Sigma 8mm-16mm for EF mount

Hi all:
Finally got my camera last week and one of the first things I really needed was a super wide angle lens. My 17-55mm is great, but as you know, that still only gives me a 40mm wide angle. My friend Rick Young suggested the Sigma 8-16mm and said he loves it. I just got that yesterday and it blows me away. I posted a YouTube of it from some footage shot in front of my house in Phoenix. This weekend I'll be shooting on a job and will have much better footage to show.

warmly,
eric

Thanks, I've been wondering about that lens. I'm happy to see that distortion in the corners are not as bad as I had thought, in fact, almost non existant. The BMCC EF, due to it's crop factor, really needs wide and fast glass.

Any distortion? I just can see really well in that quality you posted. why not 1080?

Any distortion? I just can see really well in that quality you posted. why not 1080?

I could definitely see distortion at 8mm. Look at the car's trunk at 0:17 vs 0:24. It's not extreme, but it's certainly there.

There is a certain amount of "Barrel Distortion" on any wide angle lens. It's just the nature of the beast. Light bends! Having said that, this is an incredible piece of glass and one of the best 8mm wide angle lenses I've ever used.

eric

I'm not sure what to buy now..

I was planning on a 11-16mm 2.8 Tokina.

But if I see this I love this.. Problem for me would be that I need it for Festivals. Festivals start at daytime. But later on will go on into the dark.. Yes there is lighting on the people. But than I would feel more secure with a 2.8 instead of a 4.5 5.6 lens..

It is not that fast is it? How much would the difference be ?? At daytime I guess none.. But in the dark would it matter a lot between 2.8 and 4.5?

Anyone who can shed a light on that matter?

Yes there is a big difference in performance. This is a guess, but probably 1-2 stops of light difference. Obviously faster would be better, but 2.8 is pretty good considering f/4 being the go to for most not-as-high-end zooms.

The thing that I love about this lens is how sharp it is at 8mm. You're right about light limitations. I haven't had an opportunity to really check it out under crazy lighting conditions, but that's going to change on Saturday where I'll be shooting is daylight and then inside "ballroom" conditions. I hate pushing the ISO past 400 unless I don't have a choice. I'll post some of the results after the shoot. I'm of course still using my Panasonic HVX's for the majority of the footage. I've been shooting way too long to use new toys for the primary camera.
warmly,
eric

PS. remember that this lens won't work for MFT mounts.

I have this lens. Shooting in broad daylight is tough because it doesnt take filters which means shooting above f/16.
The built in BMC focus peaking sometimes tells you that everything in focus, especially in the really high aperture range.
What is the ideal fstop for this kind of lens? Should i be surprised that it looks like crap above f/18.

See my thread on filtering your 8-16mm
viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6161&p=38406#p38406

Be careful shooting around F16. Although the diffraction will get rid of the aliasing, any reasonable spec of dust on the front of your lens will show up in your image.

77mm filters let you shoot at 9-9.5mm
82mm filters let you shoot at 8mm