 The Sigma 20mm f/1.8 is unique in being a wide-aperture 20mm prime lens for full-frame cameras. Sigma markets it as excellent for landscape photographers because of its excellent optical performance, but its better known as wide angle lens for emphasizing center subjects. It can focus as close as 7 inches, which allows some interesting ‘wide angle pseudo-macro’ shots. Roger’s Take: This is a rather controversial lens. On the positive side, it has a very wide aperture, which is rather unique for wide angle lens. Users of this lens either love it or hate it. It’s large for a wide angle prime, especially in diameter (note the 82mm filters). When wide open at f/1.8, it’s quite soft except at the center, and this setting is best used for ‘special effects’. When stopped down to f/2.4 or so, it is very sharp in the center, but the edges never really sharpen up. There have been reports that it has trouble autofocusing in low light, but since anything more than a few feet away is ‘infinity’ at this focal length, manual focus is quite easy. The bottom line, though, is this is certainly NOT the landscape lens Sigma advertises it as. The edges and corners are far too soft for that. It can be a fun special effect wide-angle wide-aperture lens. Please Note This lens has both a “clutch” type switch (utilized by sliding the focus ring forward or backward) and a normal AF/MF switch for turning Auto Focus on and off. Try and Buy Program: Lensrentals is pleased that our friends at SuperdigitalCity have made a special offer for our customers renting this item and considering purchase. Simply email your Lensrentals Invoice number to SuperdigitalCity and they will email you back a coupon code good for $44 (one week’s rental) off of the purchase of the Sigma 20mm f/1.8 lens. Specs:
Links:MTF Chart:
Red lines indicate 10 lines/mm; green lines – 30 lines/mm. Solid lines are Sagittal, dotted lines – meridional. If you are bored and don’t understand MTF charts, you can read about them HERE Lens Construction:
PricingLensRentals.com offers rentals of every length between 4 and 90 days. Some common selections are:
The shopping cart will automatically update the quoted price as you adjust the length of your rental. LensRentals also offers an optional damage waiver on this product, limiting your expense should it get damaged while in your possession.
ShippingLensRentals.com ships via UPS 2-day service, unless your rental requires faster shipping. Return shipping is included in the shipping price, and we include a prepaid return label with your order—all you need to do is bring it to a UPS drop-off location when your rental is complete. The shopping cart can automatically quote shipping, even for multi-item and oversize orders. Shipping multiple items together offers significant savings over shipping them individually. |
