Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Canon Digital SLR Cameras

by Sigma

Product Details

• Product Dimensions: 3.7 x 3 x 3 inches ; 1.2 pounds
• Shipping Weight: 2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Shipping: This item is also available for shipping to select countries outside the U.S.
• ASIN: B000GPHQWO
• Item model number: B000GPHQWO
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Date first available at Amazon.com: July 11, 2006

Product Description

Style: Canon Digital SLR Cameras

This medium telephoto macro lens is ideal for both digital SLR cameras and 35mm film SLR cameras. The 70mm focal length gives an equivalent field of view as our popular 105mm macro lens when used on digital SLR cameras with an APS-C size image sensor. The design of this lens makes it suitable for taking pictures in all situations from infinity to 1:1 macro, both with natural light conditions or flash. A Special Low Dispersion (SLD) lens and two high refractive index SLD lenses provide excellent correction for all types of aberrations and produce an exceptional level of optical performance. Sigma..s super multi-layer lens coating reduces flare and ghosting, and helps create a natural color balance. The floating focus system provides extremely high optical performance from infinity to 1:1 Macro. A "Focus Limiter Switch" in incorporated on the lens, improving the speed and accuracy of autofocus by limiting the focus range. A screw-in lens hood is included for convenient use of circular polarizing filters.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

27 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Lens at a great price, January 17, 2008

By 

Gary Gray - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

I've never been a big fan of Sigma Zoom lenses, but their prime lenses are top notch. I've been using the Sigma 105mm and 50mm macro primes on my Canon full frame bodies so I decided to pick this lens up for my Nikon D300 to give me a 105mm equiv lens for that system.

In a nutshell, this lens is fantastic. It is very sharp corner-to-corner on my Nikon D300. It is sharp wide open at f/2.8 and stays sharp up until about f/11, where it starts to soften just a bit. Lens construction is very sturdy and typical of the top-end sigma primes. Autofocus speed is adequate but not as fast as the best Nikon lenses. It also makes a little more noise when focusing. Manual focusing is excellent with a very smooth and precise feel. I really like this lens and it may be one of the sharpest prime lenses on the market. I highly recommend it.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Recommended buy, March 21, 2007

By 

Camborieux "Sebiou" (UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

This lens performs better than I expected. I bought this lens for macro and with the 1:1 ratio, it gives great pictures. With its f/2.8 at 70mm (which is equivalent to a 105mm in digital) it does work brilliantly for portraits (I thought it could be slightly slow but it is not at all!).
At this price, it is a great lens to have in your bag.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars It's good, but it's *not* a constant f2.8 lens (edit: most Macro aren't!), June 7, 2009

By 

Peter Chenoweth - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Nikon Digital SLR Cameras (Electronics)

Bought this to pair with my Nikon D90. It's a sharp lens that's very pleasant to use. As the other reviewer said, it's a 'nice' length on an APS-C sized sensor, ~105mm. Sharpness is on par with the venerable Nikkor 50mm f1.8, IMHO. So that's great. Not unexpected though, as this is supposedly Sigma's sharpest prime lens and it's a Macro lens, which by definition has to be tack sharp. Build quality seems very good too. All in all, it's a nice lens at a good price.

Focus is slow compared to AF-S lenses, but only because there's such a huge focal range. This lens does seem hunt a lot on my D90, even in bright light. It'll often have to run the focus across the entire range to get a lock, and that's a pain. However, flipping the focus limiter switch solves it and makes it focus just as fast as my other non AF-S lenses. So that's ok. And for macro shots I'd usually be focusing manually anyway, so it's not a big deal. But it's just not quite as quick as my AF-S lenses.

I also don't like the fact that the lens cap won't snap on when the sunshade is screwed on. Makes it a bit of a pain when you're out and about and want to cap the lens, as you've got to unscrew the shade (and put it somewhere - it doesn't reverse) to put the cap on. A pain compared to Nikkor shades that allow the cap while they're installed, even while reversed.

But there is one major negative that none of the other reviews have touched upon. And it's nearly a deal-breaker for me. This is NOT a true f2.8 fixed lens. It is from 10ft to infinity, but below that the max aperture grows as the subject distance decreases. At 1:1 magnification, 3-4 inches away, maximum aperture is f4.8. This is not really what I had in mind when I bought this lens, and I may return it because it's not going to work as well as I had hoped. I bought an f2.8 lens expecting a constant aperture. I was wrong. I actually think it's a bit of deceptive advertising on the part of Sigma. Since it's primary purpose is to be a Macro lens, they should be clear that it's an f2.8 lens only at decidedly non-macro focal ranges. This is really an f4.8 Macro lens, which isn't so great. So just be advised before you purchase this lens.

Followup:

Apparently, a variable aperture at decreasing macro distances is common to many macro lenses, including Nikon's own 60mm f2.8 and 105mm f2.8 macro lenses. So I can't pick on Sigma too much for this. I'm new to the world of dedicated macro lenses, and I didn't know this 'feature' was just the way these lenses worked. Taking this into consideration, the 70mm Sigma is perhaps more deserving of four (4) stars, rather than three. I'd edit my star rating but I can't.

This also makes me reevaluate my comments about potentially returning this Sigma. I was strongly considering returning the Sigma and picking up the 60mm f2.8 Nikkor Macro instead. I had assumed that the Nikkors would be truly constant f2.8 lenses. I would have been wrong! Since the Nikkor's do this variable aperture thing too, I'm thinking I'll just keep the Sigma - as other than this aperture thing, it's a great lens. Lesson learned! :-)

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