Great professional grade lens

I am a professional newspaper photographer and I bought this lens when my old Nikon 50mm bit the dust. I usually stay away from the "off brands" but a friend had just bought a Sigma 105mm and was raving about the quality. I also needed a macro lens and the closes Nikon version was almost twice as much.

It's been a really great lens. I use the macro feature a lot for detail shooting, miniatures, tight portraiture, tabletop stills....etc. It works just as well as my normal Nikon 50mm. Absolutely no difference in image quality.

It also has a nice feel. In saying this I mean the motion of the focusing feels like it is giving you lots of control, which is really important if you are working very close up.

I've shot images with it that have been reproduced 14" across in print with absolute clarity. The 1:1 ratio capability is also really nice. I've used it to shoot really tiny things like flower petal details, details on coins...etc.

My next fixed focal lens will definately be Sigma. What's the point in paying twice as much for Nikon when there's no difference in glass quality?