Sigma 105mm F28 Ex Dg Os Hsm Macro Review

The medium telephoto Sigma 105 is long and fast enough to make a skilful portrait lens and at the same time gives the photographer enough working distance for macro compared to the shorter lenses where lighting can be a problem due to the front of the lens blocking light to the field of study. The Sigma 105 is really one of my favorite lenses, 100% dependable, sharp and very good colour correction and an excellent value from a toll/performance ratio.

It competes with the image quality from Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 USM Fifty IS and the Nikon AF-Due south VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G at a cheaper cost, maybe twenty% less. It doesn't have conditions sealing like the Catechism 100 but in years of using the Sigma 105 professionally I accept never missed it honestly.

TECHNICAL DETAILS

Type: Macro lens Focal length: 105mm at infinityAperture: 9 blades

Magnification range: 1X - infinity

Coverage: Full frameWorking distance: Good.

Chromatic Aberration (CAs):No issues here, CAs are well controlled.

Lens mountain:The lens tested here was in G-type Nikon F-mountain.

Optical design: sixteen Elements in 11 Groups, including two SLD elements.

Coverage: Total frame.

Filter threads: 62mm.

Price: Easy to find new and on the used market. Street price for a new lens is currently $569.

RATING

What I like about the lens
Paradigm Quality
CA correction
Compact size
Focal length
Price

Things I can live with
Lack of a tripod collar.

Things that I dislike nigh the lens
Nix at all.

Things I don't need
Image stabilization for macro photography.
Weather condition sealing.
After more than 10 years of experience photographing wildlife professionally in all kinds of weahter, I think the need for weather sealing is really more of an internet myth, than a true professional person characteristic.

Image Quality:This lens has very expert overall functioning without any real weaknesses.

Sharpness Examination

This 6 inch silicon wafer was shot at 1X, Nikon D810 ISO 64 Nikon MM-11 stand. Paradigm shown are 100% or actual pixel crops. Be certain to click on an paradigm to see larger version.

A highly detailed, loftier-contrast test target like the wafer used here, will tend to reveal sharpness differences and chromatic aberration much more strongly than a existent-world image.

Test setup notes

-The Nikon D850 camera was vertically mounted on a Nikon MM-xi correspond this test.
-For each lens and each discontinuity setting focus was bracketed and the sharpest image was chosen at 100% view in photoshop.
-Manual fashion was used at ISO 64.
-To avoid any sharpness loss due to vibration a Nikon SB-R200 flash was used at 1/16th to 1/two power. -The flash remained in identify for the unabridged examination to avert changes in light angle, the wink was mounted on a flash bracket bolted to an optical breadboard.
-RAW NEF files were processed in Photoshop CC with all noise reduction and lens correction turned off, all settings were zeroed out and the same white balance setting used for all the images.
-All crops are shown hither at 100% actual pixel view.
-All of the test result images are single frames.
-To avoid focus shifts with aperture changes, ten-15 shots were made at 40 micron steps at each aperture.
-The sharpest images were chosen at 100% bodily pixel magnification, cropped and saved in Photoshop.
-Although the sharpest aperture is shown, each lens was shot in total stops from wide open up downward to f/8 or f/eleven.
-Results of the other apertures will be posted on the private lens pages (coming shortly).

The target is a silicon wafer shot at 1X, the united nations-cropped full frame image is beneath with the ingather target areas highlighted in blue.

Center crop at 100% magnification view below. Click on an image to see larger version in a new window.

Sigma 105 OS middle crop at f/2.8

Sigma 105 OS center ingather at f/4

Sigma 105 Os center crop at f/5.half-dozen

Sigma 105 Bone center ingather at f/8

100% magnification actual pixel center crops, f/two.eight to f/eight, left to right. All of the centre crops are sharp, I retrieve the pinnacle is at f/4.

Border crop at 100% magnification view. Click on an paradigm to see larger version in a new window.

Sigma 105 Bone border crop at f/2.8

Sigma 105 OS border ingather at f/4.

Sigma 105 Bone edge crop at f/5.6

Sigma 105 Bone edge crop at f/8.

All edge crops are clean and sharp.

Corner crop at 100% magnification view. Click on an image to see larger version in a new window.

Sigma 105 OS corner crop at f/2.eight

Sigma 105 Bone corner crop at f/iv

Sigma 105 OS corner crop at f/5.6

Sigma 105 Bone corner crop at f/eight

The Sigma 105 shows neat corner sharpness at f2.8, and f/iv, with a slight falloff in sharpness at f/5.six, and a noticeable drop-off at f/8. The drop-off at f/8 was a surprise since I had never noticed it in-the-field, but this test is far tougher than a real-world subject then I don't think the driblet-off would exist noticeable with normal photography. Lateral chromatic aberration, absent at f/two.8, increases as the aperture is closed, condign noticeable at f/5.6.

Sigma 105mm f/ii.8 EX DG vs Nikon AF-S VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G at 1X

The Nikon 105 VR is a very pop lens and has been effectually for what seems like forever. How does it compare to the Sigma 105, a much less expensive lens? Lets compare some image crops at 100% and detect out.

Click on an image to see larger total-size version in a new window.

Centre sharpness on the Sigma 105 is best here at f/4, on Nikon 105 VR sharpness peaks at f/5.6 . The Nikon looks very skillful but the Sigma shows more detail. No surprise hither since the Sigma is a much newer design, the Nikon design is ten+ year old by now and was optimized for 12 MP sensors.

Corner sharpness with the Sigma at f/four is very adept actually, with merely the slightest trace of lateral CAs. On the other hand the chromatic aberrations are actually excessive in the corners with the Nikon 105 VR, the pink fringing is actually noticeable and worse nevertheless, this is stopped down to f/five.six, the fringing was even worse at f/4. In the corners the Sigma 105 OS is much sharper and with much improve CA supression.

Longitudinal Chromatic Aberration 1X test

What are LoCAs?
Longitudinal chromatic aberrations or LoCAs are ugly purple and green fringing seen in the out of focus areas in forepart of and backside the focus indicate of an image.  LoCAs are common, especially with fast lenses, and so chances almost all of your lenses accept at least a trace, you just never noticed. The trouble is that LoCAs are extremely difficult to correct with complex designs using special drinking glass to fully correct the abnormality, the Scanner-Nikkor for example has xiv elements, half-dozen of those being ultra low dispersion.

Test Setup
D810 photographic camera was mounted on a Newport PRC-3 rails carrier and Arca Swiss fashion quick release clamp and moved back and along to conform the dissimilar focal length lenses set at 1X. The Newport PRL dovetail rails system was bolted to a Thorlabs aluminum breadboard with a printed target gear up at 30 degrees on a tilt caput. A single Nikon SB-R200 wink and the tilt head remained in place during the test.

Lateral chromatic aberration 1X test

What are  Chromatic aberrations (CAs)
Chromatic aberrations (CA) are one of several aberrations, or imperfections, that dethrone image quality. These occur because glass bends dissimilar colors by different amounts. This phenomenon is chosen dispersion, and this is why yous see some high performance lenses have labels such as, SD, UD, ED, SLD, ULD. These acronyms all refer to different types of depression-dispersion glass types used in the lenses.

Lateral CAs appear in images equally royal and greenish fringing, mostly seen on virtually-vertical difficult edges on the left and right corners of the image. This results in softening of edges in the corners of an prototype. CAs occur because the different wavelengths of lite are magnified past slightly different amounts past the lens.

CA correction
Minimizing chromatic abnormality is ane of the nigh important goals of a lens manufacturer. Lens design correct for CAs by combining different lens elements with different dispersion properties, or different refractive indexes. But CAs remain a big problem for lens manufacturers in ultra-wide lenses, long telephoto lenses, and farthermost zooms. Most manufacturers offer some level of correction, some tin completely correct CAs, with in-camera correction. Over the terminal few years some manufacturers take get actually sneaky with the use of Opcodes.

Opcodes

According to Adobe, Sony, Olympus, Leica, and Panasonic have an understanding in place with Adobe to allow automatic chromatic abnormality correction (and distortion correction) before RAW file conversion by tagging the RAW files with Opcodes. The sneaky role is that Opcode force corrections in Lightroom and Adobe Camera Raw before yous fifty-fifty even open the image . Opcodes cannot be disabled but you can delete the codes with certain apps. Opcodes also corrects for distortion (and vignetting) which means the image will be enlarged slightly then cropped to right for distortion so there could be some upshot on sharpness.

Lateral chromatic aberration is reduced past the lens blueprint to a certain degree by combining unlike lens elements with different refractive indexes. There are lenses that use very complex designs using expensive depression-dispersion glass to completely eliminate CAs.  Examples of these types of lenses would be the  Press Nikkor, Scanner Nikkor and Schneider Macro Varon.

Test Setup
D810 photographic camera was mounted on a Newport Prc-3 runway carrier and Arca Swiss style quick release clamp and moved back and forth to accommodate the different focal length lenses set up at 1X. The Newport PRL dovetail rail system was bolted to a Thorlabs aluminum breadboard. The light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation printed test target was taped to a Newport 460P XYX micrometer controlled setup. A unmarried Nikon SB-R200 flash was used for lighting and has bolted to a articulating wink arm.

Sigma 105mm f/2.viii EX DG at 1X and f/v.6

Nikon AF-Due south VR Micro-NIKKOR 105mm f/2.8G at 1X and f/five.6

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Source: https://www.closeuphotography.com/sigma-105mm-os-macro-lens/2017/10/20/sigma-105mm-f28-ex-dg-os-hsm-macro-lens

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