p.1 #1 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
i'm on my second sigma 50 1.4. had the old one with old finish and on my d700 it just was back focusing and also very soft so I sold it and picked up a new one with the new finish from BHphoto.
Lens focuses properly and doesn't back or front focus's so far however @ 1.4 wide open it still seems soft especially compared to my sigma 35 1.4
What I mean is @ 1.4... the images are perfectly in focus but they seem soft as in not contrasty??
does that make any sense?
I AF fine tuned against a chart and +10 was the best out of the bunch from -20 to +20
I have made a +10 adjustment using AF Fine tune and it seems to help but it still seems soft.
here are some examples.
i see so many people say they have a "super"razor""sharp as a tack" copy
it makes me think either it really is that sharp wide open OR everyone has different levels of acceptable sharpness wide open and they all have different versions of "razor" and sharp as a tack" definitions.
These are all SOOC and converted from Raw to Jpeg and that's it. no exposure/clarity/contrast/sharpness added just SOOC.
Part of me understands that the reason we have AF fine tuning is because every lens camera combo is different.. I just hate being that guy that had the odd combo mean while so many others have no issues and like to say they needed 0 AF fine tuning on their setups.
Here is a test chart with camera/lens from about 2 ft away and with +10 AF fine tuning.
p.1 #4 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
Are you wondering why the lens isn't sharp and "contrasty" wide open ? That would be because no lens is as sharp or has as much contrast wide open as it does stopped down.
Stop shooting test charts and take pictures. Shooting wide open with the attendant razor thin depth of field and expecting every shot to be spot on is unrealistic. The pictures of your wife are fine, her eyes are in focus, they're nice pictures.
p.1 #5 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
Steve Torelli wrote:
Are you wondering why the lens isn't sharp and "contrasty" wide open ? That would be because no lens is as sharp or has as much contrast wide open as it does stopped down.
Stop shooting test charts and take pictures. Shooting wide open with the attendant razor thin depth of field and expecting every shot to be spot on is unrealistic. The pictures of your wife are fine, her eyes are in focus, they're nice pictures.
I understand and I agree that I hate being "that guy" that shoots test charts.
I normally do not shot test charts and love shooting. I love focusing on the creative side not the gear side...
its just that sometimes you read on the forums and see other users post pictures of their lenses and they claim they are shooting @ 1.4 wide open and their words are usually:
:My copy is razor sharp, needed no AF fine tune and is sharp as a tack" and you look at the pictures and they have great bokeh and the in focus subject looks nice and contrasty as if they stopped down to f2 or f2.8
peoples threshold for whats acceptable is such a wide range these days so its hard to figure out whats good/bad/acceptable etc....
theres only one lens I have seen that is sharp and contrasty wide open @ 1.4 and that is the not yet released Zeiss 50 1.4 that is still in development.
p.1 #6 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
nextelbuddy wrote:
i'm on my second sigma 50 1.4. had the old one with old finish and on my d700 it just was back focusing and also very soft so I sold it and picked up a new one with the new finish from BHphoto.
Lens focuses properly and doesn't back or front focus's so far however @ 1.4 wide open it still seems soft especially compared to my sigma 35 1.4
What I mean is @ 1.4... the images are perfectly in focus but they seem soft as in not contrasty??
does that make any sense?
I AF fine tuned against a chart and +10 was the best out of the bunch from -20 to +20
I have made a +10 adjustment using AF Fine tune and it seems to help but it still seems soft.
here are some examples.
i see so many people say they have a "super"razor""sharp as a tack" copy
it makes me think either it really is that sharp wide open OR everyone has different levels of acceptable sharpness wide open and they all have different versions of "razor" and sharp as a tack" definitions.
These are all SOOC and converted from Raw to Jpeg and that's it. no exposure/clarity/contrast/sharpness added just SOOC.
Part of me understands that the reason we have AF fine tuning is because every lens camera combo is different.. I just hate being that guy that had the odd combo mean while so many others have no issues and like to say they needed 0 AF fine tuning on their setups.
Here is a test chart with camera/lens from about 2 ft away and with +10 AF fine tuning.
p.1 #7 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
I thought the 50mm is known for its smooth bokeh, not its sharpness. The 35mm on the other hand has been known to be very sharp. So, it may not be comparable in terms of sharpness
p.1 #9 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
I think I see flare, spherical aberrations, LoCA, etc. and obviously they will be worse at wide apertures. Aberrations may also be worse at close distances. Are you expecting a miraculously sharp lens for $450?
the spherical aberration was worse with 0 AF fine tune. it had a very green tint to the text area instead of black.. tuning to +10 resolved that and now text is black just a bit soft which i take is normal for these types of lenses especially wide open.
I had to AF fine tune my brand new 85 1.4 to +6 as well to remove purple aberration and bring the text back to black.
the spherical aberration was worse with 0 AF fine tune. it had a very green tint to the text area instead of black.. tuning to +10 resolved that and now text is black just a bit soft which i take is normal for these types of lenses especially wide open.
I had to AF fine tune my brand new 85 1.4 to +6 as well to remove purple aberration and bring the text back to black.
p.1 #13 · Anyone's Sigma 50 1.4 sharp but soft at the same time?
Is there some sort of rule that says that you're not allowed to go outside into a more controllable lighting situation to shoot focus tests? Is it required to use things that are round and tightly packed so you can't know exactly where the focus point is? I keep seeing backlit blown out backgrounds and dimly illuminated coke cans diagonally arranged on kitchen tables at midnight. Is there an instruction manual somewhere that says to do this?
Seems to me that if you set up your tripod outside during the day in open shade, and scotch taped a newspaper to the garage door, you'd get clearer results.
