| Author: | | Veteran Member Registered: October, 2007 Location: Port Townsend, Washington State, USA Posts: 3,659 | | Review Date: July 2, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $459.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Build, balances well, sharp, filter threads, low flare, low CA | | Cons: | Geometric distortion@10mm, still useful | |
What i was able to find out from SLRguide.com, was that the Sigma 10-20 gives nothing away in sharpness to the Pentax 12-24, provided you keep it at F5.6 to F8. Both are fine lenses. Pentax has its sharpness at F4 which gives it an advantage of speed. On the other hand, the Pentax 24mm is soft while the 10mm FL of the Sigma has greater geometric distortion. Because of these deficiencies, both the Pentax and Sigma have their sweet spot in the 12-20mm range. The Pentax F4 speed and its slightly warmer images are advantages.
The first day with the Sigma, i was all thumbs, but i was impressed by its images of the inside of my house. wall to wall perspectives and then some.. The 2nd day produced no acceptable outdoor images and i determined to return it the next day. The 3rd day, I gave it, and myself one more chance. The 4th day I got 4 compliments on an image i submitted to the local photo club. No way is it going back now :-)
I should mention that on one's photographer's website, he made mention of a AF problem with this Sigma lens but didn't provide any detail. I experienced this too, but its not much of a problem in practical use. What I found was that in low light conditions, the 10mm FL has problems finding a focus, but not under bright conditons. Because this FL is so wide, it is difficult for the camera (and one's eye with the Katzeye split screen installed) to tell the difference on distant objects. I found that the fix was to manually focus or even easier, just crank in a manual setting that will give one the DOF required. Further, as you zoom to 12mm and on up, the Sigma had no AF problems that i encountered. I didn't run any formal test on this because it just is not even a minor issue for me.
My conclusion: there's a learning curve to an ultra-wide lens, but its a climb worth taking. Pentax and Sigma are both good lenses and both have some advantages. Knowing what i do now, i would have made the same decision again due to price and the 10mm reach of the Sigma.
| | | | | | | New Member Registered: June, 2008 Location: Ratlum Mountain Posts: 1
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: June 21, 2008 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Relatively sharp, good contrast, low distortion - sort of | | Cons: | Could be sharper, high chromatic distortion in corners | |
Relatively sharp, good contrast, distortion ranges from none in the center to high in the corners, with chromatic distortion being very high in the corners but nonexistent in the main body of the photos. All in all a very good compromise and almost perfect consumer lens.
10mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/20 sec. Stone Museum in Peoples Forest.
10mm, ISO 100, f8, 1/250 sec. The view of Pleasant Valley.
 | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Location: Nove Zamky, Slovakia Posts: 7,183 | | Review Date: April 4, 2008 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, size | | Cons: | not much | |
Great lens, well balancing on K100D and it's joy to use. Colour rendition, sharpenss and contrast are all OK. Distortions are very well controled throughout the range. And the FOW it offers, simply great. Fantastic lens for indoor/outdoor architecture and landscapes.
| | | | | Site Supporter Registered: January, 2007 Location: Toronto Posts: 17,891
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 22, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $540.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Ultra Wide, Excellent control of distortion, Build quality | | Cons: | None | |
This lens has become the perminant fixture of my K10D while travelling. taking between 50%-80% of travel shots, and 20% of all my photos annually.
The 10mm focal length can cope with any interior shots, and is wide enough to get great archetctural shots when travelling, especially in cities where you can't just walk back a few steps.
There is some barrel distortion, but it is minimal, and easily corrected with a good photo editor.
This lens should be considered a MUST buy for anyone who wants to complete the lower range of focal lengths.
It should be noted however, that the internal flash of DSLRs cannot cover 10mm, and also get blocked by the lens hood if you try indoor shots with flash. Note my version is not an HSM version, and I think the HSM version is not released yet (mar 2008) for pentax.
For focusing the lens can be manually focused, and has an 80 degree rotation from minimum focus to infinity. Focus distance is indicated on the focusing collar but there is no depth of field indication. There is no de-coupling of the focusing collar for autofocus, the collar turns when the lens is autofocused.
In terms of coverage, although this is a DC lens (i.e. designed for ASP-C sensors) it provides full coverage for 35mm film from about 13 mm and up, as tested on my PZ-1
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2007 Posts: 3,381 | | Review Date: March 17, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $430.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | WIDE, Very good IQ, Lightweight | | Cons: | Distortion at wide end | |
This lens shoots WIDE. It is great for indoor architectural photography and produces beautiful landscapes. At 10mm it is a little soft and there is distortion. However, both problems are easily correctable in photoshop. Construction is good and it is lightweight. I have no reservations in recommending it.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2007 Location: North West UK Posts: 390
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: March 16, 2008 | Recommended | Price: $600.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | IQ, CA control, Weight great fun! | | Cons: | Not much | |
This is a lens which is getting a cult following. Everyone knows about it, no matter what make you have. And the people who have them love them, and the people who don't have one, want one.
The image quality is suberb. as is the CA control as well (It is there wide open, but stop it down a few F stops and the control is better - who uses this lens wide open anyway?)
The barrel distotion is also well controlled, especially as it goes to 10mm.
I have read on a number of forums that there have been quality control issues with this lens, but strangly only to Canon users........
If you want an ultra wide but don't want to go down the fisheye route, or canoot stretch to the Pentax 12-24, then go for this, you wont be disappointed.
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