Help! Sigma 10-20mm not really sharp at all!

Fstop11 said:
theres nothing wrong with that bathroom shot.
one of them pictures you posted is a result of camera shake.

You are taking the right proceedures to ensure a a steady shot.

Also note where your focus point is.
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Yeah but the bathroom shot is a closeup shot

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=17895006&highlight=101

All pics there mostly taken with the sigma and I never noticed a problem though as they are all decent and sharp. Something goes wrong when you focus further away.

sid
 
The Sigma is quite a sharp lens normally (Thom Hogan uses it) usually. As always, there are Sigma QC issues though.

Do some proper tests.
Use a tripod, f11-f16
Lowest ISO, low Noise removal
Check in camera sharpening is normal.
Check for focus issues by manually checking focus.
 
D.P. said:
The Sigma is quite a sharp lens normally (Thom Hogan uses it) usually. As always, there are Sigma QC issues though.

Do some proper tests.
Use a tripod, f11-f16
Lowest ISO, low Noise removal
Check in camera sharpening is normal.
Check for focus issues by manually checking focus.
Click to expand...

I've done my best with it. If that is indeed all it can offer then its just poor.

I'm taking it back to see if there is an issue with it.
 
I would say there's an issue with it. It does blur out slightly at 10mm but some of your shots look like that's 10x worse than at it's center so I would say send it back for calibration.
 
hmm...think my copy is a little soft too, did anything come of this thread? Would appreciate some experienced eyes looking over the shots below

here's one from today...



One taken indoors on a tripod at f22, infinity focus- 100% crop



Am I doing something stupidly wrong here or is my copy just a soft one?
 
the IQ on those shots are very very poor, i would have taken that lens back right away

i got a very cheap 10-20 £220 ish a few years back and when it arrived i tried it and wasnt happy with it at all, even stepped down the quality was rubbish
returned it but to an actual store and got a replacement, it was slightly better but not as good as it should have been
took it back again and got a refund - saved a little more and got the canon 10-22mm
the canon blew me away, it was an excellent lens , only sold it due to upgrading to a 5d


Youstolemyname said:
hmm...think my copy is a little soft too, did anything come of this thread? Would appreciate some experienced eyes looking over the shots below
Am I doing something stupidly wrong here or is my copy just a soft one?
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your copy is very poor the only thing wrong is that shot is at F22 which could cause a little bit of difraction (softness due to lack of light getting in)
 
I see this has ressurected and since then I've not returned the lens as I found the quality did improve dramatically when you stop it down to about f8 with RAW and some sharpening, I'm reasonably happy with the results.

sid
 
cheers sid, but i was shooting in RAW at f11 today and to be honest my camera phone would have produced better results!

The canon 55-250 is a diamond though. Cannot recommend that lens enough
 
Youstolemyname said:
cheers sid, but i was shooting in RAW at f11 today and to be honest my camera phone would have produced better results!

The canon 55-250 is a diamond though. Cannot recommend that lens enough
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I know what you mean. I was playing with a 70-200mm in London zoo and some pics were just amazing sharpness

sid
 
sid said:
I see this has ressurected and since then I've not returned the lens as I found the quality did improve dramatically when you stop it down to about f8 with RAW and some sharpening, I'm reasonably happy with the results.

sid
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i still wouldnt be happy with that but i`m very picky

i mean i can use my 24-105 wide open at f4 and the iq is excellent, i dont even need to sharpen usually, i wouldnt expect any less from a ~£600 lens or a £200 lens
 
JBuk said:
i still wouldnt be happy with that but i`m very picky

i mean i can use my 24-105 wide open at f4 and the iq is excellent, i dont even need to sharpen usually, i wouldnt expect any less from a ~£600 lens or a £200 lens
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24-105 is a much easier range to engineer though, to be fair. None of the options at this focal length are particularly amazing, not even the Canon 10-22--it's just the price you have to pay for getting out to 10mm.
 
robmiller said:
24-105 is a much easier range to engineer though, to be fair. None of the options at this focal length are particularly amazing, not even the Canon 10-22--it's just the price you have to pay for getting out to 10mm.
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the 24-105 may well be easier to desgin and manufacture but thats not the end users problem, there are some good copies of the sigma 10-20 out there but it seems quite a lot pass through QA when they really shouldnt so i dont think its the design thats at fault

the Canon 10-22 is very good or at least my old copy was, even the corners were sharper than some of centres of the examples shown in this thread
 
Meh!!! Turns out that sigma will not honour my warranty because I imported the lens from Hong Kong. It has to go back to hong kong to be looked at by them.

Anyone else had any experience with this? The warranty thing says its international but Sigma UK told me the serial number of the lens corresponds to a grey import one...
 
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Youstolemyname said:
ive logged an RMA with sigma, fingers crossed they will do something.

I bought the lens from HK but I gather the warranty is worldwide.
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you will be lucky Sigma UK refuse to honour the world wide warranty unless you can prove you have paid import duty and VAT on the lens ..... been there and got the t-shirt with that problem!
 
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