Sigma 24mm Super Wide II F2.8 A-mount lens review by QuietOC
 QuietOC#16329 date: Jul-27-2015 | |
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| sharpness: 4 color: 4 build: 3 distortion: 4 flare control: 4 overall: 3.8 | tested on:
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| ownership: | I used to own this lens |
| compared to: | Rokinon 16 F2 Sony E 16 F2.8 Sigma 20 F1.8 EX DG Sony E 20 F2.8 Tamron 20 F2.8 OSD Minolta AF 20 F2.8 & RS Sigma 24 F1.8 EX DG HSM Sony Distagon 24 F2 ZA SSM Tamron 24 F2.8 OSD Samyang AF 24 F2.8 Minolta AF 24 F2.8 Discover/Neewer 25 F1.8 Canon EF 28 F1.8 USM Sigma 28 F1.8 HS & EX DG Minolta MD & AF 28 F2 Sony FE 28 F2 Canon EF 28 F2.8 IS USM Minolta/Sony AF 28 F2.8 Neewer 28 F2.8 |
| price paid: | 70 USD (new) |
| positive: | Small Close focusing Long 170 degree focus throw Curved aperture blades Very little vignette |
| negative: | AF inaccuracy Barrel distortion Lateral CA Variability Sticky coating on rear of lens Non-reversible hood |
| comment: | This is one of the smallest A-mount lenses available. According to Sigma this was released in 1986 one year after the Minolta AF debut, though a manual focus version of the Super Wide was released in 1981. On an APS-C sensor it is equivalent to a 36 mm f/4.2 film lens--a slightly wide-angle view. The second copy of this lens works well wide-open even in the corners on APS-C. The first copy was somewhat tilted with the upper left corner being sharper than the bottom right corner. The third copy wasn't sharp wide-open and also had more issues in the corners. The Sigma has a similar amount of simple barrel distortion as the 18-55 SAM II--a bit more than the Minolta AF 24 F2.8. The corners on APS-C are brighter and sharper than the Minolta. Its one key feature is the word "MACRO" written on the barrel. It has a rather long focus throw and a decent reproduction ratio for a wide lens. Like most of the normal zooms--except the 16-105--my A58 has trouble autofocusing this lens accurately up close. But the long manual focus throw on this lens works well with peaking and magnification. The focus mechanism sounds a bit metallic especially when operated with the lens unattached to a camera, but its not louder in operation than the DT 35 f/1.8. The Minolta AF 24 F2.8 focuses much quieter and faster. The original clip-on petal hood is dinky compared to the Minolta hoods. The filter threads do not rotate, but there is no keying for the hood's proper orientation--not that it matters too much for a smaller sensor camera. The hood also cannot be reversed onto the lens for storage nor can a lens cap be used with the hood attached. There is not much reason to get this lens over the standard APS-C zooms. The Sony DT 16-50mm F2.8 SSM has better image quality, but the 1:4 wide-angle, semi-macro capability is unique. |
; 10MPrating summary
- total reviews: 73
- sharpness: 4.51
- color: 4.36
- build: 4.29
- distortion: 4.05
- flare control: 3.70
- overall: 4.18