The Sigma Mini-Wide 28mm f/2.8, a compact wide-angle lens known for its versatility and affordability, was first released in its original version in 1978. The lens, a retrofocus design, is very compact and has a close focusing distance of 0.22 meters. The original iteration of the lens was followed by the Sigma Mini-Wide II, introduced in 1985, which featured a slightly different design with fewer glass elements. The lens was made available in various mounts, including Canon FD, Contax/Yashica, Konica AR, and the PK version used for this review.
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On an APS-C digital SLR camera fitted with a 1.5x crop sensor, as in this case a 10.2MP CCD Pentax K-m, the lens has an equivalent focal length of 42.8mm on a 35mm full-frame camera. This focal length is close enough to be considered the perfect normal lens, often described as roughly equal to the diagonal of the sensor or film format, which is 43.3mm.
By contrast, the 40mm focal length has gained a marked increase in attention, especially in the genres of street, travel, and documentary photography, as enthusiasts began to discover the unique balance of characteristics the focal length offers.
Positioned between the widely popular 35mm and 50mm options, this focal length offers a natural perspective that closely resembles human vision while providing versatility across multiple photography genres. The focal length is known for its ability to capture realistic and natural-looking images with a perspective that mimics what the human eye sees.
The Sigma Mini-Wide 28mm 1:2.8, a 7-element in 6-groups design with 6 blades and a very strong macro capability (which was explicitly used here), comes with an aperture range from f/2.8 to f/22, a focus throw of 180°, takes 52mm filters, and weighs around 205 grams. Praised for its compact size and macro capabilities, the lens provides good contrast and color reproduction but may exhibit chromatic aberration, especially at wider apertures, with sharpness improving significantly when stopped down to down to f/5.6 and f/8 or smaller.
As a standard kit, the lens is normally supplied with a sculptured 'Sigma Perfect Hood,' said to be more effective than an ordinary round hood. While most lens hoods for wide-angle lenses are designed short to avoid vignetting, they do tend to invite the sun, or other light sources, to cause flare and reflections. The Sigma design strives to eliminate these and has made it possible to use the lens to shoot 20° closer to the subject than other 28mm lenses.
The lens, though, is not without its faults. Many users commented that the lens tends to haze, some badly, while others appear as micro droplets that are still wet (I had a couple of these as well). This was brought about, it seems, by the coating material that was used then. While a few with dexterous fingers and a high skill set did manage to rectify the fault to some extent, others just let it be while they moved on to other interests.
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