Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM – Review
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Before buying this wide-angle zoom, I owned the Sigma 10-20 (old version), but since I was not very interested in landscape photography, I finally decided to sell it, although unwillingly. Thereafter, I started to be involved with timelapse photography and I realised that I needed to go under the 17mm of the widest lens I had (i.e. the Canon 17-85). Well, the best alternative was the Canon 10-22, according to what I found in many specialised forums. But I could also buy the new version of the Sigma 10-20, with a constant aperture at f/3.5. At that time, I read a review by Juza (here, in italian), whose opinion I trust, and started to consider the newly released Sigma 8-16. Finally, I decided and I got it!!!
Technical specifications
| Price | 530€ (at fordigit.com) |
|---|---|
| Year of release | 2010 |
| Focal length | 8-16mm |
| Angle of view* | 118°-80º |
| Max aperture** | f/4.5-5.6 |
| Min aperture** | f/22-29 |
| Lens construction | 15 elements in 11 groups with 4 low dispersion “F” elements |
| Aperture blades | 7 |
| Distanza minima di messa a fuoco | 0,24m |
| Max magnification | 0,34x |
| Autofocus system | HSM motor |
| Supplied accessories | Case, petal-type hood, front/back caps |
| Weight | 0.545 kg |
| Size | 75 x 105,7 mm (diameter x length) |
* For APS-C cameras.
** At 8mm ad 16mm, respectively.
Description
When this lens came into my hands I was immediately surprised by its size: very long!!! Thereafter, after opening the top cap, the curved shape of its front lens pushed me soon to take some pictures. I must say that, as soon as I took a look in the viewfinder, the 8 mm focal length was very exciting. Its angle of view is very impressive: 118°. The petal-type hood is fixed to the lens, all covered by a removable front cap. The construction quality is quite different from the other Sigma EX-series lenses, in that there is no rough covering treatment. As far as the rest, mobile parts (focus ring and zoom) are very smooth and ergonomic. The autofocus system is very fast (with FTMF, full time manual focus). In my opinion, there is no need for stabilization systems (the Sigma ‘OS’) in this kind of lens, as in most cases it is used on a tripod. Its aperture varies from 4.5 to 5.6 according to focal length: maybe this is the only defect of this lens, which is not very suitable for shooting at low light conditions such as in night-photography. The precision of the AF of my lens is excellent, without any front- or back-focus defect. In all the reviews I read on this lens, no problems related to f/b focus were reported, as far as I know. Did Sigma work on this aspect?
The curved shape of the front lens is a very exciting feature of the Sigma 8-16: it seems a fisheye!!!
Optical quality
The optical quality test was carried out on a banknote of 20€ (you can see the 100% crops below). Pictures were all taken with a Canon EOS 7D under an RC-1 remote control, with aperture priority (Av), without flash and with MLU active. The camera was mounted on a Manfrotto 055-XPROB tripod equipped with a 322RC2 ball-head. Ok. Let’s start with the central area of the frame at 8 and 16mm. Of course, at 16mm f/4.5 aperture is not allowed, since the maximum is f/5.6. These are the 100% crops, without any processing, just converted from the RAW file to JPEG.
| 8mm | 16mm |
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f/4.5 |
|
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f/5.6 |
f/5.6 |
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f/8.0 |
f/8.0 |
|
f/11 |
f/11 |
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f/16 |
f/16 |
|
f/22 |
f/22 |
|
f/29 |
At 8mm it is quite visible a decrese of sharpness from f/4.5 to f/5.6. At f/8 or f/11, the sharpness is very good, while at f/22 it starts to show a significant decrease. No matter, anyway. At 16mm, the optical quality of the Sigma 8-16 is quite more stable. The sharpness of the central area is excellent up to f/8, very good also at f/11, and acceptable at f/16. A significant quality decrease is observed at closer diaphragms.
The review continues at page 2 (see the link below).