I bought this lens 8 years ago when I thought I was going to be into taking pics. Barely ever used it or took pics. But now that I'm going to be using a DSLR for my live streams, I'm excited to have the nicest chat in town
Agreed, I like DigitalRev for the show itself but first most of their shots are simply terrible, second Chris makes standardized reviews and is always spot-on! I could live without DRTV checking Chris channel only but not the opposite.
I stopped subscribing to DigitalRev, because its silliness overcame any review value. They don't really do any serious tests, and that fact along with Kai's very deep biases mean that they often make lesser products seem better. I'd much rather get a good review which actually compares quality, and this channel is a leader in that regard.
Rationalific yeah exactly. I mean that's like Top Gear, it's funny and stuff but you don't check that for serious comparisons and opinions on a product...not to mention they really show horrible shots. Check the video with Lok C telling you "how to shoot in Hong Kong" or something(it's from last week): some shots are street ones with all the people blurred, others are shot with wide angles too far from any subject or any interesting perspective of the street..:I mean, they're not even trying!
***** Don't forget Leica. I could take a $10 disposable camera from a pharmacy and put a Leica logo on it and charge $3,000 for it, and I'm sure Kai will still go crazy over it. Even if the quality is bad, he will call it a breakthrough in "lomo" photography, and a must-have for hipsters. Maybe it's just red that he likes. Red rings and red circles.
I wanted a 20mm prime for my d750 and had been looking on line at the various options, whilst nosing around in a local junk shop I found one of these for £85 in mint condition.As a predominantly landscape photographer,I very rarely shoot wide open and I have been quite pleased with the results. As you say,at wide apertures its not the best tool in the box but at f8 its a good buy.
I picked this up in a bundle, effectively costing me less than £100, and for that money this thing is a beast! It has some flaws, but from an artistic point of view this lens produces unique and interesting photos. It works amazingly for night photography in cities for example, or astro, just be aware of the vignette!!
Too funny. My cousin just got one today and I never even heard of the lens at all. Went to see what its all about and, of course, you've reviewed it! I've seen enough from you to know it's a lens that has no use for me. Great review as always.
Thanks for this review. i was interested in this lens while shopping for wide angle lens with wide aperture on a budget. I decided not to get this or the sigma 18-50 f2.8 and I'm trying to buy the tamron 17-35 f2.8-4.
Dear Christopher, I genuinely enjoy your in depth reviews on different lenses. I am currently thinking about acquiring either the depicted lens of this video, or the Samyang 20mm lens as I usually prefer completely manual lenses. Do you think it is possible for you to make a review on the Samyang at some point?
It's not a horrible focus design either, it's the best once you get comfortable with it. The lens doesn't have a focus motor, so there's nothing to wear out, if you leave it in mf, it's just another extra shroud it has to drive around, which is the same for any other lens without a usm, and also the reason the newer lines are $600 more. The optics are basically just as good. IF you don't need a swm or usm, this lens is perfectly fine. None of mine protest too much if I just leave them in mf mode on occasion I don't even notice it. The canon is the only one that has that weird extra switch, not sure why, maybe for astral photography so you can lock focus off manually without touching any controls on the camera while it's pointed at the sky. Also I've never seen anything like that red flare ring pointing into the sun. It's interesting that the grips on yours are different than any I've seen for sale, maybe you had a super early version or something? I might guess it has more to do with the specific coatings on your canon vs other cameras interacting with this lens, as you see with samsungs that have severe purple fringing with uwa's and fisheyes.
+Madderhatter I've used a fair bit of this lens and owned it's 24mm f1.8 brother. They both definitely flare like that (I've had mine do if for stage lights) and I'm not sure what optics you are definitely not very strong. I loved this lens though. The results were crazy fun when I with band photography - but how you close you have to get to the subject is slightly terrifying and why I ended up getting the 24 version instead.
I get confused when full frame sensors and APS-C sensors get brought up. So this lens was designed for full sized sensors? I have an sl2 and have been trying to find a lens between 17-20mm for vlogging. But you mention this lens would be equivalent to a 35mm. I’m just confused on my sl2 would this still look like a 20mm lens or would it look like a 35mm lens?
hi Chris ive always found your reviews, very informative and interesting, and if it's ok, I would like to make a request if you can make a review on the Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 APO OS HSM coz i heard that its designed for APS-C cameras. Thank you.
It's a fantastic lens! I used it in most of my portraits and landscape I will also wait for Chris' opinion on this lens. By the way Chris thanks for the indeed useful reviews! After watching your review on Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for couple of times I'm pretty convinced that it would be my next lens for my pocket is not deep for major name versions. Keep up the good work and decent reviews, God bless!
Christopher Frost Photography That's good to hear from you sir, I'm really looking forward to this lens, I can't wait for you to review it. Thank you and more power to you good sir.
Thank you for another great review, if possible i would really appreciate it if you review the Sigma 12-24mm/4.5-5.6 ll DG. Its the only full frame lens that would still give me an ultra wide range on my current crop sensor and i can still keep when i upgrade to full frame. i don't know if there are others that fit this description !
Hi Chris, love your videos! Any chance you can review the tamron 24-70mm f2.8 vc lens? Your videos always cover every aspect and I use your channel before buying any lens :)
It's definitely on my 'to do' list, as it's meant to be very nice indeed (although I don't always love Tamron's image stabilization), but I have a few other lenses I'm covering first... :-)
sorry sir which one is the best and sharpest one between zeiss milvus 21 f2.8 japan or nikon nano 20 f1.8 g ed made in china? is this have a problem about distorsion sir if i use with d7000 and d700? could u please to give me some info,thank u very much
Do you test your lenses using autofocus? Most of the times I find that manually focusing using 10x live view produced sharper results. I think when you test 'sharpness' sometimes it could just be a test of its autofocus system rather than the glass quality itself. What do you think?
If the lens is sharp in the middle, then the AF has done its job correctly. If its not sharp in the middle, then test further using manual to see if you can get more sharpness
Hmm, I'm not really thinking about that one - it's a bit old, and 28mm is a tiny bit boring to me haha. Maybe one day when I've gotten some other lenses out the way :-)
Hey Christopher. Since I've got the 6D I'm planning on selling my 600D and all the lenses. When I've done that, I might aswell spend some cash on this lens :) I have the Samyang 14mm F/2.8, 24mm F/1.4 and the 35mm F/1.4, so having a 20mm F/1.8 wouldn't be bad. I heard you got it on ebay. From which country did you purchase it? :) Sincerely MrRapala91
Christopher Frost Photography Well, I'm thinking that this lens would replace my Tokina 11-16. Since 11-16 is equivalent to 18-26mm :) And I mostly used it at around 11-13 mm. So I think it fits perfectly in there. I'm doing a lot of astrophotography :)
Christopher Frost Photography Hey Christopher! Just bought the Sigma 20mm F/1.8 on ebay! Got it for around 200 pounds, used but in new condition. However, I got the one in the old design on the outside, with different plastics and a different focus ring. Can't wait! (^_^)
Excuse me my lens is made in Japan and does not have af and m button on the side . The autofocus works good with my Nikon D800 but not work on Nikon D5200. Please help can I have autofocus in D5200,? because D5200 doesn't have build in motor. And my sigma 20mm is different version than this lens you show.
I assume that all the Clients that you have find the optical quality of your glass to be sub-par. Or, is it that you just think it's bad? Either way, maybe you should be getting more obsessed with reading books about Photography, or something. That way you actually learn something rather than looking at extreme corners at 100% and wasting your time because good glass doesn't make a good photographer.
I bought this lens 8 years ago when I thought I was going to be into taking pics. Barely ever used it or took pics. But now that I'm going to be using a DSLR for my live streams, I'm excited to have the nicest chat in town
i prefer these reviews over non informative digitalrev reviews
Agreed, I like DigitalRev for the show itself but first most of their shots are simply terrible, second Chris makes standardized reviews and is always spot-on!
I could live without DRTV checking Chris channel only but not the opposite.
I stopped subscribing to DigitalRev, because its silliness overcame any review value. They don't really do any serious tests, and that fact along with Kai's very deep biases mean that they often make lesser products seem better. I'd much rather get a good review which actually compares quality, and this channel is a leader in that regard.
Rationalific
yeah exactly. I mean that's like Top Gear, it's funny and stuff but you don't check that for serious comparisons and opinions on a product...not to mention they really show horrible shots.
Check the video with Lok C telling you "how to shoot in Hong Kong" or something(it's from last week): some shots are street ones with all the people blurred, others are shot with wide angles too far from any subject or any interesting perspective of the street..:I mean, they're not even trying!
***** Don't forget Leica. I could take a $10 disposable camera from a pharmacy and put a Leica logo on it and charge $3,000 for it, and I'm sure Kai will still go crazy over it. Even if the quality is bad, he will call it a breakthrough in "lomo" photography, and a must-have for hipsters. Maybe it's just red that he likes. Red rings and red circles.
+Rationalific imagine a Leica L lens
I wanted a 20mm prime for my d750 and had been looking on line at the various options, whilst nosing around in a local junk shop I found one of these for £85 in mint condition.As a predominantly landscape photographer,I very rarely shoot wide open and I have been quite pleased with the results. As you say,at wide apertures its not the best tool in the box but at f8 its a good buy.
You always make great revies, Christopher. I bought this lens cheap, always wanted a wide angle ptime on my 6D II. I use next to my Sigma Art primes.
8:35 xD . Great Video Christopher!! This is the lens that I bought and returned to the seller right away awhile back. Cheers!
THX for a fast and profound information about this lens, i just wanted to try. Your video saves me a lot of time! Good work!
Thanks for review, I bought one second hand for 6D in 2024.
You are becoming the Ken Rockwell of TH-cam. Such a good review. WOW.
Man you are the best and the most pro reviewer on youtube
Thanks! Was looking for this review
best lense reviews on youtube
I picked this up in a bundle, effectively costing me less than £100, and for that money this thing is a beast! It has some flaws, but from an artistic point of view this lens produces unique and interesting photos. It works amazingly for night photography in cities for example, or astro, just be aware of the vignette!!
£100 is a great deal for that lens
Thank you for your detailed review.
8:36 I fell out of my chair 😂😂😂😂 that was so unexpected
Nice review Christ, and there also a ultra wide angle lens for fullframe is Sigma 14mm f2.8 out there, hope to see its review on your channel soon
What are the results on APS-C with the viltrox booster or meta ones ultra?
Too funny. My cousin just got one today and I never even heard of the lens at all. Went to see what its all about and, of course, you've reviewed it! I've seen enough from you to know it's a lens that has no use for me. Great review as always.
Best review of this lens I've seen
En qué página podría comprarlo?? O que lugar sería bueno adquirirlo
Bought just a Sony a77, with 5 Objectives a Flash a Portrait-Grip 3 Batteries for 300€😁
One of them was the Sigma.
It's really nice
Would this work with bmpcc 6k?
perfect review.. might be buying one of these used today.
Yes!! You're reviewing this lens Chris?! :D I'm about to watch it right now ;)
thanks from brazil man! you rock on this review
Nice review !!! So do u think its too loud in continuous AF during video? For interviews..
It would probably be very annoying. Stick with manual fivus
A lot better than the 24mm that's for sure. I think I still go with a Rokinon.
Great great vids my friend!!! Love it, well done!!!!
Thanks for this review. i was interested in this lens while shopping for wide angle lens with wide aperture on a budget. I decided not to get this or the sigma 18-50 f2.8 and I'm trying to buy the tamron 17-35 f2.8-4.
Dear Christopher, I genuinely enjoy your in depth reviews on different lenses. I am currently thinking about acquiring either the depicted lens of this video, or the Samyang 20mm lens as I usually prefer completely manual lenses. Do you think it is possible for you to make a review on the Samyang at some point?
It's not a horrible focus design either, it's the best once you get comfortable with it. The lens doesn't have a focus motor, so there's nothing to wear out, if you leave it in mf, it's just another extra shroud it has to drive around, which is the same for any other lens without a usm, and also the reason the newer lines are $600 more. The optics are basically just as good. IF you don't need a swm or usm, this lens is perfectly fine.
None of mine protest too much if I just leave them in mf mode on occasion I don't even notice it. The canon is the only one that has that weird extra switch, not sure why, maybe for astral photography so you can lock focus off manually without touching any controls on the camera while it's pointed at the sky.
Also I've never seen anything like that red flare ring pointing into the sun. It's interesting that the grips on yours are different than any I've seen for sale, maybe you had a super early version or something? I might guess it has more to do with the specific coatings on your canon vs other cameras interacting with this lens, as you see with samsungs that have severe purple fringing with uwa's and fisheyes.
+Madderhatter I've used a fair bit of this lens and owned it's 24mm f1.8 brother. They both definitely flare like that (I've had mine do if for stage lights) and I'm not sure what optics you are definitely not very strong.
I loved this lens though. The results were crazy fun when I with band photography - but how you close you have to get to the subject is slightly terrifying and why I ended up getting the 24 version instead.
I get confused when full frame sensors and APS-C sensors get brought up. So this lens was designed for full sized sensors? I have an sl2 and have been trying to find a lens between 17-20mm for vlogging. But you mention this lens would be equivalent to a 35mm. I’m just confused on my sl2 would this still look like a 20mm lens or would it look like a 35mm lens?
very informative, thank you.
oh ya sorry how about sigma 20 f1.4 art series,which one is the best and sharpest one between nikon 20 f1.8 nano and milvus zeiss 21 f2.8?
hi Chris ive always found your reviews, very informative and interesting, and if it's ok, I would like to make a request if you can make a review on the Sigma 50-150mm f2.8 APO OS HSM coz i heard that its designed for APS-C cameras. Thank you.
It sure is, and it's meant to be great. I'm having trouble getting hold of one at the moment, but I want to review it.
It's a fantastic lens! I used it in most of my portraits and landscape I will also wait for Chris' opinion on this lens. By the way Chris thanks for the indeed useful reviews! After watching your review on Sigma 18-35 f1.8 for couple of times I'm pretty convinced that it would be my next lens for my pocket is not deep for major name versions. Keep up the good work and decent reviews, God bless!
Christopher Frost Photography That's good to hear from you sir, I'm really looking forward to this lens, I can't wait for you to review it. Thank you and more power to you good sir.
Thank you for another great review, if possible i would really appreciate it if you review the Sigma 12-24mm/4.5-5.6 ll DG. Its the only full frame lens that would still give me an ultra wide range on my current crop sensor and i can still keep when i upgrade to full frame. i don't know if there are others that fit this description !
It's mean to be great! It's on my 'to do' list
Hi Chris, love your videos! Any chance you can review the tamron 24-70mm f2.8 vc lens? Your videos always cover every aspect and I use your channel before buying any lens :)
It's definitely on my 'to do' list, as it's meant to be very nice indeed (although I don't always love Tamron's image stabilization), but I have a few other lenses I'm covering first... :-)
Ok great, thanks for the reply :D
sorry sir which one is the best and sharpest one between zeiss milvus 21 f2.8 japan or nikon nano 20 f1.8 g ed made in china? is this have a problem about distorsion sir if i use with d7000 and d700? could u please to give me some info,thank u very much
I have absolutely no idea!
Is it for Sony E mount?
Hello, would you recommend the Nikon 20mm 1.8 over the Sigma 20mm 1.4 for the Nikon D500 for various subject matter?
Haven't tried that Nikon lens but I hear it's very good, so it might just come down to how much money you wanna spend
Do you test your lenses using autofocus? Most of the times I find that manually focusing using 10x live view produced sharper results. I think when you test 'sharpness' sometimes it could just be a test of its autofocus system rather than the glass quality itself. What do you think?
If the lens is sharp in the middle, then the AF has done its job correctly. If its not sharp in the middle, then test further using manual to see if you can get more sharpness
Interesting, you gave the Sigma 20mm 1.4 such a great review :)
It's a great lens - but I hear the Nikon is very good too :-)
To be honest the Nikon seems much easier, lighter and more practical, but the 1.4 on the Sigma is alluring
do you have any information, how does it work withe the mc11 ? in particularly the af-c in video mode.
No idea, sorry!
I imagine it probably won't work very well.
Hi Christopher, can you please review the Samyang 20mm f/1.8? Great video, by the way.
I will do, one day :-)
Any chance you could review Sigma's 28mm F/1.8 lens Chris? :)
Hmm, I'm not really thinking about that one - it's a bit old, and 28mm is a tiny bit boring to me haha. Maybe one day when I've gotten some other lenses out the way :-)
Hey Christopher. Since I've got the 6D I'm planning on selling my 600D and all the lenses. When I've done that, I might aswell spend some cash on this lens :) I have the Samyang 14mm F/2.8, 24mm F/1.4 and the 35mm F/1.4, so having a 20mm F/1.8 wouldn't be bad. I heard you got it on ebay. From which country did you purchase it? :)
Sincerely
MrRapala91
I got it in the UK. To be honest, you won't really need the 20mm f/1.8 if you have the 24mm f/1.4, but, hey, it's your choice :-)
Christopher Frost Photography Well, I'm thinking that this lens would replace my Tokina 11-16. Since 11-16 is equivalent to 18-26mm :) And I mostly used it at around 11-13 mm. So I think it fits perfectly in there. I'm doing a lot of astrophotography :)
Christopher Frost Photography Hey Christopher! Just bought the Sigma 20mm F/1.8 on ebay! Got it for around 200 pounds, used but in new condition. However, I got the one in the old design on the outside, with different plastics and a different focus ring. Can't wait! (^_^)
MrRapala91
Cool! I actually quite miss this lens, it really is fun.
+MrRapala91 How is sigma 20 1.8 for astrography ?
Excuse me my lens is made in Japan and does not have af and m button on the side . The autofocus works good with my Nikon D800 but not work on Nikon D5200. Please help can I have autofocus in D5200,? because D5200 doesn't have build in motor. And my sigma 20mm is different version than this lens you show.
+Parwez Sultani I have no idea about Nikon AF issues - sorry
no af on the d5200 since it doesn't have a motor
I bought this lens for my 5D mark 1 and it didn't fit 🙄😭😭
It should do. You must have bought the wrong version of the lens - you need to buy the Canon version
Hi.
nice review but i think ill pass on the lens 😅
smoking crack hehehe!!!
i lov u man!!!!!!!
the price difference new is $200
Well, it's up to you. I'd probably go for the Nikon for the smaller size and lower price
I don't like Sigmas. Get real glas instead.
Does that count for the new 50mm and 35mm f/1.4 'Art' lenses, or the 18-35mm f/1.8 'Art' - some of the sharpest lenses ever made?
Olof has obviously not kept up with Sigma news over the past 2-3 years.
I assume that all the Clients that you have find the optical quality of your glass to be sub-par. Or, is it that you just think it's bad? Either way, maybe you should be getting more obsessed with reading books about Photography, or something. That way you actually learn something rather than looking at extreme corners at 100% and wasting your time because good glass doesn't make a good photographer.