Wide-Angle zoom question

[Frequent Traveler]

Does anyone here have experience with the Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASPHERICAL zoom?

I would be using it on my KM 7D and have read some online reviews, but wonder about personal/professional experiences here..

Thanks,

 

[Jeremy Z]

No experience with that lens specifically, but I have good experience with Sigma in general. I bought an old Sigma 28-84 3.5-4.5 for my Olympus OM1n a while ago for $25 on ebay. It was beaten-up, with a dented filter ring and paint missing, but with clean optics and good mechanics. It turned out to be a great buy.

The Sigma lenses compare well optically to the Canon/Nikon lenses too. They sometimes appear a little cheap, and don't have a very fine manual focusing mechanism.

In my experience, Tokinas are better, but they don't make as much of a variety. They only make for Canon & Nikon these days, the suckers.

 

[sothoth]

Does anyone here have experience with the Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASPHERICAL zoom?

I would be using it on my KM 7D and have read some online reviews, but wonder about personal/professional experiences here..

Thanks,

Why that one and not the Sigma 10-20?

 

[Frequent Traveler]

Thanks for the reply Jeremy - i've always been a bit leery of 3rd party glass...

Hey Sothoth - i'm only interested in FF compatible lenses - Sony is likely to upgrade in the future and i want to be able to make a seamless upgrade. Besides, i really miss wide-angle (from my manual focus 35mm cameras) and want to have a similar venus for my 7D.

 

[sothoth]

i'm only interested in FF compatible lenses

I ask because I have the 10-20 and really like it. Great optics, and for the "super" wide angle (on an EF-S sensor, so it's really a 16-32) I'm amazed by the clarity and lack of distortion. I can't remember who else posted about Sigma having spotty QC, but I've been very happy with that wide angle and a couple of their lenses I got from ebay. I compared the 10-20 to the (similar) Canon, Tokina, and Tamron versions and took pictures with each lens on my camera. I think the Sigma was the cheapest and liked the images with the Sigma the best. I don't know about their whole product line that well but I felt the build quality of the 10-20 was superior to the Canon or Tamron.

 

[Frequent Traveler]

Thanks Sothoth - just the sort of IQ answers i am looking for!

I'm parked in the Minolta mount and so am not blessed with as many Tokina wide-angle offerings as Canon and/or Nikon Folk. I'm not so impressed with Tamron super-wide angles in the A mount (though there are likely many who have great experience with them, so far i have a) not tried one and b) images i have seen do not have the rich, colorful "look" i prefer (and do not like to spend time in pp "fixing" poor lens IQ). Sigma images seem to have that "pop" right from the start.

I am expecting Sony to continue it's commitment in the dSLR market and to producing a full-frame camera eventually (maybe in the next year or two at the latest). I will be ready to upscale in probably 2 years and don't want to have to buy any new glass. My 7D serves me very well now, but it does have some needed upgrade areas Canon and Nikon already have "dialed".

thanks,

fm

 

[sothoth]

'm not so impressed with Tamron super-wide angles... images i have seen do not have the rich, colorful "look" i prefer

Funny you say that, I'm just about to sell my Tamron 18-200 for the reason you just mentioned. It's not terrible by any means, but find myself liking the way pictures look with the Simga much better. I also think the 18-200 is too wide a range to be effective at the high and low focal lengths, so I'll get something like an 18-50/70 and then a longer zoom, say 70-300 or something. I'm going to avoid Tamron, I know a lot of folks like them (and again, it's not a bad lens) but it's just not the right lens for me.

Anyone have a suggestion for a 70ish-300ish for a canon mount?