What you think about this lens for macro ?

[Wesche]

Sigma 105mm f/2.8 EX DG for my nikon, is it good? can anyone that has it or has tried it give me an opinion ?
Or i have the lens that came with the camera with some extension tubes ?

 

[Marc-Etienne]

I'm satisfied about mine. AF is a bit noisy (but you'll be in MF most of the time anyway) and the AF a bit slower than what you get used with Nikon. The only issue I have with that lens is that I get some kind of diaphragm ghost in the middle of my shots when I stopped it down a lot. I first thought my lens was dirty, but then clean it and try every aperture on a white piece of paper to see a green circle getting darker as I stop it down. I don't know if it's only my lens. To give you an idea of what I manage with my 105, look at these posts : My fussy friend, The phantom opera ghost and Water drop

I hope this help. I have other problems with that lens, but its my own fault (or Canada Post, most likely). Transport damage it (bought used) and damage focus control and I'm now stuck in AF. Like I said, it doesn't apply to the lens in general. Its a good lens if you are tight on budget. I sometime wonder if I shouldn't have wait and get a Nikon instead. But if you are looking for a decent lens, it works fine.

 

[Overread]

Optically speaking mostly all the macro prime lenses are on a similar footing - there isn't really one that stands out as better than the rest with a night and day difference (small differences might appear in studio test situations, but real world shooting won't show up).

The AF speed factor is also something you'll encounter with pretty much all macro lenses - there are some slightly better options (Eg sigma 150mm will have a much quieter AF motor and the Nikon 105mm VR is probably slightly faster, but will still be a slower AF system overall).

Furthermore - with regard to the extension tubes - with a kit lens and extension tubes you should get to around 1:1 or maybe a little more in magnifiaction. This is the same magnifiaction you'll get with all dedicated macro lenses; however they will be able to do so from further away from the subject (the longer the focal length the further away) and also will retain features such as infinity focusing (your macro lens will still focus on far off subjects whilst a lens with extension tubes will be limited in how far it can focus.)