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Sigma 10-20
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Hi all
I am looking at this lens Sigma 10-20 for some landscape shots obviously.
Does anyone have one or know anyone that has one.
Some thoughts or opinions on it would be greatly appreciated.
Also I am looking at the canon 10-22 for comparison, I dont know if their is any difference that would effect me, so as I say any thoughts would be great
best regards
JohnJust scroll a bit further down in this thread and even on the first page you will find previous threads about the mentioned lenses… there is so much info and talk about them, you don’t really have to ask for more.
The Canon is worth the extra cash. If you can afford it, buy it. My version of the Sigma was mediocre from 10-17mm, both in terms of sharpness and ability to handle high contrast without CA.
I returned it after a few days, as it just wasn’t worth keeping. I must have had a terrible copy though, because it gets great reviews everywhere.
Randomway states it but there is a LOT written about this lens. I have one myself and it is sharp as tacks. As far as genre for the lens it is really a landscape lens but can be used anywhere but with distortion. Buildings can be difficult to keep straight but that isn’t an issue with trees, skys, rocks, etc.
I can’t vouch for the Canon but the 10-20 did beat all other lenses in it’s range on a UK photography magazine which lead me to go for it…I suggest you do to. But be careful – there’s a reputation with Sigmas for bad quality builds. Steve obviously got one. If you search for reviews they’re pitted with bad examples but normally people with something of a bad experience will report it quicker than a good one.
Alan.
Sigma’s Irish distributors (Republic) offer a free recalibration if you get a dud copy (so I’m told by their senior sales exec). Depends on if you’re prepared to lose your camera for a while, because that has to go off with the lens to get the job done.
I have a friend in the UK who didn’t take them up on it but asked for a replacement. He got one, it was still dud, so he asked for another. Got one and it was still dud (the usual Sigma decentring problem, pics sharp in the centre and one corner but soft in another). He was refused a third replacement, didn’t want his camera to go off to have God knows what done to it, so had to settle for a refund.
I’m sure there must be several happy Sigma owners out there, and it’s not a problem unique to them (Canon have had several issues with soft 24-70Ls for example), but I’d advise taking a laptop and doing a long on-the-spot test (check the corners at 100% full screen at various apertures, don’t trust your camera LCD) on the exact copy you’re going to buy if at all feasible.
I have one and its an excellent lens all my recent landscapes were taken with the 10-20.
Amazing value for money and rated #1 wide angle in its price range in any review i have read to date.
As for the canon i had the same dilema but went for the sigma, you need to be well trained pro to notice the difference in a shot taken with each lens and even that would be a challange ! Put the extra money towards a remote or a few filters ;)I have one, and love it. I find it tack sharp throughout the range. There’s a bit of odd barrel like distortion at 10mm, but it’s not too severe, and most times is not actually noticable enough to warrant fixing. There does or did seem to be a quality control issue with this lens though, so I actually bought it locally as opposed to on the net, which would be my usual choice. Fortunately Sigma aren’t anywhere near as rapacious as Canon with their Irish price list. The Canon 10-22 has an excellent reputation. It’s price seems to have fallen a bit of late, and there’s €50 off it with the current rebate program.
It’s interesting to read this thread, because I’m considering buying this as I don’t have a proper wide angle lens…the Nikkor 18-135mm is the nearest I have!!
I’ve had a look on a few different forums and the whole quality control thing seems to come up a lot with regard to Sigma lenses. I was also looking at the 24-70 2.8 and although at first I found a lot of good reviews, there was a raft of complaints about dud copies.
I did read an interesting post on a Nikon forum where the poster basically suggested that all lenses should only be bought on a lens by lens basis and that the same lens from the same manufacturer can vary widely from unit to unit.
Makes me more than a little nervous of buying online in this case.
I have posted on this lens in the past,
and don’t like repeating myself too much,
so I’ve stayed away-However- for the sake of balance,
No problems with my example….j
SteveFE wrote:
I have a friend in the UK who didn’t take them up on it but asked for a replacement. He got one, it was still dud, so he asked for another. Got one and it was still dud (the usual Sigma decentring problem, pics sharp in the centre and one corner but soft in another). He was refused a third replacement, didn’t want his camera to go off to have God knows what done to it, so had to settle for a refund
The reviews of this lens on Fredmiranda.com back this up Steve. However the reviews of the Tokina 12-24 were universally glowing, so I bought that instead. Only got it last week and have only used it at our Mellifont Landscape Course on Easter Monday. Very happy with it. Even though I lose a precious 3mm at the the wide end (using my new D300), I like the fact that it goes to an effective 36mm at the far end. Great for street photography as well as it’s a constant f4 through the zoom, gives me precious extra light at the far end compared to the Sigma (small though that amount is),
Dave
digitalbeginner wrote:
SteveFE wrote:
I have a friend in the UK who didn’t take them up on it but asked for a replacement. He got one, it was still dud, so he asked for another. Got one and it was still dud (the usual Sigma decentring problem, pics sharp in the centre and one corner but soft in another). He was refused a third replacement, didn’t want his camera to go off to have God knows what done to it, so had to settle for a refund
The reviews of this lens on Fredmiranda.com back this up Steve. However the reviews of the Tokina 12-24 were universally glowing, so I bought that instead. Only got it last week and have only used it at our Mellifont Landscape Course on Easter Monday. Very happy with it. Even though I lose a precious 3mm at the the wide end (using my new D300), I like the fact that it goes to an effective 36mm at the far end. Great for street photography as well as it’s a constant f4 through the zoom, gives me precious extra light at the far end compared to the Sigma (small though that amount is),
Dave
Yep, and I really fail to understand how a company the size of Sigma can’t address QC issues that are giving them a seriously bad reputation. They do come up with some pretty extreme designs (the 12-24 is just crazily wide as a fullframe lens for example, and is remarkably undistorted to boot, although it ain’t the sharpest tool in the box, and all those fisheyes and ultra-tele zooms as well; they should maybe invest a bit more into QC to go along with their undoubted investment in bleeding edge optics design).
digitalbeginner wrote:
However the reviews of the Tokina 12-24 were universally glowing, so I bought that instead. Only got it last week and have only used it at our Mellifont Landscape Course on Easter Monday. Very happy with it. Even though I lose a precious 3mm at the the wide end (using my new D300), I like the fact that it goes to an effective 36mm at the far end. Great for street photography as well as it’s a constant f4 through the zoom, gives me precious extra light at the far end compared to the Sigma (small though that amount is),
Dave
Another big fan of the Tokina 12-24, great lens and great build quality. I even got 2nd place with this lens for a pic I entered in the Spectra street comp :wink:
M
Martin wrote:
I even got 2nd place with this lens for a pic I entered in the Spectra street comp :wink:
And a well deserved one it was too! Link here: http://www.digitalbeginners.ie/homework/streetcompetition07/Street-Competition/pages/image1.html
Dave
Damn yis lads…
I had my mind made up on the Sigma 10-20. Now I’m looking at that Tokina and I’m thinking..Hmmm..would that work out better…Ahhhhhh!!!
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