| Author: | | Inactive Account Registered: June, 2007 Location: Toronto, Ontario Posts: 429 | | Review Date: March 14, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $700.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | razor sharp, great contrast | | Cons: | a little short for shooting insects | |
I bought this specifically for macro photos and could not be happier with my purchase. I've also used it for some portraits where it also shined (though, perhaps a bit too sharp :-) ).
The lens is absolutely brilliant for still life. I found the focal length a little short for insects, though. That said, I've paired the lens with a Tamron 1.4x TC and found very little drop in IQ, giving me enough working distance so bugs are spooked.
| | | | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2007 Location: Bay area, CA Posts: 194 | | Review Date: April 2, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | incredibly sharp. Good value. 9 blades construction makes creamy bokeh. | | Cons: | Big & heavy compared to the Pentax counterpart. Clumsy lens hood design | |
I bought this primarily as mid-price short telephoto lens for candid photography. Think of it as a "poorman 77 FA limited". The macro capability to me is a bonus. Looking through the reviews, some have commented that this lens is possibly one of the sharpest lens ever produced. I can't say that with authority but certainly that statement seems to hold true for all my glass collection thus far.
Quality: besides the unquestionably sharp glasses, the 9 blade construction makes for a beautiful bokeh. The lens is sharp wide open and stay that way into f11, then it seems to deteriorate. This maybe of a concern to macro shots of bug, as they need the sharpness at even smaller f stop for increase depth of field, and the lens does get VERY close to the subject. Beware that its frightening sharpness would require PP touch-up for portrait photos. Every bit of skin flaws seems to be more pronounced with this lens.
Mechanical: there is a macro focus switch to reduce the hunt time for focusing, which is nice. The hood design feels clumsy. it's a 77mm screw-in lens hood to the 62mm filter thread on the lens and made of metal. it cannot be reversed for compactness so i have to leave it at home when i need to pack for travelling. The hood will accept a 77mm lens cap and filter, but you can't use the 62mm lens cap when the hood is attached.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: January, 2008 Location: Ontario, Canada Posts: 1,972 | | Review Date: May 6, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $380.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, weight/feel, macro | | Cons: | non | |
This lens is very sharp right from f2.8 to f11. A fantastic lens at ~100mm (film size ratio) that has many uses.
Features:
- Weight and feel of the lens is very good (it includes a limiter).
- Nice coating on the barrel.
- Manual focus is smooth. Not buttery like a Pentax M lenses, but much better the kit lens, or the Tamron 28-75mm.
- Macro is 0.91:1 (slightly larger than life size) and focuses ~ 6 cm or so from the front lens.
- Extremely sharp images. Comparable to the coveted FA50 f1.4 in my eyes (which is also a fabulous lens)
- Rear cap goes off/on with ease.
- Focus is slow and can hunt a bit (especially in low light), however in real world use I found the manual focus works very well for macro shots and the auto focus works great for portraits.
I was looking at purchasing a macro and a Pentax 70mm limited, however with this lens I feel that I have both covered.
This lens is coveted as having the best optics of any of Sigma's line of lenses.
Definitely recommended.
(sample of portrait/candid in link)
http://mephotography.files.wordpress.com/2008/10/007-stakens1.jpg
c[_]
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2008 Location: Trinidad W.I. Posts: 612 | | Review Date: May 17, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $396.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp, well made, good IQ | | Cons: | SLOW AF, screw in hood does not reverse mount | |
I wanted to add mid range macro to replace the old 50mm F2.8 and I didn't want something as short like the 35mm limited macro.
The first thing I noticed with this lens was how slow the AF was, it can not replace the DA 70mm as a human portrait lens IMO but as a macro lens it shows itself to be very sharp with good Bokeh, Sharper than the DA 70mm or the 77 limiteds or the longer 105mm Sigma and DA pentax macros but only by a bit.
It is a heavy lens and after an hour of use your hands begin to hurt from it's weight, definitely heavy! I don't like the screw in hood, they should have made it reversible for storage!
A tad too short for insects as it goes to 1:1 about 7 cm in front the front element which is not as recessed as in some other macros so you do have to be a bit careful about scratching it or smearing it with pollen.
Still for a general purpose macro this is a great lens as it is short enough for copy work, general flowers and some insects.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: December, 2007 Posts: 8,237
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: January 5, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Incrediby sharp | | Cons: | none | |
I sold my Viv 105 after I got this lens - never thought I'd find one sharper than the Viv, but this matches it, and maybe has better color than the Viv.
I love to use it as a general shooter in addition to macro work. It's pretty heavy, so it doesn't replace the DA 70 or 77ltd in ease-pf-use, but it's sharpness and contrast are just as good as those two.
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2009 Location: Lévis, Canada (Québec) Posts: 144
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 6, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $550.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharp! Sharp! Sharp! | | Cons: | Slow AF. | | Sharpness: 10
Aberrations: 9
Bokeh: 9
Handling: 8
Value: 10
Camera Used: K-5, K-7, K10D
New Or Used: 10
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I bought this lens as an alternative to the DA 70mm F/2.4 Limited. For roughly the same price, the Sigma was also a real macro performer, although heavier. I wasn't disappointed.
I wasn't doing enough macro photo to justify owning this lens, however. So instead of letting it gather dust in the closet, I sold it to a friend to buy myself a nice DA*50-135mm ED [IF] SDM lens.
Sharpness is out of this world. Already very sharp wide open, it's razor-sharp from F4 to F11. Still very sharp at smaller apertures. Very good contrast too, even wide open, where it's just a bit less contrasty. We're talking Leica / Carl Zeiss grade, here. The resolution potential of this lens surely exceeds the requirements of the K10D, K-7 and K-5 sensors.
Vignetting is almost non-existent. Distortion is impossible to see. Flare resistance is above average but not perfect: avoid shooting with the sun in the frame or just outside, if possible.
Lateral CAs are very low, even by today's standards. Longitudinal CAs are visible wide open but get under control stopping down the lens. Purple fringing can occur wide open in contrasty situations (like the reflection of the sun on shiny metal) and is easily corrected in post-production, like lateral CAs.
The bokeh is absolutely fabulous at short distances (macro) and still on par with most specialized lenses (DA70 Ltd) for portrait-like situations.
The lens is a dedicated macro tool, so it's not built for AF speed. As a result, the AF is sluggish (and noisy) even with the limiter on. The lens extends quite a bit in macro shooting.
The lens is also heavy, but it's solid.
All-in-all, a remarkable optical achievement, with very little to complain about.
So unless you're not much into macro photography (or if you want a light, compact lens), there's no reason to go for the DA70mm F/2.4 Limited when the Sigma 70mm F/2.8 EX DG can give you similar, if not superior results.
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: February, 2009 Location: Finland, Vantaa Posts: 95 | | Review Date: July 31, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $560.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Super sharp, build quality, contrast, colours, price and the Bokeh | | Cons: | Nothing! | |
My best and favourite lens. Good for anything, ex. walkaround, macro-shooting and portraits.
Its was cheap, brand new only 399€.
Focus is better with K7, more accurate and a bit faster than with K20D.
I can easily recommend this lens for anyone.
And also the bokeh is very creamy.... mmmmm.... | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2009 Location: Vancouver, B.C. Posts: 6,513
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 29, 2009 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | ultra-sharp at wide open, bokeh , colours, very high contrast | | Cons: | quite slow AF, especially during close focus. hood is not snap on. | |
one of the best non-Pentax lens acquisition that I had ever bought for Pentax. I bought this lenses after getting some great comments coming from respectable owners of the lens and they are right. reasons for getting this lens is I needed a much shorter telephoto than my 85mm , and with a decent constant aperture speed. 2.8 is fine with me. also the fact that I needed something AF and close-focusing capability for candid portraiture shots with very nice color rendition and bokeh. I hate to say this but this lens shames the DA70 in terms of sharpness, colours and OOF rendering. no matter how sharp the DA70 is, it is not that as crispier or sharp as that of the Sigma 70. the only obvious advantage of the DA70 is it's compact size and fast AF. downside of the Sigma is the sluggish AF due to maybe long focus throw caused by it's macro feature. the focus-limiter seems to help a bit for both macro and telephoto use. however, as I seem to use this lens more often, I find it seem much faster to focus now. for me, the macro feature is just another added bonus since my main concern for this lens is only for telephoto use. but don't think that it's macro is no good. it's macro is excellent, probably at par with the FA50/2.8's sharpness. since owning this lens, it made me wonder of abandoning the extensive use my FA100/2.8 macro which is also a great lens for portraiture but not as sharp and contrasty as that of the Sigma 70.
another con of this lens is the lens hood is a screw on type which is annoying. I hope to find a better alternative snap-on lens for it.
*forgot to mention that this lens is designed for FF camera which makes it an ideal and flexible lens for both systems. 105mm equiv. on APS-C camera and a 70mm on FF.
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: August, 2008 Location: Wellington, New Zealand Posts: 11,251
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: October 29, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Incredible IQ | | Cons: | screw on hood | |
I love doing macros and many macro lenses are very sharp so how to choose? I also love doing portraits so I was looking for a lens that has a double talent as a macro and portrait lens. I find that for portraits 55mm are the minimum and 90mm are already a bit too long (on APS-C). So the 70mm of the Sigma fell right into the usable range for me. For very nervous critters having a higher focal length to get more stand-off distance can be beneficial but I find the 70mm to be still very usable.
The lens is already mighty sharp starting from f/2.8 (wide open) and I don't think any faster makes sense for the vast majority of portraits where you want to keep both eyes in focus.
The lens is so good that Imaging-Resource use it as their cross-brand reference lens to compare cameras with each other. The photozone test rates it sharper than the Tamron 90mm and says it's bokeh is "very smooth and buttery". PopPhoto calls it "faultless".
It is really good for doing product shots. How about some nice leaf shots? You may also want to check out this Sigma 70 vs Tamron 90 comparison.
Optically, I think it is very hard to fault this lens, but there are a few small downsides. There is no manual aperture ring so you cannot put it on extension rings and shoot it at any other f-ratio than f/22. If one really wants to go beyond 1:1 while using a lower f-ratio, close up filters or (potentially gutted) teleconverters are alternatives. However, the immensely shallow DOF at close distances will probably require the use of an f-ratio near f/22 anyhow.
As other posters I wish the hood weren't of the screw on type so that it could be reverse-mounted.
Because of the long focus throw, focusing the lens can take longer than usual. However, I reckon on a K-7 or K-5 with a fast screw drive the AF times will be more than acceptable in particular in combination with the focus limiter switch. The long focus throw is really nice for macro work and I find manual focusing easy and to be a good experience with this lens.
Love the fact that it is a full-frame lens so when that Pentax FF body eventually arrives...
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: July, 2008 Location: Detroit Posts: 3,491 | | Review Date: February 13, 2011 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | SHARP, great contrast | | Cons: | A bit bulky | |
This was the first true macro I bought for my K200.
It's followed me to my K7. So I've had it for over 2yrs. It has done it's job flawlessly.
The flocked finish had dulled a bit over time, but not the performance.
I was gonna pick on the screw on lens hood, but I feel it does great job of protecting the glass, as it's metal.
I've even used it in light rain with no problems. Just wipe it dry from time to time.
When out shooting macros, I also use my D FA 100. I have to check the EXIF to tell which lens I shot with.
Last summer I loaned it to the friend that bought my K200.
Needless to say he didn't want to give back.
The only negative I can think of, is that it's a bit hard to clean, as the glass is well inset on both ends.
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: April, 2011 Location: near Berlin Posts: 9 | | Review Date: January 24, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | IQ, handling, limiter, build, reliable AF, AF/MF-switch, no CAs | | Cons: | a bit heavy, hood | |
The best Macro I ever had. Compared to my former Tamron 90/2.8, Sigma 105/2.8, Sigma 50/2.8 and Pentax 100/4 this is my favourite closeup-lens. CAs or vignetting are no issues. IQ is perfect. The AF is also fast enough for a macro using the switch. Manual focussing is very easy. The build is solid! The only conzern is the hood, which you need to screw in... this is a bit annoing.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2009 Location: Rochester, MN Posts: 765
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 25, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $375.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, contrasty, detail rendering, versatility | | Cons: | Large/heavy | |
A great lens all-around. Fantastic IQ with sharpness that isn't matched by many other lenses (it's on par with my FA limiteds...43 and 77 stopped down, in this regard), realistic detail rendering, and great micro-contrast. These features apply both in the macro realm and as a short telephoto for everyday use. It's equally strong at longer focus distances. AF wasn't the fastest ever, but the focus limiter switch was certainly helpful and I never found AF time obtrusive. Great focal length on APS-C for head/shoulders portrait work indoors. The only down side for me was the size/weight, which ultimately led me to transition to the FA 77, as I wanted something more compact in the short telephoto range. However, I'd highly recommend the Sigma 70 to anyone looking for a macro lens, or looking for a short telephoto with macro capability. It's an outstanding lens.
| | | | | Junior Member Registered: January, 2012 Location: Sydney Posts: 42 | | Review Date: April 21, 2012 | Recommended | Price: $500.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Sharpness & overall image quality | | Cons: | Silly screw on hood | |
This was my first macro lens (for a K200D 3 years ago) and now I use it on my K-5. It's still one of the best lenses I own. Never regretted buying it - excellent value. Apart from being a top-quality macro lens, it's also a good focal length for portraits, especially for children (although the extreme sharpness can be a bit cruel for us oldies :-(
It's solid as a rock (& nearly as heavy :-) and autofocus could be better, but since I mostly use it for macro flower photos, it doesn't detract from the over-all excellence of the lens. My other main macro lens is the Pentax 100mm WR which is also excellent - but I can't tell the difference in terms of image quality between the two.
The only one negative down side (for me) is that stupid screw-on hood - I don't know what Sigma was thinking...
| | | | | Senior Member Registered: November, 2012 Location: London Posts: 157 | | Review Date: January 28, 2013 | Recommended | Price: $575.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | sharp, superb bokeh, price | | Cons: | nothing | |
A very sharp lens at f2.8 which gets razor sharp at f4. It is comparable in size and weight to the Pentax 17-70 f4. It is very well built and the autofocus is good with the limiter, but slightly slow at the macro end, about the same as the Tamron 90mm macro. It's also a very well priced lens.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2011 Location: Providence, RI Posts: 368
1 user found this helpful
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