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.

Fall is here

Today we went to the botanic gardens. Fall is here and you can feel it in the cold air.

They had a model train show which was awesome to take pictures at. I had my 70-200 IS and my 18-50 lenses. They also had a gingerbread house gallery filled with gingerbread houses that all look different.

Models are always fun to photograph. Just make sure you are far enough from them when you're using flash to avoid overexposure.

Colored backgrounds

Another way of giving variety to your shots is by using different colored backgrounds. I use it all the time and I love them.

For product shots or for something small, you can use pieces of colored paper that you can buy in craft stores, instead of buying those paper backgrounds that cost around 60 bucks a roll at camera shops. If you run out of room for the colored background in your shot, you can always clone that area using photoshop or a similar program.

One useful tip, use a spot light or a snoot to highlight parts of your background so it does not look flat. Also, with colored backgrounds, there is a big chance that your white balance will be thrown off. Make sure you use a grey card, or use your cameras manual white balance setting.

To crop or not to crop

The question has always been "to crop or not to crop".
It's pretty simple...crop as much as you want as long as it does not degrade your image.

If you have a camera that is packed with megapixels, cropping shouldn't be a big problem. That's the advantage of having a camera with a big megapixel count. You can crop more to show a particular area more, without much degradation. Although make sure that your main subject is in focus when you crop, or you'll just end up showing a subject that is out of focus more.