Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Review, more wide-angle lenses available!

Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II (for Canon)
Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG mounted on a Nikon D3x (for Nikon)

The built is quite consistent in both offerings as they’ve obtained the same results on the DxOMark Score:

• 10 at 12mm f/4.5 mounted on a Canon EOS 5D Mark II
• 11 at 17mm f/5 mounted on a Nikon D3x

 As mentioned earlier, in spite of the quality of the cameras used for testing the score is pretty low for this lens and this could be explained by the following reasons:

• Due to its range of aperture this lens is not a fast one. In lowlight condition, it’s pretty difficult to obtain an acceptable large print.
• The low resolution obtained (especially in the field).

What we like:

• Distortion remains well controlled, this is indeed a good feat for such lenses.

What could be better:

• The resolution: while acceptable at the center  it decreases quite rapidly.
• The vignetting : it is really noticeable
• The transmission : the lens is much slower than what was announced, from 4.5 at 12mm to  5.6 at 24mm, the measurements tell us though that it is 5.3 at 12mm to 6.9 at 24mm.

This lens was long due for a fresh replacement which is what we get with the new Sigma 12-24mm F4.5-5.6 EX DG HSM II Canon and Nikon mounts. Stay tuned for an upcoming review of this newer version at DxOMark.

Some interesting wide angle comparison:

Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical Canon vs Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Canon on the 5D Mark II
Samyang 14mm f/2.8 IF ED UMC Aspherical Canon vs Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Canon on the Canon EOS 350D
Carl Zeiss Distagon T 21mm f/2.8 ZE Canon vs Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Canon on the Canon EOS 7D
Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Nikon vs Nikon AF-S DX Nikkor 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED on the Nikon D300s
Sigma 12-24mm f4.5-5.6 EX DG Nikon vs Carl Zeiss Distagon T 18mm f/3.5 ZF2 Nikon  on the Nikon D3s