Sigma Autofocus 28-105 Lens Review

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This is probably the most prized lens I currently have with me. It works great on my Nikon D200, though not without some glitches, it has its own quality. Somebody gave it to me out of goodwill last year. I only bought a Nikkor 18-55 VR lens because group shots are impossible at 28mm. Also I had to have a back-up lens. So the set up I have is really foolproof. From 55 to 105 I am covered with the Sigma for portraits and close-up work.

When I tried it with the Nikon D200 for the first time, I was astounded by the results. The pictures had an even, bright tone all over. It is not too contrasty though. Luckily for me this is an old Sigma and made probably more than a decade ago. Also it is made in Japan, NOT China. I hear a lot of Sigma lenses these days are coming from China and I really don’t have a clue as to how the quality of China and Japan made lenses compare or whether its identical. I personally feel made in Japan ones are better.

So coming back to the lens, a lot of people told me third party lenses have compatibility issues with proprietary cameras. True indeed. My Sigma 28-105 only works at .22 aperture. Oh yes btw there is a manual aperture ring which you can set, but the D200’s top LCD panel shows an error reading ‘rEE’ (that’s ‘r’ and 33 in reverse) if I use any other manual aperture except .22. At this point I really don’t know what it means, so I am just shooting at 22 aperture and the pictures are just fine.

Unfortunately, yesterday when I was sorting things from my bag the lens fell down from a small height. It fell face down with the lens hood. The old lens hood (Indian made ‘Shine’ 72 dia) broke immediately and I had rush to the nearest camera store to unscrew the broken ring that was still attached to the lens. Fortunately there is no damage to the lens and its working fine.  The lens is all plastic but is well made and is comparable to the build quality of Nikkor lenses.