Quick review Sigma's 105mm f/2.8 Art macro lens.

I took delivery of the above lens just a few days ago. It's stunning!

It lives up to every glowing review I've seen of it.

Pin sharp from corner-to-corner and with almost no LoCa, which makes a pleasant change from most other macro lenses. By 'almost no LoCa' I mean that a slight yellow/blue fringing is just detectable on strong OOF highlights, but practically it's LoCa free for non-specular subjects.

There's also noticeable pincushion disortion, but it's the straightforward type that can easily be corrected in post.

Having said that. Compared to other macro lenses it's as close to perfection as any mortal could wish for. Especially at a 3 figure price.

At other than macro distances it keeps the same excellent level of optical performance. I don't pretend to be a bokeh 'connoisseur', but the behind-the-subject OOF blur looks smooth enough to me, and I wouldn't hesitate to use this lens for portraits. OTOH the OOF areas in front of the subject are definitely on the 'nervous' side.

Construction appears to be well above average, with the addition of a manual aperture-ring control and on/off switchable click-stops at 1/3rd stop intervals. The AF is switchable to manual on the lens too, as well as having a focus-limit switch. The mount is gasket-sealed and there's a deep supplied hood.

This lens is only available in Sony E/FE and L mount at the moment. So I think we Sony users are quite lucky to have such a great option.

I'll post some sample pics later.

Here are the sample pictures.

A 1:1 macro to kick off.

Thumbnail of the full frame -

Taken at f/5.6, no stacking.

100% crops. The smallest threads are the individual fibres in the nylon(?) 'lace'.

A comparison with my previous 105mm macro lens.

See Nikon? You can get rid of that green/magenta LoCa you seemed so fond of.

The lens is pretty good - OK, excellent - at about 2.3 metres distance too.

The subject is an oil painting.

Full frame -

And 100% (60 megapixel) crops taken wide open at f/2.8 -

Sorry the painting is a little short on finer detail to really show off the lens!