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The Sigma 10mm Fisheye Lens: Awesome Quality At A Reasonable Price
The Sigma 10mm fisheye is just one of 4 fisheye lenses that Sigma makes available for Nikon, Canon, Sony, and Pentax. Considering it was engineered for DSLR’s with the “C” sized image sensors it isn’t too surprising that the Sigma 10mm fisheye is Sigma’s most in-demand fisheye lens since most digital SLR owners shoot with these types of cameras.
The Sigma 10mm fisheye is a diagonal fisheye lens – signifying that a 180 degree image is mapped on the cameras sensor corner to corner as opposed to the more distinct “circular” look where the image is surrounded by dark space around the edges and corners.
Sigma has come through for a large number of Nikon and Canon owners year after year. Canon has never – until fairly recently – produced a fisheye lens meant for it’s APS-C DSLR’s. Not surprisingly a large number of Canon owners have gone with the Sigma 10mm fisheye lens.
Nikon photographers have always had the Nikkor 10.5mm fisheye lens at their disposal, but as the Nikkor 10.5mm doesn’t have a self contained AF motor and quite a few of Nikon’s digital cameras like the D40/x, D60, D5000 and D3000 don’t contain built-in AF motors eitherl, many have ended up buying the Sigma 10mm fisheye because of its fast HSM AF.
The Sigma 10mm fisheye is a pro class lens at a very affordable price. Photographs are crisp and sharp – though a bit soft around the corners when wide open. Contrast and color reproduction are top notch. To sum up, the Sigma 10mm fisheye lens takes awesome shots, just as you would expect with a prime lens of this caliber and quality.
Sigma employs its Super Multi-Layer lens coating to diminish ghosting and flaring and even if your aiming right at the sun neither of these two effects are very prominent. The same goes for color fringing (chromatic aberration) and only becomes a minor issue in high contrast shots.
Weighing in at almost 17 ounces the Sigma 10mm fisheye is a touch bulkier than a lot of fisheyes in this range, and that’s simply because it has a cutting-edge Auto Focus system. The Sigma 10mm is 3″ in diameter and 3.3 inches in length.
For shooters who want to move in close to their subject the Sigma 10mm fisheye has a close focus range of 5.3″ from the back of the lens. In realistic terms this means that your only 3/4 of inch from the front lens element. Due care and consideration is called for as fisheye lenses never have screw type threads on the front of the lens so using a protective filter is not even an option. Like most pro level fisheye’s, sigma has a maxi dresses holder for gelatin filters in the rear for those who like to use them.
The Sigma 10mm fisheye is a fast lens with a maximum aperture of f/2.8. Equally fast – and almost noiseless is the Sigma’s Auto Focus, which reacts quite well in low light conditions without too much “seeking”. When AF fails because of poor light you can very easily switch over to manual focus by pushing the AF/M button on the top left side of the lens.
It’s Sigma’s fast and silent AF that has won over many Nikon photographers, and if your a Nikon owner who just has to have AF then the Sigma 10mm fisheye is your best choice. Canon recently came out with its own fisheye zoom that’s going to be compatible with all of its SLR’s. Since it’s going to be an “L” series lens, it will probably be on the pricey side and I expect the Sigma 10mm will continue to provide canon owners with an affordable alternative in the future.
Sigma produces mounts for Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and the Olympus Evolt.
Whether your a serious hobbyist or a pro the Sigma 10mm Fisheye Lens will deliver the shots that turn heads.
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