Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 DC HSM Lens - Canon Fit

Comments about Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 DC HSM Lens - Canon Fit:

I was debating which wide/super/ultra wide lens to get for my 40D. Having read all of the reviews that I could find and having run through all the arguments for and against each lens in this class, I eventually decided to go for the Sigma 8-16mm. I don't know how the other lenses would have performed but this one is super.

I use it for intimate landscapes, for shots where I want to accentuate foreground features in the landscape and for landscapes where I want big skies.

The good things about the lens include the excellent image quality and the quick and quiet focus. I've put it through a few serious tests like shooting into low, bright sunlight and it has performed really well. Yes, there is the usual flare, but it is not as bad as expected for a lens in this class.

The thing that is not so good is the front element: it sticks out a long way, looks very vulnerable and you can't fit a filter on the front to protect it.

Comments about Sigma 8-16mm f4.5-5.6 DC HSM Lens - Canon Fit:

This lens is simply a blessing for landscape and cityscape photography. Also great for indoor architectural photography, although the built-in lens hood will cast a shadow when built-in flash is used. Suited for photographing large groups of people, although I wouldn't place anybody I like at the corners of the image.
- Sharpness: this lens is comparable and sometimes exceeds the performance of my (other) Sigma 17-70mm/2.8-4 OS HSM lens.
- Focus: fast and accurate.
- Chromatic aberrations: little or negligible. Sometimes I don't even have to switch on the CA reduction in DPP.
- Distortion: Some, but unavoidable I guess for this type of lens. If you want a super-wide angle lens but hate the heavy distortion of fisheye lenses, this is pretty much the only option. Photoshop fails quite often to stitch images taken with this lens, but who needs stitching when you have an angle of view of almost 120 degrees?
- Vignetting: some, but can be easily corrected.

Overall, a must for any serious photographer who takes lanscape shots. This lens offers such a great flexibility; indeed, sometimes you'll be surprised how wide-angle it is.