Sigma EX 15mm f2.8 Fisheye - A 'Barrel' of Fun!

Advantages: Good performance. Great fun. Good value.
Disadvantages: Limited uses. Canon owners should consider Canon's version.

...I purchased this lens brand new in preference to the Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 fisheye, primarily because I thought it might be a better lens than the now aging Canon version. The Canon lens has not been updated in many years, having been designed originally for 35mm Canon EOS cameras. The Sigma on the other hand, is a more up-to-date design, benefiting from more recent developments in both lens design and technology and 'should' therefore, I would have thought, been a superior offering. I was wrong! The Sigma is by no means a 'bad' lens, simply not quite as 'good' as the old Canon lens. Very good results are in fact possible but a little work is necessary post production, through image editing software, to get the very best from it. Also, a little aforethought helps when shooting with this lens and some appreciation of both it...

davecham 29.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Canon EF fisheye lens - 15 mm F/2.8

Sigma EX DG 70-200mm f2.8 HSM Macro

Advantages: Build quality. Finish. Range. Fast maximum aperture.
Disadvantages: Image quality not as good as expected. Chromatic Aberration.

...removed whenever you choose to use the lens hand-held. Being an EX DG lens, it is suitable for use on either FF (Full-Frame) or APS-C cropped sensor cameras when it effectively behaves like a 105-300mm f/2.8 (on Nikon APS-C), 112-320mm f/2.8 (on Canon APS-C) or 119-340mm f/2.8 on Sigma DSLR cameras. These make interesting options on the APS-C size sensor cameras and it can be assumed the camera has a completely different set of values when used with such cameras to those when used on full-frame. Interesting? The fast f/2.8 maximum aperture provides great fun for shallow DOF (depth-of-field) shots where particularly at the 200mm end of the zoom, depth-of-field is excitingly shallow. Whilst the lens is referred to as 'macro' within it's descriptive title, the term is used somewhat loosely. True macro lenses provide genuine 1 to 1 life...

davecham 28.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8

The nikon 70-200mm F2.8 VR, top-of-the-line

Advantages: Beautiful bokeh, tack-sharp, vibration reduction, easy to use, many useful accessories
Disadvantages: heavy, expensive, slight vignetting, prone to flaring

...their version, the so-called "vibration reduction", was the 80-400mm f/4.5-5.6 ED. An interesting lens to be sure, but Nikon owners really started to get excited at the announcement of the AF-S 70-200 F2.8 VR. This lens, a successor of a highly regarded line of professional lenses, turned out to be spectacular: the image stabila? sorry, the vibration reduction was possibly even more effective than Canon's and the image quality? Well, I am going to discuss that right now! ---Image quality--- The 70-200 VR is a tack-sharp lens, as you would expect of a lens in this price class. It is not even in the same ballpark as normal consumer lenses: the colours are vibrant, the details sharp, and the bokeh (the appearance of parts of the picture that our out of focus) is stunning. The lens is particularly famous for the silky smooth rendering of out...

hetvuurtje 24.03.2009 · Read review
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Review of Nikon Zoom-Nikkor telephoto zoom lens - 70 mm - 200 mm F/2.8

Ditch ur stock lens & buy THIS! 18-50mm f2.8 EX

Advantages: Lightweight, Compact, Fast f2.8 Aperature throughout the zoom
Disadvantages: Slightly Soft at f2.8, but manageable

...I bought this lens as a replacement for the 18-70mm f3.5-5.6 stock lens that came with my camera, and it was worth every penny. The increase in image quality, sharpness and clarity of pictures has been amazing. No more fringing around the edges of bright distant objects. No barrel distortion at the very edges of the image. No plasticy cheap feel. This lens is brilliant, especially if you don't want to fork out the enormous prices for Vibration reduction or Image Stabilising Lenses. (My camera has this built in anyway so ha!). Having an aperature of f2.8 makes this brilliant for indoor work, as you don't have to use a flash, or push up the iso to noisy values to get sharp clear images. For example, at 50mm, i can shoot at 1/40sec on this lens at f2.8, my old stock lens would have had me shooting at 1/10sec, which in low...

benzas 12.11.2006 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX zoom lens - 18 mm - 50 mm F/2.8

Sigma AF 150mm APO f/2.8 HSM

Advantages: Crips, sharp, contrast full images; silent focusing; f/2.8 apature
Disadvantages: no image stabiliser

...This listing on ciao doesn't have a model number for focal length so I am going to review the Sigma APO 150mm f/2.8 Macro lens Before I purchase products I do extensive research on them; I read magazines and scour the internet looking for absolutely every bit of information I can before I buy. When deciding on buying this lens it was no differentl; I must have ready 2-3 magazines reviews and a dozen internet review sites before deciding which macro lens to purchase The reasearch I conducted showed that there two VERY good macro lenses available; the Sigma 150mm f2.8 and the Canon 100mm f/2.8. After investigating these two lenses further I found that the Canon was contiously rated as the best possible Macro lens (in the price category - there are Canon L series macro lenses which would cost 4 times the price) but the Sigma was...

stueng 28.03.2008 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX macro lens - 150 mm

Sigma EX 150mm f/2.8 DG HSM APO Macro

Advantages: Optical quality. Build quality. Price.
Disadvantages: Could come free with Cornflakes?

...I purchased this lens after a great deal of research and seeking out 'actual' image files (full size ones) which had been taken using this lens specifically. These were viewed at 100% size in Adobe Photoshop to ascertain quality and compare to similar images from other lenses. In my opinion, this was the best lens of this sort of focal length that I could buy. Better even than the far more expensive Canon EF 180mm f/3.5 L Macro. One of the best macro lenses available is the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8. However, depending on your luck (Sigma's quality control isn't completely up to speed!), the actual sample you purchase may be either 'not quite' so good as the Canon 100/f2.8, 'just as' good or, if you're really lucky (in which case, bung a few quid on the Lotto!) even 'better' than the Canon 100/f2.8. In any case, if like me, you want to...

davecham 28.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX macro lens - 150 mm

Macro shooting, Sigma style-ee

Advantages: Good build quality and good value for money .
Disadvantages: Sigma`s claims not met and a slow auto focus .

...Owners and uses of DSLR cameras will know that there are dozens of different lenses that can be attached to the cameras to enable different types of photography to be done correctly. The original or kit lenses that come with most DSLR`s are capable of doing a bit of everything but only at low levels, if you want to take certain images, get long zoom possibilities or shoot creatively then you need to get the right lens for the right job. One favourite with a lot of DSLR users is Macro photography which is basically shooting close ups of things, the average camera lens will only focus properly at a minimum distance of around 59cm whereas a macro lens will let you get in much closer. This particular lens (Sigma EX macro lens - 50 mm F/2.8) allows you to focus on objects as close in as 20cm. Sigma make many other claims about...

thebigc1690 23.02.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX macro lens - 50 mm F/2.8

Canon's sharpest zoom is a rock, or brick

Advantages: Awesomely sharp. Wide Aperture gives great control. Great colour.
Disadvantages: A little fragile. Would prefer with Image Stabiliser.

...This is the professional photographer's portrait zoom lens of choice. The constant F/2.8 aperture across the zoom range provides excellent performance in low-light, and the best control over depth of field in any zoom lens on the market today. Lens performance is exemplary. If you take the time to use the full time manual focus, pictures of exceptional sharpness can be achieved at any aperture. Some users complain of getting "soft" copies of the lens, but always refer to the excellent and free Canon service of calibration (within warranty). My own lens doesn't suffer from this, I have to say, and I do wonder whether some photographers claim that they're not getting a "sharp copy" when they're not taking the time to focus properly. Commonly referred to as "the brick" amongst Canon users, this lens is noted for its heft. It weighs...

GilesGuthrie 26.01.2008 · Read review
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Review of Canon zoom lens - 24 mm - 70 mm F/2.8

Nearly one 'L' of a lens

Advantages: Useful range. Fast f/2.8 aperture. Great IS. Superb image quality.
Disadvantages: Lens hood costs extra!

...Having owned and used a Canon EF-S 17-55mm f/2.8 IS USM zoom lens for around 15 months, I feel that I have some well balanced experience with it. Being an EF-S lens (the 'S' standing for 'Short' back-focus), it is designed for use ONLY with cameras having APS-C size sensors. Do not attempt to use one on a full-frame DSLR or 35mm SLR camera. Firstly, such lenses have a reduced image circle which will produce severe vignetting on large sensor cameras and secondly, the mount of the rear lens element could be struck by the camera's mirror, causing serious damage. On a Canon APS-C size DSLR, this 3.2x zoom provides a useful range of focal lengths from 27.2mm to 88mm with a maximum aperture of f/2.8 which is consistent throughout the zoom range. This fast aperture makes the lens eminently suitable for low-light work, particularly as it...

davecham 26.12.2008 · Read review
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Review of Canon EF-S zoom lens - 17 mm - 55 mm F/2.8

Mighty Little Macro

Advantages: High Quality. Sharp. Good package for price.
Disadvantages: No HSM or Internal focusing.

...I have owned this lens (in Canon mount) for some time and use it frequently. Being a DG designated lens, it is suitable for use on both FF (full-frame) and cropped sensor APS-C digital SLR cameras. I use my example on Canon EOS 5D and EOS 400D digital SLR cameras where on the latter, it effectively becomes a 112mm focal length f/2.8 Macro lens with larger than 1:1 'life-size' reproduction ratio potential. Very useful! The 'EX' designation which, in SIGMA terminology, relates to 'EXCELLANCE' and their 'professional' quality range of lenses which generally, exhibit a somewhat higher specification, build quality, finish and design feature-set than their 'DC' range of lenses. It therefore comes in the familiar smooth matt black 'crinkle finish which is quite attractive and so far, apparently hard wearing. Although this unique finish does...

davecham 04.01.2009 · Read review
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Review of Sigma EX macro lens - 70 mm F/2.8