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CarusoPhoto
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Registered: Nov 30, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 54
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Review Date: Aug 18, 2009
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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focal length; wide aperture; build quality; sharpness; "fun" quotient
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Cons:
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big for a prime (though this may bother some, it doesn't necessarily bother me)
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I’ve grown very attached to the Sigma 20mm f/1.8. I held off a long time buying one because of the widely mixed reviews. However, the appeal of a 20mm prime that opens up to f/1.8 eventually wore down my resistance. Now that I own it, I am hooked.
I’m not a pixel peeper, but I do know when I like a lens or don’t like a lens. At various points I’ve had the Canon 24mm f/2.8 and the Canon 28mm f/2.8. From the first few photos I shot with each of them, I just knew I was going to be returning them--and, in fact, I did. They both went back. I’d heard great things about each lens, but I just felt that the performance from each of them simply didn’t make up for the fact that they only opend up to f/2.8. I compared the photos from these lenses to photos made with my f/2.8 zooms, and the zooms won each time.
With this baby, though, I get a nice, wide lens with a big aperture…and I like the photos I get from it. I find that my "keeper" ratio is higher with this lens than most others I own, save the 135 f/2L and the 85 f/1.8.
Perhaps I got lucky and got a “good” version of the lens right off the bat. All I know is that it is another prime lens that is spending a whole bunch of time in my bag.
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 Aug 18, 2009
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dennisvillegas
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Registered: Jan 21, 2008
Location: Philippines
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Nov 6, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Wow...wow! i never knew Sigma could be this good! This is cheap, rocking 1.8!, and can work in full-frame dslrs! I love the colors, the bokeh, the sharpness, and the build quality.
Great lens, a great bargain, too!
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Cons:
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None maybe should have HSM even if I have to pay a 100 dollars more.
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Superior lens, one of Sigma's underrated lens...Even works better if you work it with a full-frame such as the 5D or the D3.
I am very satisfied and will not hesitate to buy again.. Some rich hard to please fellows do not like it and would like to trash hundreds of dollars buying more expensive though not better lenses.
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Nov 6, 2008
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Gi11ies
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Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Oct 4, 2008
Location: United Kingdom
Posts: 16
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Review Date: Oct 5, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp, cheap, has variety of uses, works fine on 5D
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Cons:
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Can be noisey, Sigma Clutch System
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One of my favourite lenses, works great on both 20D and 5D. Extremely sharp at F4 and above. I prefer the results from this lens for landscapes above my 17-40 L.
In low light situations without flash it is OK but not great, but gets acceptable results .... and can get shots otherwise you would not get with other lenses.
F1.8 to F2.8 - OK, F2.8 to F4 - Pretty Good, F4 + Very Good.
The Sigma Clutch System is a pest, and it can be pretty noisey if hunting for focus.
All in all, for the money I am not complaining, and highly recommend.
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Oct 5, 2008
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jmspears
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Registered: Aug 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 97
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Review Date: Feb 10, 2008
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Wide on a 5D!!!
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Cons:
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Soft at corners.
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Well worth the price!!!! I love the low light uses for this lens!
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Feb 10, 2008
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Mark Lijesen
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Registered: Oct 10, 2007
Location: Netherlands
Posts: 56
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Review Date: Oct 11, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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sharp images, build quality,
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Cons:
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filter size, colors are slightly off
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Picked up this lense second hand from a photgrapher I know. I wasn't too happy with the reviews I read on Canon's wide non-L primes, so I gave Sigma a shot.
I am pretty pleased with this lense and use it for group portraits and landscapes on my 300D. It's quite sharp @1.8 and sharp @2.8. I think that's not too bad for a wide lense (actually, Canon's 20 mm only starts @2.8). Build quality is fine, as to be expected on a Sigma EX. Some people complain about the AF/MF-switch. I can imagine why, but I got used to it within a week and it never bothered me since.
The close focus distance allows for fun perspective distortion pics.
As I like to shoot landscapes with a polarizing filter, I was not too pleased with the 82 mm filter size, and like most Sigma lenses, it gives a slightly yellowish result. Nothing that can't be fixed in postprocessing though.
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Oct 11, 2007
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simon_says
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Registered: May 22, 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 811
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Review Date: Sep 16, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 7
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Pros:
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Currently the only 20mm lens with a fast f/1.8 aperture - images are very usable at f/1.8, especially for small prints. It is full-frame compatible. Lens is well built and solid. Lens length does not change during focusing. The minimum focus distance is very close! That allows for some very dramatic shots. Wide aperture + close focusing = thin DOF! Amazing to get background blur with a wide angle lens!
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Cons:
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The lens is a bit soft at f/1.8, though not too bad (but that should be expected, considering the focal length and price). The focusing motor is quite loud. Too bad it doesn't have HSM (and hence no manual focus override). The 'clutch/switch' system for focus selection is clumsy (to switch between AF/MF there are two steps needed - very inconvenient). The lens also uses 82mm filters, so not too common.
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I picked up this lens after reading various things about it. There are many complaints about it being soft at f/1.8, etc. However, considering that it is a full-frame wide angle lens with a large f/1.8 aperture, I think it's hard to complain about it, given it's price point. At wide open aperture, I found the images to be acceptable for smaller sized prints.
The lens had a nice solid and weighty feel to it. It has a nice large focus ring, but the AF/MF switching mechanism is very dumb: you need to shift the ring position AND set the focus switch before being able to change focus modes - how annoying! (This lens would be much better with HSM). The focus motor is also a bit buzzy.
Surprisingly, I found this lens to be a lot of fun to use. Unusually, I ended up using this lens for close-up shots more than wide-angle shooting. The minimum focusing distance on this lens is crazy! You can literally get right into-the-face of the subject you're shooting. With a wide angle focal length and a wide aperture, you can get some cool looking close-up shots - and you get dramatic background blur too!
Sharpness isn't everything - this lens lets you get certain shots that you can't get otherwise. E.g. low light wide angle shots, close-up wide angle shots, etc. Maybe not the best for landscape, but otherwise it's still a very unique lens.
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Sep 16, 2007
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twoshadows
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Jul 10, 2006
Location: United States
Posts: 921
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Review Date: Jul 24, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $410.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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useable f/1.8, insanely sharp by f/5.6, FF compatible, solid build
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Cons:
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No way to grip lens without constantly switching focus mechanism
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This lens is good at what it does. It is the only 20mm f/1.8 lens for dslr's on the market. Surprisingly, this lens ranks among my sharpest (135L, Sigma 180mm macro, 300mm f/4 L IS, 85 f/1.8) and is freakishly sharp at f/5.6. It is a good landscape lens and I use it for hdr's and panoramas as well. Also good for band pics in tight quarters.
Here's a link to comparative sharpness tests:
http://www.pbase.com/iangreyphotography/lenstests
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Jul 24, 2007
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Xibalban
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Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Dec 2, 2005
Location: Finland
Posts: 105
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Apr 16, 2007
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Archimago
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Registered: May 14, 2006
Location: Canada
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Mar 25, 2007
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Only f1.8 lens in this focal length for most camera systems. Good price. Close focus distance.
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Cons:
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Sigma EX finish easily rubs off. Sharpness usable but not quite sharp enough for critical work until about f3.5 on my copy. From that point on, quite happy with sharpness. Too easy to accidentally switch AF <-> MF clutch. Large filter size of 82mm.
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A quirky lens but I've fallen in love with what it can do! It's fast and capable of shooting at f1.8, and I love the close focusing distance when I purposely want to achieve the perspective distortion effect.
I wish it could be sharper around the f2.8.
As noted by others, the clutch mechanism a bit odd. I really don't mind but wish the friction was a bit tighter to not so easily accidentally trigger the switch.
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Mar 25, 2007
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fblucher
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Registered: Nov 8, 2006
Location: Australia
Posts: 0
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Review Date: Nov 16, 2006
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Recommend? no |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 1
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Pros:
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Good price, wide aperture, close focusing.
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Cons:
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My copy was an unusable dud.
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Now I'm first to admit that the copy I received was a dud and the store I bought it from was happy to order another one in, but it took 2 months to get the first and it was going to take at least another month to get the second. So I went with the Canon 20mm f2.8, which took 3 days to arrive and works wonderfully.
So I'll review the lens I received.
One of the first shots I took with this, cropped to 25% and minimal USM to compensate. Notice the top right hand corner.
http://finnux.net/tree-25p.jpg
Here's the 100% crop, no sharpening.
http://finnux.net/tree-crop.jpg
For the brief time that I used the lens I found it was built nicely, I really didn't seem an problem with the focus clutch wheel. It would have been a good feature if you didn't have to hit the AF/MF switch as well (of course now I have my first USM lens with full time MF and realise that the sigma method was a joke). I really liked the magnification factor as you could do some fun things with it and the f1.8 would surely have been useful, I'm worried I'll miss it using the Canon 20mm.
I was really concerned with ordering third party glass and I guess my concerns were justified. As you can see the lens was unusable.
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Nov 16, 2006
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tanglefoot47
Offline
Buy and Sell: On
Registered: Oct 12, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 8732
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Review Date: Oct 5, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $300.00
| Rating: 9
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Pros:
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Sharp great colors well built 1.8
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Cons:
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No HSM
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I was a little nervous about getting this lens as I have had some bad luck with Sigma's and some of the reviews in here. But I wanted a wide at least 1.8 and I must said I have been more than happy with this lens. For the money it's hard to beat.
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Oct 5, 2006
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versiani
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Registered: Jul 7, 2006
Location: Brazil
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Sep 12, 2006
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $400.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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Sharpness, brightness, focusing, minimum focusing distance, price
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Cons:
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Filter size, MF/AF switch, lens size
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On my camera, it becomes a 32mm. I use it a lot, because of its great sharpness after f/4, and still quite acceptable sharpness for many objectives (e.g. publishing at the web) even at f/1.8. Combining f/1.8 with iso 800 and some post-processing we can make some dreams come true.
But what I really like is the possibility of getting very close to the object and at the same time having the perspective similar to a "normal" lens.
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Sep 12, 2006
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