly of a higher quality than the Olympus kit lenses that normally ship with cameras like the E-410/510. It’s also a higher quality lens than the inexpensive Sigma zoom lenses that have been available for Olympus and other Four-Thirds applications for some time now. I would say that it has a nice feel to it both in heft and in operation.

Due to optical designs that I do not pretend to understand the front element of this lens is remarkably deeply recessed into the lens housing. In fact, it’s so deeply recessed that I don’t feel the need to use the supplied screw on sun shade (which is a poor design in my opinion) nor do I feel the need to use a clear filter in order to protect the front element (it would be difficult to bang it on anything given how far from the front of the lens it is). One might view this as a money saver as well as a convenience but that’s a very subjective opinion I do admit.

Finally, the lens features a fully manual focus mode that works very well but unlike the ‘fly by wire’ Olympus lenses that many are familiar with this lens requires that you throw a switch on the side of the lens housing in order to disengage the auto-focus motors. This is not terribly convenient, however with practice one certainly can train themselves to operate the switch without taking one’s eye from the viewfinder.

To sum it up, I did not expect great things from this lens given that some of the Sigma lenses in the Four-Thirds mount have been a disappointment but I was pleasantly surprised by this lens. It is sharp at maximum aperture, it is moderately priced, it is an excellent macro lens, and it is a fine medium telephoto lens on top of it all. I can highly recommend this lens as a handy addition to any Four-Thirds DSLR camera kit provided weather & dust sealing is not required.

A good, but imperfect lens
Rating:3 out of 5 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.

Sigma Lens Review
Rating:3 out of 5 stars
This item was received on March 2nd in good condition. After two weeks of use, however, the autofocus was unable to focus on any object consistently. It would sometimes be able to do so and other times it could not. Mostly this seems to occur with the lens is extended and the object to focus on requires the lens to retract. The retraction motor seems week and unable to pull the lens back in all the way. However, this could be because the lens “thinks” it is focused and stops the focus movement. I cannot tell which. I will be sending this one back.

We are, however, pleased with the Signma lens in general. We use it a great deal and have two camera so equipped for our business.