sharp
good build(but of course sucky sigma paint and labelling)
pretty good control of flaring and ghosting

the build in hood needs some revision, its great and metal protection but how do you mount a filter in the front even with the adapter for the cap?

i saw this lens in a gray market store, its paint was peeling and it it's front element etched by water damage. i tested it then and still saw some sharpness but everything else was hazy. i traded my nikon 28-105mm f3.5-4.5 for it because it was not as sharp as it was before it was put back before cleaning.

i tried to clean and polish the front element to no avail and just sent the lens to sigma's local distributor in the philippines. another $100 and a 3month wait gave me my closest focusing, sharpest, widest(for dx) and most used lens to date.

the front element can be 1-2 inches away from your subject and its sharp even at f2.8(of course sharper at f4 and above), there's some flare when shooting against light(but it isnt as bad as my tokina 19-35mm f3.5-4.5). the distortion is clear along the edges so you have to watch it when you shoot people.

Customer Service

to change the front element cost about $100, it was ordered from japan, and i was lucky that sigma still had or manufactures them. it took about 3months to get the replacement element.

Similar Products Used:

nikon 14-24mm f2.8