Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM review

A bit like an optical black hole, this Sigma lens sucks everything into the frame

(Image: © Future)

Digital Camera World Verdict

Leave nothing unseen. The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM allows you to really capture practically everything around you, with a massive 121-degree viewing angle that really has to be seen to be believed. The best part is that it’s a well-made lens in all other respects, too, with a durable construction (though weather-sealing might have been nice) and great optical quality. If extreme wide-angle is your thing, this is the way to do it – with style and sophistication.

Pros

  • +

    Extreme viewing angle

  • +

    Excellent optical quality

  • +

    Solid build

Cons

  • -

    No weather seals

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The reduction of every single millimetre in focal length makes a noticeable difference in wide-angle coverage. The Sigma 8-16mm f/4.5-5.6 DC HSM lens shaves 2mm off the shortest zoom length of competing zoom lenses, boosting the viewing angle from around 108 degrees to a monstrous 121 degrees (measured on the diagonal). The difference is obvious and eye-popping as you look through the viewfinder.

While short in focal length, the Sigma isn’t short in build, and is a third longer than Canon’s 10-18mm lens. It’s twice as heavy as well, but the construction feels solid and sturdy. There are no weather-seals but the mounting plate is metal, not plastic. A conventional ring-type ultrasonic system delivers fast and quiet autofocus complete with full-time mechanical override, and a focus distance scale.

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Matthew Richards

Matthew Richards is a photographer and journalist who has spent years using and reviewing all manner of photo gear. He is Digital Camera World's principal lens reviewer – and has tested more primes and zooms than most people have had hot dinners! 

His expertise with equipment doesn’t end there, though. He is also an encyclopedia  when it comes to all manner of cameras, camera holsters and bags, flashguns, tripods and heads, printers, papers and inks, and just about anything imaging-related. 

In an earlier life he was a broadcast engineer at the BBC, as well as a former editor of PC Guide.