Sigma 8-16 F4.5-5.6 DC HSM on Pentax K5

[Big Red]

A while back some scum pinched my old manual Sigma 8mm fisheye snd i missed the fun aspect of it so thought i'd try the new Sigma rectilinear zoom out.
tried it out on a range of subject and conditions at 8mm
Its image quality is sooooo far ahead of the old thing that they ar just not comparable.
the old one had a wider angle of view but nearly half the image was vignetted and the bit that wasn't was pretty fuzzy.
it was a fun lens ... but that was about it.
The new one is as sharp as the Pentax 12-24 but not that much wider view as i thought i would get ... any way, some images of its first outing:

1st...


distortion is pretty damn good...


and its wiiiide ...


good for interiors even if its only an F4 lens .. handheld ...


into the sun...


dark staircase and bright window...


all the pics have a bit of shadows/highlights and a light sharpen

did some landscape shots ...




a vertical shot 1 metre away from the girder with cars going over the storey bridge ...


some night shots resting on a rail ...




MY CONCLUSION: 8)

[I @ M]

Thanks for that Shane, I don't need to read any reviews of that lens now --- a picture is worth a thousand words.

Very impressive distortion characteristics along the roof line in #2 and software would kill that PDQ with very minimal pixels lost.
Colours seem typical Sigma wide angle rich in the blues and that isn't a bad thing at all.
Looks like they have made another winner.

[campdog]

Thanks for that Shane, I don't need to read any reviews of that lens now --- a picture is worth a thousand words.

Very impressive distortion characteristics along the roof line in #2 and software would kill that PDQ with very minimal pixels lost.
Colours seem typical Sigma wide angle rich in the blues and that isn't a bad thing at all.
Looks like they have made another winner.

I think I might trade my 10-20mm in. A bit wider for panos as well.

John

[xjjohnno]

That lens certainly does a lovely job, thanks for the samples.

[K10D]

An impressive set of images showing what can be achieved. I have seen other images from the lens, that do not do it justice. That said, I put those down to operator error.

Thanks for sharing.

Best regards

[kyteflyer]

Really nice set. Thanks for showing. I've been considering a super-wide, maybe the Sigma is the go.

[RobertAcres]

Very useful post.
I've been thinking about getting this lens for a little while and this really helped me!

[rolls]

I have a DA 14mm and a DA 10-17mm fisheye. I have been thinking of selling the fisheye and getting an ultra wide rectilinear. 180 degrees on the diagonal for the fisheye creates some startling and fun images, but bad luck if you don't like distortion.

Thanks for the review. I'll be taking a closer look at that lens.

[ameerat42]

Well, since this thread has been recently resurrected, I'll admit that I have this lens in a Σ mount.

Though it is "rectilinear", there is a bit of barrel distortion at wide settings. Another two VERY TRICKY things to note are:

1. It has noticeable "linear distortion", where the image stretches more as you get near the edges. (Think of the expansion of the universe!)
It is PARTICULARLY embarrassing for people who loiter there. But note: this is the price of it being highly corrected for linear projection.
You hardly notice this in landscapes. It takes some mucking around, but you can fix this in Photoshop.

2. If you are a perspective conservative, make sure you hold the lens || to prominent lines.

Otherwise, it's tops.
Am(happy with it, anyway.)

[RobertAcres]

I have one arriving for me next week so I'll be sure to report my impressions once I've had a go with it!