Lets me start by saying that this is the finest lens I have ever used. Period.
Other lenses in my bag are Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L (recently sold), Sigma EX 70-200 f2.8 EX OS, Sigma 50mm f1.4, Sigma EX 85mm f1.4, Sigma EX 24-70mm f2.8, Sigma EX 10-20mm (for APS-C) and Canon x1.4 II.
Bodies Canon 5D mkII and Canon 60D.
Having had no macro lenses in my collection and clearly wanting to take macro shots I went looking for a high quality lens to achieve this. In preparation I did a lot of research reading about various macro lenses made by Canon, Nikon and other 3rd party manufacturers with different focal lengths.
To cut to the chase - the Sigma 180mm f2.8, looked to be on paper (at least) and from the reviews to be the most promising and the focal length really appealed at practical level. The launch price really put me off. Initially this lens was retailing for 1849,- euros. The prices seem to have come down in steps (first to 1642,- and now 1478,- euros, Jan 2013). Thankfully I had a friend who was able to buy it for me in Hong Kong for the equivalent of 1180,- euros.
As I have come to expect from Sigma's EX range I was not disappointed with the build quality, it's robust, solid with a very nice finish. The lens comes with lens shrouds (for full frame and APS-C sized sensors) and a high quality bag and tripod support.
This is a heavy lens, and will be a challenge to have strapped around ones neck.
I have shot a few hundred photos to date with this lens, and for me, the stand out photographic properties that this lens produces are the exceptional sharpness of the images with beautiful bokeh wide open. I guess a surprise for me was how this lens works really well for shooting portrait shots indoor with ambient lighting. It produces just lovely shots. In similar situations I would normally use the 85mm or the 70-200mm - but they just don't deliver in the same way. You can be a bit farther away with the 180mm and not be too close to the subject(s). It allows for getting some very natural shots of people being relatively unaware that they are being photographed. The same is true for taking photos of pets.
Did I mention the sharpness of this lens. It's tack sharp.
The lens is equipped with focus limiters (3 settings) and these are useful and necessary - as it can take a few seconds to focus from one extreme to another. This isn't to say that the focusing is slow - it's not. The image optical stabilization - is essential when not on a tripod as the lens is heavy. But it works very well in each setting - meaning it does what you expect.
Under very low light conditions (with the 5D mkII) the auto-focus did a lot of hunting. I believe this is more to do with The 5D mkII rather than the lens as I have experienced similar with Canon's 70-200mm and other lenses I own.
The Canon x1.4 II does not work with the 180mm. But I will get the same result (more or less) using the 60D - so I'm not too disappointed.
If there are faults with this lens I have not been able to find them, yet.
I still have to take some macro shots !! But I'll get around to that.
In short, a very happy customer.
Other lenses in my bag are Canon 70-200mm f2.8 L (recently sold), Sigma EX 70-200 f2.8 EX OS, Sigma 50mm f1.4, Sigma EX 85mm f1.4, Sigma EX 24-70mm f2.8, Sigma EX 10-20mm (for APS-C) and Canon x1.4 II.
Bodies Canon 5D mkII and Canon 60D.
Having had no macro lenses in my collection and clearly wanting to take macro shots I went looking for a high quality lens to achieve this. In preparation I did a lot of research reading about various macro lenses made by Canon, Nikon and other 3rd party manufacturers with different focal lengths.
To cut to the chase - the Sigma 180mm f2.8, looked to be on paper (at least) and from the reviews to be the most promising and the focal length really appealed at practical level. The launch price really put me off. Initially this lens was retailing for 1849,- euros. The prices seem to have come down in steps (first to 1642,- and now 1478,- euros, Jan 2013). Thankfully I had a friend who was able to buy it for me in Hong Kong for the equivalent of 1180,- euros.
As I have come to expect from Sigma's EX range I was not disappointed with the build quality, it's robust, solid with a very nice finish. The lens comes with lens shrouds (for full frame and APS-C sized sensors) and a high quality bag and tripod support.
This is a heavy lens, and will be a challenge to have strapped around ones neck.
I have shot a few hundred photos to date with this lens, and for me, the stand out photographic properties that this lens produces are the exceptional sharpness of the images with beautiful bokeh wide open. I guess a surprise for me was how this lens works really well for shooting portrait shots indoor with ambient lighting. It produces just lovely shots. In similar situations I would normally use the 85mm or the 70-200mm - but they just don't deliver in the same way. You can be a bit farther away with the 180mm and not be too close to the subject(s). It allows for getting some very natural shots of people being relatively unaware that they are being photographed. The same is true for taking photos of pets.
Did I mention the sharpness of this lens. It's tack sharp.
The lens is equipped with focus limiters (3 settings) and these are useful and necessary - as it can take a few seconds to focus from one extreme to another. This isn't to say that the focusing is slow - it's not. The image optical stabilization - is essential when not on a tripod as the lens is heavy. But it works very well in each setting - meaning it does what you expect.
Under very low light conditions (with the 5D mkII) the auto-focus did a lot of hunting. I believe this is more to do with The 5D mkII rather than the lens as I have experienced similar with Canon's 70-200mm and other lenses I own.
The Canon x1.4 II does not work with the 180mm. But I will get the same result (more or less) using the 60D - so I'm not too disappointed.
If there are faults with this lens I have not been able to find them, yet.
I still have to take some macro shots !! But I'll get around to that.
In short, a very happy customer.