I remember a lot of speculation and curiosity when the sigma discontinued the 180mm 3.5, much was told it was to boost the 150 HSM OS sales, some people thought it would be for a OS 180mm (this one) the surprise is the 2.8 aperture.
I'm curious about the weight, but have no immediate use for a lens in this specs.
It will be interesting to see if this prompts Canon to update its 180mm macro to have their new "hybrid IS".
Since the Sigma is wider and longer than the corresponding Canon 180mm macro lens, it's hard to imagine that it would be much different in weight. But, Sigma is certainly innovative so it will be interesting to see the weight announcement. 19 elements in 14 groups is amazingly complex for a single-focus lens.
Very interesting lens.
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I've been wringing my hands for quite some time trying to figure out what's the best balance of features and performance for a dragonfly lens. At the moment, I am torn between this new 180 OS lens and the Canon 300 mm F4 IS with lots of extension tubes and/or a TC. This 300 mm lens focuses unusually close for a telephoto lens, so it might be the best choice in some ways, for larger bugs like dragons. It's about the same weight as the Canon 180 mm macro lens, too. The IS feature would help in many circumstances, of course. Perhaps the new Sigma 180mm f2.8 with a 1.4 TC would be of interest, too.
Yes, very interesting lens. Perhaps a superb shy critter lens with the OS and greater working distance. I have used my Viv S1 90-180 macro on adapters for butterflies but no AF and no OS--it is fussy to focus well, unless use Live view, at smaller apertures. I doubt such a zoom will be made with AF and OS (IS). I tried to pry info out of the Canon rep at a Hunt store show, but he didn't think they get any info on lens plans before any rumors on the web. tTe Canon 180 he says is a low volume item and they only update them once in a blue moon despite e t being a bit long in the tooth--though still very nice indeed.
Interested in any comments here of course on the new Sigi.
Mike
I have all of the macro lenses, Canon and Sigma, because they best fit my photography style. Yes, I do use the 300mm f4 L IS quite a bit for subjects like dragonflies, hummingbird moths, &c. In those instances where I do not need the magnification of a macro the 300mm is a great lens. The picture quality is supurb. However, it takes a big stack of extension tubes to approach the magnification of a 150mm and it seems to me not quite as good nearing 1 to 1 as a really great macro lens. I really like having macro lenses of different focal lengths and the 300mm Canon. I am wondering why Canon doesn't jump back in the market with a 200mm macro like their old FD (which I also still have and use).
The other thing is that is is internal focusing so if it like the Sigi 150 OS the focal length at 1 :1 will be closer to 100mm. Sigma hasn't provided that data yet and the US rep could not obtain it yet--they say to check back after it ships.
Mike
