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Daniel Buck
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Registered: Jan 12, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 3458
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Review Date: May 10, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $645.00
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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solid construction, great feeling controlls good performance at F16, not much distortion
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Cons:
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not very sharp anywhere near wide open, a bit tricky to use
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I use this lens pretty much as a 12mm prime, I hardly ever touch the zoom ring. I also shoot almost exclusively at F11 - F16. F16 seems to be the sharpest stop. The lens was a bit larger than I expected, it doesn't fit in my camer bag (it comes with it's own bag though). The pictures on-line make the lens look small (even when it's mounted on a camera)
Positive: I love the construction, it's a very solid feeling lens, and a joy to shoot with! very little distortion for how wide it is, it seems to handle flares pretty good.
I expected MUCH more distortion, there is relativly little! Being so wide (at 12mm), You can hand-hold quite show shutter speeds, 1/20th and maybe even slower.
Negative: It's not very sharp below F8. F16 seems to be the sharp stop, which makes it only real good for sunny outdoors shots. though, it's still decent at other stops, just not very sharp.
It takes a bit of getting used to. It doesn't seem to auto focus on anything further than about 4 feet So, shooting objects far away, I shoot at F16, I just manual focus to 2 meters - infinity, and that seems to work very nice. Auto focusing seems to be quite slow, but quiet.
Overall: I'm very happy with the construction, very solid! I'd give this lens a higher rating, but it will see somewhat limited use due to the lack of shapness from wide open to about F8. But that said, this is the only lens I have found that suits my wide angle needs. So, I'm happy with it! it's a keeper :-)
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 May 10, 2004
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Protege
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Registered: Sep 25, 2003
Location: Canada
Posts: 276
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Review Date: May 8, 2004
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Recommend? no |
Price paid: $1,000.00
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Wide angle capability. Nice case.
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Cons:
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It's a zoom - Sigma should have just focused on making it a wide prime. Bad design on the filter mount. Sub-par finish feel for a pro lens. Front element moves when zooming. Uber slow AF speed. Mediocre image quality.
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Camera: Canon EOS 10D
Primary Use: Wide Landscape Photography
This lens could use some improvements. If you're really looking for the widest possible rectilinear lens, then this is your answer. I really see no point in making this a zoom. The lens could possibly benefit from it by just being a single-focal 12mm.
Image quality: 3/5 (It's decent, but not mind blowing. Be careful of lens flare. Vignetting occurs when using the filter mount. Barrel distortion, but I actually like that).
AF speed: 1/5 (Pathetic AF speed considering it holds the HSM designation. Speed is SLOWER than Canon's non-USM motor).
AF acquisition: 4/5 (Still hunts, but in extreme cases).
Design: 3/5 (Filter mount will get too loose that eventually, it will not lock into place. Don't like the fact that the front element moves when zooming.)
Build quality: 3/5 (It feels cheap. I hope other EX lenses are not like this.)
You do not buy this lens because it can also cover 17mm and 24mm angles. You buy this lens for its 12mm capability. Nothing else.
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May 8, 2004
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bluemoo_au
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Registered: Mar 11, 2004
Location: N/A
Posts: 8
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Review Date: May 7, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $680.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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price
angle of view
lack of distortion
12mm view on full frame
focus and zoom rings wide and excellently damped
no red blobs on fuji s2 pro
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Cons:
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a bit chunky
no filters for the front
weird flare when shot into the sun.
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I had my nikon 12-24mm stolen and had a chnace to compare the two. I went with the sigma and havent been disapointed. It is softer wide open than the nikkor but I shoot between f8-16 any way so i dont care. Images have a softer look than the nikon but on closer inspection have a bit more detail and respond better with a sharpenning tool. I love the focus grip on the sigma. No red blobs from inner reflections on the sensor when the sun is somewhere near the from. However some redgreen ghots appear occasionally if not careful. overall on par with the nikon except at 20-24mm where the nikon has the edge but hey i bought it for 12-18mm any way. A good buy.
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May 7, 2004
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idiotpig
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Registered: May 1, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 1
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Review Date: May 1, 2004
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Recommend? no |
Price paid: $650.00
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Pros:
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Can finally take a wide-angle photo again after going digital.
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Cons:
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Sharpness is utterly horrid, particularly at 12mm, but weak even at 24mm.
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I'm actually posting a review because I'd like some advice. I've seen some comments about sigma's quality control being suspect. I have to believe that I got one of the lemons because the images I'm getting out of this thing at 12mm are virtually unviewable, even stopped down. At 24mm, it's reasonable, but no where near what I expected out of a $600+ lens (and nothing like the sharpness I've seen in online reviews).
So the advice: I've never had to return a lens, but I have to this time. It was purchaced at B&H, but not used for > 2 weeks, so I missed their grace period. So, I assume my next step is to use the Sigma warranty and send it to them for repair/replacment/calibration/whatever. What's the safest, quickest way to get the lens to them and back and ensure they know what to fix and without charge?
If anyone has had success swapping lenses with Sigma, I'd love to hear the best way to go about it. Do I need to include some images? Do I need to photocopy all my documents (sales slip, warranty info, etc.) and include that? How do I include the money for return postage (a check?)?
It's frustrating that I need to pay postage both ways and be without a working lens because they have cruddy quality control. I'm going to work to get this one fixed, but I don't intend to purchase another Sigma lens (at least not without being able to try it out in-store and verify the resultant image quality).
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May 1, 2004
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Fried
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Registered: May 2, 2003
Location: Germany
Posts: 38
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Review Date: Mar 22, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Only real wide angle zoom for 10D
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Cons:
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Could be faster
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There is no alternative by anyone for this lens.
Performance is good for a lens this wide. Flare and CA are not that much of a problem, if stopped down for landscape pics.
The lens has very low distorsion, can easily be corrected with Panotools or the like. Look and feel are excellent, comparabel to Canon L lenses.
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Mar 22, 2004
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dlselvidge
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Registered: Mar 3, 2004
Location: United States
Posts: 186
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Review Date: Mar 12, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $650.00
| Rating: 8
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Pros:
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It's WIDE, WIDE, WIDE! Reasonable price for what it is.
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Cons:
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gelatin filters, not the fastest thing out there
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What can I say, I love this thing. Finally a WA zoom I can afford. I have been using it on my 10D and WOW! It's OK wide open, better stopped down (but what lens isn't). Focuses fast enough, but the DOF is huge, esp @ 12mm. The hyperfocal distance is something like 1.4m @ f11 when it's @ 12mm, so it shouldn't be too hard to get good DOF. I can't really complain about anything. I can't attest to it's full frame performance, since I don't shoot film or a full frame DSLR, but with the 10D, it is great!
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Mar 12, 2004
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traveler
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Registered: Jan 8, 2002
Location: United States
Posts: 3234
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Review Date: Feb 5, 2004
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: $630.00
| Rating: 10
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Pros:
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Amazingly low barrel distortion for such a wide angle
Excellent color output and contrast
Fast and quiet to focus in all but low light
Excellent construction and focus ring feel
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Cons:
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difficult but not impossible to apply filter effects
not a F2.8
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The first copy of this lens I had to send back as the left side was obviously not calibrated correctly. The second copy has been a gem. Decent from F5.6 but knockout from F8 on up. Typical for me to shoot in the F8-F16 range for outdoor landscape and such to begin with so no issues. The focusing is immediate in all but lower light situations, and the build is about as good as it get's. The least amout of barrel distortion on a wide angle I have yet to see including on a number of big ticket L lenses I've owned, both primes and zooms. I think Sigma has a winner, with the caveat of the usual quality control. Just perservere until you get a good copy and you will be rewarded with a great lens.......
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Feb 5, 2004
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crowning
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Registered: Jan 16, 2002
Location: Germany
Posts: 175
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Review Date: Dec 9, 2003
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Recommend? yes |
Price paid: Not Indicated
| Rating: 6
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Pros:
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Extremly wide (12mm), quiet focusing (HSM), nice color rendering, average/good focusing speed, in the center relatively sharp for such a wide lens
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Cons:
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not very sharp in the corners (even stopped down), a LOT of chromatic aberations in the corners, very large (82m) thread size
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I've had this lens for one weekend for testing.
First I was VERY disappointed when I saw my studio photos of a resolution
chart: unsharp corners, a LOT of chromatic aberations in the corners, average
sharpness.
But after I took some 'real-life' photos, I wasn't disapointed anymore: nice
colors, not very much distorsions, chromatic aberation not much visible.
I don't know if I should recommend this lens or not: stopped down to f/8 or
smaller (e.g. for landscapes) it's a nice lens; if you plan to use it wide
open I'd have a look for Sigmas 15-30mm or Canons 17-40mm lens first.
Look here (http://www.pbase.com/crowning/wide_01) to see some sample
photos
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Dec 9, 2003
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Reviews
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Views
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Date of last review
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104
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272259
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Jan 15, 2013
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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94% of reviewers
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$632.87
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Build Quality Rating
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Price Rating
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Overall Rating
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8.88
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8.79
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8.7
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