Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Great lens
Review: After researching 50mm macro's I purchased this for my son for Christmas this year. I seriously considered the Canon lens, but it requires an adapter to make it a true 1:1 macro, doubling its price. The Sigma is a 1:1 macro without an adapter, making it about half the price of the Canon. Reviews of the lens are nearly all positive, and on-line photos I've seen taken with it look very good. My son and I went to the local butterfly "zoo" to try it out the day after Christmas and the results are very good. He's VERY happy with the lens.
Evaluation: 
Conclusion: Great macro 1:1 lens for close up photography
Review: If you use this lens for macro with your Canon DSLR, beware that you should not use auto-focus. I got this lens to take macro pictures of coins and small items. I found that the depth of field is so low that the coin HAS TO BE flat and the camera dead-on to the coin. Only then will you get the whole coin in focus.
The depth of field is about 0.25mm. To get to the 1:1 macro mode, you have to be pretty far from the subject, say 10 inches. With the low DOF, you definitely have to use a copy stand or tripod because the slightest movement will cause the subject to be out of focus.
As always, the quality with Sigma lenses is here. It is a solid piece of hardware that is well-put-together. Would I buy it again? Yes. In a heartbeat. Once I get the focus down, I'll be getting better images. I have not tried it on my copy stand yet, I hope it fits well.
If you are looking for a great macro lens, look no further. However, it does NOT double as a good snapshot lens as you have to be quite far from your subject in order to fit them in the frame. With the lens that came with the camera (Canon Rebel XTi) I need to be about 50 feet from my house to get it into frame. With this lens, I need to be about 70 feet from the house to get it all in frame. Just something to think about. This is not a universal lens.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Nice
Review: Sigma makes nice lenses, what can I say? It's been reviewed In Pop Photography. I will eventually start shooting flies' eyeballs, but it's last on my priority list.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Sigma 50mm EX DG MAcro lens
Review: This was my first non canon lens,I was wanting a macro lens that also would be a good low light lens to use in the home to take photos of my pets at play.After reading many reviews I was concerned about the Auto focus being too slow for my needs,but I just couldn't spring for a Canon 60mm Macro at this time.
My lens came today,and I have to say I am fairly pleased.It does not hunt like my 28-135mm always has,and the AF is fairly fast,even in the low light of my living room with no interior lights on and only one window curtain open during daylight.The limitor switch does speed it up noticable as well. The colors is what has impressed me so far,The browns of my chocolate lab's coat were true,and had nice highlights I had never been able to get before.The lens fgocuses very close to an object as well,and I am looking forward to comparing my macro shots to the ones I got with my 28-135 with a macro filter applied.
There have been complaints that the hood doesnt fit the lens cap,but I think a 72mm lens cap would work well on the hood itself and would solve this problem for those who keep the hood on the lens.
Evaluation:
Conclusion: Great walk-around lens
Review: I was looking for a lens that would allow me to get good "scene" shots as well as clear close-ups (closer than portrait) for my job. I'm not a professional photographer but a camera is required for information gathering. While bokeh isn't a plus for my work, this lens gives beautiful bokeh for my personal shots. It also gives me great scene width with remarkable clarity and the macro shots are crazy-clear. Since my subjects don't move, the motor noise and comparatively long focus time I read about haven't been an issue. I haven't seen any CA with this lens and the f/2.8 is fast enough that IS hasn't been an issue. I'd advise just about anyone who uses a DSLR to have one of these lenses in his/her kit.
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