I bought the Sigma 50mm 1.4 a few weeks ago to replace my canon 50mm 1.4 whose AF suddenly stopped working and it was about a hundred bucks more but totally worth it. The canon 50 1.4 has some pretty harsh bokeh(for my taste) but the sigma's is so smooth. and the in focus area is just as sharp! Just wanted to encourage you if you are thinking about this lens.
I loved this lens too, but you can see why I returned mine if you search the alt board for the other two sigma 50 threads. Seems to be quite a few <10 post posters propping up this lens as of late, not implying anything just an observation
Wonder if Tokina or Tamron will enter the fast normal game any time soon.
ovredal73 wrote:
I love this lens. Very nice blog site and lots of great pictures!
Thanks! Ive been shooting with a new 85 1.2l ii lately as well (I booked some big weddings and decided to go for the "investment") and Ive noticed that the bokeh is actually very similar. I love both lenses.
bensassophotog wrote:
Thanks! Ive been shooting with a new 85 1.2l ii lately as well (I booked some big weddings and decided to go for the "investment") and Ive noticed that the bokeh is actually very similar. I love both lenses.
Yes you are quite right. They do both have this soft, beautiful OOF rendering.
I would love a trio of 35 1.4, 50 1.4 and 85 1.4 from sigma, since I'm a bit sceptical to the old 50 1.4 from nikon (no as-f :P) and I have this fetish for non-OEM gear
ulrikft wrote:
I would love a trio of 35 1.4, 50 1.4 and 85 1.4 from sigma, since I'm a bit sceptical to the old 50 1.4 from nikon (no as-f :P) and I have this fetish for non-OEM gear
I bought a Sigma 50mm 1.4 on Wednesday and have been trying to see if it has focus problems. I don't take pictures of rulers or brick walls but on my 5D it seems to nail the focus every time. I know there is a thread on FM of some twenty odd pages but I don't really want to go through all of that.
Is the problem supposed to be backfocus at distances beyond 3m? Does aperture affect the focus problems? I've been shooting at all kinds of distances at f1.4 and can see no issues (other than the DOF is quite shallow and care must be taken and that's not a problem, it's one of the reasons I bought the lens!).
Mine back focused badly until I had canon adjust my 5d. Now it front focuses quite a lot, so I have to use it manually. But when 5D II comes my way I will microadjust my way out of it
I will be purchasing a 50mm 1.4 in the next week or so and have been on the fence between the Canon and the Sigma. I have looked at a LOT of posts, images, reviews, comparisons, etc. and am still torn.
My overall impression is that if you need sharp images between 1.4 and 2.0 then certainly go with the Sigma. If you are going to be shooting anything at a distance of 20ft or more, go with the Canon. Canon seems to nail focus more times than Sigma. Sigma seems to have better bokeh. These are just my overall impressions from a lot of research over the last few days.
I will be using the lens for weddings and low light environmental portraits and am leaning toward the Sigma.
Kinda skeptical about Sigma's QC. Out of the 7 Sigmas I've had, 2 of them were defective and had to be returned. If you don't mind playing the Sigma Lens Lottery, they do design some very good lenses. All you have to do is get a good copy.
Heck, you could even say that Sigma lenses are by far the best value going... what other brand of lens saves you the trouble of having to go to Vegas to gamble? You can do that from the comfort of your own home by ordering a 50/1.4!
e_dawg wrote:
Kinda skeptical about Sigma's QC. Out of the 7 Sigmas I've had, 2 of them were defective and had to be returned. If you don't mind playing the Sigma Lens Lottery, they do design some very good lenses. All you have to do is get a good copy.
Heck, you could even say that Sigma lenses are by far the best value going... what other brand of lens saves you the trouble of having to go to Vegas to gamble? You can do that from the comfort of your own home by ordering a 50/1.4!
I have had similar problems with canon OEM-products too.
Sigmas are great if you have a good return policy, or even better: if you can test them in the store. Then they can't be beat for price/performance. The 50 1.4 is far better built than the nikon and canon counterparts
This is a timely post for me; I just yesterday tested my new Sigma 50 f1.4 (on my 40D) for the AF at distances issue. I shot a building from maybe 60 feet from the front (with the tripod/ballhead leveled by bubble), with mirror lockup and electronic cable release. I shot at all apertures. To my chagrin, it back-focused very significantly. The front of the building (I used only the center AF point, on the front) wasn't in focus till beyond f5.6, but the roof, which slopes away from the front back and up to the peak, was very sharp at all apertures.
I'm going to send it along with the camera to Sigma to have them adjust it for the camera. I like the IQ so much that it'll be worth the wait if it comes back focusing properly.
I'm expecting a 30 1.4 to arrive Wednesday, so I won't send the 50 till I've tested the 30!
(former owner of a 30/1.4)