Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro
11. Summary
- Excellent image quality in the frame centre,
- Very good image quality on the edge of the frame for both, the APS-C/DX sensor and full frame,
- Solid casing,
- Sensational correction of chromatic aberration,
- Zero distortion,
- Very well-corrected coma,
- Slight astigmatism,
- Silent and quite accurate autofocus,
- Rich standard accessory kit,
- Three-year long warranty period with the possibility of extending it by next two years.
Cons:
- Weak work against bright light,
- High vignetting on full frame,
- Autofocus noticeably slower than that of its rivals.
The Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro, compared to its immediate stabilized rivals, is a bit optically worse, features higher vignetting, works not as efficiently against bright light and has a slower autofocus. What’s interesting, it is also more expensive than them. I think I don’t have to write much more; I expect this model will be a market hit but only after lowering the price by, more or less, half. It might sound nasty but I am being completely serious now. For the current price nobody will be interested in buying the Sigma 105 mm OS apart from a narrow group of Sigma reflex cameras users. The owners of Canon and Nikon reflex cameras won’t buy this lens as they have a very well-done brand name lenses available for less money. The users of Olympus, Pentax and Sony bodies won’t be willing to pay such a big amount of money for a lens with a stabilization system because they have it in their own cameras anyway; they can purchase much cheaper, but still optically very good, brand name lenses without stabilization or some of those produced by independent companies.
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After the last successful launches Sigma has been praised by us often and the prices of its products started to equal those of the most expensive lenses on the market. In the case of the Sigma 105 mm f/2.8 EX DG OS HSM Macro model we must show that company a yellow card, though. In my opinion the time hasn’t come for the Sigma lenses which are more expensive than its brand name equivalents – not yet.
If the price of this lens was about 600 $ this summary would have a quite different overtone. It would be my pleasure to write about good results of the tested lens and I would point out that it is a very good, cheaper alternative to other system instruments. Only that steep price made this summary different.
Sample shots
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/320 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 6.72 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 6.83 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/80 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 7.17 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/11.0, exp. 1/13 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 4.75 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/15 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 3.96 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/18.0, exp. 1/6 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.37 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/50 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 4.66 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/5.6, exp. 1/40 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 4.61 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/11.0, exp. 1/6 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 4.7 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/16.0, exp. 1/8 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.56 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/160 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 4.6 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/16.0, exp. 1/10 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.13 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/200 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.53 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/320 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 6.85 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 400 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 7.15 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/4.0, exp. 1/1600 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 6.58 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/3.5, exp. 1/640 s, ISO 200 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 7.88 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/8.0, exp. 1/60 s, ISO 400 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 7.47 MB |
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Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 6.31 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.37 MB |
Camera: Canon 1Ds MkIII Parameters: 105 mm, f/2.8, exp. 1/250 s, ISO 100 File: JPEG, 5616×3744 pix, 5.16 MB |
