Sigma’s 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN is a lightweight wide-angle lens with a 15-27mm equivalent focal length. It fills in the ultra-wide niche for L-mount APS-C and gives APS-C users of Sony’s E-mount and Fujifilm X-mount systems another wide zoom option.
At first glance, it’s a very compact tiny lens that comfortably sits in the palm of your hand with room to spare. Besides the zoom and focus ring, the lens design is simple, with no focus selector switch or other buttons. Sigma says the lens is the smallest, lightest F2.8 zoom for APS-C cameras on the market, and I’d have to agree.
Tooling around town, I found the lens less sharp than I’d liked. At F2.8, I got the impression it wasn’t as sharp as at F3.5, with the edges appearing softer than the center. I can’t say anything definitive without additional testing, but once our studio is fully set up again, I’m curious to give it a closer look.
Pre-order the Sigma 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN:
The lens also feels especially suited to video users. For selfie shooters, the 10mm (15mm equiv) focal length should be a friendly option. With a short externally extending zoom (the lens extrudes exactly 1cm at 10mm and is flush at 18mm), the fulcrum doesn’t shift much when extended, making it especially suitable for gimbals. I found little to no need to make adjustments, perhaps due to its lightweight at 260g, so there isn’t much weight being shifted about when adjusting zoom or focus.
“At first glance, it’s a very compact tiny lens and comfortably sits in the palm of your hand with room to spare”
The lens uses a stepper motor to drive internal focus, and autofocus is fast. I was pleased to find focus breathing minimal when moving from near focus to infinity. For those who prefer manual focus (such as myself when I shoot video), the focus ring on Sigma’s 10-18mm F2.8 DC DN is smooth, quiet and firm enough to hit focus.
We took the lens out to capture some sample images around town. An ultrawide presents two very obvious and cliched options – but rain kept skateboarders away from the skatepark, and the Beastie Boys weren’t available – so instead, we hit the streets (and the mushroom kingdom) for candid moments, landscapes and a few late nights for good measure.
View our Sigma 10-18 F2.8 DC DN sample gallery
Note: Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.
Author:
Shaminder Dulai
Source: Dpreview
