Yourlensreview - Lens - Sigma 15 F/2.8 EX DG Diagonal Fisheye

- sharpness
- contrast
- price
- not that extreme on a crop-dslr

Sometimes I can't get the focus just right, and it'll turn to the maximum, and getting back in focus takes some time due to the slow AF motor, not a very big problem though.

Bought this lens after I got a little bored with my Canon 17-55 2.8IS for partyshots, I wanted something else.
Love this thing for oversights, but due to the minimal fisheye distortion on a crop, I find it even usable for portatis of a duo or trio.

A 180' angle of view full frame fisheye

Erm...none other than the old micro motor AF

This is a sweet little lens and I'll start by saying that I have only used this lens on a full frame Canon 5D.

This lens is in the Sigma EX range. That denotes Excellence, pro quality and a long warrenty period. I find the EX lenses a delight, I now own 4 of then and there are a very cost effective solution compared to OEM brands like Canon or Nikon. In fact some of the lenses that Sigma make are not made by any other manufacturer...but I'll leave that to you to figure out.

This lens is well built and in MF mode the focus ring is very smooth. There is a little un-even dampning to this ring but it's not serious, but no where near as nice as their 100-300mm f4. In AF mode the ring is a little noisy and turns as the moter focuses. This is a little dissapointing in 2006 and for the price it would have been nice to see their excellent HSM motor. BUT! There is so much depth of field with this lens...the AF hardly moves at all. It's also very fast to lock on too.
The Lens hood is the usual Sigma 2 piece afair that they use for all their wide lenses. Which to be frank is a lot better than the naff Canon version, which falls off really easily. On my copy, the hood is a little too tight and it's quite stiff to remove easily.

Fish eye lenses are a lot of fun, esecially close up. Even looking into the front lens element is a curious thing. But the real joy is when you de-fish in photoshop (try PTLENS in google). You geat a great panorama which is far far wider than a normal 15mm prime. This little lens (and I mean tiny really) had so much depth of field and it can focus so rediculously close to the front element...it's amazing!

Ok...image quality. The edges really suffer from CA, but then again every fish eye lens that I've seen also has. It's a fact of life. But the centre is so darn sharp it's amazing. In fact it's the sharpest wide lens that I've ever used.
My only real grumble is that Sigma keep putting up their prices every year, soon this lens will be as expensive as a Canon.

Sharper and cheaper than it's Canon counterpart, F/2.8 extreme wideangle.

No HSM, but it hardly has to focus. Build is good, but just not up to L-specs

I bought this lens to take oversights at party's that have to shoot for the people that hire me. It does a great job and the distortions are not as ugly as a 10mm rectilinear extreme wide angle when you are shooting people. Also it has an edge because of it's F/2.8 speed, where most UWA start at F/3.5 or F/4