DSLR Photography Forum

(Apr 15, 2014, 08:30)pbisho Wrote: [ -> ]

I have a canon eos40d and was looking for a wide angle lens that wasn't going to cost a fortune i have been looking at a sigma 10-20mm has anyone been using one of these
or could offer any suggestions.
regards,
peter

I use all Sigma lenses on my Sony Alpha77 and have achieved excellent results using them, including the 10-20mm lens. There are two versions of this lens - a f3.5- and an f4.5 which is the cheaper. My favourite lens is a 50-500mm super zoom which I use for wild life photography. No other manufacturer makes one. Of all the third party lenses I have found Sigma to be the best.

Hope this helps.

(Apr 16, 2014, 10:57)sonylensman Wrote: [ -> ]

(Apr 15, 2014, 08:30)pbisho Wrote: [ -> ]

I have a canon eos40d and was looking for a wide angle lens that wasn't going to cost a fortune i have been looking at a sigma 10-20mm has anyone been using one of these
or could offer any suggestions.
regards,
peter

I use all Sigma lenses on my Sony Alpha77 and have achieved excellent results using them, including the 10-20mm lens. There are two versions of this lens - a f3.5- and an f4.5 which is the cheaper. My favourite lens is a 50-500mm super zoom which I use for wild life photography. No other manufacturer makes one. Of all the third party lenses I have found Sigma to be the best.

Hope this helps.

I used to own the 10-20mm. I wasn't happy that the 10mm didn't seem wide enough so I traded for a 10.5mm fisheye. Now I'm sorry I gave up the 10-20. It's a good lens but big and heavy. You really don't need the zoom.

(Apr 15, 2014, 08:30)pbisho Wrote: [ -> ]

I have a canon eos40d and was looking for a wide angle lens that wasn't going to cost a fortune i have been looking at a sigma 10-20mm has anyone been using one of these
or could offer any suggestions.
regards,
peter

Peter, the Canon 10-22 would be my choice: http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.p...135/cat/11
but if your budget won't stretch that far, either the Sigma 10-20 f3.5-5.6
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.p...171/cat/31
or the Sigma 10-20 f3.5 constant aperture
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct.p...250/cat/31
will give you superb image quality. In the real world I doubt if you will see any difference between any of them. The constant aperture Sigma was designed mainly for video use. The Tamron 10-24 also has a good reputation. Ya' pays ya' money and takes ya' choice!

Better still is the Sigma 8-16mm which is still a bit cheaper than the Canon 10-22mm that I own.

I had a 7D and the 10-20 sigma lens and very happy with it indeed. BUT if you ever think you may go full frame be aware that not all lenses are suitable.
When I moved to a 6D I had to sell 3 of my favourite lenses and the 10-20 was one of those because it is EF-S cropped body only - trouble is the lenses for cropped body cameras are typically better zoom range than full frame - the optics gods give with one hand and take with the other

(Apr 15, 2014, 08:30)pbisho Wrote: [ -> ]

I have a canon eos40d and was looking for a wide angle lens that wasn't going to cost a fortune i have been looking at a sigma 10-20mm has anyone been using one of these
or could offer any suggestions.
regards,
peter

I use Sony and apart from Sony lenses, the only independent lens I have is the Sigma 10-20 F3.5 EX DC HSM.
In a group test by Digital Camera of eight Ultra-Wide zoom lenses including the Canon EF-S 10-22 F3.5-4.5 USM, the Sigma came top in every test regarding features, image quality and value, only losing out to the Sigma 8-16 by one star for build quality. It achieved an impressive 19 out of 20 five star overall rating. It was the only lens on test which achieved a five star rating for image quality (which surely must be the prime factor in choosing a lens?)
On account of this I purchased a new lens off ebay (making a cheeky bid offer of £300 against the £350 buy it now price) I haven't had it long but I am very impressed with it, the image quality is fantastic, the build quality is comparable to my Sony "G" lens and it is near silent and very quick to focus with no hunting. The only minor point against it is the 82mm filter size but I was able to purchase a circular polarising, a UV (both Hoya Pro 1) and a variable ND 2-400 filter for under £100, which along with some step up / down rings enable me to use them on all my other lenses.
The Sigma 10-20 F3.5 is only £50 more than the Sigma 10-20 F4.0 -5.6 and if you look around you should be able to purchase it for about the same price.
Another lens to consider is the Sigma 8-16 F4.5-5.6 DC HSM which came second in the group test but the image quality only achieved 4 stars (the Canon could only achieve 3 and didn't come in the top five of the eight lens tested) The minor point against this lens is that the hood is built in, despite this a 72mm can be used but only at the longer end of the zoom range to avoid vignetting - the Canon's hood has to be bought separately.
I can heartily recommend the Sigma 10-20 f3.5 EX DC HSM.

Lenses tested in the October issue of Digital Camera;
Sigma 10-20 F3.5 EX DC HSM £400 / $649 Placed first
Sigma 10-20 F4.0 -5.6 DC HSM £550 / $649 Placed second
Nikon AF-S DX 10-24 F3.5-4.5 G £640 / $779 Placed third.
Panasonic Lumix G Vario 7-14 F4.0 £850 / $968 Placed fourth
Tokina AT-X PRO 12-28 F4 DX £530 / $489 Placed fith

Not placed;
Canon EF-S 10-20 F3.5-4.5 USM £475 / $649 Hood purchased separately
Tamron SP AF 20-24 F3.5-4.5 Di II £360 / $499
Tokina AT-X PRO 11-16 F2.8 DX II £600 / $525 *Best for astrophotography

*Due to an article which I read recently I have placed the Tokina AT-X PRO 11-16 F2.8 DX II as best for astrophotography (starscapes) - This is my rating and not that of Digital Camera.

I hope this helps you in making a choice but whatever you choose, a super wide angle lens will "open up" a new aspect of photography - pun intended

(Oct 20, 2014, 08:05)dave1712 Wrote: [ -> ]I had a 7D and the 10-20 sigma lens and very happy with it indeed. BUT if you ever think you may go full frame be aware that not all lenses are suitable.
When I moved to a 6D I had to sell 3 of my favourite lenses and the 10-20 was one of those because it is EF-S cropped body only - trouble is the lenses for cropped body cameras are typically better zoom range than full frame - the optics gods give with one hand and take with the other

One more reason for going with Sony.
The A99 gives you the option of using a crop lens - albeit in crop mode which gives the same range as on a crop body although you do reduce the pixel count but at least you don't have to sell your lenses