Sigma has announced the availability of the 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM lens, the widest angle zoom lens on the market today. The Sigma 8-16mm lens was first introduced at PMA 2010 in February. It is designed specifically for APS-C size image sensors and has an equivalent angle of view of a 12-24mm lens when used on digital cameras of that sensor size.
The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM lens is available in Canon mount for $1,100. It will be available in Sigma, Nikon, Sony and Pentax mounts in the coming weeks.
Read the Five New Sigma Lenses – PMA 2010 Video Article and the Sigma 2010 PMA Press Release.
Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM Lens Availability Press Release
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I am not convinced to take the risk in purchasing a Sigma. I always found their Lenses a tad too soft and hazy looking. i expect better quality than that. This Lens from what I have seen so far is not much different. I’d stick to my not quiet as wide lens Tokina 12 – 24mm for the sake of at least having beter quality.
You are correct that the earlier Sigma WA lenses (10-20 f4-5.6 and 10-20 f3.5) were a tad soft when shot wide open and didn’t quite have the punch of the Tokina, however the new 8-16 is as sharp or sharper than your Tokina 12-24 (see lenstip.com and photozone.de reviews). The Sigma has high CA & vignetting at only the shortest focal length (can be controlled by stopping down) as compared to the Tokina 12-24′s extremelly high CA at all focal lengths. Unfortunatley all lenses have their shortcomings and its up to individuals what they are willing to accept. But if you want to go super WIDE on an APSC sensor camera, the Sigma 8-16 is the only game in town. I find my Sigma 8-16 to be light years aahead in build quality, color saturation and image resolution compared to my earlier Sigma 10-20 f4-5.6 and Nikon 10-24. The only thing you’ll have to wait for is Lee Filters to develop a filter system for this bulbuous front element – simiilar to the Lee SW150 filter system developed for the Nikon 14-24 f2.8 lens.