These 58mm shots have a similar look to the Canon L 50 f1.2. Would people that have shot both lenses here agree? I have the sigma art 50 right now, and though it is an exceptionally sharp lens and nails focus on my D850, I find the rendering to be a bit sterile
sungphoto wrote:
These 58mm shots have a similar look to the Canon L 50 f1.2. Would people that have shot both lenses here agree? I have the sigma art 50 right now, and though it is an exceptionally sharp lens and nails focus on my D850, I find the rendering to be a bit sterile
The 50L is a great lens and the 58G is a speciality lens. Both are excellent and similar yet different. I have owned the 50 Lux Asph, 50 Nocti f/1.0, 50 Cron Cron IV and now also the Leica R 50 Cron Mandler for the different types of look. I have the 50/1.4G, 50/1.8G, 50 Art, 58G and 50 Cron R Mandler. My go to lenses are the 50 Art and 58G. Personally I love the 58G but it is not for everyone
In my estimation, the 58G's rendering is unique and special from f/1.4 to f/4, or thereabouts. From f/5.6 onward it behaves like a sharp standard 50mm. If you want a 50mm that is sharp across the frame wide open and at all apertures, then the 58mm is not going to compete with the Sigma from what I read here on FM. Conversely, the Sigma probably won't match the 58's out of focus rendering wide open. I agree with Charles K that the lenses do different things depending on what you like to do yourself. I have the 58, and also the 50 f/1.8...but the 58 gets the most usage honestly, I find it my most fun lens and like that it is kind of complicated to use. That all said, I'm just a retired happy snapper, but those are my experiences and thoughts such as they are. It's interesting you consider the Sigma to have a "sterile" rendering, I'm of a mind that sharpness should not be the primary quality of a lens, I think sharpness gets a lot of discussion because it is easy to measure, the other factors like the rendering of the 58 are entirely subjective and a personal decision in regards to what you like in a lens, you might want to rent a 58 and see if it strikes your fancy.
Just swapped my Sigma Art 50 for the 58mm f1.4, in large part because I want a lens that is similar to the Canon L 50 f1.2 (I just switched from the Canon 5d4 a couple weeks ago).
I've tried the Sigma 50 f1.4 art on canon, sony and now nikon, and it along with its 35mm brother just never did it for me. Always felt like the Nikon was way too contrasty - to the point where blacks would already look a bit post-processed in a bad way, and the colors don't really pop like with the Canon L 50 f1.2. I assume this is by design, as the whole crushed black, desaturated look is pretty popular even still.
So far this is what I feel about the 58mm:
1) The 58mm flares BEAUTIFULLY - I'd say it actually flares better than the Canon L 50 f1.2. It just glows. Out of focus areas are much much nicer on the 58mm vs the Sigma Art and somewhat similar in terms of softness to the 50L, but still uniquely different in its own right - I would not say the 58mm renders like the 50L, but I don't think that's a bad thing after shooting it a little bit. It's just different.
2) It's a little sharper at f1.4 than the Canon L 50 f1.2. I didn't find the Canon L 50 to be usably sharp until about f2, but I'd be comfortable shooting the 58mm at f1.4 if needed especially in low light where higher ISO noise makes absolute sharpness less achievable. At f1.8-f2 the 58mm is critically sharp for me to use for work, and at f2.8-4 it's tack sharp which is all I need in terms of sharpness. I haven't done AF fine tune yet, but that should make it even better from a sharpness standpoint. The copy I got is actually a bit sharper than the one I tried in a local shop, so guessing mine may be a bit better adjust for my particular d850 body.
3) It balances much much better than the Sigma 50, and feels about the same in hand as the 50L 1.2 albeit a bit lighter. I barely feel it on the D850. I've always disliked how front heavy the Sigma Art 50 f1.4 is. I can easily shoot the D850 plus 58mm one handed, whereas the Sigma Art makes it a bit of a bear. I also think the 58mm is a much more attractive looking lens but that's subjective.
4) Price/value wise, I absolutely would not purchase this lens for its new price of $1600. I however was able to get a great deal on mine, and I'm quite happy with its price and value proposition as I got my copy for about the same as a used 50L f1.2.
I'm looking forward to using it on some upcoming shoots and will post some pics from it when I do!
Sungphoto: Nice summary, your early experience is similar to mine. AF Fine tune in my opinion is necessary for all primes, and can make a significant difference when shooting wide open. Enjoy the 58mm!
Yeah only thing delaying me doing the AF fine tune is getting some new printer ink haha.
I just did a little testing compared to a friend’s Nikon 50 f1.4g today and am still happy about my choice. The 58mm is sharper at f1.4 and f2, and does not have the purple fringing wide open on high contrast subjects that the 50mm f1.4g has.
Raticus wrote:
Sungphoto: Nice summary, your early experience is similar to mine. AF Fine tune in my opinion is necessary for all primes, and can make a significant difference when shooting wide open. Enjoy the 58mm!
sungphoto wrote:
Just swapped my Sigma Art 50 for the 58mm f1.4, in large part because I want a lens that is similar to the Canon L 50 f1.2 (I just switched from the Canon 5d4 a couple weeks ago).
I've tried the Sigma 50 f1.4 art on canon, sony and now nikon, and it along with its 35mm brother just never did it for me. Always felt like the Nikon was way too contrasty - to the point where blacks would already look a bit post-processed in a bad way, and the colors don't really pop like with the Canon L 50 f1.2. I assume this is by design, as the whole crushed black, desaturated look is pretty popular even still.
So far this is what I feel about the 58mm:
1) The 58mm flares BEAUTIFULLY - I'd say it actually flares better than the Canon L 50 f1.2. It just glows. Out of focus areas are much much nicer on the 58mm vs the Sigma Art and somewhat similar in terms of softness to the 50L, but still uniquely different in its own right - I would not say the 58mm renders like the 50L, but I don't think that's a bad thing after shooting it a little bit. It's just different.
2) It's a little sharper at f1.4 than the Canon L 50 f1.2. I didn't find the Canon L 50 to be usably sharp until about f2, but I'd be comfortable shooting the 58mm at f1.4 if needed especially in low light where higher ISO noise makes absolute sharpness less achievable. At f1.8-f2 the 58mm is critically sharp for me to use for work, and at f2.8-4 it's tack sharp which is all I need in terms of sharpness. I haven't done AF fine tune yet, but that should make it even better from a sharpness standpoint. The copy I got is actually a bit sharper than the one I tried in a local shop, so guessing mine may be a bit better adjust for my particular d850 body.
3) It balances much much better than the Sigma 50, and feels about the same in hand as the 50L 1.2 albeit a bit lighter. I barely feel it on the D850. I've always disliked how front heavy the Sigma Art 50 f1.4 is. I can easily shoot the D850 plus 58mm one handed, whereas the Sigma Art makes it a bit of a bear. I also think the 58mm is a much more attractive looking lens but that's subjective.
4) Price/value wise, I absolutely would not purchase this lens for its new price of $1600. I however was able to get a great deal on mine, and I'm quite happy with its price and value proposition as I got my copy for about the same as a used 50L f1.2.
I'm looking forward to using it on some upcoming shoots and will post some pics from it when I do!...Show more →
Excellent summary! The D850 and 58G combination is superb in terms of size/weight and ergonomics. It is one of my favorite combos for travel/street portraits.
It is a speciality lens as you mentioned and different but it is an amazing lens if you take the time to understand it. I feel many of the negative reviews are photographers who like the simplicity of a lens like the 50 Art where you set the f stop at f/1.4 and it works. It is why I have both
In terms size and weight comparison with different FF systems A7rIII, Leica SL, D750 and D850 the choice is not so obvious. Here is a link
charles.K wrote:
Excellent summary! The D850 and 58G combination is superb in terms of size/weight and ergonomics. It is one of my favorite combos for travel/street portraits.
It is a speciality lens as you mentioned and different but it is an amazing lens if you take the time to understand it. I feel many of the negative reviews are photographers who like the simplicity of a lens like the 50 Art where you set the f stop at f/1.4 and it works. It is why I have both
In terms size and weight comparison with different FF systems A7rIII, Leica SL, D750 and D850 the choice is not so obvious. Here is a link
Yeah, been there done that with the Sony full frame system. I find the 58mm f1.4 + D850 to be much more comfortable than the A7rii + Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.4 haha. Though given the choice, I would switch out the Nikon 58 f1.4 for an autofocusing Zeiss Planar 50 f1.4 in a second as that lens is probably one of the best 50mm lenses I've ever owned.
Great shots and perfect example of the special rendering of this lens - love how nice the out of focus elements look even stopped down. I'm very happy that I swapped out my sigma art for it. I'm finding that I really enjoy shooting it at f2.8-f4 as the rendering still retains that special quality there, but is also razor sharp.
sungphoto wrote:
Great shots and perfect example of the special rendering of this lens - love how nice the out of focus elements look even stopped down. I'm very happy that I swapped out my sigma art for it. I'm finding that I really enjoy shooting it at f2.8-f4 as the rendering still retains that special quality there, but is also razor sharp.
Thank you This why I love using this lens in the streets while travelling as you only need to stop it down and it is very sharp yet retains the rendering. The best part is the size and weight for a f/1.4 lens.
I just got my 58mm f1.4G lens last week. It works great on both my Sony A9 and A7RIII. Having Eye-AF is awesome with this lens. Here is an image of my daughter.
Ken_Cravillion wrote:
I just got my 58mm f1.4G lens last week. It works great on both my Sony A9 and A7RIII. Having Eye-AF is awesome with this lens. Here is an image of my daughter.
Nice! Which adapter are you using? In the past Nikon glass was pretty much useless on the sony bodies adapted so good to hear the adapters are catching up a bit.
