A new alternative to mid-telephoto lens for L-mount?

Hi everyone – I’m a newbie to this forum (as of this week), but not new to the joys of the mirrorless Leicas.

I’ve owned a Q for almost 2 years and love its simplicity & output. But I’ve had a few Voigtlanders to use with a Fujifilm X-H1 and thought they would be better utilised on a full frame mirrorless – i.e. Leica SL. After a few dealings, I now have:21mm f3.5 (M); 40mm f1.4 (M); 58mm f108 (NF): 75mm f1.8 Voigtlanders. All are really good to use and produce excellent results (thanks to the SL and its focus peaking), though the output of the 21mm and 58mm make them real showstopppers for me.

I’m a camera club member and – naturally – spend a proportion of my time shooting macro, nature and sports for competitions. In this respect the manual Voigtlanders aren’t the best, so I’ve been looking for a good quality autofocus telephoto/zoom. The Leica APO 90-290 is out of my price range – and so is the Panasonic 70-200 f2.8. Given I’m likely to replace my Fujifilm telephoto(s), I wanted something special (but affordable) for my SL. Which, of course, doesn’t have IBIS. So there has to be a trade off between focal range and shutter speed. That excludes the Sigma 100-400mm (f5.6-f6.5) and leaves the Panasonic 70-200mm f4 on the fence. Some thing’s I’ve read about the f4’s sharpness at 200mm left me wondering.

But I think I’ve found a solution. It’s affordable and should cover the 200mm issue, just. But it also has few tricks up its sleeves!

It’s the newly-announced Sigma 105mm f2.8 DG DN Macro Art, plus a Sigma 2x teleconverter. In L-mount format it’s new, though the basic lens has been around for DSLR’s for a while and – as a portrait & macro lens – it’s already something of a legend. The combo is priced at £1,100, which is also an attraction. With the compatible 2xTC attached, it has a FL of 210mm and a widest aperture of f5.6. OK there’s no OIS – but I think I’ll be able to live with that. I know that cropping a FF 200mm image to say 300mm equiv. is just about worthy – though the 400-600+mm Canon guys will steal that detail.

So I’ve ordered this duo and expect delivery early in November. Maybe not the best time of the year to put them through their paces outdoors though the macro element will come in useful at the light table, and portraiture in dull light with a strobe is always fun!

I hope I’ll be able to post an update later in November, once I’ve had chance to get used to it, and hope it’ll be a positive experience!