My Sigma 90mm 2,8 Macro
Written: Jul 24 '02 (Updated Feb 19 '04)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Optical quality is first rate!
Cons: Very slow autofocus with older camera bodies
The Bottom Line: Very good optical quality. A very good second hand buy. Not as durable as Nikkors but the price is low. Not manufactured anymore.
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| pwul's Full Review: Sigma 90mm f/2.8 Macro AF for Nikon AF |
It was in 1993 that I bought this lens second hand for just about 200 euros or dollars. A new lens would have cost me about 400 euros so during the time I considered this as a good deal. Sometimes I just wonder why we Europeans must pay so much more for any photographic equipment than our colleagues in the USA.
So why did I bought this lens? I needed a macro lens as during the time I was writing some articles to magazines and I definitely needed a lens that could take photographs of small technical details.
Before my purchase I had thought about a Sigma 50mm f2.8 lens also. But I thought that a 90 mm would be a much wiser choice because it allows shooting pictures from a farther distance and sometimes this is a good thing when you think about lighting, for example.
The Sigma 90mm f2.8 is capable of taking macro-pictures up to 1:2. If you want more magnification you can use the close-up lens that comes with it. Using this “filter” you can take pictures at 1:1 magnification.
I do not consider this as an obstacle. If you take pictures much of the time at 1:2 magnification this lens is a very good choice. This close-up lens may affect the picture quality adversely a bit, but the effect is very minor. Do not worry about it. I am not sure if I can see it.
The filter size is 52 mm in diameter. This is practical as the 52 mm filters are among the most popular on 35mm SLR- lenses. My Nikkor 50mm f2.8 can use the same filters as my Sigma 90mm. This is good for anyone with a small budget as circular pol.-filters are so expensive.
What about the picture quality? A decade ago a German Foto Magazin rated this lens as a “Pradikat Super”- lens meaning that the picture quality is first rate. I agree. I have been very pleased with the optical quality with this lens. At f2.8 it may be a little soft at distances shorter than 1.5 meters but only just.
I use my Sigma with macrophotos and when photographing people. You can get fantastic results with this 90mm! It is really sharp. It is very suitable for portraits.
Then the bad properties: The autofocus is very slow with my Nikon N6006. If I may exaggerate a bit so I just say that you can have a cup of coffee and enjoy a cigar while the 90mm focuses on the subject. I have never seen so slow a lens when it comes to autofocus lenses. But at macro shots you probably focus manually after all. The focus ring could be a little bit wider for situations like this. It is too narrow. Maybe during the time this lens was made (until 1998) it was thought that while it is a autofocus-lens so nobody focuses manually anymore.
The delimiter has broken on my 90mm. This is the part that takes care that when using the lens on macro photography with the AF on the focus never goes erroneously on infinity. I have never cared to fix this part as the lens functions otherwise just perfect.
The Sigma may be optically even better than the Nikkor AF 105mm f2.8 but on my opinion the Nikkors are more durable. But they ought to as they are much, much higher in price.
So would I recommend this lens for you? Absolutely, but keep in mind that nowadays Sigma makes a wonderful 105mm f2.8 that reaches the 1:1 magnification without any life size attachment. Because of this lens the 90mm f2.8 is no longer made. But if you can find a good second hand 90mm lens from Sigma at a good price it is certainly worth the price. The optical quality is so good.
Best regards,
Petri.
PS:
Here are some technical details:
Sigma AF 2,8/90mm Macro
Corresponding af-mount available for Sigma, Minolta, Nikon and Canon (not for Pentax).
Lens construction: groups: 9, elements:9
Angle of view: 27
Minimum aperture:22
Minimum focusing distance: 32 cm (1:2), 22cm (1:1)
Filter size: 52mm
Dimensions: dia.x lenght: 74x64,5
Weight: 365 grams
Recommended:
Yes
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Epinions.com ID:
pwul
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Member: Petri Leppanen
Location: Helsinki, Finland
Reviews written: 2
Trusted by: 0 members
About Me:
Photography as hobby since 1997. University degree on economics.
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