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An excellent wide angle lens, not to be confused with the earlier model without the distance window. great for full frame cameras at an affordable price.
Verified purchase: No
After deciding to upgrade to a full framed body (5D Mk II), I realised that I had to depart with my well loved ultra wide Sigma 10-20mm, which gave roughly 15-30mm on my cropped sensor 40D body. I had used this extensively in my landscape photography and it has never let me down. Searching for a replacement was tough, with most full frame ultra wides going for crazy amounts of money, until a random google result put me on the trail of this discontinued Sigma wide. I can see why Sigma decided to discontinue this lens. It was an odd zoom range- 17-35mm, and the kind of people who would usually buy Sigmas (amateur photogs on a budget) would probably end up using it on cropped sensor bodies. While pros who can afford full frames probably had the funds for a L lens like the Canon 17-40mm. However, for me this was a godsend. An ultra wide that was fast at the wide end and giving a crazy 17mm angle of view on my 5D simply couldn't be passed up. What's more, due to the niche area covered by this lens, it can be picked up for relatively little money. I managed to bag my one for a little over £150. The lens is almost identical in size to my old 10-20mm, solidly built, and very good to manual focus thanks to Sigma's way superior dampening technology in the focus ring. Canon can learn a thing or two from Sigma here... Now the bad part. It vignettes, a lot. But if you don't mind that sort of thing (like me) then it's a small price to pay for such a wide angle. Also, any RAW software can easily remove the vignetting in post processing so it really isn't a big deal. The one thing that my lens fell down on was due to the infamous Sigma quality control problem. My one front focuses, a lot. Normally I wouldn't have noticed as the result simply looks like the kind of soft pictures one would expect from such a wide lens at full aperture. However, thanks to the 5D's in camera focus adjustment, I was able to fial in +20 correction and BANG, all the images were *razor* sharp, even wide open! I wonder if this was responsible for so many user reports of it being 'soft wide open'... If I had paid full price for it I would have sent it back and replace it with one that actually focuses on target. But for the low price, and the 5D focus adjustment, it really isn't a problem. The focus is fast and silent, and does not hunt in low light. The bokeh while wide open was also surprisingly smooth. I would def recommend this lens for any landscape photogs on a budget, but if you want a wide lens for your cropped body, please go get a better option, such as the excellent Sigma 17-70/2.8-4 or the 18-50/2.8. If you want a good all round wide lens for your full frame 5D or D700, then this is the lens for you, well... until you can afford a L one anyway ;)Read full review
If you are making the switch to full frame you'll soon find out that ultra lenses don't come cheap. Especially those from Canon and Nikon. I picked up my D600 for a very good price but it ate all my funds as i was only supposed to be buy a D5300.. I had nearly given up on an ultra wide zoom, the closest i could find for a reasonable sum (but still too much) was a Sigma 12-24 for £250. Then by chance spotted the Sigma 17-35. Quick research on Google revealed it wasn't that well loved and possibly forgotten for good reason. But at £99 i decided to take a chance. So glad i did, so glad i ignored those user reviews. Much like the older Sigma 24-70 2.8, it's an absolute god send if you are struggling to fund your full frame setup. Is it going to match the Nikon 18-35....no. But it does cost 4x less. Is it perfectly usable....yes. Will it take good landscape images....hell yes. Does it accept filters....yes. Does it vignette with the 100mm filters....no. Is the AF fast....no. But it gets there and nails it when it does. Is it soft wide open...yes. But what do you expect. If you have picked up a cheap full frame body but still blown most of your budget, don't worry. This lens should cost peanuts and give you a good ultra wide landscape lens.Read full review
Verified purchase: No