Product Description

This large-aperture wide-angle lens is equipped macro focusing capability with a maximum magnification of 1: 2.7 and fast F1.8 maximum aperture. The use of aspherical lenses are offered for superior peripheral brightness and compensation of aberrations and astigmatism. This is an ideal DG lens for Digital SLR cameras.This lens is capable of Macro photography at minimum focusing down to 18cm (7.1 inch) (reproduction ratio 1: 2.7). It incorporates the floating focus system in order to minimize distortion, spherical aberration and astigmatism, which provide high performance at all shooting distance down to 18 cm (7.1 inch). Reproduction ratio 1: 2.7 and an angle of view of 84.1allow capturing of high quality images not only a subject but also the surrounding scenery.This lens has an advanced optical construction, in order to obtain adequate peripheral brightness at open aperture. Also, the iris diaphragm has 9 diaphragm blades to obtain beautiful out of focus images in the foreground and background.This lens also incorporates a Dual-Focus (DF) mechanism. It is easy to hold the lens, since the focusing ring does not rotate during auto-focus, yet it provides adequate focusing torque of the focusing ring during manual focusing of the lens. Also this allows the use of a "Petal-type Hood", which is superior light blocking effect.It incorporates a floating focus system and uses two aspherical lens elements for minimizing distortion, spherical aberration and astigmatism.

Product Details

• Brand: Sigma
• Model: B00005RKSO
• Dimensions: .0" h x .0" w x .0" l, 3.00 pounds

Features

• Filter Size: 77mm f/Stop Range: 1.8-22 Minimum Focus Distance: 7.1 Magnification: 1:2.7 Zoom/Focus C

Customer Reviews

Great quality but a little heavy and big.
I wanted a wide angle prime lens that I could take to parties where the shooting distance is always about the same and I could get higher quality pictures than with zoom lenses. Since this lens is fast, f/1.8, it focuses very quickly even in low light. It doesn't have an ultrasonic focusing mechanism, but focus speed is very fast and it has a clutch focusing ring so I can hold the lens and not interfere with the rotation of the focusing ring. The body feels very tight and well put together. The texture and feel are perfect. Picture quality is extremely good. The colors are natural and it's very sharp at 1.8 and is even better at 2.0 and above. Macro is excellent and since it has 9 curved aperature blades, the bokeh looks very pleasing. There is almost no distortion or abberation and focus is accurate. So even though this lens is a bit bigger and heavier than I would like in a prime lens like this, the benefits of brighter viewfinder (due to f/1.8), extemely sharp pictures and very good build quality makes it worthwhile purchase (especially for the price).

Favorite Lens thus over, even over L
This is by far one of my most favorite lenses. I use it over my L lenses when 24mm is what I need. Because it's macro, I feel I'm not limited with the prime lens, thus I don't miss the ability to zoom.

The copy I have is VERY sharp and at f1.8, it's not the sharpest, but it's darn good. The lens is almost as sharp as my Canon 100mm f2.8

Yes, the AF isn't as quiet and fast as most, but really... on my 5dmkII, it doesn't matter at all. I don't even notice it. People who think that's a deal breaker in a lens are less concerned with the art of photography.

I'm 27 years old and grew up with digital photography, but have also taking courses in film. Processing your own film really puts things into perspective, so if a lens is gonna focus .5 seconds slower than another and sound slightly more noisy... and you think that's awful, you need a reality check.

This lens is top notch.

quickly became a favorite
I purchased this lens, then barely used for the first few months. One day I was in a creative rut, so I decided to spend a day taking photos with only the lens I used the least. That day resulted in this becoming a favorite lens. On my 40d it's equivalent to around a 38mm focal length, which I find to be quite versatile.

This is one of my sharpest lens, and the wide aperture is really a pleasure to work with creating a nice bright viewfinder and great bokeh. I find the lens to be quite usable opened up all the way to 1.8, but stopping down to 2.0 or 2.8 does make a noticeable difference in sharpness. It can close focus much closer than the specs suggest,within 2-3 inches from the front element. The autofocus of course is much slower than USM/HSM but really isn't that bad in practice so I have no complaints. Switching between auto-focus and manual is a little weird. First you have to hit the typical MF/AF switch, then push/pull the focus ring to the AF or MF position. I find this two step process to be quite annoying. However the focus ring is nice, large and well damped making manual focusing pleasant. On a crop body like my 40d, I see no noticeable vignetting or corner softness, but I haven't tried it full-frame. It is large an heavy, but that's what you get with such a wide aperture combined with the sharp optics. I am glad it has a normal 77mm filter size. My biggest complaint other than the AF/MF switch is that Sigma makes some of the worst lens caps, it's really a pain to put the cap on or off with the lens hood attached. One of these days I'm going to replace it with a good center-pinch cap to make life easier.