Wide

Yesterday, I bought a new lens for my Sony α6700. I promised DW that this would be the last lens that I would need for this camera.

Yeah, sure.

After I made the video of our hike around Orphan Lake, along Lake Superior, which was almost exclusively shot with the Sony, decided that my α6700 would get a lot more video use. And sure, the 16–50mm kit lens is fine for what I want to do, I also wanted a better-quality lens and I wanted to be able to go wider than what the kit lens could give me.

After all, on a crop-sensor camera, the 16mm focal length is essentially 24mm after the 1.5-times conversion.

I'm pretty sure that my friend who hired me, earlier this year, to take some real-estate photos for her, has decided not to use me any more. When I asked about more work, after the first job, she told me that things were pretty slow.

It's been slow for more than six months so I can take the hint.

When I took those photos, I used my Nikon D750 with my 24–70mm f/2.8 lens. It was wide enough to do the job but I would have liked to have shot a bit wider for some of the tight spaces. I had a Sigma 10–20mm wide-angle lens but left it at home because it was designed for a crop-sensor camera, and I wanted the full-frame power of my Nikon D750.

This lens wouldn't work as well with a full-frame camera body and I didn't want to risk shooting with it, only to find later that the shots just weren't good enough.

Since I've had my Sony α6700, it's been my prime camera. In fact, the only time I've used my Nikon D750 since I've had the Sony was when I took some comparative photos to see if I even needed the Nikon anymore.

I've decided to keep the Nikon, for now. I'll use it with my photo club—though, I haven't been to a meetup since the spring—and when I want to take artsy photos—also, something I haven't done in a few months.

Because the Sony is much lighter than the Nikon, I've decided that the α6700 will be my vacation camera. With my kit lens and the 70–350mm lens, I have a great range for capturing all kinds of images.

But after the Orphan Lake video, I want to have a wider range for recording myself and also wanted to have something wider for stills, should my friend really be having a slow period and wants to use me for real-estate shoots down the road.

(DW said that. I think that ship has sailed.)

Anyway, a few months ago, I looked up the Sigma 10–18mm f/2.8 DC DN lens. The company released a video, starring their CEO, who talked about the quality of this small yet versatile lens. I also watched some third-party reviews and other videos about the "top three lenses you need for your Sony α6700," and this lens was one of them (the others are the Sony 70–350mm lens that I already had and another lens that I've since forgotten but couldn't afford, anyway).

Because my old 10–20mm lens was also a Sigma, I knew I was getting good quality for the price. And as soon as the 10–18mm f/2.8 lens went on sale (it was $100 off), I visited my local Henry's Camera shop to pick it up.

Except, they didn't have one in stock.

I ordered it, anyway, and figured that I would have it in a week or so. That was at the end of August.

A couple of weeks after I ordered the lens, I reached out to the salesperson to check the status. He told me that he was surprised that he hadn't heard anything from his purchasing department but he would fire off a message to them and get back to me when he received news.

Another couple of weeks went by and there was still no word from my sales guy, so I contacted him again (we were in touch by e-mail). When he responded, he was perplexed that he wasn't receiving a status on the lens. Once again, he said he'd contact the Toronto HQ and find out what the holdup is, and would get back to me.

Before the Thanksgiving weekend, I fired off one more message to my salesperson, simply asking the status of the lens and wishing him a good long weekend. After sending my message, I told myself that if there was still no word, I would cancel the order and perhaps look elsewhere.

I've been dealing with this salesperson for almost a year, when DW traded in her old Canon M50 gear for the R7, and he's been very helpful, giving us some deals on equipment and accessories, even when they aren't on sale. When I traded in my Nikon D7200, a bunch of lenses, and my old Minolta X-700, he bumped up the trade-in value.

Truth be told, I actually forgot about the lens this week. I've been so preoccupied with plans for the Camino Portugués trip that I've been concentrating on getting gear for that trip, though I'm planning to bring my Sony α6700 with me.

Yesterday morning, the Henry's salesperson e-mailed me with news that he finally had my lens in the store. And 30 minutes after that notification, I had the lens in my hands.

As what I think was his way of apologizing for the delay, he took another $20 off the sale price of the lens. I also traded in my Sigma 10–20mm lens for Nikon. He originally quoted $83 as the trade-in value, but he bumped it up to an even $100.

I kind of feel bad that I considered cancelling the order.

For my first test shots, I went to my backyard, where we still have some flowers in bloom, despite the frost we had last weekend. We also had some vines that had grown on part of our fence and had changed to fall colours.

I got right up to a cluster of hydrangeas, at the lens' widest setting:

Next I got close to the fence with the lens at its maximum zoom:

I'm planning to get out over the next few weeks to test how this lens works on videos. Stay tuned.

Happy Friday!