p.1 #1 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Alright, I probably could have added to an existing thread, but I know a number of you were interested in my take on this, so I figured I'd start my own. As some of you know, I've been using the 50G for a while, and love it. It's a great combination of compact size/weight and optical quality. However due to the persist foaming-at-the-mouth-with-accolades posts I've read here and elsewhere over the Sigma, I figured I'd put my money where my mouth is and actually get one of my own to compare.
Long story short, it's absolutely true that wide-open the Sigma 50mm f/1.4 has an incredibly smooth character to its bokeh. If that's your thing, the Sigma is for you. Even in my limited testing, the results are pretty consistent. Thankfully this doesn't appear to come at any particular cost in other quality criteria - no unusual CA in bokeh, etc. Further testing may reveal something else, but so far my first impressions are good.
HOWEVER - one thing I'm also seeing consistently is that stopped down, the picture starts to change and the Sigma and Nikkor become closer and closer in terms of bokeh characteristics to where they're about even around f/2.8, and the bokeh smoothness award then starts to tilt in the 50G's favor. The Sigma gets rougher and rougher. Doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me, but I'm seeing it in every test I've done so far. Needless to say, a lot of folks who buy these types of lenses buy them expressly to shoot between f/1.4-f/2.8, so it may not be a huge consideration. But if you're looking for a high quality "sharp" prime and won't be taking advantage of the wide aperture, you may want to look closely at both lenses.
In any case, here's what I have so far. I've been really slammed all day so I wasn't able to get a wide variety of shooting done.
All these samples were processed as identically as possible in Lightroom, with minor (1/3rd stop) exposure tweaks) to account for the slight variation in AE'ing throughout the shots (partly due to the Sigma 50mm actually being more like 47mm):
p.1 #3 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Nice test, did you shoot both of the lenses at the same shutter speed for each aperture? If not, that is something I really want to see. Don't correct for exposure in LR. Out of camera JPGs would be perfect!
p.1 #5 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
I find sigma's have QC issues with various users, but my lenses that I've had in the past and currently have (24-70 f/2.8 on canon and my 30mm f/1.4) have been great.
p.1 #7 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
basically, from everything i'm seeing.... the nikkor 50g is a great all around standard lens. decent wide open and better as you stop down. the sigma is a lens made for being used at wide open/nearly wide open, and it doesn't get much better past f2.8. i'm thinking sigma thought about why people would buy a 50mm f1.4 and what they'd use it for. most don't buy a 1.4 lens to stop it down to 4.0. i'm getting the impression that they built the lens with this idea in mind. on the other hand, some people won't want these kind of characteristics in a lens and in that case you shouldn't buy the sigma.
on a side note, has anyone had trouble opening raw files taken with the sigma in capture NX2? most of them will open up just find, but some of them seem to just freeze up the program.
p.1 #8 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
I heard that compliant as well but I loaded up my files with 2.1.0 and they have all worked flawlessly for me. I love this lens as well. I am using it wide open for most of the time and I needed that extra performance for practically the same price. This is my first Sigma lens so I will see how it holds up for me. If it falls apart at me then I will look the other way but really how much can the Nikon take? Is it really that much better built?
p.1 #9 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Brody LeBlanc wrote:
basically, from everything i'm seeing.... the nikkor 50g is a great all around standard lens. decent wide open and better as you stop down. the sigma is a lens made for being used at wide open/nearly wide open, and it doesn't get much better past f2.8. i'm thinking sigma thought about why people would buy a 50mm f1.4 and what they'd use it for. most don't buy a 1.4 lens to stop it down to 4.0. i'm getting the impression that they built the lens with this idea in mind. on the other hand, some people won't want these kind of characteristics in a lens and in that case you shouldn't buy the sigma.
on a side note, has anyone had trouble opening raw files taken with the sigma in capture NX2? most of them will open up just find, but some of them seem to just freeze up the program. ...Show more →
Exact same issue with me. View NX and Capture NX seem to choke randomly on some of the Sigma files. It frustrated me enough to get the new Nikkor. Both are great lenses. I've found the wide open performance of the Nikkor to be very similar to the Sigma. All in all, I prefer the compactness and reduced weight of the nikkor.
p.1 #10 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
RS Charland wrote:
Exact same issue with me. View NX and Capture NX seem to choke randomly on some of the Sigma files. It frustrated me enough to get the new Nikkor. Both are great lenses. I've found the wide open performance of the Nikkor to be very similar to the Sigma. All in all, I prefer the compactness and reduced weight of the nikkor.
I remember reading Capture NX was having problems opening files when the Sigma was used. The issue seemed to be resolved with version 2.1.1 update. The other known fix is to turn off vignette control in camera. I believe the default setting is normal.
p.1 #11 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Brody LeBlanc wrote:
basically, from everything i'm seeing.... the nikkor 50g is a great all around standard lens. decent wide open and better as you stop down. the sigma is a lens made for being used at wide open/nearly wide open, and it doesn't get much better past f2.8. i'm thinking sigma thought about why people would buy a 50mm f1.4 and what they'd use it for. most don't buy a 1.4 lens to stop it down to 4.0. i'm getting the impression that they built the lens with this idea in mind.
I think this is a pretty fair assessment.
As for build quality - the 50G's build quality is an unknown for the most part. It feels very solid, with a good feel to the focus ring. It has a gasket at the lens mount, but it's unknown whether it's really "weather sealed" in terms of the other potential entry points in the lens. Time will tell, but it certainly doesn't seem poorly made (neither does the Sigma).
A few other things - in terms of weight, the Sigma is nearly twice the weight, but honestly I can't "feel" a big difference when mounted to the D700. If they were both mounted to a D60, it would be a much bigger difference but at this point it wouldn't be enough of a reason to abandon the Sigma. Here are the lenses, side-by-side:
As for focusing, a lot of people have characterized the Sigma as being really fast, but I can't agree. The Sigma is probably quicker, but it's not lightning fast. The more important thing which I haven't determined yet is which one is most accurate, time will tell there. The Sigma's focusing motor is quiet over all, but it's noisier than the Nikkor's, and for lack of a better term is "less refined" sounding. The Nikkor has a nice, precise "swoosh" sound to it, locking on confidently. The Sigma has a weird, almost gritty sound to it with a light "clunk" at each end - not exactly confidence inspiring, but what it means in a practical sense is anyone's guess.
As for which one I'll keep? I'm not really sure. I typically don't shoot with my 50's wide-open all the time - on a FF camera, the shallowness of the DoF becomes problematic for what I shoot. The allure of "wow that's thin DoF" wore of on me ages ago. I typically use my 50's between f/2 and f/2.8, so the Sigma's advantage there doesn't really apply much. The Nikkor's size means that it's a no-brainer to include in any bag and will fit well nice on a D60, which I may get for an upcoming trip to Europe, so... I think I will probably live with both for a while and try to shoot a wide range of stuff and see if the Sigma's superior optics stand out enough to warrant keeping it around.
p.1 #12 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Thanks Sam for the very nice insights. Have you noticed any difference in focus accuracy (not necessarily speed) between the 2 lenses? This is the one thing that's still giving me pause about the Sigma.
p.1 #13 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
skimmel wrote:
Thanks Sam for the very nice insights. Have you noticed any difference in focus accuracy (not necessarily speed) between the 2 lenses? This is the one thing that's still giving me pause about the Sigma.
As I said above, not yet. Will probably be a while before I have a feel for each lens.
This may be a bit of an explanation as to why the Nikkor is a bit smoother stopped down - they both use 9 curved blades, but stopped down to f/4, to my eyes, the Nikkor's aperture is "rounder":
p.1 #14 · Another Sigma 50/1.4 vs. Nikkor 50/1.4G Thread
Very interesting test! The difference seems smaller than what other non A/B tests have shown, which probably is because of the testers wanting one or the other to look better.
One bad thing with the Nikkors bokeh is that it seems to get very much uglier at larger focusing distances. Could you perhaps try something like the first shots (wide open), but with focus at like 4-5 meters away? Close up, I really like the Nikkor though (I just bought one myself).
I've also noticed some quite heavy focus shift when stopping down the Nikkor. It doesn't bother me since I mainly shoot it wide open, but others could find it annoying.
f/1.4
Jan 15, 2009 at 12:48 AM
