Sigma 10-20

[Prospero]

Last week I decided it was time to start seeing things a little wider, so I decided to buy the Sigma 10-20. While many people recommend the Tokina 12-24 over this lens I choose the Sigma, mainly because of it being 10mm at the wide end. Today the lens was delivered. So far, I really love this lens.

The first thing I noted about this lens was its impressive build quality. OK, I haven't seen many lenses in my life, so I don't have much reference material to judge it by, but it all seems very good to me. The zoom and focussing rings handle nicely. Furthermore, the lens just looks more sophisticated than my other lenses, with the gold rim near the front of the lens and the focussing distance indicator (or whatever that thing is called) on top; I guess that's one of the advantages of buying lenses from Sigma's EX line-up.

Focusing on this lens is great. It is fast, very quiet and accurate. It is so much faster than with the 17-70 or the 70-300 (not to mention so much less noisy). The HSM is really doing a good job here. I hope it won't make me spoilt and force me to upgrade the rest of my kit :rolleyes:

Here are some shots I have taken today. I didn't have that much time to take pictures, so all pictures were taken near my house. All pictures were taken at 10 mm.

1.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/1.jpg

2.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/2.jpg

3.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/3.jpg

4.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/4.jpg

5.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/5.jpg

6.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/6.jpg

7.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/7.jpg

8.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/8.jpg

9.
http://prospero.cabspace.com/pictures/samples-10-20/9.jpg

So far, I am impressed with the picture quality. The sharpness is excellent, the lens is contrasty and it produces great colours. There's some vignetting, though not any worse than with my 17-70. However, I didn't notice it in any of my real pictures (only in a picture of my wall did I see it). The corners could be a little better, but for a lens of this type you won't hear me complain.

[jamison55]

Congratulations Prospero! I love my Sigma 10-20, and use it every week. It's the only third party lens I own - and the only one that hasn't disappointed me! Have fun seeing the whole WIDE world!

[K1W1]

Nice pics. It's great to see the Hydrangeas looking so good. Ours are just bare stalks at this time of year.

Isn't it interesting how one think leads to another with this hobby. I guess we will start seeing posts from you soon about how to do perspective shifting in pp. :D

[Esoterra]

Very nice shots. I was in the same delema a few weeks back but opted on the Tokina 12-24 and down the road I will get a 10mm fisheye (any recommendations?) Shooting in wide angle brings a whole new technique to composing pictures, challenging but rewarding when you figure it out! We looks forward to seeing more shots from your 10-20. Congrats

[Jason25]

Very nice shots. I was in the same delema a few weeks back but opted on the Tokina 12-24 and down the road I will get a 10mm fisheye (any recommendations?) Shooting in wide angle brings a whole new technique to composing pictures, challenging but rewarding when you figure it out! We looks forward to seeing more shots from your 10-20. Congrats
The only fisheyes I've seen are the 10.5 Nikkor, the Peleng, and full-frame Sigmas.

[Prospero]

Thanks for the replies everyone. It is indeed lots of fun seeing the whole WIDE world ;). Like Chris said, using an ultra wide angle lens is very chalanging and rewarding. I still need some more practice to get better compositions, though. Today I took the lens to the local forest and ended up with only a few keepers. Many of the pictures were just too busy and did not have any subject. Anyway, next week I will go on a four-week trip to Spain, so I will probably have plenty of opportunities to practice.

K1W1, I already know how to do perspective corrections in photoshop, so don't expect any post of me on that subject ;). By the way, I think the good state of the Hydrangeas (they were in my neighbours garden) may have something to do with their gardening skill. The ones we have in our garden don't look half as good :rolleyes:.