First Thoughts - Sigma DC EX 10-20mm
My new Sigma wide-angle lens arrived today. I haven’t really had a chance to play with it properly yet but thought I’d put some first thoughts up (it beats working).
So let’s start with the good stuff. Firstly, it is significantly cheaper that it’s Canon equivalent (by £200 in fact) and for a lens that isn’t going to be an every day lens that is a significant consideration. Secondly it looks nice. I know that sounds odd but the finish of the lens (matt with a kind of semi-sparkly finish) is very tactile. Thirdly, it works just as well as the Canon 17-40mm I have in terms of focussing speed and noise.
So what’s not so good? Well, it doesn’t fit onto the camera quite as easily as a Canon lens. That’s about it.
If you have a DSLR you know that the focal length of your lens has to be multiplied by 1.6 in order to get the actual focal length. This means that while the 17-40mm is a fantastic lens it’s not quite wide enough for some of the shots I want to take. Early impressions (from the 6 or so shots I have taken thus far) are good. Much less chromatic abberation and fringing that I expected for such a wide lens. Take a look at the shots below and see what you think. All shots were taken at f5.6, 100 ISO and were handheld. Clicking the image will bring up the full, unfettled JPEG original.
10mm (Widest)
17mm (Previous Widest)
20mm (Narrowest / Zoomiest)
Looks good, should make for some good photos in Oz!
Someone’s nicked the Porsche!
May 4th, 2006 at 10:07 pmoooooh nice…
Would you just point out to the un-cheltonia-initiated that the buildings to the right are curving away - and not an action of any fisheyeness of the lens? (at 10 mm)
We’ll have to go out one morning when you get back from boring old mundane ozland so we can take picks at the mega-exciting FoD.
S
May 5th, 2006 at 7:40 amAs with most lenses a little sharpening would make up for the £200 on that lens.
May 5th, 2006 at 1:34 pmActually, the softness of the image is down to the 20D, not the lens. Canon didn’t include any sharpening in the capture algorithm because they assumed that all users of the camera would prefer to do their own post-processing.
May 5th, 2006 at 1:46 pmhmmm.. veryy cool. I’ve been looking for a wide angle lens myself
May 6th, 2006 at 2:25 amI’ll have to check this one out.
It’s been getting lots of good reviews. I looked at the Canon lens (my friend Joe has one) and it’s pretty swish but this one looks to be pretty much its equal. Once I get back from my hols I’ll have a better idea of how good it is, along with some more attractive shots (the view out of our bedroom window isn’t exactly thrilling).
May 6th, 2006 at 9:47 am