Sigma 180 mm f/2.8 APO Macro EX DG OS HSM review - Autofocus

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Sigma 180 mm f/2.8 APO Macro EX DG OS HSM

2 November 2012

Arkadiusz Olech

10. Autofocus

The tested Sigma is equipped with an ultrasonic focusing mechanism (HSM); small wonder the autofocus works noiselessly. Unfortunately we can’t praise its speed. Running through the whole distance scale in good lighting conditions takes about 2.5 seconds and when the conditions are worse it can last even about 3 seconds. Such a result is weak. Still you must remember that you deal here with a macro lens which has to service a very wide distance range.

Fortunately the Sigma company decided to use a focus limiter. When you choose the 0.67 of a meter to infinity range the working pace increases and running through the scale takes about one second. Still it is not a result which would bowl us over. In order to assess it objectively, though, you must compare it to speeds recorded by the rivals. For example the Canon 2.8/200L is just slightly faster (0.8-0.9 of a second) but its minimum focus amounts to 1.5 metres. As you see the Sigma compares here really favourably. In fact you might start wondering why Sigma chose the value of 0.67 of a meter and not 1 meter as the beginning of the limited range. The value of about 1 meter would be more appropriate and would make the autofocus really fast.

When it comes to the accuracy of the autofocus we don’t have any reservations. The mechanism in studio conditions performed very well, missing in less than 3% of cases.

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We haven’t noticed any distinct front or back focus tendencies. It is true that in the photos taken using the Nikon D200 you could see a slight shift of the depth of field in front of the proper object but this effect is slight and, after all, the depth of field still includes your aim.