Sigma DG 12-24mm f/4.5-5.6 HSM II

good but not excellent I just got this lens for my D700. It is REALLY wide... alot of times i zoom it in to the 14 or 15mm because it is so wide. the optics are alright. nothing special. I thought that the sigma 10-20 on my sony a700 was a better set up than this lens on my D700, Though the color fringing isnt as bad as the 10-20. from my testing, i found somethings great about the lens, and somethings that bugged me; listed below: Pros: - I only paid $350 for this lens - Less color Fringing than the Simga 10-20 on my Sony alpha A700 - Super rediculous wide - Focusing is almost macro style (I can focus on something 3-4 inches away) - Fairly compact compaired to nikon 14-24 - After you get away from the super wideness, image quality seems to be better. - HSM! Cons: - At 12mm, there is lots of vignetting and all corners are quite blurry - Images are a little soft - Still some color Fringing - Slower lens (f4.5-5.6) - Slower focusing than the 10-20 from what I can remember - No front filters can be used on this Interesting: - The cap for this confuses me... almost like the nikon 14-24, where you can pull it off (instead of the standard pinch lens caps)... but the top of the cap is a pinch... they should have kept it all one piece instead of two different pieces... - no front filters? really? I like to use a UV filter to keep the glass safe. - A thick lens. very thick indeed. - The lens hood is on there perminatly... can not remove it to save space in the camera bag decent lens for the price, but lens quality lacks a little. i will eventually replace it with the nikon 14-24 when the money is available. I really like how wide this lens can get though., and it is pretty quiet.

great wide angle value Sigma's 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG ASP HSM II Wide-Angle has been a great addition to my camera bag. I've pushed it in term of usable natural light and it's never disappointed. Respect that it is a wide angle lens and so it has it's limitations but its very good at the 12mm range. At its price point it's a great value.

Great lens Great lens for the price. Takes really good pictures. Nice wide view angle, or use the zoom to tighten it up. Well built, nice and compact.