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Review Summary
2020-09-11T08:22:13
I have had this lens for about 3 weeks now. It is nice and sturdy, not plastic like some kit lenses. The zoom works smooth and focus is good. The 4.5-5.5 aperture is fine for most shots but may not be as good as a faster lens for night photography. It has a petal lens hood built in with no way to use a traditional shaped filter for protecting the lens so caution is advised when up close focusing to your subject or you may bump the lens and scratch the coating. Overall for the price and quaity of the lens i would recommend it for those doing landscape or architectural photographs.
ED D.
2020-07-15T17:43:55
I love this lens for getting great wide angle photos
JAMES G.
2019-12-27T07:43:12
Great wide angle lens. I use it sports photography to get that great stadium shot showing the capacity crowd.
JAMES G.
2018-04-16T12:02:22
AS stated above, 12mm WA ability for APS format has been extremely helpful. I did a series on older Barber Shops. These tend to be somewhat narrow and long, in layout. This was usually the only lens needed for entire shoots. Images for the required 8x10 format were sharp and color accurate. From a business stand point, very successful.
RICHARD E.
2018-01-05T18:05:47
I got this lens mainly because of how wide it is. I've been wanting to get a super-wide lens for a while now and I'm very happy that I got this one. There are a lot of other great options, mainly the Canon 10-22mm but, since I currently have a Canon 15-85mm and usually would go to that for landscape photography I didn't see the need to only gain 5mm but instead opted for a larger gain. This is a superb lens. It takes beautiful pictures. It's sharp and has very nice contrast levels. There is some mild lens flare that occurs even when the sun/moon/light is just out of shot but there isn't so much if it's pointed directly at it. The only downside to this lens is that there is no way to screw filters onto the front since it's just a built-in lens hood, however, if you don't plan on doing a lot of landscape photography than that shouldn't be an issue. In conclusion, this is a lovely lens and it a whole lot of fun to use especially for architecture and landscape, and some distorted portraits if you really want to do that.
Coleridge N.
2017-12-01T10:11:42
Wide agle lenses are great fun, and this one has great sharpness and ease of use. I would buy it again.
Jeffrey H.
2017-12-01T10:08:53
I love this lens. It is really fun to get close to something for scale and shoot down parallel rows of something. Railroad tracks, corn rows, long driveways, medium driveways that you want to look long. I am glad I bought it.
Jeffrey H.
2017-04-04T08:53:15
Excellent lens, good value. I would not hesitate to recommend this lens
JAMES L.
2016-12-18T09:57:23
I've used this 8-16mm lens with both my Canon APC and a Canon full-sized 35mm sensor, and it's a brilliant lens regardless of the sensor. On the 35mm, I use only 16mm --- a wider view seems senseless. On the APC, however, the 8mm wide angle view is sensational, comparable to about 12mm with the larger sensor, good for both landscapes when you want lots of sky, and surprisingly for closeup shots when there is little room. Surprisingly the closeups show little apparent distortion. Overall the lens is a delight, but bulky and heavy.
EVAN D.
2016-06-23T12:20:01
Bought this lens for interior real estate photography mounted on my Canon 60D. I already have the Canon 10-20mm lens which is plenty wide enough most of the time but I occasionally need something a little wider, thus I bought the Sigma 8-16. Pros: 1. Relatively little barrel distortion for such a wide angle. 2. Images are sharp, clear, colors accurate. Image quality seems to be every bit as good as the Canon 10-20. Cons: Interior photos tend to be underexposed compared to the Canon 10-20, even at the same focal length and same external flash. With the Sigma I have to turn up flash exposure compensation and/or camera exposure compensation to +1 3/4 or even +2 or +3 to get proper exposure.
ALLAN P.
2016-03-25T09:23:45
Loving it...excellent for landscaping photography and group picture...I used it on our trip to Red Rock Canyon, NV.
JORGE B.
2014-08-14T21:00:00
A question was sent to me about using this lens on a Nikon D-90...I have a Nikon D-80 & 7000, and love this lens for both. I've used it on landscapes & cathedrals and while the edges are curved, simply crop that part out. I do not find it has a fisheye effect. I have only used it outside in sunshine & cloudy skies so I can't review it for indoors. I would recommend it if you are looking for an ultra-wide lens for your bag.
Barbara
2014-02-12T19:00:00
Very nice lens. Focus ring is a bit tight but will hopefully loosen up.
NATHAN R.
2013-11-08T19:00:00
Very sharp to the edges, even wide open. Replaced a Tokina 11-16 that need to be stopped down to f/5.6, so no lens speed lost. On the downside, it can't focus infrared, which was important to me. Still a keeper though.
WAYNE A.
2013-10-26T21:00:00
I was a little nervous buying this. I do photography strictly for fun. I am not a pro. I wanted a lens with more of a wide angle than my 28mm. I took this to Cape Cod shortly after I received it and got some great shots of the ocean.
ShineRM
2013-05-27T21:00:00
If you're in the market for a very wide angle zoom, this one is certainly worth considering. While there is distortion, that's to be expected with this type lens. The images it produces are, in a word, sharp. Its maximum f-stop tends to make shooting dim interiors difficult without a support
CHARLES B.
2012-12-12T19:00:00
I studied the rave reviews and looked at plenty of examples on-line, so I was disappointed when my lens showed extreme curvature of field at the widest setting. In other words, I could have sharp focus in the center or at the edges but not over the entire image. This problem was actually more pronounced on the the right side than the left. None of the reviewers mentioned this issue, so I returned it. I am still convinced that this is a potentially great lens. if you are looking for the widest possible view for an APS chip camera, there is not other choice. The lens also has a nice finish and a good solid feel.
S A.
2012-08-26T21:00:00
I use it for almost everything. I love the depth of field. so far nothing I don't like about this lens
Fredski
2012-07-29T21:00:00
I tried the tokina 11-16mm and the focus was soft on that copy so I returned to adorama. When I thought about it, the sweet spot on a lens forces you to stop down anyway so I decided to try the sigma 8-16mm. Very good lens and a better fit for what I am going to use it for mostly which is landscape/vacation photo's and when I need low light permormance indoor's I will just use a tripod.
PATRICK T.
2012-06-24T21:00:00
Just received this lens a few weeks ago. Used it at an outdoor wedding in upstate New York. Photos turned out great. Looking forward to taking this lens on an upcoming trip to San Francisco and Yosemite NP. Lens works well on my Canon 7D.
Scott S.
2012-06-03T21:00:00
with 8mm wide you can take pictures in a wide variety ways and it will give a new dimension to your photography.
Sunil
2012-04-15T21:00:00
The Sigma 8-16 is an astonishing lens for landscapes. I find that familiar subjects (such as Bandon Beach in Oregon) look quite new through the viewfinder with this lens, creating possibilities for some exciting photography that otherwise, with a longer focal length, would not be possible. I am also impressed by the build quality of this, my first Sigma lens.
Ed
2012-01-03T19:00:00
I swap this lens between primary / secondary walkaround. I had viewed multiple pictures from it online and was impressed, but when I actually used it the absence of CA and very good (for an 8mm) sharpness of the edges, even wide open, impressed me. This lens is fantastic to use. I feel bad for the other guy who seems to have got a bad copy (although from the 300 page long rambling nonsense-filled review with no line breaks, I think he had a bad copy of his brain as well). I love this lens, and I completely hate Sigma as a company after being taken for $1600 on one of their shoddy cameras, so that's saying quite a bit.
Rip T.
2011-12-12T19:00:00
Haven't used it much so far, but is great indoors with flask, and outdoors for fall colors.
David A.
2011-12-06T19:00:00
same PQ as my nikon's lens but much wider!
Tom R.
2011-11-27T19:00:00
really wiiiiide. Fun lens. May obsolete my 11x16.
oldtimingman
2011-09-26T21:00:00
The Sigma 8 - 16mm is a great lens, covering the widest field of view I could find at the time, w/o being in the zone of the fish-eye reagions. The lens is built weel, and operated without flaw, the only draw back is because its so wide, there is no filter attachemnt rings, so if you like or need to filter your photos, this might not be the lens for you. Depth of field was great, and edge to edge sharpness is very good, falling off only at the widest openings.
CHARLES G.
2011-09-12T21:00:00
I use this lens for landscape and wildlife. I have also used it for nighttime lightening shots with great results. Optics are top quality. Have not found anything to dislike about this lens.
WILLIAM P.
2011-09-05T21:00:00
I have the Samyang 8mm semi-fisheye and fell in love with this inexpensive but very effective lens. It is 180 degrees wide and preserves relative proportions on the perimeter. Great lens for putting people in a wide view of a scene and for a "wild" look. I have found a lot of uses for it. But it does curve straight lines and this is not appropriate for some landscapes and architectural work. I purchased the Sigma 8-16 and have been very pleased with the results. It is rectilinear lens and preserves straight lines, even at the perimeter of the scene. It is excellent for architectural work and more formal landscapes (see pool photo below). I now like to use both the Samyang 8mm and the Sigma 8-16. They compliment each other and I will keep both. 8mm is very wide! When I use my Tokina 12-24mm, it almost feels like it is a slightly telephoto lens. It is amazing how much can be included in a scene. And, it is really necessary to compose photos in a totally different manner at 8mm. The Sigma 8-16 is teaching me to appreciate really-wide photography. You must, however, be aware of the extreme effect on perspective and how the view (particularly at 8mm) does not correspond to what the human eye sees. Objects in the foreground look huge when compared to distant objects. Distant objects almost disappear to become very tiny parts of the photo (see photo of shore below). Technically, the lens is great. It has very low distortion (haven't even noticed it in actual use). Colors are vibrant and contrast is excellent. Feels very sturdy and I don't worry about leaving it on the camera while manuvering. Auto focus is very fast. Zoom range is very useful, especially with architectural work where is not always possible to physically back up any more. Also, works well for HDR architectural shots. I like the lens and find myself including it in my bag most of the time.
John H.
2011-09-04T21:00:00
Sigma continues to break new ground in digital ultrawides, and this lens is no exception. Incredibly low distortion for this type of lens.
Chuck S.