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Guidenet
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Registered: Mar 23, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 79
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Review Date: Oct 17, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $559.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Optical and build quality at least equal to the best of the big boy, probably better. Excellent tripod collar.
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Cons:
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It hunts a bit, even with the focus limiter.
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I purchased this lens for my Nikon D300 based on Photozone and other review sites and after asking various forum members who owned this lens. Many said it was one of the few lenses that could compete with Nikon and Canon. They were right. This lens is superb optically. Now with my D700, the lens still performs admirably.
It's all metal and well made. I can easily hang several macro flash units from the nose without issue. The tripod mount is heavy duty and locks down without vibration.
It also makes a great short fast telephoto. There is no other macro lens over 105mm with a max aperture of f/2.8. This lens is a bit heavy and large, but well worth it and affectionately called the Bugma among its users. It's fast becoming a well deserved cult favorite. The only issue is that because of its increased popularity, it has become quite a bit more expensive in the marketplace.
If price is not an object, and if you want the very best macro lens or short fast telephoto, this lens ought to be on your short list.
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 Oct 17, 2009
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locomacdaddy
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Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jan 1, 2005
Location: United States
Posts: 46
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Review Date: Oct 16, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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razor sharp, fast focus, well built
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Cons:
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none
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This lens is a gem! Run...don't walk to get this Macro. More working distance than a 100mm and nice and compact vs. a 200mm macro.
I use this lens for macro and portraits. Even wide open it is the sharpest lens I own (having all the top Nikon zooms). Contemplated the Zeiss 100 but this lens gives you 1:1, sharp portraits and autofocus...oh yeah, all for about half the cost!
Being my first aftermarket lens...I was of the opinion that brand lenses are, overall, better. I may have to rethink my attitudes. This lens is perfect.
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Oct 16, 2009
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maddog76
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Registered: Oct 11, 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 23, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent performance. No distortion or CA. Image quality is pin sharp. AF is fast and quiet (for those who use AF on macro).
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Cons:
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None.
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This lens is outstanding. The image quality is nothing short of breath taking. No signs of any distortion or CA, crystal clear pin sharp images every shot.
The 3 position focus limit switch, works a treat and proves more than useful in AF (although I use it in Manual 99% of the time)
Works well with 1.4x teleconveter, although minimum focus distance is increased to .52m, then thats not a problem at 210mm.
The Bokeh is very pleasing indeed, especially so at f/2.8
I cannot praise this lens enough, if you are thinking of a macro lens, do not settle for anything else, this IS the best.
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Jul 23, 2009
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WhiteDog
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Registered: Jul 20, 2009
Location: Denmark
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jul 20, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Very sharp, no distortion or CA
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Cons:
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None
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Bought this for my Nikon D700, because I wanted a good macro lens. The 105mm reach on the Nikkor wasn't enough (only on my D200), so I took a chance and got a Sigma. Normally I only buy Nikon glas, but this Sigma surprised me a lot. Very good build quality and perfect optical quality. This is "up with the pros" aka perfect in all matters.
The f/2.8 also comes in handy when using it for other purposes than macro, so this baby is my new "use it all the time" lens 
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Jul 20, 2009
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graemeak
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Registered: Mar 30, 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 305
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Review Date: May 3, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $350.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Solid build quality, fast aperture, great working distance, price, comes with hood, tripod collar (and Sigma make very good tripod collars, seems identical to my 70-200mm one except they swapped felt for a more shiny plastic), nice size and weight
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Cons:
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Erm... trying to think... the AF? But who cares! When you use the focus limiter the focus is good for portraits etc. when you're doing macro you don't need AF
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Just an excellent all around lens. Very sharp, very impressive - my 3rd Sigma lens and I intend to stick with Sigma! You save hundreds of £££'s and get 95% of what you get with Canon (sometimes more).
Stop considering which macro lens and just get this beast!
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May 3, 2009
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Xavier Rival
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Registered: Jul 21, 2004
Location: France
Posts: 3659
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Review Date: May 3, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Sharpness, contrast, build quality (overall), great mid-tele at a reasonable price.
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Cons:
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Coating of Sigma EX lenses tends to wear over time
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I purchased the Sigma 150 macro EX a year and a half ago, when I was about to start doing some macro work. I have found this lens to work very well not only for macro, but also for many other mid-tele works including portraits, some landscape shots, etc. After this macro work was over, I found that I was still taking this lens much more often than my 70-200/2.8 (so that I often take just 24-105 + 150 if I do not intend to photograph wildlife) which may go for sale sometime soon. The 150 is very convenient to travel with.
I have never found any issue with this lens in the image quality point of view; it does deliver great sharpness and contrast, including at large apertures, and good color rendition too.
The design of the lens is very good, and so is the build quality. Except that the Sigma EX coating is known to wear off after a few years of use (this has happened on my 70-200 already; on the 150 it is not falling off yet, but it already start to show sign of fatigue) whereas a Canon L lens would still look like new.
Overall, the accessories do the job, especially the tripod collar which can be removed very easily, and locks securely thanks to the knob. It is a bit hard to put the lens cap on when the hood is on, but that is not too big a drawback. The lens bag is very well padded but not very convenient to carry (bad strap). Ideally, Sigma would make this compatible with a belt system (such as TT).
For the price, this lens offers a very sound package, and I can only recommend it.
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May 3, 2009
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x0SiN0x
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Registered: Jan 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 56
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Review Date: Mar 29, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $589.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Nice and sharp, gives good distance and seems to be well constructed
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Cons:
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None at this time
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Mar 29, 2009
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Fulcrum
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Registered: May 23, 2008
Location: Finland
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 20, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Fast and quiet AF, really sharp images, not too expensive, feels solid mechanically
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Cons:
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none
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This is the sharpest lens I have ever dealt with. Just amazing.
This thing makes your images more 3D, more alive. The colours are vivid, and you can see every tiny little hair on an insect´s leg.
I was expecting some problems with the AF, but none are present.
The AF is very accurate, very fast and very quiet.
I did not expect such quality when I bought this lens. I was expecting image quality about on par with the Canon EF 400mm f/5.6 L USM I use for bird shots. But this thing tops even that.
Hats off to Sigma and a deep bow of gratitude. This lens is a nature photographer´s dream come true. And it produces wonderful portraits also.
I traded my 135mm 2.8SF for this lens and I do not regret anything.
This thing feels more solid, has more accurate AF and produces images far superior to the 135mm tube.
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Mar 20, 2009
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ajitpalsingh
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Registered: Jan 27, 2009
Location: India
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Jan 28, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $640.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp results; nice contrast; well built; value for money;
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Cons:
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none
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After reading many reviews from various sources, finally I purchased this lens two months back. Trust me, I was not disappointed and it came out to be more that I expected. My first time into macro photography and on a tight budget, I think I made the right choice.
Few shots that I'd like to share shot at life-size (1:1 magnification) taken using the Sigma 150mm f2.8 lens fitted on a Canon 400D/XTi body: http://www.photographybyajit.com/Macro/index.html
Solid bullet proof body,
Sharp results and nice contrast,
wide aperture of f2.8 really gives control over the DOF with extremely nice bokeh (see sample shot at f2.8 http://www.photographybyajit.com/Flowers/slides/IMG_1332.html)
the best deal is that it comes with a tripod collar which is extremely useful.
Ajit Pal Singh.
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Jan 28, 2009
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brucem48
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Registered: Nov 16, 2008
Location: United States
Posts: 641
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Review Date: Jan 2, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $534.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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well balanced girth to length ratio..tripod collar..2.8..rich,true colors and contrast SHARP. craftmanship in build quality. full time manual focus.
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Cons:
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watch auto focus. looses light and focal length at 1 to 1
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although many will buy this lens as a macro i find the 105 and 70mm sigmas are equal in performance if you risregard the tripod collar. i have the 50,70,105, and this 150 beauty. what i bought this lens for was portrait work outside. switch this lens to manual focus and mount on a good tripod and you got in my opinion a lens that can't be beat for individual out door work. out of focus backgrounds are next to none. shoot wide open and at f4 and just drool at the results.. watch the focus because it will be critical up close due to the length of the lens. i use it on a 5d. would hesitate on a 1.6 body.. think it would be a little on the long side for portrait work. just a killer lens.
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Jan 2, 2009
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Larry Carter
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Registered: Jan 7, 2002
Location: Georgia
Posts: 3735
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Review Date: Dec 21, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Excellent build. Excellent optics.
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Cons:
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None
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Dec 21, 2008
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helimat
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Apr 6, 2008
Location: Canada
Posts: 1451
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Review Date: Dec 6, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $500.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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1:1, Internal focusing, well built
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Cons:
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Slow auto focus
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This is by far the finest Sigma lens that I have tried. Wide open, it challenges and even surpasses the sharpness of many Canon L lenses. The Auto focus is a little on the slow side, but that is normal for a macro lens I suppose.
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Dec 6, 2008
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