The type of photography that you are planning to use is an important decision factor. Here we have evaluated the Sony 16mm F2.8 Fisheye and the Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM for their suitability to various photography scenarios:
Size and Weight Comparison
The size of a lens is a crucial factor to consider when comparing two lenses. Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM is the longer of the two lenses at 106mm. The Sony 16mm F2.8 Fisheye with a length of 67mm, is 39mm shorter. On the other hand, there is no difference between the max diameters of these lenses, both coming at 75mm.
The weight of a lens is equally significant as its external dimensions, particularly if you intend to handhold your camera and lens combination for extended periods. Sony 16mm F2.8 Fisheye weighs 400g, which means it is 155g (27%) lighter than the Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM which has a weight of 555g.
Lens Mounts
Both the Sony 16mm F2.8 Fisheye and the Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM has the same Sony Alpha lens mount. Some of the latest released cameras that are compatible with the Sony Alpha lenses are Sony A99 II, Sony A68 and Sony A77 II.
Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM is also available in Canon EF , Pentax KAF3, Sigma SA and Nikon F (DX) mounts.
Focal Range
Sony 16mm F2.8 Fisheye is a prime lens with fixed focal lenght of 16mm. When it is mounted on an APS-C sensor camera with 1.5x crop, it provides a 35mm (FF) equivalent of
24mm.
On the other hand, the Sigma 8-16mm F4.5-5.6 DC HSM has a focal range of 8-16mm and 2.0X zoom ratio which has an effective (full-frame 35mm equivalent) focal range of 12-24mm when used on a APS-C / DX format camera.