A bit over forty years ago I bought my first Sigma lens from Willoughby’s in New York City. It was a slow 80-200mm zoom that was less than half the price of the comparable Yashica model, which I couldn’t affort at the time.

Images from the lens looked okay to my newbie eyes. Until I switched to Canon a few years later and added Canon’s consumer-level 80-200mm. What a difference! Yes, in price, too; but it was worth it. Still, I was grateful that Sigma filled the budget niche back in those days.

No more. Mr. Yamaki took his father’s company upmarket, challenging the main brands using their own mounts. I’ve enjoyed shooting with a number of Sigma lenses over the past several years. But every single one of them turned out to have a “but:” “but” poor stabilization, “but” mediocre autofocus, “but” poor focus accuracy, and the list goes on.

Just before heading off on my current ventures, I (too) hastily added a 17mm f/4 L-mount Sigma as the one autofocus lens in my arsenal. It’s plenty sharp and focuses accurately. BUT it has a complex distortion signature that neither Lightroom nor the SL2 or SL2-S can correct properly. See the slight pincushion as well as internal distortion in the shot below, made using Perspective Control.

I’d really like to like Sigma glass, “but” . . .

Leon Cathedral (side view), Leon, Spain . . .