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03-16-2008, 07:11 PM   #1
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Sigma AF DC 10-20mm Super Wide For Pentax

Has any one had any experience with the Sigma AF DC 10-20/4-5.6 EX HSM ASPHERICAL SUPER WIDE-ANGLE ZOOM? I am thinking of buying it for landscape pictures and don't want the fisheye effect.

03-17-2008, 01:34 AM   #2
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Yes, I have this lens. I'm very happy with it. It's my current favourite lens but it does have some weaknesses.

It's extremely wide and gives a whole new aspect your landscape photography. It tends to be a little soft at the edges at 10mm but this improves around 12mm. It is a rectilinear lens so you won't get the kind of distortion you get with fisheye lenses. However, you may find at 10mm you get a little distortion around the edges but unless you are taking architectural shots, this isn't usually an issue. It also gives a little bit of a hotspot for infrared photography. It's also significantly cheaper that the Pentax 12-24mm.
03-17-2008, 03:44 AM   #3
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I have it and like it a lot. the distortion that occurs at 10mm is easily corrected in photoshop and similar programs. i agree with the comments above about less expensive than the pentax 12-24 (which is slightly sharper) and if i didn't need the 10mm for indoor archictectural photography i'd go for the pentax.
03-17-2008, 03:52 AM   #4
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Sigma 10-20

I have this lens and it is my walk about lens. I do agree with the previous comments as to it being a little soft at 10 and much better at nothing that photoshop can't fix. Excellent lens and I do highly recommend it.

03-17-2008, 12:56 PM   #5
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Thank you each for your quick and helpful responses about this lens. It looks like I will order it based on your gracious comments. Thank you.
03-18-2008, 01:17 AM   #6
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Hi, I have this lens too, didn't get too many chances to use it yet, but if you want, have a look at these:
https://www.pentaxforums.com/forums/post-your-photos/17043-sigma-10-20-testdrive.html
I really can't complain about this lens, it may bit soft at 10mm but nothing too significant, that wouldn't be easy to do in PPing.
Go for it! It's really worth it....
03-18-2008, 03:29 AM   #7
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Sigma 10-20

Further to me comments here is a shot taken on Saturday with the Sigma10-20mm on my K10 also a number taken with it mounted on the K100

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3069/2342968506_629f139ff0_b.jpg

03-18-2008, 06:27 AM   #8
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This lens, since purchasing it abouyt 15 months ago has become my main walk around lens for travel. Last year it was used for 20% of all shots taken.

It is backed up with my Tamron 28-75 f2.8 which is on my back up body, if I want different composition or a tighter crop.
03-18-2008, 08:22 AM   #9
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I took the lens for a test drive, keeping the shots on my K20 for closer inspection later. The first thing I noted was that 10mm is an eye-opener as far as field of view goes, useful if you wish to take in everything you see before you in a single shot. The wide end - for better or worse - offered an exaggerated perspective due to distortion, though I'm sure some would buy it just for this 'effect'. I did the obligatory wall shots and noted fairly severe vignetting wide open, however the sharpness wasn't bad at all. My feeling is that (especially toward the 10mm side) even things right in front of you are 'far away' in the shot, and correspondingly lacking in fine detail. Seems more a factor of the focal length than the lens itself, though I'm sure other extreme wides may perform to different standards, I've none others to compare.

Ultimately, I decided against the lens and have begun stitching shots for interior architecture work from a more ... controlled focal length. Whether it is the lens or the science of such a focal length at work, I thought there would be a lot more to overcome in post-processing using the 10-20 for what my intentions behind its use were to be.

I should also disclose that I to this day have not found a zoom that I deemed worth the investment. My rationale is always that a good example of a prime offers specialized articulation in its formula to better correct for its single focal length, in a smaller package with wider aperture range than a corresponding zoom which must account for a range of focal points in its design. Its usually a trade-off of image quality for convenience. If the convenience is not required, I would more readily consider a 10mm prime with more corrective measures taken to counter the vignetting and distortions at the length if Sigma were to produce one, but thats just me. And that not being the case, I curiously await the 15mm limited on the Pentax roadmap for 2008 as the next contender for my wide angle needs.
03-19-2008, 07:31 PM   #10
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Thank You!

I greatly appreciate all of your comments (good and bad) about this lens. It seems to be a convenient lens with some distortion, but by in large, one suited for my purposes. Thank you all again. I also appreciated seeing the variety of shots that many of you were willing to share.

Mike/eagle7312
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