Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro review - Introduction

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Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro

20 September 2011

Arkadiusz Olech

1. Introduction

If I had to name one category of lenses in which the competition is the most fierce and the most balanced at the same time, I would point at 100 mm macro class without any hesitation. There are no weak instruments here. In fact every single lens, tested by us so far, has had very good or even splendid results. Getting back to the very beginning of our testing we can list here the Tamron 2.8/90 which held the resolution record on the Canon EOS 20D sensor for many months, splendid results of the Tokina 2.8/100, the Sigma 2.8/105, the Canon 2.8/100 USM or the Nikkor 105 mm VR. Less than two years ago we were delighted by the new Canon 2.8/100L IS and not long ago we praised the Pentax 2.8/100. The situation is such that in every system you can find a good lens of this class, designed especially for it; apart from that, we can also choose from the offer of independent producers, optically very good as well.

Stabilized 100 mm macro lenses have been offered so far only by Nikon and Canon. Not so long ago Sigma decided to join that group by replacing the Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro model with the stabilized Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro. The price of the new Sigma aroused a lot of controversy because it was actually higher than that of brand name Canon and Nikon devices.

In previous years Sigma proved it can produce optically splendid instruments. Perhaps the new Sigma is such an outstanding lens that such a steep price can be somehow justified. Our curiosity being properly aroused as well, we decided to check it out. We would like to thank the Sigma ProCentrum company for lending us the lens for testing purposes.

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