Small & Mighty / Sigma 16-28mm 2.8 C
- drwhite75
- Nov 5
- 6 min read
Over the last few months I've been using the Sigma 16-28mm 2.8 C lens in place of my Sigma 14-24mm 2.8 Art lens. I've done this for a few reasons.
Hiking pack weight
Smaller hiking backpack
Flat front, accepts filters when needed.
Smaller overall camera & lens combo.
A few features of the lens -
Compact size and exceptional optical quality
Bright F2.8 constant aperture
Inner zoom for optimal balance
Convenient 72mm front filter thread
Responsive and near-silent stepping focus motor
Mount with dust and splash resistant structure
TSC (Thermally Stable Composite) construction
Designed to minimize flare and ghosting
Rounded 9-blade diaphragm
Compatible with Lens Aberration Correction
It started out as a plan to only take one lens & cameras to Vermont when we dropped our daughter off at college. I knew we'd be traveling up and down the east coast and wanted something smaller than the 14-24mm. Mind you, the mirrorless version of the Sigma 14-24mm is much smaller than the DSLR version, yet the 16-28mm is still smaller and lighter.
This was my first outing with the lens and as luck would have it, we didn't get any clouds on this trip. I found myself back in Rockport, MA to check out the harbor again and take a few snapshots with the lens. Anytime I'm using a lens for the first time, what I'm really checking is how well it resolves the light onto the sensor. Meaning, how clear is the image & can these images be printed if needed. I also look for color, clarity and lens flare, if any. While editing plays a huge part in the photography process, capture is just as critcal and if you don't have a lens that can properly capture the image in front of you, then what good is it?
You may think, all lenses are "good enough" but that's not true for everyone. Every photographer I know has a different level of "acceptable quality". Some are not very high and some are exceedinly high. Over the years I've used some lenses that simply don't work well and the images captured with those lenses could never be printed larger than a postcard. No amount of photoshop or editing woud bring them back to acceptable quality in my opinion.
I didn't do as much shooting along the east coast as I had planned. Lots of snapshots but not much real photography as I call it. We wrapped up our trip and back to Colorado we went. After I got home and started looking at the images I did shoot, I realized that the lens performed very well. All the photos I took were clean and crisp. Easily printable. The conditions were dry and sunny for the trip so it seems fitting the lens would do fine. Back in Colorado & Oregon I used to lens to photograph some grand landscapes, focus stack, and some rushing water.
With the lens being nice and wide at 16mm & the mimimum focusing distance of just under 10 inches, you can get super close to your foreground to bring a bigger impact to your landscape photos. Because the lens is so small and light, you also don't have to worry about camera or lens shake during the exposures. By focus stacking the images you can see the extreme amount of detail capture from front to back and side to side. The 16-28mm is nice and sharp to begin with so the final image is even that much better.
From the B&H Website - "Weather-resistant construction with a brass bayonet that affords improved mounting accuracy and rigidity."
From Sigma's Website - "Mount with dust and splash resistant structure"
I'd never tell you that it's 100% ok to shoot in a massive downpour with any lens. I can tell you from my personal experience, that this lens held up well and I didn't have any issues with it while shooting in the rain. I also didn't leave the water on the gear for a long period of time. I'd wipe if off occasionally. I know "Weather-resistant" and "waterproof" are 2 different things so I do use caution when shooting in the rain or near water.
Knowing I didn't need to worry about a few spashes of water, I was able to photograph this scene with confidence. Even though I'm about 18" from the small casecade in the foreground, I was still getting some random splashes on the lens. I also shot this at 26mm and with the rushing water, it would be hard to focus stack. The lens performs great when you use the hyper-focal technique and your close foreground doesn't have to be tack sharp. I focused on the 2nd rock up from the bottom & by using an f-stop of 16, that was enough to bring everything I needed into focus, including the rock in front of it.
This image was shot at 19mm and because the camera was up a bit higher/further away, F/18 was perfect for bringing the entire scene into focus. The focus point for this image was right where the water starts cascading over the rocks.
Let's switch gears for a second and see how the smaller F stops work when you're shooting into the light. During the peak of Fall color here in Colorado, I often times find myself in Aspen groves towards the end of my shooting day. By this time the sun is up and over the hills as it shines through the trees. I was surprised by how well the sunstar came out when I shot up into the colorful aspen trees.
Now, let's go the other way and see what 2.8 looks like with this lens. I was over on the eastern plains of Colorado near Pawnee Buttes when I found an abundance of these pink flowers. I used F/2.8 and focused right on the top of the highest one.
I loved the soft background & close foreground. Details are razor sharp right where the lens was focused. Rendering beautiful colors in both the flowers and the sky.
As most of you know through other blog posts and possibly shooting with me on location, I do own 2 Sigma 14-24mm 2.8 lenses. One for my D850 and another for my Sony A7r4. I love them both and use them a lot. For me, it was the lighter weight, smaller size and ability to use filters on the 16-28mm 2.8 that really made me want to try it.
This small lens offers a lot in terms of image quality, value, packability and versatility.
I should also note that it performs very well at night. I've shot it several times for astro photography and while I still need to finish up those images, here is one that is ready to share.
This is an image from northern Colorado looking southwest on September 24th, 2025. The image is a blend of the cabin and the sky. All with the Sigma 16-28mm 2.8 C lens.
Cabin Details - Shot just after the sun went down - ISO 64, F/11, 20 second exposure
Sky Details - Shot about 2 hours after sunset. ISO 6400, F/2.8, 8 seconds.
If you're looking for a great lens for landscape or astro and don't want to fork over more money than you have to, check out this lens. I think you'll be very pleased with it.
If you have this lens or end up getting it, please let. me know, I'd love to see your images.
Thanks for taking the time to read and I hope you have a great day!
Darren
Comments