One of the first things I do EVERYDAY is scour the web for some great deal on camera gear. I’m a gear hound – I admit it. I search craigslist, Adorama, B&H, KEH, Amazon, etc. I even peruse the many online forums for an inside tip on great gear for sale.
It’s not that I need more gear. Wait, I take that back. Of course I need more gear! My recent purchase was a total surpirse to me. I stopped at my local camera store to take a serious look at the Sigma 10-20mm lens. That is a SUPER wide angle lens. Most people use it for landscape shots. It’s like looking through your peep hole on your front door. I already knew what I wanted it for. I wanted it for wedding photos.
So many times I’m at a reception and I want just a couple of shots of the whole room. I’m trying to capture the feeling of the the room and not just the area in front of me. Here’s an example:
You really have to watch it when you take ‘people’ photos with a lens like this. They’ll end up looking so distorted – almost alien-like. This shot was taken with my FujiFilm S5 Pro camera and the Sigma 10-20mm zoom lens set to 10mm at f4.
Anyway, back to my purchase. I was at my local camera shop. They know me there and I give them my business whenever I can. I took my camera with me for the sole purpose of trying the Sigma lens on my camera and taking a few sample shots before laying down my hard earned money. By the way, this is good to do anytime you want to try out new gear. Try it out on your own camera and take test shots. I told Bob at Filco I’d be back to get the lens in a day or two – after I go home and upload my sample photos to my PC so I could evaluate them. So what do I do, I go home and check craigslist like I always do and low and behold theres the exact same lens I’ve spent months researching and for half the price! I called, met with Kira, handed over my mola and been happy ever since. I love it when I can save a few bucks. Luck-eeee!
I’m still expermenting with the lens but I’ve used it at two weddings already and I like the results.
-g
