Sigma 8-16mm lens
The new Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 lens ($699 in the US) is the widest available lens for cropped sensor dSLRs. I'm a big fan of ultra-wide lenses and love putting my Sigma 10-20mm lens on my camera. Let's see how I liked the Sigma 8-16mm on my Nikon D300, and look at some real-world photographs.
This photo makes the Sigma 8-16mm lens look larger than actually is!
Specs, Design, Focus and Operation
Find out how the lens is constructed, how the auto-focus works, what kind of build quality it was, and how the close-focus performance is
Comparison with other wide-angle lenses & fisheye lens
See what other wide-angle lenses compare with the Sigma 8-16mm. See test photos taken of the same subject with the Nikon 10.5 fisheye lens and Sigma 10-20mm lens.
Chromatic aberration, vignetting, barrel distortion, flare
Sharpness tests
Find out which apertures give the best results, and what strange exposure problem I encountered
See how the lens actually performs out in nature
Sigma 8-16mm underwater photos
Underwater photos taken with the sigma 8-16mm lens
Conclusions for topside photography
Conclusions for underwater photography
Find out if this lens is a good choice for underwater photography. Also includes comparisons with the Tokina 10-17mm fisheye
Discuss this review in our forums
Further Reading
Best underwater lenses for underwater photography
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Scott Gietler is the owner of Bluewater Photo, Bluewater Travel, and the Underwater Photography Guide. Bluewater Photo, based in Culver City, CA is one of the world’s largest and most prestigious underwater camera stores, serving many thousands of customers each year, where nothing is more important than customer service. The Underwater Photography Guide is the world’s first website to feature free tutorials on underwater photography, and has become the most trafficked resource on underwater photography worldwide. Bluewater Travel is a full-service dive travel wholesaler sending groups and individuals on the world’s best dive vacations.
Scott is also an avid diver, underwater photographer, and budding marine biologist, having created the online guide to the underwater flora and fauna of Southern California. He is the past vice-president of the Los Angeles Underwater Photographic Society, has volunteered extensively at the Santa Monica aquarium, and is the creator of the Ocean Art underwater photo competition, one of the largest underwater international photo competitions ever held in terms of value of prizes. He lives in California with his wife, newborn girl and scuba-diving, photo taking 4 year old son.
ALSO BY SCOTT GIETLER
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