…or something along those lines. Took a walk into O’Learys camera shop on Oliver Plunkett st. today while wandering aimlessly around town and spotted something I’ve been oogling now for ohh… ages. A batch of Canon fit Sigma 10-20′s had arrived! Hurrah! Finally! Quite a compact lens, probably smaller than the outrageously expensive Canon EF-S 10-22mm and most certainly cheaper. Before they arrived, I was given a rough price of €650/700 from another camera shop. Took a few shots…
10mm
Again at 10mm, but err, outdoorsy.
@20mm
There doesn’t seem to be anything immediately evident in the pictures that would make the wide angle sigma an inferior lens.. Or at least not as far as I can see. As far as I can make out, these shots look quite similar to the ones I took with the Canon 10-22 some months ago. There’s bound to be slight differences in contrast & colour tones, but whatever takes your fancy. Personally, I think it’s an amazing lens. Comes in a bit cheaper than I was quoted previously too. Turns out the actual price is €499. Why… that’s almost as cheap as ebay!
Not wanting to leave the shop without first fulfilling my raging lens lust, I spotted what I can only assume is a new Sigma 80-400 with “Optical Stabiliser”. Took a few shots but at 400mm it appears soft. Maybe it’s just me.
@ 80mm.
@ 400mm.
High-res versions of all the above available on flickr.
No HSM in this one. It’s a weighty beast and would no doubt require you to have a monopod permenantly connected to your hip if you were out shooting with it. It’s not a Canon L, it’s a bit soft on the long end but it’s a hell of a lot cheaper. In Ireland it’s around the €1k mark, or about €150 cheaper if you get it from ebay (and can avoid import duty). Compare that to the Sigma 50-500 (or Bigma if you prefer). No “OS” but you do get HSM. €300 more than the 80-400. Of course, you can get it from ebay for around the €800 mark (plus shipping & import duty if youre unlucky) but that’d just be cheating. Choices choices…
The cheapest I can find the 10-20 on ebay for is €409. That’s without shipping (approx €50) and any import duty. But for an extra €40 or so you could walk into a local shop and get it. Hardly worth the effort of turning your PC on. Well, I’m in love with the 10-20; and I find it simply stunning that even at the ebay price of the Canon 10-22 (approx €650), the Irish price of the Sigma 10-20 still beats it by €150! A cheap lens in Ireland? What’s going on? I’m scared…