I've been reading a lot of info on Sigma's 50mm f/1.4. Mostly bad news, but a fair share of good reports. With all the thousands of 50's floating around out there, and only a handful of bad reports, I figured there must be quite a few good copies of this lens. So I went to a local shop, who had 4 copies in stock ( bad sign ), and tried them all out. Serial numbers were in the 1015 to 1016 range. 3 out of 4 were excellent copies, with only one showing minor front focusing, but man talk about bokeh! Better than anything I've seen before. So I couldn't resist...and took one home. I quess the reason for this post is to say to people, If your interested in this lens make sure you try more than one before buying, and take your laptop along for comparing lenses. Sample photo @ f/1.4. C&C welcome.
I loved mine. The bokeh is something special indeed, but in the end I found it a bit boring. Anyhow, it is one of the very best normal lenses ever made, in my opinion. I've tried almost everything there is for Nikon mount, and the Sigma gives best sharpness (perceived, not MTF) at f/1,4 and has the smoothest bokeh.
It's probably my favorite lens...I quite using my 28-70/2.8L for it. You'd have a hard time convincing me it's not the best value in an AF lens out there right now.
I just took my first pics with mine last night (on 5D). Bokeh is very, very nice. I took all shots wide open just to get a feel for how it would do and the shots that were nailed were sharp, some very sharp. I did notice some CA, not terrible, but will continue to observe to see how and when it appears. It takes me a while to get a good feel for a lens but after 1 night it was quite pleasing.
IMO it is a thing of beauty, it does wonders on my 5D and new Mk2's. I have to fight with my son to get him to take it off his 50D. Sigma would seem to be getting a tighter grip on QC and are really turning out some interesting lens.
Yeah, the bigger problems with the lens are generally at long distance (20 feet,
and out). Of course, one is unlikely to shoot wide open at long distance anyway,
so this is less of a practical problem than it first seems. It is present on my
copy, though.
My only focusing issues are right near MFD wide open...it'll sway to the front JUST a smidge. It usually still catches the focus point in the DOF, but barely. By f/1.8, the small focus shift in the lens will correct that very small front focus, and the same happens when shooting even a couple feet from MFD. As I almost NEVER shoot at f/1.4 and MFD, it's never really been an issue for me, as I required more DOF when shooting that close 99% of the time.
Very happy with mine which I bought here on FM; so didn't have an opportunity to check out more copies. But planning to send to Sigma for a check and calibration anyway. Never had service from Sigma so I'm hoping for excellent customer service.
packrobottom wrote:
is it me or all all these images soft? besides the baby ones.
I agree. The first dog shot looks like it might be back-focused, but it is hard to tell. The second dog shot is soft. And the shot after the baby ones is (mildly) soft as well. I can't see any in-focus plane, so camera shake/low shutter speed maybe?
ulrikft wrote:
The sigma 50 1.4 is everything but soft Hard to tell from web-sized images though
Not saying the lens isn't capable of producing sharp results, just that several of the images posted here seemed soft even at the small web resolutions.
), and tried them all out. Serial numbers were in the 1015 to 1016 range. 3 out of 4 were excellent copies, with only one showing minor front focusing, but man talk about bokeh! Better than anything I've seen before. So I couldn't resist...and took one home. I quess the reason for this post is to say to people, If your interested in this lens make sure you try more than one before buying, and take your laptop along for comparing lenses. Sample photo @ f/1.4. C&C welcome.
Anyhow, it is one of the very best normal lenses ever made, in my opinion. I've tried almost everything there is for Nikon mount, and the Sigma gives best sharpness (perceived, not MTF) at f/1,4 and has the smoothest bokeh.