Top positive review
5.0 out of 5 starsThe widest lens for non-pro SLR bodies, and fantastic quality
Reviewed in the United States on May 17, 2012
Note: I initially purchased this as an open-box Warehouse Deal, but it arrived broken. Amazon was great about accepting the return, and I reordered a new copy that has worked for 2 years with no flaws.
This is an exceptional lens. Not only in the sense that it creates a very high quality picture, but also that it is for specific types of photography. This lens is not for portraits, group shots, or where you're looking for an ultra-accurate representation of a space or scene. This lens, at 8mm, is so wide that anything outside the center will look stretched and spaced, as this is a rectilinear lens and is constructed to preserve straight lines (unlike a fisheye, which will curve objects outside the center).
If you shoot architecture, buildings, subjects that are more geometric in nature, landscapes, and so on, and you're looking for a unique lens that will give you a different perspective on your usual subjects, this is a stand-out lens. There's complex distortion at 8mm, and even at 16mm there's still complex distortion, so it's not perfect, but you'll be capturing so much of a scene that it's hard to notice the distortion.
It's not a fast lens, but thanks to the size, it grabs a lot of light and can be used wide open in most situations without suffering from a short DOF. In fact, I usually stop down to F8 or so simply to cut down the shutter speed, although in scenes where you're capturing a significant amount of foreground, you'll probably want to stop down a bit as well. The focus motor is a little loud, but fast, and since you're not shooting people/wildlife with this lens, it really doesn't matter. It's heavy, firmly constructed, and has the much-discussed "cap and sleeve" design to cover the lens.
I took this lens to the edge of the outback in Australia and hauled it through deserts, and in the US I've taken it up mountains, into forests, and around buildings, and it's handled a lot of different temperatures and humidities with no trouble. Due to the bulbous front element, it's important to be careful when setting your camera down or when you're in dusty areas, as a small bit of dirt on the lens will be magnified in a picture.
I love this lens, and the extra 2mm compared to the other 10mm lenses on the market make me happy that it performs as well as it does. If you're looking to go as wide as possible, this is the lens to get.
