If you are like me and love to shoot landscapes in Infrared, when it comes to lenses, the wider the better. Wide angle, no lets go Ultra wide.
Yesterday I took advantage of the end of the year sales and picked a Sigma 8-16mm lens.
Now let me say up front I bought this lens, Sigma did not provide it, so I am going to give you my straight out feelings.
It…is…Awesome!
I walked out early this morning to test this lens and discovered that winter was definitely here; it was 8 degrees. I went to the only place I knew would look good for test shots, the Missouri Botanical Gardens. Wrapped up in the same gear I used to hike on a Glacier I went for a walk with the new lens attached to my Super Color converted Canon SL1.
I told myself I’d just go and take a couple of images, but that did not happen. 
My first concern was what all of us shooting Infrared face; was there going to be a Hotspot?
Please,.. No. And there wasn’t! YES!
Second, will the lens calibration on my camera play well with this lens? It does!
Once I started shooting I was impressed with the speed and silence of the autofocus. In this weather I was happy it didn’t just freeze up, literally.
The lens functioned perfectly and I’m sure once Spring arrives I will be putting it to great use.
If you are considering a wide angle lens, . . . . go Ultra wide.
If you want to check out the full specs on this lens, you can click here.
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Dan Wampler
Dan Wampler is a digital artist from St Louis, MO. Having been interested in art and photography since childhood, he spent most of adult life working for Kodak and in the portrait photography industry. A student of the works of Ansel Adams, Any Warhol, and David Hamilton, Dan attempted to keep a wide range of artistic style.
As an early adopter of digital imaging, he found it gave him a way to completely incorporate art and photography. Began shooting Digital Infrared in 2004, and had first camera converted in 2006. His work has been seen in numerous gallery shows, is featured in an iTunes app. He produces Infrared and natural color digital art for sale and teaches his post-production techniques online.
Dan is LifePixel's Creative Director, social media manager, lead blog author, main workshops and training sessions instructor. His images appear in this gallery and throughout the website.
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Would love to know the apertures you’re shooting at, because I love this lens on my other Nikons, but on my D7000 conversion it is hotspot central. And I’d be curious to know if there’s an aperture range where it’s less troublesome?
Jake, I use this lens mostly in the range of f11 -f22. I have used it with similar results on a Canon T3i, Canon 50D, Canon SL1, & Canon 7DMKII. As the samples show, I had no issue with hotspots.
Dan, these are beautiful. Unfortunately, I don’t have the $$ to buy anymore equipment. And, as you know, I can’t put filters on my Fuji. At this point, I’m just doing color and using some awesome filters from Smart Photo Editor. It gives me many different filter options. Some day I might buy Glow but the end of the year and beginning of the next is a costly time. Best to you!