First glance at the Sigma 150 OS Macro lens

It just arrived. Box is bigger than I expected and there is a reason. They included a wonderful accessory - a hood extension for APS-C use. Yeah. No one ever makes hoods long enough, it seems. Only other lens I own that came with an accessory hood was the (new price) $12K Mamiya 645 300/2.8 APO.I am a big fan of hoods. Plastic hoods are best - they break away upon impact and usualy save the lens and camera. My old Sigma 150/2.8 Macro lens has survived the 4 foot concrete drop test because of this. Both hoods together are 6" long! Over length of lens with both hoods is 11.5" Yes, they say do not use the extra hood for FF. Old Sigma 150 is 7.4" long with hood.
They say 4 stop OS, will test later. Mode 1 for 3D and mode 2 for horiz panning. Turn OS off on tirpod or bulb. 3 range focus limiter switch - same as old model. Overall fit and finsih are about the same = great to me. Collar comes off - both collars are the same. Old lens is 1.68 lb. New 2.16 lb - this is without hood, caps or collar. New lens with collar and both hoods is 2.82 lb. In other words some more weight but still fine, IMO. The new lens is perhaps a mm or 3 longer.
I can hear the OS kick in and off. Talkes a bit of time, the amount I am used to. Should not be an issue. AF speed? The Sigma 150 has the fastest AF of any macro lens I have ever owned. The new one is perhaps just a bit faster. Hard to call. Will wait for some outdoor shooting to judge again. Just as in the old version, front does not rotate and lens does not change in length. Both big factors to me.
The focus throw is a bit different. Takes more turns (OK, parts of a turn) to go from MFD to 1M on the older version - a good thing for fine tuning with MF. But, I'll wait until I do some real shooting to decide how much this matters.
Our hottest day of the year today. I might get outside tomorrow and do some side by side tripod/remote switch IQ testing.

Keep us updated!
The old 150 is an absolutely fantastic lens. Lets see if this one has even better optics.

Definetely keep us updated. I am really interested in this lens!

For those keeping or getting the old version, I am sure the new hood extension ( HA 780-01) is available as a part. Fits between the lens and regular hood.

juanpafer wrote in post #12689878
Keep us updated!
The old 150 is an absolutely fantastic lens. Lets see if this one has even better optics.

Well the OS version is constructed of 19 elements in 12 groups while the non-OS version was 16 elements in 12 groups. Not sure if the additions are because OS or not.

I'll be interested to see this new hood - all the product shots only show the lens without any hood at all, ye I did recall reading about the crop sensor hood extender on the product description. Kinda a double edged sword though - most likely great for regular telephoto use for blocking out stray light; but also a pain for macro because it would shadow the light and be closer to the bug - the original hood alone on the lens with a flash in the hotshoe was always a good, simple and effective working setup.

I guess the hood concept is the same one they applied for the 85 f1.4 and will become standard with Sigma lenses.

Is this around 1K?
I have the non OS, and love the lens. I did feel that the canon 100mm 2.8 macro was faster focusing though. optically the non OS is great, and not a lot of room to improve on. The OS is very nice for a general purpose lens, and would make this a very attractive travel lens for me over the hauling the 70-200 2.8 IS II, with great macro capability.

sounds like a nice lens

Although I rarely use it, I can't come to sell it, yet.... it's a great lens optically. It doesn't have to play second fiddle to any lens in it's range and capabilities.

The focusing can be a bit sluggish and it really doesn't work reliably at all in low light. Strangely enough, it will usually hit focus on the first try but if you try and "bump it" again (AI Servo on the back button), it will rack from one end to the other. This in low light (I took it once to shoot a concert).

This is really nitpicking since it was never intended to ve used in those environments, imo.

bohdank wrote in post #12690450
Although I rarely use it, I can't come to sell it, yet.... it's a great lens optically. It doesn't have to play second fiddle to any lens in it's range and capabilities.

The focusing can be a bit sluggish and it really doesn't work reliably at all in low light. Strangely enough, it will usually hit focus on the first try but if you try and "bump it" again (AI Servo on the back button), it will rack from one end to the other. This in low light (I took it once to shoot a concert).

This is really nitpicking since it was never intended to ve used in those environments, imo.

I've never had a problem with the Af in any mode , even with the 1.4 converter . The 2x didn't work as good , Af wise . Speed wise , I thought it was at least as fast as the Canon 100mm non-L . Not enough to worry about either way.

I used it at a baseball game one time. While the IQ was great , I felt it was a tad slow for this . But it's been great for insects . I just don't use it enough .

OK, ouside now. I see no vignette at infinity and f/22 using both hoods. At MFD and both hoods, the subject to hood distance is about 1 inch = not good. So, for "macro" work it may be one hood only. Using my ZE 100/2 at 1:2, working distance (subject to hood) is about 7 inches. Using one hood on the Sigma 150 OS at 1:2, working distance is more like 14 inches. I do not have an EF 100 anymore to compare to those figures. Someone else may supply that I hope.

Outdoors, shade, OS test. I did 3 different subjects at 3 different distances. Shutter speeds ranged from 400 down to 1/5, more or less. Handheld. My conclusion is the OS does help and I'll say 2 stops normally - not trying too hard, just normal shooting. I did see a 3 stop advantage once while trying hard. Nothing like 4 stops claimed, sorry. Guess I expected better.

Post some pics, this may be my next purchase!

Side by side IQ test will take me a while. I expect it is not a whole lot of difference = needs a exact test.