Has anyone used a Sigma 10-20?

Any opinions?

Thanks in advance.

Lance- I have shot with it although I don't own one. The lens is sharp and pretty flat. Optically it seems similar/same as Canon's offering. I know a photographer with one of the local newspapers uses it often, and the price is right.

I hesitate to even respond here.

I do own the Sigma 10-20 and find it to be a very good ultrawide angle lens. I have read some reviews that speak of it being soft toward the edges but I have not found it so. I hesitate, not because it is not a good lens. It is. I hesitate because, even though I have had the lens for over a year, I have rarely used it. I just don't shoot ultrawide that much.

As a matter of fact, we just returned from Bar Harbor/Acadia National Park (ME) and the 10-20 was the only lens in my kit that I did not use at all.

If you have a need for an ultrawide, it is a good choice.

Thanks, guys.

I'm planning on using it for mountain shots, hopefully with lakes.

A further questions - How far down would you stop to get maximum DOF while still maintaining a sharp foreground? Can I g to F18 or F22?

Or, if I go only to F16, will I still have clear DOF on mountains in the distance?

It's hard for me to answer this question for myself in Florida, because where I live is flat and not very wide open.

Lance,

I used this lens a bit last summer in Yosemite. Most images I made were at f/16 and f/18 and I felt that dof was fine and the images with a focal point in the foreground turned out well.

Here is an image taken with the Sigma 10-20. Not great but I picked it to give you an idea of foreground with the fence and branch with Half Dome in the background. Very harsh light. Hope this helps. By the way, I stink at landscapes! :o

1/200 sec at f/16; ISO 400; -2/3 EV; FL 20mm

This is very, very helpful!

Thanks very much indeed, Ed.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lance Warley

This is very, very helpful!

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Is that in a good way? :)

Which way are you leaning?

Ultra wide angle has its moments. :)

If you're evaluating whether to get the Sigma or the Canon 10-22, I'll chime in and say I chose the Canon. I feel the images feel the most "present" and "real" with the Canon. The only issue optically with the Canon lens is that there's some CA at the wide end, but it's quite correctable with, for example, the CA correction features in Adobe Camera Raw.

By the way, here's a Canon 10-22 image (with 40D) taken at 10mm, f/8.

-Noel

I'm planning on using it for mountain shots, hopefully with lakes.

A further questions - How far down would you stop to get maximum DOF while still maintaining a sharp foreground? Can I g to F18 or F22?

Or, if I go only to F16, will I still have clear DOF on mountains in the distance?

Hey Lance,
Haven't used the 10-22...........but a friend of mine loves it with the 20D magnification. It doesn't work/not compatible with certain bodies (pretty sure on the 5D). Definitely look into that.
During sunrise/sunset/& day.........98% of the time I use f22. The other 1.9%............f32......the other 0.1.something else
Usually max DOF..........as long as your FG is within the MFD of the lens........should be tack sharp front to back! To be perfectly safe and make comparisons............focus bracket.........(I haven't done it....but it seems to be all the rage!...and I'll be trying it out next week)...focus on the FG........and then the BG.......and merge the 2.
Hope this helps!

Good point... The Canon 10-22 is an EF-S lens, which means it will only fit on APS-C (1.6x crop factor) Canon bodies including the 20D and newer. It will NOT fit a 5D or a 1D anything.

With very low focal length lenses you will not need to stop down nearly as much to maintain focus between near and far objects. The sample I posted above is at f/8, and the boards only a few feet from the camera are in sharp focus as are the objects at infinity.

-Noel

Thanks again for the great comments, everyone.

Ed, I mean this in 100% a good way.

By the way, Lance, we live in the same area, so if you'd like to try out my 10-22 some time, PM me and we can meet for lunch or something.

For what it's worth, Art up at the Pro Shop for Photographers in Delray will probably let you try out the Sigma if he has one in stock. It's nice to have a shop like that around here.

-Noel