It's OK...now I've got used to it.

Truth is.. I've been spoiled.
All my life with Nikons, I've only ever used Nikkor lenses.
Call me a glass snob, but call me.

Felix the Guru always said there was nothing like The Camera Manufacturers' lenses, and he's right.
But that was 30 years ago, and I reckon the technology has gone past the stage where 'other lens makers' were substandard.
Maybe not.

I paid 320 Pounds for the 10-20 mm. Sigma at Jessops in Petersfield,UK which wasn't bad.
Another 35 Pounds for a simple 77mm. UV filter they also sold me seemed rather expensive...but I still love them!


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Now - THE LENS

Since acquiring it about a month ago, I haven't used it a lot
but certainly enough to discover it doesn't handle marine horizons very well!
At the wider end of the zoom, 'the end of the sea' gets bent outa shape and I am not amused.


Colour: it's too blue... a bit too intense
Mind you, I live on a Caribbean island where I do lotsa 'calendar-shot' kinda stuff involving blue skies and turquoise seas
so in a way the too-blue results I'm getting aren't much of a headache
since all I need to do is reduce the intensity via Photoshop, and all is well.


Yes, it's heavy, especially when compared to the very light weight of the 18-55 mm. Nikkor kit lens that came with the D60
but it's also unfair to compare apples and oranges.
What would you expect for a lens with zoom range 10-20mm. -featherweight? I don't think so.
The weight factor is just an observation, if you're thinking of walking around with it whole day!

Both twist-rings on the barrel are smoooth, especially the focus-ring
(which I never touch,because the Autofocus function works so well)

There are helful index marks on the lens mount and rear lens cap
which make replacing that rear lens cap a lot easier.
Just line up the red dot on the silver ring of the mount
with the similarly-sized indent dot on the rear lens cap
near where you see CLOSE< >OPEN, and twist anti-clockwise.

The supplied lens hood affixes via bayonet mount.
The hood displays white index marks and helpful directional arrows indicating In and Out.
I like the way the last few mm. of rotation get a bit stiffer, just before it clicks into place.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Would I buy it again? probably. There's a 'faster' version now out.
Would I recommend it for amateurs? yes..with warnings that the only problem I've seen so far is the horizon problem.

I've done interior shots involving walls and straight lines...I see no problem in those shots -that in itself is weird.
Honestly, my only real problem with this lens is this marine horizon problem
(at well-stopped-down apertures? in bright light? ..surely that's when it should be performing at its best?!)

Recommended for Pros? It'll do!


__________________________________________________
Okay...I've had the lens for seven months now
and got to use it on a Caribbean cruise in early November
where it handled interiors of the ship very nicely indeed.

I've since learned to handle it a bit more judiciously
and not point it up or down too much - keeping the camera back as close to vertical as possible
and I'm a lot happier with it now.
Buy it. It's OK.