Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 ex hsm review

Today I managed to test out my Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 ex hsm. I'm loving it so far!

Here are a couple of points that I can say about it:

Build quality is pretty good. It's the usual Sigma EX build with the matted finish.
The focus ring and the zoom ring are not bad either, it feels tight and it won't change positions accidentally.
It includes the hood and a bag.
Features an HSM motor for quick focusing...full time manual override also supported.
Image quality is pretty decent. Corners are a bit soft...UWA lenses are notorious for that anyway.
Basically, you need to post process every shot to eliminate dark corners. Lightroom can do that automatically.
Center is pretty sharp, even wide open.
Chromatic aberrations are pretty minimal. The amount is negligible.
Even using an ordinary uv filter (the thick ones) won't cause vignetting.

All in all a pretty solid performer here!

In a couple of months I'll post more sample shots here.

The sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 ex hsm

Today I got a very special gift...it's a Sigma 10-20mm f4-5.6 ex hsm!

I have been longing for an ultra wide angle for a long time now. And now I got one.
I'll review it in the next post.

Our gingerbread house

So my girlfriend created this awesome gingerbread house...and of course I had to take shots of it.

I set it up on a pink background and took shots. I was using my 70mm macro at f14 with a 200/sec shutter speed at ISO 100.

After I took the shot I post processed it and applied a dreamy effect on it. Worked fine!

The white background

Ever wonder how they do a really washed out background? Like those shots you see in magazines and product shots?

The secret to that is using a white seamless background...and lights!

Usually, photographers point a light into the white background to overexpose it. If you want a more even light on the sides, you can use one light per side. Point them at a 45 degree angle into the background. Be careful though because you don't want to use a lot more light than you need to, if you do, light will bounce off the background and into your lens, which will result in washed out colors. Also pull your subject away from the background as far as you can to avoid the background light from bouncing to your subject.