About 10 years ago, one of my oldest friends died. He kindly left me a sum of money to play with. I’d just got back into photography, and was at that time using a Sony R1. I liked the interface, and the handling. Around the same time, Sony released the A850 as a cheaper alternative to the A900, and that, and a couple of lenses, were within my reach because of my friend’s kindness.
So, an A850 went on the shopping list… But what lenses? Well, I only needed a couple, I thought. And who needs a bagful of prime lenses? A nice wide angle zoom, and a long-ish telezoom would surely suffice. The Sony 70-300G had been well-reviewed, and who needs anything longer than 300mm, right? The wide angle presented a bit of a dilemma, but after reading a few reviews, I settled on the Sigma 24-70 f2.8 IF EX DG. It was a big, heavy lump of glass, with a big front element to let the light in. Due to its girth, it’s become known as FatSig.
I’ve always been impressed with it. Other lenses have been and gone over the years, but old FatSig remains with me.

The 70-300 gave way to a 70-400, then a 150-500, then a 150-600. And of course…only two lenses? What was I thinking? I discovered M42 adapters, and the fun of finding old lenses to use. 50mm M42 lenses made me realise I might need a 50mm AF lens as well… And, oh, look, there’s a second hand Minolta 50mm f1.7 on eBay!
Still, though, FatSig was always there. It has nice contrast and lovely colours.
Sometimes you feel the need to go a bit wider than 24mm, so yes, you might need a Cosina 19-35, or a Sigma 17-35, or a Tokina 20-35. So each of them was duly experimented with, and the last remains with me. The Tokina is a nice lens too, for the the price.
And, of course, when I moved to the telephotos that started at 150mm, there was now a gap between them and the top of the Sigma’s range. Some experiments later, I ended up with the Minolta 100-200 which I still have – a sharp lens with lovely colours.
As time goes by, the lens bag has filled with more lenses (mostly cheap and fun). But the Sigma 24-70, good old FatSig, remains in the bag.
Ten years of use, dropped once and fixed once, still a lovely thing.