The world's shortest focal length non-fish-eye AF lens, the 14mm is no slouch on features: a full 114° angle of view, 13 elements in 11 groups, f
The world's shortest focal length non-fish-eye AF lens, the 14mm is no slouch on features: a full 114° angle of view, 13 elements in 11 groups, focusing down to a scant 7 inches, built-in lens hood, and a gelatin filter holder behind the floating rear lens element. On top of all that, this is the most compact lens in its class, and weighs in at less than a pound.
Rating Reviewed by: Shot by Scott(Unregistered User)
(Expert)
Review Date June 3, 2008
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 1 to 3 months
Visitors rate this review 5.00 of 5,
1 votes
Review 1 of 11
Price Paid:
$160.00
from E-Bay
Summary:
I pick it up on E-Bay for €160 with all the original packaging and documentation. The old owner calmed he had only used it 3 times (I dought it had been even used that much, total mint condition). The first thing that you see it the front element its enormous and looks like it could be a fish eyes. I was surprised it is very sharp from F4.5 and excellent at F8, and very usable at F3.5
IMHO it works better on a digital crop than a FF (or film) camera as the distortion is extreme around the edges, abut naturally cropped out on the 7D and A700
AF isn't the fastest in the world and seems slower with close moving objects, but is more than acceptable with a stationary and/or distant subject.
All in all so far I am very happy with this lens so far
Bought this lens out of curiosity rather than necessity to use with my A100. A bargain compared to other similar lenses and the 2.8 version. No surprise that you need to be careful about flare due to the super wide frame, but overall it is an amazing lens for the money. Looking forward to using it on an upcoming trip to Europe!
Only downsides is that it is surprisingly heavy considering it's only 4" long and you need to be very careful to protect the bulbous front element. I have found the lens cap collar can tend to slip off if you don't keep an eye on it.
This lens is no longer made, but I was able to get it fairly cheap used. Wide open it's very soft and you have to stop it down considerably for maximum sharpness. Outdoors that's not hard to do, so for landscapes, this lens is perfect. But indoors I have to compromise between getting more light and getting more sharpness. This lens has a small amount of chromatic aberration in the edges (around 0.1%).
Unfortunately, my new canon digital rebel is electronically incompatible with this lens; the aperture control doesn't work at all, and generates error 99 if you try. I called Sigma, and they said they've run out of upgrade chips for this lens, so I'm out of luck. Then I discovered the following hack: I opened the lens, attached a stiff wire (i.e. paper clip) to the aperture lever, then filed a slot in the lens barrel to pass the wire out of the lens. This let me (crudely) control the aperture by hand. It took hours to get this to work, but it has resurrected this lens for my digital camera. If you have lots of money, you should NOT do what I did, and you should instead spend $800 for Sigma's new f2.8 EX 14mm lens or the 12-24 lens. But this lens isn't bad considering it cost 3-4 times less than these other super-wide options.
Strengths:
Used versions can be had much cheaper than other wide angle lenses.
Weaknesses:
Can't control aperture with Canon digital rebel. Soft when used wide open. Minor chromatic aberration at edges.
My monopod night shot at 1/15th of and wide open of a London building shows no distortion and mortar lines between the bricks crisp and straight out to the corners. When I made the plunge from Canon manual to auto-focus, the Sigma 14/3.5 was the *only* lens I "repurchased." Takes a bit of care composing to avoid flare--no surprise there.
Strengths:
Surprisingly low distortion. Great bang for the buck for ultra-wide. Half an f-stop is not worth it for the 14/2.8 beheamoths (which I also suspect are softer reaching for that extra 1/2 a stop).
Weaknesses:
Not sturdy enough to hammer nails. Some light falloff to be expected at 14mm.
Similar Products Used:
20-35/2.8L FD, 24/2.0 FD, 17-35/2.8L EOS
Customer Service:
Excellent. Dropped lens (FD version), entire rear mount and diaphragm actuator mechanisms came off with some pieces breaking. Repair was relatively quick and reasonable.
Rating Reviewed by: Jeff Pederson(Unregistered User)
(Expert)
Review Date November 27, 2003
Overall Rating 4 of 5
Value Rating 5 of 5
Used product for 3 Months to 1 year
Visitors rate this review 4.00 of 5,
1 votes
Review 5 of 11
Price Paid:
$375.00
from Pawn Shop
Summary:
Purchased the lense in August. It was purchased specifically for all-sky photography on a DSLR body. It was to supplement a Nikkor 20 f2.8, but the Nikkor now rides shotgun. I gave up a stop for dramtic, grand-scale coverage. It is especially a good performer for aurora photography. I shoot the lens wide open all the time, and while not as sharp as the Nikkor at f2.8, I am satisfied with my results.
I use the camera/lense system in extreme cold, so I am forever having to bag my equipment before venturing into any warm spaces with humidity. The compactness of this lens allows me to place camera with lense in a gallon-sized Ziploc Freezer Bag along with desiccant.
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