| Author: | | Senior Member Registered: February, 2010 Location: Bærum, Norway Posts: 101 | | Review Date: January 18, 2011 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Sharp, really wide | | Cons: | distortions | |
Excellent wide angle.
Makes interior shots a joy.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: August, 2009 Location: The British Isles Posts: 2,402
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 23, 2010 | Recommended | Price: None indicated
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | superwide FoV | | Cons: | | |
Excellent wide angle without a fisheye effect
| | | | | Inactive Account Registered: June, 2009 Location: Berlin Posts: 103
2 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: November 8, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Great pictures | | Cons: | Not really suited for IR-modded camera | | Sharpness: 9
Aberrations: 8
Bokeh: 8
Handling: 9
Value: 9
Autofocus: 9
New Or Used: New
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This is my favourite when taking pictures in the middle of a crowd or for sailing.
For landscapes it now competes with my 15mm Limited.
As correcting the distortions is done via software, it is not even a point-and-shoot, but rather a point-it-somewhere-and-you-will-still-make a-catch :-)
It is definitely a fine-tuned instrument, so using it with an IR-modded camera produces very blurred edges.
For all visible light applications I Love it!
 | | | | | Senior Member Registered: July, 2009 Location: High Desert, California Posts: 231 | | Review Date: September 27, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $499.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Pretty Much Everything | | Cons: | None Yet | |
This is for the non-HSM version
Absolutely in love with this lens. Have been mostly a long range shooter till now, but this lens has made me a convert. Very wide angle but without the wierd distortions that gets tiresome after a while with fisheye lenses. This lens has opened up a world of possibilities to me. Focus is quick (on my K200), images are sharp, colors are crisp. Simply a joy. Build quality is excellent. Overall one of the most impressive zooms I've seen.
| | | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: July, 2009 Location: West Midlands Posts: 2,066
3 users found this helpful
| | Review Date: September 4, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $430.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Crazy wide angle, relatively cheap price! | | Cons: | Not a pixelpeeper's lens | |
This lens really deserves it's cult status.
You can take pictures in fairly confined spaces, and include vast sweeps of landscapes. It produces great A3 size prints, with just a hint of softness to the corners. I think the softness is field curvature - probably best to stop down the lens and vary your focus a bit and pick the best shot later. Don't fret about the softness: my brother in law sells a lot of landscape prints made with this lens!
The distortion, which elongates anything near the sides of the frame, is a problem with some subjects, notably people! But not a major issue in landscape shots, where the 'stretching' of the foreground in portrait-format shots can actually look quite appealing.
It seems sharp enough apart from the 'field curvature' effect, but pixelpeepers will notice it isn't resolving as much detail as, say, the 16-45mm. This isn't the lens's strength. However, I'd visited the location below with my 16-45, and because of the tightness of the little ravine, struggled to get a harmonious composition. I was much happier with the 10-20, as it allowed me to include the little rivulets in the foreground, and convey the sense of place much better:
 | | | | | Pentaxian Registered: June, 2008 Location: Holy Land Posts: 1,165 | | Review Date: July 22, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $430.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | Extremely wide, excellent for landscape photography. decently sharp. | | Cons: | | |
This is a beautiful lens for capturing landscapes! I've used it all over the mediterranean coast capturing amazing sunsets and great perspectives. HIGHLY recommended for lanscapes and just about everything!!
 | | | | | Site Supporter Registered: December, 2007 Location: Montreal Posts: 1,249 | | Review Date: June 9, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | good optical performance, 10mm, relatively cheap | | Cons: | only 6 blades, needs to be stopped down for best performance | |
Sigma is arguably the king of ultrawides, they have recently announced the 8-16mm which promise an even wider FOV.
While I already had the excellent Pentax DA 12-24mm f/4 I wanted to get an even wider FOV. I made comparison between both lenses and couldn't decide for more than one year which lens to sell. Finally, recently I opted to sell the 10-20mm because I prefer to get the 8-16mm when it's available for Pentax.
A lot of people compare the 12-24 and 10-20, here are my findings:
Advantages to Sigma 10-20mm:
- focus a bit closer
- much better CA control
- wider FOV
Advantages to Pentax:
- Quick shift
- More reach
- Sharper wide open
- f/4 constant
One small gripe my copy was underexposing by 2/3 stop.
Pictures taken with this lens | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: March, 2009 Location: Salt Lake City, UT Posts: 509 | | Review Date: May 21, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $430.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | High Image quality and build construction | | Cons: | slightly heavy | |
What a lens! Sigma has improved greatly over the years. I abhored about the image quality of Sigma for its manual lenses. I can not understand why Sigma survived while Kiron did not.
But this lens is quite different. Very well built ( I do not like the coating that much). Very tight with little wobbly.
Image quality is superb. No complaint whatsoever on this front.
Downside? Slightly cooler to my taste (similar to my 105macro). A bit heavy. I do not use the ultra wide that much. I might sell it and get a Pentax 15mm instead.
I donot think that I have given a 9 to a zoom before.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2006 Location: Texas Posts: 25,123
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: May 10, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $649.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Fast and accurate focus | | Cons: | None so far.... | |
Sigma 10-20 HSM 3.5
I bought this lens a little over a week ago form my vacation to Big Bend Texas, but ended up using my new Sigma 17-70 2.8-4.0 HSM OS for 90%of my shooting. What I can tell you so far is limited, but it appears to deliver excellent IQ and is superbly built. The focus is lightning fast...and accurate, and it balances nicely on my K20D. Not being used to this range...it is Wide! Here is a shot that is heavily cropped but gives some idea of the capability...which I hope to explore more in the coming weeks.
Best Regards!
ISO 200 F5.6 (The testing I read said 5.6 gives h the highest resolution across the entire range....all excellent) 1/250 @ 20mm
http://www.flickr.com/photos/35763648@N05/4585074569/ | | | | | Junior Member Registered: February, 2009 Posts: 43 | | Review Date: April 2, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $400.00
| Rating: 10 |
| Pros: | 10-20mm, lower cost alternative to Pentax' UWA, build quality | | Cons: | edge softness, vignetting at 10mm, bad lens flare without hood, can't find replacement hood | | New Or Used: New
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I purchased this lens used in EX condition from keh in 2008 (no caps, no hood).
This is a fantastic lens for landscapes, I find myself using focal lengths between 11-14mm the most. However, my used copy did not come with the original sigma hood and without it, very bad lens flare (green streaks) occurs on sunny days. Aftermarket screw on UWA hoods do not work as the hood is visible in the corners at the 10-11mm range..
Regardless, this has become my most used lens on my k10d and lately the k-7 as the default lens attached to my camera. The extreme distortion at the 10mm is very effective at creative shots (see my 3rd photo example).
No lens is perfect - I give this lens a 10 purely on the amount of fun and quality photos I have been able to achieve without much effort.
Sample Photos:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfchu/5883730521/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfchu/3722102157/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfchu/3587740015/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfchu/3288711299/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jwfchu/4468370477/ | | | | | Veteran Member Registered: September, 2008 Location: Adelaide, South Australia Posts: 677
3 users found this helpful
| | | | | Forum Member Registered: August, 2007 Location: Denver Posts: 92
1 user found this helpful
| | Review Date: February 28, 2010 | Recommended | Price: $525.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | perspective, angle of view, nice build quality | | Cons: | bit big, not so fast, lens cap is a PITA | |
I really like this lens. The perspective it gives it great, it shoots up to very close, and produces some really cool photos. It's hands-down my favorite lens for getting star effects off the sun - just stop it down. It's got distortion like any ultra-wide, but I think that just gives it some character.
My biggest complaint about this lens is that I'm always afraid I'm going to scratch it. The front element is quite convex, and the lens cap is tricky to get seated properly.
If you do get this lens, think carefully before putting on a UV filter. This lens control flare well - a heck of a lot better than your filter will. I find myself taking off the filter nearly every time I use the lens during the daylight, because it makes a large difference in the contrast of the photos.
| | | | | Pentaxian Registered: October, 2009 Location: North Posts: 4,710 | | Review Date: December 15, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $530.00
| Rating: 8 |
| Pros: | Widest option out there; Versatile focal lengths | | Cons: | Poor QC; Slow | |
My copy of the lens front focused badly when I got it new. It was so bad that my K7 could not compensate for it. I can't believe QC can be so poor that a lens can be totally out new in box. As I had got this overseas and online, I had no choice but to send it to the service center to have it corrected. Now it works fine, but I still don't trust its focusing too much 
Sharpness is fine but its not a pixel peepers lens (which UWA is anyway?).
The focal length from 10-20mm is quite versatile. Subjects can range from landscapes to street and environmental portraits. A very good 'on tour' lens is how I would describe it. On the downside of this, its rather slow esp at 20mm for non landscapes.
Its the widest crop sensor lens so I guess its the best thing out there if you need 10mm. (of course now there is the Tamron)
My advise is to examine the lens before making the purchase. The internet is full of reports of poor QC of this lens (and those who got good versions and love it a lot). Once you get a good one, I think its fine.
| | | | | | | | Review Date: December 10, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $365.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | IQ, CA control, good contrast, good colour rendition, wide, build quality, price | | Cons: | no HSM, loosely lens hood and cap, no water/dust sealing | |
Great lens overall. Highly recommanded for users, who demand great quality for much less money than original lens.
Very good sharpeness and contrasts and exellent when stopped down; only edges at 10 mm wide open are not so good. CA is well controlled.
Exellent built quality. I don´t like Sigma´s EX finish, but it is irrelevant.
For me, it´s ideal lens for landscapes.
| | | | | Veteran Member Registered: May, 2008 Location: Rhode Island Posts: 4,180 | | Review Date: November 26, 2009 | Recommended | Price: $425.00
| Rating: 9 |
| Pros: | Excellent IQ: sharpness, contrast, and colors--it has it all. | | Cons: | none | |
This is a very nice, well-built lens. I have heard some mumblings about its utility wide open, but I love mine wide open. I do not see it being out-performed, particularly dollar for dollar. I have been shooting with it for about 8 months now on my K20d.
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