Sigma AF 150mm f/2.8 EX DG HSM APO Macro OS (Canon EOS) - Review / Test Report - Sample Images & Verdict
Lens Reviews - Canon EOS (Full Format)

Sample Images

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Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/4000s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/5000s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/1600s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/3200s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/1600s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/8000s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/3200s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/10.0
Exposure 1/400s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/2500s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/5.6
Exposure 1/640s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/3200s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/8.0
Exposure 1/250s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/2500s
Make Canon
Model Canon EOS 5D Mark II
ISO Speed 200
Focal Length 150.0mm
Aperture: f/2.8
Exposure 1/6400s

Verdict

The Sigma AF 150mm f/2.8 EX HSM DG APO macro OS is certainly among the very best macro lenses around. It is capable of delivering very good results at max. aperture and the center quality does even reach excellent quality between f/4 and f/8. Both distortions as well as lateral CAs are insignificantly low. The vignetting is visible at f/2.8 but already moderate at f/4 and negligible beyond. It is a bit unfortunate that the quality of the bokeh is not top notch. The general quality of the blur is still good but not super smooth. A real surprise is the amount of bokeh fringing - there's basically none - an extremely rare characteristic. The Sigma is not only an apochromatic lens but a so-called super-apochromat. In this lens segment we've only seen this in the "cream machine" - the Voigtländer APO Lanthar 125mm f/2.5 SL.

The Sigma lens accepts both Sigma as well as Canon tele converters. The Canon converters work pretty well here. The results are still very good when coupling the EF 1.4x III converter. The EF 2x III has a more pronounced impact on the image quality but if you stop down a little it is still a viable option albeit not better than a good 300mm zoom lens. This just shows that a 2x converter is really stretching the limits even with a high quality prime lens like the Sigma. The lack of phase detection AF doesn't make the EF 2x III an obvious choice at least on the EOS 5D II anyway.

The mechanical implementation of the Sigma AF 150mm f/2.8 EX HSM DG APO macro OS is basically perfect except for the missing weather sealing. The ultrasonic AF drive is very fast in most scenes and AF operations are virtually silent. Sigma's image stabilizer ("Optical Stabilizer") is very efficient at normal focus distances but don't expect wonders in macro scenes. This characteristic is not uncommon though - the Micro-Nikkor AF-S 105mm f/2.8 ED shares this limitation for instance. Sigma has increased the pricing quite a bit compared to the predecessor but we think it's worth it!

Optical Quality:    
Mechanical Quality:
Price/Performance:
      
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