(Buy the 150mm with this link and help support me!)


My first experience with a Sigma lens was poor, for $140 I bought the 70-300mm macro lens that literally fell apart on me in under a year. However if you look a bit deeper into their lineup, you'll see that they also make some incredibly high-quality "glass", comparable in performance to Nikon and Canon lenses, and always with a substantially lesser price tag.

My first venture into the profesional Sigma "EX" lineup is the 150mm f/2.8 HSM DG macro, and I say "first venture" because I believe I already have a "Sigma wishlist". Yes, that means the 150mm has made a GREAT impression!

There's no mistaking: at [edit: Adora has dropped the price of this lens to $580!!!] ...you simply must try this lens if you're in the market for a macro lens.

The first thing I noticed was that there is NO AF/MF switch! Sigma has assumed that my Nikon bodies already have AF/MF switches on them, and they do. (Canon mount lenses however will have a switch on them, sometimes even forcing you to flip TWO switches in order to toggle between AF and MF, which obviously I can NOT reccomend) So what I have is full time HSM (Sigma's version of AFS, Nikon's "silent wave motor", or Canon's ultrasonic motor) ...Let me explain how I have configured my camera. On my D70 I set custom function # 15 to "AF-ON" and what that means is my shutter release button NO LONGER activates autofocus. To use autofocus, I have to press the "AF-L / EF-L" button that is just to the right of my viewfinder. I have the camera set this way whenever I'm shooting with an AFS or HSM lens, because I can easily have manual focus and autofocus at my disposal, entirely separately, but without having to flip any switches or scroll through any menus. I can depress the sutter button all I want and focus manually with the lens focus ring, or I can just hit the "AF-ON" button and the HSM will autofocus "underneath" the lens focus ring. (you have to see this to fully understand, methinks)

Also, I want to note that in the AF window, I have not only the focus distance in feet and meters, but also the reproduction ratio! This is probably standard on most macro lenses, and the 150mm is no exception. Also, I must note that the lens collar is by far the nicest I've ever used. The locking knob effortlessly twists between "super-glide" free, smooth movement and "not going ANYWHERE!"

Nikon is not very well known for making stellar lens collars, and the designs vary from "functional but slightly annoying" to "nearly useless"... I think Sigma really has something going on here with this lens collar design. (It's the same exact design as on the 70-200mm and other lenses...)

There's a nice "flat black" rubbery finish over pretty much the whole lens, and I really like it. If you have a tendency of scraping your lens on rocks and branches and other unfriendly surfaces this finish will scrape off, but if you're scraping your lens on rocks then shame on you! (don't ask how I know)

Autofocus performance of the HSM motor is beautiful. However it is important to remember that this is a macro lens, and it focuses from infinity to 1:1 life size. That is a huge, huge range; it takes about a 3/4 turn of the focus ring to go from infinity to 1:1, while most lenses only utilize about 1/4 of a turn. So it's just plain unfair and unwise to use this lens' autofocus and expect it to "snap" from one end to the other, without properly using the switch between macro and infinity AF. Most of the time, I also "help" the lens find the general area of where I want to be before I start using AF...

In most situations near infinity, the lens snaps lightning-quick to focus, with zero hunting. However, I can't reccomend trying to get the lens to focus at something that's 8 inches in front of you when the lens is set to 8 feet. You just have to help the lens sometimes, that's a fact of life with telephoto macro lenses. Otherwise, you'll be very frustrated because this lens has a tendency to "do nothing" when you're in a situation such as that. Especially if you flip the switch from infinity AF to macro AF and the focus is set near infinity. The lens just won't activate AF unless you manually bring it in closer to where you're working.

But still, the lens is lightnig-quick as I said, and it will track everything from running kids to hovering honeybees.

Again and again, I'm just astounded by the beautiful, oh-so-smooth bokeh (out of focus bacground) that this lens renders. Wide open at f/2.8 this lens performs beautifully; it's sharp, punchy, and shows no signs of any other type of quality loss that I can tell. Stopped down of course you gain a little sharpness, (though I still shoot wide open a LOT!) ...and most importantly, the bokeh does not suffer when stopped down, as I've seen on some lenses. It stays very smooth even when "almost" in focus.

Normally I would never dream of attempting a photographic composition such as this. Stopped down to f/8 for sharpness, usually a lens will render background elements with strange patterns of aberration, and if you have any sort of foreground your image will be borderline trash. Throw in some shiny highlights from DIRECT sunlight, and you're in for trouble.

This image with the 150mm however is a beautiful collage of soft shapes and colors. The highlights in the background that are often rendered as horrible octagonal shaped flares are beautiful soft spheres. Oh, and the subject? Razor-sharp, just see for yourself. In fact, download this Original, un-edited image and enlarge it to a 20x30" print at 200ppi, give it a spot of low-radius USM, and tell me whether or not you'd buy this lens!


So, what I'm saying is that I love this lens and to me it's worth hundreds more than what I paid for it. Maybe some will think this review appears biased, that I'm just raving about a lens. Well, I guess I am raving. But I bet 99% of you would rave too if you owned it! I think it's a "no brainer" to purchase this lens if you like telephoto macro in the 150mm-225mm range. Yes, I use this lens on both my D70 and my N65 w/Provia; I can't speak highly enough of it's performance on both bodies. So, especially if you have a Nikon body, I can give this lens 5 stars without a doubt. For Canon users however I'd have to look into the AF/MF switch technicality, I'm not sure about how it works. But the best thing to do is just go down to your local shop and ask to try out the lens! That's always how you should shop for equipment, hold it in your hands and then decide...

Click HERE or HERE to view examples of my better shots with this lens.

Until next time,
-Matt-

Okay, okay, for those who love to pixel peep, a consecutive 100% crop test of some fine fabric texture. Keep in mind:

~photos shot at 1:1 macro, therefore shallow DOF may play a tiny role.
~photos shot with 2 second timer to avoid or at least equalize any blur
~tripod was sitting on carpet, not concrete.

This shot: f/2.8

This shot: f/3.5

This shot: f/4

This shot: f/5.6

This shot: f/8


To me, I think stopping down to f/4 in most macro situations might be preferable, if DOF isn't too drastically affected. (At 1:1, there isn't much difference) However I'm definitely going to keep shooting at f/2.8 when I need to. Usually I'm goign to want 95% of the picture to be smoothly out of focus anyway...