sigma 10-20
 

yey or ney?

pros. cons?

discuss

A definate yey!

pound for pound probably one of the best choices around for a modern wide AF zoom.... which probably explains why so many people have them.
A 'pro' , in my experience it exhibits less barrel distortion at the 10mm end than the much more expensive Canon 10-22mm.
A 'con' is build quility does vary between lenses....check yours before buying.
A 'pro' the satin/matt paint finish used on the Sigma now is quite nice, although a 'con' is very easily marked in use.

General stuff that applies to all extreme wide angles;
A 'pro'....unbeatable for situations where you'd otherwise not be able to include all as desired in the frame.
A 'con'.....you can easily get addicted to the wide angle effect at 10mm, even when pictorially it might not have been the best choice! ditto same applies for fisheyes

Incidentally, I nipped into my former employers shop today (Jessops)...which is one of the ones designated a 'clearance' store....A few lens bargains in there...they had two reconditioned Sigma 10-20mm Canon fit ones, and one Nikon fit one....£80 each!...a good price for the high street in my view.

P.S...pentax fans...there was also a rather nice 24-70mm f/2.8 in pentax AF for £70...if only i'd bought a Pentax! lol

Jamie,

I have no experience with the Sigma so can only post a comparative review to the Nikon - http://www.nikonians.org/html/resour...out/index.html

I just love my Nikon 12-24 but it does take a bit of getting used to if you are not used to wide angle.

If you can get one at the price in Joe's post you just cannot go wrong.

Don

I have one and I am happy with it. I agree with Joe about the build quality issues. The Canon is a much smoother lens but is it worth the extra ?

I tested both the Canon and Sigma at both of my local Jessops. I had set my mind on the Canon. Both my nearest store which stocked both is closed on Sunday. The next branch that is open on Sunday only had the Sigma. I noticed that this copy was much smoother than the first one I looked at. So I decided to save myself a few hundred £ and bought the Sigma.

Note a confession ( I am stupid enough to buy from Jessops ).

Sigma yey. Bought one recently and really like it. Joe sums it up perfectly.

I guess thats fairly quickly spent your Saturday money then Jamie. :D :D :D

Don

i wish i had it now! it will be a job for next week! some good responses, i have had a play with one (a sigma) on a canon somethingD and was rather impressed. i think ill nip to Jessops and see how much they will try sell me it for, if they actually have it in!

has anyone got any gallery images using one of these?

J

My recent Malham postings were taken with the 10-20, and Woolleson has recently posted some great images taken with the10-20.

chaars birdsnapper

Jamie, try www.photozone.de for a review (a good site for all lens) or try Googling 'fredmiranda' for user comments. Better still, just get one - you'll see the world in a different way - literally.

Great little lens, love mine.

Have a look through this lot..........

http://www.trekearth.com/photos.php?cat=lens&id=3327
http://www.lumis.com/tag/Sigma_10-20/page1/
http://www.pbase.com/cameras/sigma/10-20_4-56_ex_dc_hsm
http://www.pbase.com/jamisonwexlerphoto/sigma1020test

Go on get one, you know you want one !!!!

I paid £250 new from HK, shop around might get it cheaper

Jason

thanks for the linkage, i think ill get one tomorrow, if i shop around i'll have to wait. and i don't want to.
one more question..why will i have to pay an extra £30 for the nikon fit where Canon, pentax and the other one, are all 30 less?

I have not checked out prices but it could be that in the Nikon mount the aperture is by mechanical rather than electronic link.

Before you knock Nikon for this, I am able because of that mechanical link, able to do stuff that cannot be done with lenses that have purely electronic aperture links.

Don

Not sure on that one.

I got mine from here

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Sigma-10-20mm-...QQcmdZViewItem

But of course canon fit. Took about a week to come and no import tax. But that is not gaurented !!!

It is a very good lens but takes some getting used to, the image I took of the house at the weekend was no more than 2ft away !!!! Great lens to play with and as you have seen, very good images.

Just to throw a spanner in the works, the 12 - 24 is also a top lens see here

http://www.fredmiranda.com/reviews/s...&cat=37&page=1

Look around Freds site, they have good reviews and some cracking photo's

Jason

Any chance of expanding on this Don ?

Rob,

I guess the mechanical link part should be qualified in my case to include all lenses with an aperture ring. For those not familiar with the Nikon range then I should say that there are two lens types within that range. Normal ( ie old style with a seperate aperture control ) and G type.

G type do not have an aperture ring, and apertures are set from the camera command dial, so I guess that makes them similar to the current Pentax range. Pentax still retains mechanical diaphragm linkage hence its compatability with a shed load of older lenses.

So excluding my one Nikon G type lens ( 12-24) I can mount any of my lenses M/F or A/F on my ancient bellows and have full aperture viewing. I can also reverse any of those lenses and again have full aperture viewing. My bellows is auto but in the Nikon range you can have massive extension through bellows extensions, in which case lens aperture control and camera triggering, is via a twin release.

In the Nikon system I am not aware of any means ( accessory ) of controlling the aperture of G type lenses once the link to the body is broken, so the mechanical link to aperture within the lens, is system compatability only. From a bit of a net trawl of images of them, it appears that the current range of Pentax lenses are the same as Nikon G type in that aperture is controlled through electronic connection to the camera body. No doubt Duncan or Ian will correct me here. ;)

As far as I can see Canon has gone the all electronic route so requires contact between lens and body electrical contacts to control aperture and lens stop down. I notice Novoflex do an adaptor for maintaining the link on a reversed lens for Canon but that is listed as being 299 Euro's, also auto bellows units at 549 Euro's. Canon may do similar but I have been unable to find any info.

As always I stand to be corrected.

Don

Canon do not make a bellows anymore so it is Novoflex or nothing.

I did not realise that it was such common practice to have the lens controlled by camera body electronics when I started my Manual Macro on the Cheap thread.

I feel a bit of a twit now, as although its easy for me, its obviously not so for others. :o

Don

Well done on the lens Jamie. I see it didn't take long for Al to give it a go. :D :D :D

Don