Home > Consumer Reviews > Sigma 50mm f/2.8 EX DG Macro Lens for Sigma SLR Cameras

I recently purchased the Nikon D200 camera. I had several nice zoom lenses but I did not have anything which would take macro close-up photos. I did some research and found good reviews for this lens. So I got it.

The lens is an excellent lens for close-up photos. I am not a professional photographer but I try really hard to get good sharp photos. This lens will do the job.

Since it is also also a 50mm lens I have used it as a normal lens. The only problem with that is that over the years many of us have been spoiled with zoom lenses. With a zoom lens you can stand in one spot and zoom the lens in or out to get closer or father from your subject. With just the 50mm capability of this lens you have to physically move in or out to get a closer shot or a wider shot. This is not necessarily a criticism, just a comment about how we have been spoiled by zoom lenses.

I do not believe you will be disappointed with this lens. The price is great for the quality.

For the price I am happy with this macro lens. I purchased it for a Nikon D40 DSLR. It will not auto focus with this camera, as a AF-S lens is needed for that; but those are in the range of $700+; so this lens is fine with manual focus, and for $550 or so less than one that will auto focus with my camera. I am happy with the photo quality that it produces.

This was my first non canon lens,I was wanting a macro lens that also would be a good low light lens to use in the home to take photos of my pets at play.After reading many reviews I was concerned about the Auto focus being too slow for my needs,but I just couldn't spring for a Canon 60mm Macro at this time.
My lens came today,and I have to say I am fairly pleased.It does not hunt like my 28-135mm always has,and the AF is fairly fast,even in the low light of my living room with no interior lights on and only one window curtain open during daylight.The limitor switch does speed it up noticable as well. The colors is what has impressed me so far,The browns of my chocolate lab's coat were true,and had nice highlights I had never been able to get before.The lens fgocuses very close to an object as well,and I am looking forward to comparing my macro shots to the ones I got with my 28-135 with a macro filter applied.
There have been complaints that the hood doesnt fit the lens cap,but I think a 72mm lens cap would work well on the hood itself and would solve this problem for those who keep the hood on the lens.

This lens has been my primary shooting lens for the last three years on my Nikon D50. The only use left for my my kit lens "AF-S NIKKOR 18-55mm 1:3.5-5.6G ED" is as an 18mm wide angle. This Sigma 50mm f/2.8 prime lens is very sharp. I use it as a portrait lens on my cropped DX sensor camera (eq. 80mm on a full frame FX sensor). It also works great in low light. For portraits, I set f/5.6 if I am only 3-4 feet away. If I am 6-9 feet away I use f/4. You can try to use f/2.8 close-up but you are taking a chance, as the depth of field is so narrow that you might have the eyebrows sharply in focus and the nose and ears blurry. This lens is also very durable. On the negative side, focusing is not super-fast, but that didn't bother me, so I say go for it.

I own a Nikon D200 and already have a 300 mm lens that will do "macro" which for me, isn't the kind of macro I like to do. A lot of professional photographers don't 'get it' as to why I would want a 1:1 ratio. I love this lens from the moment I tried it out. What convinced me to buy it was a lens review in PC Photo magazine (the most recent issue) that reviewed the Sigma, Nikon and Canon 50mm macro lenses. This one won hands down and I can easily see why. You can view some of my macro shots at my web album: [...]
They say a picture is worth a thousand words.