Hi I'm Gordon from camera labs and this Is my review of the sigma 10 to 18 mil F 2.8 dcdn an ultra wide angle Zoom Designed for aps-c mirrorless cameras Announced in October 2023 and costing Around 600 or pounds it's available in Fujifilm X Sony E and Leica L mounts and While it is designed for aps-c sensors It will also work on full frame Sony and Leica L Mount bodies in a cropped mode Albeit with your body operating at a Reduced resolution for photos now There's plenty of wide Zooms for the X And e-mounts but arguably the closest Rival for the new Sigma is tamron's 11 To 20 mil F 2.8 launched about six Months earlier and also available in Fujifilm and Sony mounts for around Seven to eight hundred dollars or pounds So already the sigma is a little bit More affordable for this review I tested A pre-production sigma 10 to 18 mil on My Sony a6400 the 1.5 times feel Reduction of most aps-c sensors means The coverage is going to be equivalent To 15 to 27 mil in full-frame terms and You're seeing that in practice here Delivering a classic ultra wide to Standard wide range meanwhile the bright F 2.8 aperture allows you to keep Sensitivities nice and low and Achieve Mild background blur if you can get Close enough to your subject the 10 to 18 is a member of sigma's more
Affordable contemporary series it Measures 72 by 64 mil and weighs 255 Grams this makes it roughly the same Diameter as tamron's 11 to 22.8 but 22 Millimeters shorter and around Two-thirds the weight now the Tamron Isn't exactly large or heavy but the Sigma is noticeably more compact the Design and controls are very simple with Just two rings and no switches closest To the lens mount is a smooth and free Spinning manual focusing ring although With The Ridges flushed to the barrel on Either side I didn't personally find it The most comfortable to use towards the End of the barrel is the Zoom ring with The lens physically at its shortest when Set to the 18 millimeter focal length as You adjust the zoom wider towards the 10 Millimeter focal length the whole end of The barrel extends by about a centimeter It's a smooth mechanism with quite a Short throw which also doesn't rotate The 67 mil filter thread Sigma supplies A petal hood that pushes onto the end of The barrel it stays in place securely Without the usual bayonet twist and lock But I'm not sure it's that much of a Time Saver in terms of dust and moisture Resistance there is a rubber grommet at The mountain but I believe that's where The ceiling ends so be warned under wet Conditions to measure the image quality At a typical landscape distance I
Photograph bright and Pier with the Sigma 10 to 18 starting here at 10 mil For an ultra wide 15mm equivalent field Of view and with the aperture wide open To 2.8 again I use my Sony a6400 for the Tests in this review with Distortion Compensation set to Auto as this is how The lens is designed to be used and as Always I've angled The View here so that Details run into the corners taking a Closer look at the Middle with the Aperture wide open at F 2.8 the Sigma Lens is looking pretty good although if You can close it down by a stop or two You'll gain a little extra crispness Returning to F 2.8 before then heading Out into the corners and you'll see the Details becoming softer in the extremes But it's not too bad unless you really Pixel peeping as you close down the Aperture the details become better Defined and for the best performance Across the frame I'd try to use around Their 5.6 to f8 next for the lens Midway Through its focal range at 14 mil again Wide open at F 2.8 taking a closer look In the center of the frame tells pretty Much the same story is at 10 mil there's Plenty of detail but you can enjoy a Slight boost in crispness if you can Close the aperture down by a stop or two Now let's open the aperture again to F 2.8 before moving into the corners where You'll again see softness in the
Extremes as before this improves as you Close down the aperture and again by f8 It's looking pretty good from corner to Corner and finally me for this distant Quality test the lens set to its longest Focal length of 18 mil and again with The aperture wide open at F 2.8 taking a Closer look in the middle shows the lens Performing well right out of the gate With crisp details and little benefit to Closing it down with the aperture open To F 2.8 again and heading into the Corners there's some softening but less Than before and only in the very Extremes close the aperture even just One stop to F4 and the corners at 18 mil Become much improved although again at F 5.6 to 8 they can become even crisper so For this particular sample the Sigma Lens perform better at its long end Moving on to people Ultra wide zooms may Not be your first choice for portraits But they can be useful for environmental Compositions where you see more of the Surroundings or of course group shots Especially when you can't step back any Further they're also ideal for vlogging Or presenting pieces to camera at close Range especially if you can keep your Face towards the middle of the frame to Minimize Distortion this can work Particularly well for product Presentation Style videos the close Focusing distance allowing you to fill
The frame with many subjects even with The lens fully zoomed out to 10 Millimeter sadly light the Tamron 11 to 20 the sigma 10 to 18 doesn't have any Optical stabilization of its own so for Handheld filming you'll be relying on Ibis or digital compensation built into Your camera or of course using something Like a gimbal my own Sony a6400 has no Built-in stabilization nor support for Post-processing and catalyst so you're Looking at a totally unstabilized clip Here sorry for the wobbles and finally To see the potential for poker blobs I Photographed this ornament with the lens Zoomed to 18 mil and positioned close to The minimum focusing distance of 19 Centimeters I'll now go through the Aperture range starting at F 2.8 note if You set the lens to the wide end of 10 Millimeters you can focus even closer to About 11 and a half centimeters away These respective distances and the Resulting reproduction is roughly Similar to the Tamron I've got some more Examples at the closest distances is in Just a moment so now it's time for my Final verdict with the selection of Sample images for you the sigma 10 to 18 Mil F 2.8 dcdn is another very welcome Lens for aps-c systems and I'm delighted That in sigma's world that now means not Just Sony and Leica L Mount but also Fujifilm x-mount versions from day one
It's compact light and affordable and Capable of dramatic results with Ultrawide coverage and a bright aperture That'll keep sensitivities nice and low While also allowing for some background Blur at least with fairly close subjects This makes it ideal not just for Expansive Landscapes and Interiors but Also for presenting pieces to camera on The downside don't expect miracles with The aperture wide open the image is Sharp in the middle at F 2.8 and across The focal range but inevitably there's Some softening as you approach the Far Corners especially at The Wider end of The range sharpness in the corners Certainly improves as you close down the Aperture but if you want pinch up Corners at F 2.8 you're going to need to Spend more on a Model that's also likely To be heavier of course if your subject Is towards the middle of the frame then You're unlikely to notice and this makes It especially suitable for vloggers Although the absence of optical Stabilization means that you're going to Need a body with Ibis or digital Compensation or simply mount it on a Tripod or a gimbal Fujifilm owners Should compare it against the XF 10 to 24 F4 which is a stop slower larger and More expensive too but zooms a little Further and includes Optical Stabilization meanwhile Sony owners
Should weigh up the 10 to 20 F4 pz again A stop slower and still lacking Optical Stabilization but a little smaller Lighter and featuring a powered zoom and If you're solely or mostly intending to Vlog I'd also consider Sony's 11 Millimeter F 1.8 at a similar price to The Sigma lens this is a fixed model Trades the zoom for a brighter aperture And potentially better compatibility With the alpha steady shot modes as I Mentioned at the start the closest rival Remains tamron's 11 to 20 sharing a Similar the focal range the same F 2.8 Aperture and availability for both Sony And Fujifilm mounts the Sigma lens Slightly undercuts the Tamron on cost Not to mention length and weight but in Early test doesn't quite match its Sharpness I'd like to make a more formal Comparison but it's great to have so Many decent options to choose from and That's it for this review let me know What you think in the comments check out My review page at cameralabs.com if you Want to access my sample images and Thank you very much for watching I'll See you next time bye bye
