Sigma Imaging (UK) Ltd

	What Digital Camera ‘The ultra-wide zoom has very good handling characteristics thanks to a lovely balance and fully internal focusing that leaves the focusing ring undisturbed in AF. Provided that the lens is appropriately levelled, its ultra-wide angle of view can be taken for granted thanks to very good control of geometric distortions. Sharpness at the 8mm setting is excellent right across the aperture range.’

	Digital Photo ‘The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM is a solid performer and offers a unique – and very wide – focal length range for those shooting with an APS-C DSLR. If you want an ultra-wide optic and feel restricted by the current crop of wide-angle lenses on offer, then the 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM from Sigma definitely warrants further investigation.’

	Practical Photography ‘One of the great things about this lens is that despite being so wide, distortion is minimal. This lens is really about fun and taking advantage of the 24cm minimum focusing distance to get in close to subjects for extreme effects. Image quality is very good and the lens is available in most of the main mounts and the price is a reasonable £610. Thanks to its compact size and reasonable price this remains an attractive and fun option for APS-C DSLR owners.’

	Master Photo Digital ‘The distortion is so slight it beats many midrange or lesser wide-angle zooms, and compares well to fixed focal length wide angles. If you were ever happy with a Hasselblad 40mm Distagon, you should be delighted with the Sigma 12-24mm or 8-16mm. Not only do the lenses cover a much wider angle, they render straight lines perfectly. For room interiors, you simply can not include all four walls unless your lens covers more than 90 degree gorizontally. This Sigma covers slightly over 100 degrees which makes it one of the best working tools for interior and architectural photography.’

	British Journal of Photography ‘Sigma once again creates a design that exceeds all the ambitions of every camera maker. Not only is there no other 8-16mm, there is no other 8mm or 9mm lens of any kind. The 12-24mm has had a long career, revitalised by the arrival of full-frame digital. It looks set to run for many years to come, and in the annals of optical design, it ranks alongside Thomas Sutton’s 220 degree wide angle lens of 18-59, or the Zeiss Hologon 15mm f/8 for Leica, of 1972. Now the DX-format, two thirds scaled down to 8-16mm, joins it.’

	Photoworld ‘I expected to get usefully wider views than my 10-20mm, a quantitative improvement. I’m surprised by how much difference those 2mm less in focal length make, and impressed by how much easier this – and the easier manual focus – make it to use. Altogether for me it’s an unexpectedly qualitative jump past the 10-20mm.’

	Photoworld ‘Sigma’s newest offering in the APS-C category really does put the ‘ultra’ into ultra-wide, offering a similar effective zoom range as its more established 12-24mm lens for the full frame market. HSM autofocus is on a par with Canon’s USM for speed and quietness, and comes with full-time manual override. The main selling point is that this Sigma enables you to go considerably wider than with any other non-fisheye lens on small sensor cameras.’