Sony 90mm or Sigma 105mm macro for Sony A7R5?

I am now in the stage of acquiring a good macro lens for my Sony A7R5, housed in Nauticam. The two lenses in the title seem attractive. Just from the data, I would sway towards the Sigma 105, as it is slightly sharper (but I will use the lens at f/11 and above and at these apertures diffraction equalizes the differences in sharpness, according to the Lenstip reviews) and the longer focal length allows (slightly) bigger working distance. It might, however, be that AF of the Sigma is not as good as the one of Sony (I believe the speed, how long it takes to run from infinity to 1:1 distance is not so important, but more important is the tendency for hunting)...

Are there people who used both lenses on A7R5 (or a similar camera) and can tell from real world experience how these two lenses perform?

I also have opened a tread on this issue in DPReview (there will be mostly over the water photographers who respond), that may be of interest for someone here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4710401

Wolfgang

16 minutes ago, Architeuthis said:

I am now in the stage of acquiring a good macro lens for my Sony A7R5, housed in Nauticam. The two lenses in the title seem attractive. Just from the data, I would sway towards the Sigma 105, as it is slightly sharper (but I will use the lens at f/11 and above and at these apertures diffraction equalizes the differences in sharpness, according to the Lenstip reviews) and the longer focal length allows (slightly) bigger working distance. It might, however, be that AF of the Sigma is not as good as the one of Sony (I believe the speed, how long it takes to run from infinity to 1:1 distance is not so important, but more important is the tendency for hunting)...

Are there people who used both lenses on A7R5 (or a similar camera) and can tell from real world experience how these two lenses perform?

I also have opened a tread on this issue in DPReview (there will be mostly over the water photographers who respond), that may be of interest for someone here: https://www.dpreview.com/forums/thread/4710401

 

Wolfgang

The Sony 90mm is in fact 93mm and the Sigma 105mm is actually 102mm

The land difference in working distance from the front of the lens is 1.5cm say 2 cm in water this is not going to make a big difference

While the Sigma is a very sharp lens it is known for being very slow to focus. 

The 90mm on the A1 is not slow to focus but can hunt in proximity of the minimum working distance

After careful evaluation despite a marginal better edges for the sigma I decided to go sony and I have not regretted it yet

Just went through some of the same, but had some real-world inputs that for use shooting blackwater, the 105mm might be tough to get decent results. I did go with the Sony 90mm and have a total of 1 dive on it in Puget Sound, so far, so good. First time out, this 1.5cm Aeloid was floating in water column. This is cropped and backscatter removed. (Sony A7C). 

I am back from the diving holidays in Croatia, where I have done several dives with the Canon 100mm IS macro, Metabones V converter and Sony A7R5. I have written my first impressions with this combo after the first dive here:

View archived post in: Sony E-mount macro lenses and teleconverters

I should add, after several more dives with this combo, that the slow speed of AF can be easily misinterpreted as non-working AF and one has just to be patient. Then the focus almost always locks into the right position (after a while), without hunting. The hunting mostly occurs at close focus distances, when one is close to 1:1 magnification (on the big FF sensor, this is not really much magnification (my subjective impression after coming from MFT)). I think, that hunting takes place, when I unintentionally fell below the minimum focus distance and then getting focus is just not possible. All in all the combo works o.k., but not really outstandingly good...

I have ordered now the Sony 90mm macro, dedicated N100 macroport 105 (interestingly the N100 macroport 55 plus N100 50mm extension is not suited to house this lens; this would have been my first choice, because of flexibility), focusgear and SMC-1. It will take a couple of weeks until I can compare the native lens with the adapted Canon 100mm macro lens...

In the meantime, a review on Sony A7R5 and Sony 90mm macro by Jim Decker appeared in the recent UWPMAG and he is very enthusiastic about this combo (I did, however, never read any review written by this guy, where he is not very enthusiastic about the gear he tested, so let's see... )...

I think that the minimal better sharpness of the Sigma 105 over the Sony 90mm is not really relevant for me, as at the apertures that I normally use with a macro lens (f 11 and above) this difference is eliminated already by diffraction...

Wolfgang

The Sony 90mm macro arrived yesterday and it will need some time until I can test it out UW (I have a lot of new gear to test out UW and it is difficult to decide what to take UW first) . By just playing around on the surface, I can say that AF-C is much faster and more reliable and sticky, compared to the Canon EF 100mm IS used with Metabones V adapter. Of course I have to see the real world performance UW before I can say anything definitive...

=> I have an update about the N100 housing of the Sony 90mm macro lens: In the previous post I was writing that "the N100 macroport 55 plus N100 50mm extension is not suited to house this lens". This was based on the information I got from my German Nauticam dealer (and the fact that this combination is not listed in the port charts), who wrote me that the N100 macroport 55 is too narrow to house the lens. I asked at Nauticam US (Phil Burghard) in paralell and his answer was (unfortunately for me) delayed: he writes that he tested the combination (N100 macroport 55 plus N100 50mm extension) out and it fits. He thinks that the problems come with the old versions of N100 macroport 55 and/or N100 extension, but the new versions, that have larger inner diameters, work very well...

Wolfgang

Hi Wolfgang,

I'm curious if you're only doing stills with the 90mm macro or if you have tried any video? I imagine it's difficult to say the least. 

Riley

Hi Riley,

I am at present at the Red Sea, just arrived aboard the Gazala Explorer waiting for the Safari to start...

I have been a for 10 days in Mangrove Bay and was diving on the beautiful housereef. I did mostly stills with the Sony 90mm macro (with and without SMC-1). Few videos with the 90mm macro of cleaner shrimps with murray eel, sand eels and garden eels (my video skills are poor). It worked nicely, the problem is to get a stable frame, but this requires a good videographer, not the problem of lens or camera. No problem with the lens, AF worked o.k., but I still struggle with the operation of the new camera and how to adjust the AF menue. Probably it can work much better. I can post a sample video in > 1 week, when I am back. I do not know when I will have Internet again, so may last longer until I will respond again...

Wolfgang

I might agree with Interceptor121. Native lens is the one I would recommend. It can hunt, but if you know what you are doing that hunt will be minimal. Picture quality is exceptional. 

On 6/24/2023 at 7:49 PM, rileym21 said:

Hi Wolfgang,

I'm curious if you're only doing stills with the 90mm macro or if you have tried any video? I imagine it's difficult to say the least. 

Riley

Hi Riley,

I just have uploaded a video on Youtube. I 'll put the link in the Foto/Video showcase, so that you and others can have a look. Do not expect too much...

View archived post in: Video with Sony A7R5 and Sony 90mm macro lens.

Wolfgang