A fast and silent High Speed Motor (HSM)for focusing; Very weel built, good finishing. Not difficult to understand why it is part of the Sigma EX family

I share the same flare problems of this lens that are indicated by the photographers above

I ussualy use it to shoot interiors. The 2.8 aperture really gives you an edge in low light situations. In many cases I found it possible to take pictures in very slow speeds without a tripod, probably due to the weight of this lens that gives you some steadiness (considering, of course, that in the case of wide angle lenses sharp pictures are not difficult in handheld shots). It is important to be careful with the distortion it gives in the edges of the photogram.

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Canon 14mm 2.8

Lens cap design allows Nikon lens cap to be used if you don't want to carry the Sigma name on the front of your camera. Fast and quiet autofocus. Solidly built, excellent finish and smooth operation.

Prone to flare.

Optical performance similar to Tamron, but much less expensive. Finish and operation superior to Tamron.

Customer Service

None required.

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Tamron 14mm

Good value at $700. Low distortions.

Prone to flare. Flare is of bright yellow color so it looks ugly when flare appears over blue sky. Canon lenses, for example, have white-bluish flare which more pleasant.

Inconvenient lens cap that consist of 2 parts (??)

Good value for money - 2 times cheapier than Canon 14mm. Produces very decent pictures.

Customer Service

Didn't use

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Canon 20mm, Canon 17-35/2.8L

well built, good finish, quick focusing, that big front element is to die for!

none that i've found

outstanding sharpness, contrast, color rendition. quick silent focusing with sigma's hsm; (although not as satisfying as canon's ultra sonic motors). flare isn't any more/less of a problem than with any other ultra wide angle. price is $1300(!) less than canon's 14mm. i love canon glass, but when used on a d30, any advantage in sharpness/ contrast that the canon 14mm might have can be compensated for in photoshop.

Customer Service

no experience

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canon 17-35mm

Very sharp;
Excellent aberrations control (especially barrel / pincushion);
First rate construction;
Fast and accurate HSM focussing; and,
Great value (less than half of the comparable Canon lens!).

A 14 mm is not a lens I pull out of the bag for every shoot, but in tight corners and for building interiors it can be a life saver.

Very susceptible to flare;
Vignetting at corners of field visible on pale backgrounds; and,
Enormous exposed front element makes me nervous of damage.

This is a fine lens, perhaps not quite as good as the Canon EF 14 mm f2.8 L - I cannot say for sure, never having used the latter. From my perspective, the Sigma provides perhaps 90% of the Canon functionality at 40% of the Canon price. As an amateur, USD800 is a big ask for a non-revenue earning asset, but the Sigma means I can justify (at least to myself) a dedicated lens for 10% of my work.

Susceptibility to flare means you have to take care including bright highlights within (or just outside) the frame and vignetting is evident in shots with pale blue skies, but given the current state of optical design, both issues are inherent in covering 114 degrees.

I wanted to give the lens 4.5 Stars, which does not seem possible, so being a generous sort of guy, I upped it to 5.

Customer Service

No experience.

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[1] I use a range of fixed focal length lenses.
14mm - 10%
28mm – 10%
50mm – 15%
135mm – 35%
300mm – 20%
100mm macro – 10%.
[2] I have limited experience of ultawides – only the 15 mm f3.5 SMC Takumar for my much lamented Pentax LX.

solid construction, fast HSM, quite sharp for 14mm, good color and aberrations control, low distortion

HSM is not as reliable as USM

The 2.8/14mm EX is a very good lens. The construction is very solid and the HSM-motor is very fast. The only problem the HSM has is the working range in low temperature. I had to send it to Sigma for repair because the HSM didn't work below +5 - +10 °C. They changed the HSM and now it still works after beeing in the fridge for a while. But after beeing in the freezer for some time, the HSM doesn't work until the temperature goes up. I did the same test with the Canon EF 28-70/2.8 L USM and didn't have any problems.
The optical construction is very good, sharpness is very good, but to get a high DOF, you have to shut the aperture to values around 11 or 16. 8 isn't enough. The lens is very well corrected and costs less than half the price of the Canon. It's a great lens and for that price, it's a bargain.

Customer Service

Very fast and frindly

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Canon 28-70/2.8 + 80-200/2.8 L-lenses, Leica 4/35-70 + 4/80-200 Zooms, Elmarit 2.8/35 and Apo-Telyt 3.4/180

Good build quality. Better image quality than that of 17-35 Sigma when wide.

HSM not equal to USM.

Much better than both the 17-35 Sigma and Canon.
After being actually quite dissapointed to the 17-35 sigma, I am quite pleased with this one.
Very good for the money given away.

Customer Service

OK.

Similar Products Used:

17-35 HSM, 28-70/2.8 USM, 70-200/2.8 USM