Anyone using the Sigma 50mm f2.8 EX DG Macro

Tractor Boy

Tractor Boy

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Nick
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As title really. I am thinking of getting this lens for a faster portrait lens (probably instead of the nifty fifty although it's not quite the 1.8 on the nifty :thinking:) but mainly for some macro work. I would be using it on a D300 and just wondered if anyone had any experience of using the lens.

I have spent time going through Flickr and there are some stunning shots with it but would welcome some feedback - good or bad - from people who have used the lens.

Thanks

Nick
 
Yes my daughter has this lens and she gets some fantastic macro shots with it, great colours and very sharp. She doesn't do bugs so the extra reach of a 100mm + lens wasn't worth the extra cost. :thumbs:
 
andyred said:
Yes my daughter has this lens and she gets some fantastic macro shots with it, great colours and very sharp. She doesn't do bugs so the extra reach of a 100mm + lens wasn't worth the extra cost. :thumbs:
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Thanks for that Andy - what camera does she use it on?
 
Yes, its excellent, really sharp, near and far - unusual for a macro lens.

Its quite a compact design, but extends for a fair bit - I got some nice Red Darter dragonfly shots with this lens on a D100 last year.

As always I should say that a Nikon 55mm f/2.8 AI-S would be my recommended lens in this range, particularly on a body that will meter.
 
I use this lens mainly in work (dental photos of patients teeth) and my only criticism that to get true 1:1 you have to be pretty (uncomfortably!) close. So close that the Sigma Ring flash is pretty un-useable at this magnification.

Saying that, it is amazingly sharp, pretty good as a portrait lens (which we also use it for) and I rarely use it at 1:1 anyway. If you plan on shooting stuff that you may scare away by being close, the 105mm lens may be a better shout but I couldn't justify the extra cost. I used it for my droplet pictures on here if you want to see any example pictures. (bear in mind these are from jpeg, resized for web with no sharpening applied and some editing which shows up as slight artefacts.)
 
Thanks for the replies folks :thumbs:

Andy - am I right in thinking that the nikor 55 AI-S would be MF only. It's just that I would use the lens in situations other than Macro ans would prefer one that will AF as well :shrug:

Thanks

Nick
 
Tractor Boy said:
Thanks for the replies folks :thumbs:

Andy - am I right in thinking that the nikor 55 AI-S would be MF only. It's just that I would use the lens in situations other than Macro ans would prefer one that will AF as well :shrug:

Thanks

Nick
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Yep, its MF. The joy of using MF lenses is that because they were designed for manual focus, they are very easy to MF - you just want to MF with that lovely dampened focus ring. Its really quite easy - most AF lenses are rubbish when used in MF mode, but a real MF lens actually makes MF easy.
 
puddleduck said:
Yep, its MF. The joy of using MF lenses is that because they were designed for manual focus, they are very easy to MF - you just want to MF with that lovely dampened focus ring. Its really quite easy - most AF lenses are rubbish when used in MF mode, but a real MF lens actually makes MF easy.
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Thanks for that Andy I will have a look into that.
 
Tractor Boy said:
Thanks for that Andy I will have a look into that.
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If you are ever in the Cambridge area, drop me a line, and you can try it out.

This lens is so good I bought an adaptor so I can stil shoot it on my Sony bodies :D
 
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