Experiences with Sigma 10-20mm?

Hi Kalmar, I’ve no experience with that lens in particular but I’ve had a Sigma 15-30mm for about 3 years, on a Canon 20D, 10D and an Elan7E and is a great lens.

In general, I’ve had good experience with sigma lenses, much more so than with Tamron lenses, for example. I would say the same should apply to Nikon bodies…

L

Good value for money. Sharp. Better than the Nikon equivalent. Some compatibility problems with the Nikon D200 which are supposed to be fixed with a firmware update. A little “slow” – f5.6 at 20mm. You have to be careful about ligning things up correctly to avoid distorsion. I end up using quite a lot of lens correction in my raw converter, Silkypix, but the results are good generally. I bought mine before Christmas and have used it extensively on every job since…

Hi, I don’t have the 10-20, but have used a number of Sigma lenses on Nikon, including the 12-24, which, apart from its bulk and weight is one of my favourite lenses (the exposed front element is always a worry though.) The build quality is generally pretty good – much better than the first Sigma I bought in 1975!

This also has the ‘bug’ with the Nikon D200, but I won’t even bother with the firmware update, as it only effects the lens if you choose to work in a particular (and to me peculiar) way.  I did fiddle around with the camera to actually confirm the bug existed, but quickly put the camera back to my normal configuration where it works perfectly. 

So I’d happily buy the Sigma 10-20. I’ve also heard very good things about the 18-50 f2.8 which would go nicely with it and give a bit more speed at the top end of the range.

Peter