Reviewed by Ben Lee, http://dslrlensesonline.com editor.
Sigma 8-16mm
Buy the Sigma 8-16mm
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Image quality – Rating: 
Build quality – Rating:
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The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM FLD AF Ultra Wide Zoom Lens is the latest offering in the ultra-wide lens segment – so wide in fact that it provides APS-C format cameras with a field of view of up to 114.5 degrees.
The 8-16mm is of a compact design and is compatible with all of the major mounts like Canon, Nikon, Sony, Pentax and Sigma.
I should point out before I get started that this lens is specifically designed with APS-C sensors in mind. By all means use it on a full frame body if you enjoy the “telescope” effect. 
(severe vignetting)
The widest zoom on the market, but can it deliver?
It is a well known fact that certain wide angle lenses can suffer from chromatic aberration and sharpness fall off at certain apertures.
Sigma claim to have addressed the chromatic aberration issue at least with special FLD glass – the good news is that their claim appears to hold true.
As for sharpness, that is pretty well spot on also.
The lens performs at its best at around f/8 where you will get high quality images combined with minimal flare or ghosting (even in situations where the lens is highly susceptible to flaring or ghosting).
The Sigma 8-16mm fun factor..
This lens also provides you, the photographer, with something that you won’t necessarily get with most other lenses – fun. While the Canon 300mm f2.8 is optically perfect and precise, in my mind it still does not have the fun factor that the distortion and perspective from an 8mm lens can give you.
Once you look through the viewfinder you will exposed to a whole new world of perspective and who knows, your photography may improve noticeably as a result. If not, then your passion certainly will.
Importantly, the Sigma 8-16mm strikes that balance of novelty and quality – because there is really no point getting excited about an 114 degrees of view if you aren’t going to get good results from it.
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What others are saying about the 8-16mm..
E. J. Tastad gave an honest and frank review of the Sigma lens:
It is definitely a good wide angle lens, offering and extremely wide field of view. Nearly every shot I took in my walk was at 8mm…
… CA is well controlled at all focal lengths and apertures, but is sometimes visible at extreme corners and at certain apertures (worst is about 1.5 pixels on my 14.6 MP camera) The Sigma 10-20mm f/4-5.6 remains an affordable alternative, and can still use filters.
Should you buy it?
That depends of course. If you want to own the widest lens available, then yes, it probably is worth it because the image quality would justify the purchase.
Inevitably though, you have to be willing to put up with the fact that the 8-16mm has no capacity whatsoever to attach filters. You are also going to have to manually correct barrel distortion in Photoshop if you buy this lens which can be an issue for some whereas for others who leave distorted images untouched it won’t be a problem.
Overall Rating:
At the end of the day, the Sigma 8-16mm is for photographers whose want an extreme field of view but high image quality to match. You could argue that even though the image quality is excellent, the ultra-wide still suffers from slow and clunky auto focus and perhaps slapdash ergonomics.
However I’m willing to bet that most will view it a small price to pay for the fabulous new world that awaits them.
Related posts:
- Canon 100mm Macro f/2.8 USM – Making High Quality Macro Photography Fun
- Canon EF-S 55-250mm IS Lens – Is It Right For You Or Worth The Money?
- Canon 24-105mm Review – Why Does Everyone Loves This L Series Lens?
- Canon 300mm 2.8 – King Of The Canon Telephoto Lens Range
- Canon 50mm 1.8 II Lens Review – A Must Own Canon Prime Lens
Filed under: Canon DSLR Lenses
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